Wordless Wednesday: It's raining in the Pacific Northwest

I never thought I'd say this, but I wish the rain would stop!

Kennel Cough and Pneumonia: A rough week

I haven't written much lately. It's because our household has been focused on Kennel Cough and Pneumonia. And Francesca has gotten all the attention.

One day, just before New Year's Eve, Francesca started coