Day 144 of Ania's Diary.

Our walks today were hard. Each walk Ania although happy was gasping. We were more than happy to go for her acupuncture this afternoon.
For the first time since we started this when one of the needles came out the blood spurted everywhere, all on the floor and up the clean white walls. Ania took no notice and she was very happy. It was a really good session.

We discussed Fudge and I did not realise that he had quite so much wrong,his liver, kidneys and several things they tested for, the levels were too high. Next Tuesday he will go into the vets and the tests will be repeated. Fudge show no symtoms but can be very grumpy and the vet thinks this could be a sign that he is not feeling well. This we had not considered before.
One poorly dog is enough to deal with but two, it is exhausting.

Day 143 of Ania's Diary

Ania is tired!. Today I decided to take the dogs on a longer walk. Stupidly I was not thinking, Ania wanted to go and all the way there and back she was gasping. Now she is lying beside me and her breathing is noisy. We only have to get through to tomorrow and then her batteries should be recharged.
Tomorrow I will talk to the vets as Fudge's drinking is getting worse. Last evening he was in and out and today has consumed more than ever.
It has been a very busy day, shopping and cooking and cooking for Ania. I managed to get a nice variety of vegetables and cooked them up.

Next month there will be a dog patrol to try and get people to clean up after their dogs. My doggy poo bags will be advertised and each person handed details of these. I am hoping for some orders to come from this. I only need enough to pay for all my vets bills.

Day 142 of Ania's Diary

Ania seems depressed today. It is bitterly cold and we have had shorter walks. Each time I have had to turn around and go back for Ania, she is lagging. She loves it so much in the caravan. I think she is feeling the cold as she is now stretched out near the radiator.
Fudge drank nearly 3 pints of water yesterday but today has not even reached 2 pints. I must not speak too soon as the evenings are the worst and last night I was up and down to let him in and out.
Today I have sold a fabric doggy poo bag so I am delighted. Every penny goes towards my vets bills.
After weeks of worrying and thinking I might just have the big C I braved it to the doctors today and all is well, the relief. Have not slept properly for weeks for worrying what would happen if I did.
The dogs are such hard work but I would not have it any other way except for them to be fit and healthy.

Only tomorrow to get through and Ania should be bouncing once again.

Day 141 of Ania'ds Diary

It has been a very busy day. Ania is doing well although it is very cold and whilst we were walking she was gasping and I had to keep waiting for her to catch me up. A totally different dog from the one who was running whilst we were away.
A few minutes ago I put the 3rd pint of water down for Fudge. There is no peace, he is in and out like a yo yo. Next week we have to repeat the tests all over again so just maybe this time we will find the answer to why he is drinking so much.

Whilst it was dry I have been out and cut the grass, with all the rain over this winter it has grown so much and the dogs do not like going out on it. I was exhausted when I finished, totally out of practise after staying in for a lot of the winter.
The kitchen has been the warmest place as I have been busy baking bread and cooking the roast. This should have been yesterday but with travelling there was no time to do it.
It takes me a day or so to adjust to being home.

Day 140 of Ania's Diary

We woke up to find a covering of snow. It was much warmer and the wind had gone and  the dogs had snow attached to their legs. It had thankfully gone by 10am but there were snow flurries for the rest of the morning.
We delayed coming home until lunchtime when we had a good journey home and it took us a couple of hours.
Now we are home the dogs are all sleeping. They had 2 really good walks before we came so that after getting home they only needed a short walk. Now they are sleeping peacefully.
Ania is fine, a little coughing and gagging but seeing it is more than 3 weeks since her last acupuncture she is doing very well.

Fudge came home and has not stopped drinking. It was virtually impossible to monitor it in the caravan but I measured it when we came home only to find the other half had put more down in the front room, no thought of measuring it. He has drunk and drunk.
My friend said she had never seen dog drink so much. Next week he will be retested but I have a feeling they will not get to the bottom of it.
We will have to go back to the caravan as soon as we can. I am so annoyed with myself, I have left important papers and my diary and books behind. I am lost without them.

Day 139 of Ania's Diary

It is bitterly cold here with on and off snow flurries. I have insisted on Ania having her coat on to go out. The cold made her gasp all the way out this morning and back but still she seems to be getting used to it now and did a healthy trot. No playing though as I was the only one out. It was nice to hear a woodpecker, no way could you see where it was and there were 3 buzzards overhead.
We hope to go home tomorrow but will delay it until the afternoon as ice is predicted with snow flurries again.
It is lovely and warm in the caravan but it will be nice to go home. If only we had such wonderful walks. I had hoped to take some more photos but it is too cold to get the camera out.
Fudge is drinking far too much and I keep having to take him out. If we were home he could just go into the garden. Last night was so frustrating as none of them would settle down.

Tonight Ania is sleeping peacefully, her laboured breathing has stopped for the time. All these extra walks are tiring her out . The other 2  are satisfied tonight and I hope for a peaceful evening.
A very contented Ania on the caravan seat as I write this.

Day 138 of Ania's Diary

It is freezing, too cold even to be out but needs must and the dogs do not care.
Today Ania thinks she is a puppy. She galloped across the field, gasping all the way and was so happy. We then met a spaniel ,we see her most days but today Ania thought she would chase and play with her. I had to put her on her lead as I knew she would suffer for it. True to form she did and was choking and gasping badly. The same happened this afternoon.
Ania is happy though, 3 fields, all flat, no hills to climb, her idea of bliss.
If only we had such lovely walks at home .
Fudge is in his element too, off his lead, completely safe and having the time of his life playing with Abby and hunting the mice.
It would be much warmer to be at home but to see the dogs so happy as this is a joy.

We hope to go home on Sunday providing there is no snow.
Little Abby at home in the picture

Day 137 of Ania's Diary.

It is freezing. We went on out morning walk and the wind hit us and Ania was gasping. We are able to go through 3 flat fields and as each day goes by they are drying up very nicely. This helps Ania greatly. At the same time Fudge and Abby can have a really good run and it is wonderful at this time of year as there are no cows for us to worry about.  Ania is happy plodding along and just loves it.
Today has been spent cooking for the dogs and making dog biscuits for them. I know I only put in the best ingredients and they love them. There will be enough left I hope to take home with us.
Tomorrow is going to be even colder but as it is half term it is best for us to stay up here, away from Fudge wanting to chase the bikes and footballs. If all goes to plan we will go home on Sunday .
Ania will have her acupuncture again next week and she is at her happiest when we are up here.
Ania and Fudge curled up in the caravan.

Day 136 of Ania's Diary.

It is grey, miserable and bitterly cold. I have yet to brave the last walk with the dogs.
We decided to go to the garden centre about 8 miles away and as the dogs would stay in the car and we would not be long I did not take any water for Ania. She got so excited and thought we were going on her favourite walk. Nearly all the way there she barked and within minutes was gasping.
We quickly went in and got what we wanted and then came straight back.
Fudge started to moan, he wanted to go to the toilet so 15 minutes later we were back in the caravan.
A valuable lesson learnt today, wherever I go, be it freezing cold or not I must always take some water.
After these past few days of sunshine it is so disappointing although it is not raining.
The field is beginning to dry up nicely but I expect I will see very few people out in it when I go directly.
There are warnings of snow flurries so I do hope we do not get any or I will have to hasten home.

Perhaps for the rest of the week I can relax a bit although I am going to spend some of the time cooking.This morning I cooked up fresh meat and lots of veg for Ania.
This is the last time we were up here in the snow.

Day 135 of Ania's Diary

Today I have had a treat. My husband has looked after the dogs and I have had a trip to Exeter.
It is very rarely that I leave the dogs and Fudge has moaned all day. The others have been fine and had a short lunch time walk.
When I came back I took the dogs across the fields and met several people from the villages I had got to know. Ania barked and wanted her chew thrown but made herself cough and came back and she was exhausted.
This evening the family popped in for an hour and once again the excitement made Ania start choking.
I have now just finished working the acupressure on Ania and she is fast asleep.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, maybe a trip to the garden centre , not too far to go.

I will probably fore go Ania's favourite walk to Stover Park as the excitement gets too much for her. The weather is due to go colder and if it does we shall be going home post haste.

Day 134 of Ania's Diary

Ania is happy. She is in her beloved caravan and the walks across the field are peaceful and safe. The joy on her face is a pleasure to see. It is cold and her breathing is not brilliant and she has coughed and gagged quite a bit but still she is happy.
We are warmer in the caravan than we are at home and we have met old friends who are so pleased to see us.

This morning I had a break to go shopping and my husband looked after the dogs. Up here there are more shops than at home. Tomorrow I will have a treat and catch the bus to Exeter and treat myself to some lunch and browse in the shops. It is dry so the dogs will have a short walk at lunchtime and I will take them across the fields on my return.
Across the river I tried to take a photo of the alpaca and jacob sheep but it did not come out well. They sensed the dogs and started to move away when I stopped.

Day 133 of Ania's Diary

I was up at 6am, packed the car, walked the dogs and by 8.20am we were on the road., It was surprising how many cars there were on the road. It was the start of a sunny dry day and people were obviously going to make the most of it.
An hour into the journey Fudge wanted to get out and there was just nowhere we could stop. On arriving at the caravan I took him straight on to the grass and I thought he was never going to stop.
He is the cleanest dog ever and however desperate he is he will never make any mess.
Ania was excited as she loves it up here. We braved it across the fields. Where the stiles are you sank in the mud but the dogs did not care. They were delighted, open fields to run and play in peace .
The cows will be back in a couple of months and then we will have to do the road walks for the summer.
It is dry and we have had an exhausting day. The grandchildren came over and my daughter cut my husbands hair and we are all very tired now. Usually by this time Fudge is in and out but so far all the dogs are far too tired to even think about it.
The snowdrops beside the River on our walk today.

Day 132 of Ania's Diary

We are early today. The weather is beautiful and we have decided we must make the most of it and we are going to the caravan tomorrow. So it is all systems go here. The washing was out early this morning and I have just finished ironing it.

You just cannot fool Ania, she just knows when it is Saturday and she will be going on the dog walk. Trying to keep her calm is a nightmare. As it was a lovely morning there were several people there with their dogs and Ania was so thrilled to see her friends. Today's route was the scenic one and the sea was a deep blue and the views were stunning. By the time we got by the beach it was crowded with dogs, children, bikes and skateboards. My friend kindly picked up Fudge who hates the bikes and footballs and was barking at them. No off the lead this morning.
Prior to that the puppies had a run in the field and Ania once again ran after them and loved it, this great Standard Poodle so gentle thinking she also was a puppy.
Needless to say she was gasping and we had to stay for a rest. A very enjoyable morning with brilliant company.

Day 131 of Ania's Diary

Ania is better. I think we are going to have lots of ups and downs. The secret is too keep Ania calm.
Much easier said than done when you have a 45lb dog who thinks she is a puppy and the least little thing will send her into a frenzy of excitement.

We have still not decided whether to go to the caravan or not. I think it is the prospect that we will have to face a muddy damp awning which probably smells terrible. Until we are able to move to our new pitch with all new carpet and hopefully we wont flood again. Although it has been dry and sunny it is very cold and as OAPs we feel the cold as each year goes on.
If we do not go this weekend it will be weeks before we can go as vets appointments get in the way and it is too far too drive for just a weekend.

Day 130 of Ania's Diary

It rained all night, the ground is sodden and the fields flooded. Although dry it is bitterly cold and we decided to stay home in the comfort of our own home and not go to the caravan.
Ania is a lot better today and seems to be back on track. On our last walk we went to the field and she managed to walk around it three times as was ready for a 4th had I let her. She has to learn to pace herself. The cold air makes her cough until her body adjusts to it although she never goes out without her coat on. I am breathing a sigh of relief as it another 2 weeks before she has her acupuncture.
Fudge is drinking as much as ever but is well in himself.
We are all desperate for some nice weather, to be able to get to the allotment and generally go out and about. The only time I seem to go out is to walk the dogs.
Seeing the weather is bad I have been decluttering again, time to do it now to make life easier.

I have sorted out all my material and have an excessive amount that it would make hundreds of doggy poo bags. It is time to divert and think up something to go alongside this.
The trouble is my hands are so painful and even typing is a nightmare.
The photo is of Ania in the field this afternoon with the flood water behind her.

Day 129 of Ania's Diary

It has rained nearly all day and we were drenched on our morning walk. At lunchtime it was so heavy that the dogs only went out in the garden. They do not like this but their last walk was brought forward. As long as thy have been out 3 times they are happy.
Ania is a lot better again, she has not choked at all today and her breathing is quite good. Today she has been very tired and slept a lot. The other 2 have played with their toys as it has been too wet to go out and play in the garden.
We were hoping to go to the caravan tomorrow but the ground here is sodden so it will be even wetter up there. If we do not go this week I will not be able to go for the next few weeks.

Also we need to get the allotment turned over, impossible . I need to grow all the vegetables to put on Ania's food. It is going to be yet another bad year.
This is my little Abby, so far the only healthy dog we have.

Day 128 of Ania's Diary

Panic this morning!!. Coming off the field after our morning walk and an extra walk around the estate and nearly home when I turned around and Ania had disappeared. Ania is always plodding behind me and never disappears, there are no roads to cross . We  retraced our steps and no sign of her. Just as I was ringing my husband to see if she was home I looked around and there she was , wagging her tail.
Goodness knows where she had been in that time. I had visions of her collapsed somewhere.
A few more grey hairs this morning!!
I have decided that Ania is depressed, she does not want to stay in, she loves it out. It is bitterly cold here today but I thought we would go on a longer walk to the woods. Ania coughed so badly that I nearly turned around and came back but we got there. She is not running any more and her breathing was laboured but she was so happy to be there and wagged her tail so much when we met another dog.
We are debating whether to go to the caravan or not. It is so far away in case we should need the vet and there is just no place like home.

Fudge is still drinking a lot but he has not been sick today which is good.
Ania before her bath and clip.

Day 127 of Ania's Diary

Ania is not well, her breathing is laboured and her energy levels are down. We  have had short walks today but she was angry with me and wanted to go off down to the field where some of her friends were. The field this morning was waterlogged after all this rain. Just a short walk has left her totally exhausted. It is not fair on the other 2 but she just will not stay behind. Where one goes the others follow.
It has been a good day. I went to the doggy poo bin this morning and found a wallet full of credit cards. There was a photo of the owner and his name and I managed to trace him and leave a message on his telephone . At lunchtime I was out and he collected them. A couple of hours later there was a knock on the door and he stood there with a large box of chocolates for me. I did not want them, I would not have dreamt of keeping them and would hope that someone would return mine if I lost them. This man was so grateful and I was only to glad that I tracked him down.

Fudge drank so much water this morning that he was sick everywhere. He still is not poorly so we just have to wait and see how things progress.

Day 126 of Ania's Diary

This post will not be long. When Ania decided to run with the puppies yesterday she yanked the lead from my hand and wrenched my neck and I am in agony today.
Ania has not been well since yesterday. She is exhausted and our walks have been short , slow and laboured. This is yet another setback. One of many I am sure but we will persevere and we will get through it.
It is cold and very windy, we got drenched on this mornings walk which did not help.
Fudge has drunk 2 and a half pints of water already today and he is driving me crazy for more. I just wish the vets had found out what is doing this so we can treat it before it is too late.
Have had a day of giving away some furniture on the freecycle site. It is amazing how many people want something for nothing., A few years ago people would not have anything secondhand.
It is a pleasure to give something personally to someone, all items being to big to go to the charity shop. These are some of my dog walking group on our local beach.

Day 125 of Ania's Diary.

Ania is poorly! We were up early did our usual walk and she just knew that we were going to the vets and out with the dogs walking group. Ania gets so excited and barks and trying to get her to stop is a nightmare.
We walked across the beach and we had 2 puppies on the walk who were let off their leads . They had a lovely time chasing one another but Ania pulled her lead out of my hand and she joined in. She also thinks she is a puppy. This of course led her to choking and gasping. We managed to get her home and since then she has slept solidly. She has been for a short walk this afternoon but I will try and keep her quiet for the next couple of days. This is bound to happen and I think she tries to pretend that she has not got a lot of health issues.

I am waiting to clear some of my Mums furniture from my spare bedroom. I am itching to get back to  my sewing machine and have several ideas in my head. Once I can get going I will be well away.

Day 124 of Ania's Diary.

Today has been one of the best days since I lost my Mum. It started well.
My friend very kindly took 2 fabric doggy poo bags to her craft fair and sold  one  by 9am. That was very kind of her. All sales go towards my vets bills. I would rather work to pay my bills as it gives me great satisfaction.
Snow was forecast so I decided to get all the shopping done. My husband looked after the dogs. I have not been with Ania that much today so was not there to tell how she was.
Tonight her breathing has been laboured and she was curled up in the chair but got off and had 2  choking fits.
When we went out for our last walk the air was so cold that Ania was gasping . She does not panic any more and knows that I will help her.
Fudge also is so well but I am trying to measure his water and with the girls it is proving difficult. If it was summer I could leave the door open for him to go out but I spend half the evenings taking him out in the garden.

Day 123 of Ania's Diary

I am posting early today as I have a meeting to go to tonight. The other half will look after the dogs as they are rarely left on their own.
We have just come back from a walk and it was pouring with rain and we got drenched although we all had our waterproofs on.
Ania is doing very well. she has had no ill effects from her booster yesterday and has settled down after her clipping. Life has reverted to normal and she is calm again and only coughing a little in the bitterly cold weather.
Fudge's test results came back this morning and they are inconclusive. It is possible that he has the early stages of renal failure or something to do with his adrenal gland. As he is so well apart from the excessive drinking he will not have a scan but in a months time the blood and urine tests will be repeated and this time the urine will be sent away with the blood for intense analysis. It is very worrying but I am going to try and put it out of my mind for the time being.
Sewing seems to have gone out the window at the moment and I just cant get into it again but when things are settled I will.

We were hoping to go to the caravan next week but snow is forecast so we will stay at home in the warmth.

Day 122 of Ania's Diary.

We are just back from the vets where the girls have had their boosters. The vet we saw was delighted with Ania's progress with the acupuncture. She will never be really well again but if we can go on like this we will be very pleased.
She is exhausted now as the excitement of going out in the car is so much for her. Since being diagnosed with this she can get very excited which we do not want. I always go into the vets at least 15 minutes before I have too , to keep her quiet.
We have no results for Fudge yet but as this vet some dogs drink far more than what they should and it does not mean there is anything wrong with them. It will be just nice to have confirmation of this.
It was a lovely compliment to be told that my dogs were a credit too me.

My dogs are my babies and I spend hours with them so they deserve only the best.
We have a picture of Fudge after his clip. Ania is too tire to be bothered to have her photo taken.

Day 121 of Ania's Diary.

All evening and through the night Ania was poorly. She coughed and she gagged. Just clipping her upset her. By this morning she was a lot better.
The weather has been appalling. We got caught on our walk in hails, snow and it was just awful.
By the time I had to take Fudge for his blood tests the weather had improved but Ania and Abby decided they must come too when I had no plans to take them.
After the vets we went down to the beach, it was another world and the sea was calm and no sign of any wind. We rarely go on the beach as after March you cant go on again until October.
Ania decided to be silly and barked incessantly, something she should not be doing. By the time we came off she was exhausted and I was not pleased with myself for taking her as I had to clip her to go to the vets tomorrow.
After a rest and another short walk I clipped and bathed Ania, she was so tired and put up no resistance. I had to go as fast as I could as Ania kept sitting down. She is now fast asleep in the chair but keeps coughing. When she goes to bed tonight she will have a nice clean quilt in her bed and a nice warm woolly coat to put on.

Tomorrow we see another vet for Ania and Abby's booster. He is an eye specialist so will check that their eyes are ok. Poodles suffer with eye complaints and my last poodle went blind.
I will report tomorrow how we get on.

Day 119 & 120 0f Ania's Diary

I do not know what happened with yesterday. My arthritis was so painful in my hands I just could not write. Ania had a good day yesterday though. It rained all day so the three walks were short.
Today I have bathed and clipped Fudge ready for his visit to the vets tomorrow.
At the same time I decide to clip Ania's face and feet ready for her bathe and clip tomorrow.
Since becoming poorly Ania hates even being brushed and this is difficult when she needs extensive grooming.
With my other half holding her we gently clipped her face and feet with her struggling. She started to choke so we had to keep stopping, patience is what we have to have with her.
On finishing we went for a walk but Ania was gasping and would not settle when we came in. She has been out in the garden twice eating grass and on sleeping her breathing has been noisy.
Anything different and it is going to upset Ania so tomorrow we will have to be very careful with her.
Yesterday when we went for a walk in the pouring rain we met someone whom we had not seen for months. I was telling them about my fabric doggy poo bags and she promptly ordered one.

I was delighted as every penny goes towards my spiralling vets bills.

Day 118 of Ania's Diary

It was nearly 7pm before the vet phoned last night and what a worrying time it was. They have found that something is wrong with Fudge and not sure what so next Tuesday he has to go in for blood tests and we will not know the results for a few days. By 8.45 this morning he must have drunk at least a quarter pint of water and so it has gone on through the day.
Now to Ania, she slept all evening, had her acupressure and food and slept again.
We were up bright and early and off for our normal walk. I cant fool Ania, she knew it was Saturday and that we would be going on our dog walking group from the vets. She gets so excited and will not stop barking which makes her choke.

The sun was shining and we went to Swanpool beach, it was beautiful. It is a longer walk but we did not have to stop to give Ania any water until we were halfway around. Usually we come home and she is exhausted. Today, no way, she was full of it and just wanted to keep on eating.
After a 30 minute walk just now she has crashed out but it is such good news and she is enjoying life once again.

Day 117 of Ania's Diary

Ania slept all of last evening and through the night and has been extra tired today. It shows that the acupuncture is working well. Her breathing is rather noisy at the moment but that is to be expected.
Again it has been very cold and windy today so the walks have been kept short.
It has been a very worrying day, I have tried to ignore the fact that Fudge has been drinking more than he should do. I took a water sample into the vets early this morning and I am still here waiting for the results. I have phoned the vets and was told I would have to wait for a vet to phone me. The wait is agonising, could it be news I do not want to hear? 9 hours of waiting and still no news is not good.If I do not hear tonight I will have to wait until the morning and I will go in there and wait until someone does tell me. I need to make phone calls but I dare not use my phone .

I will post later if I have any news.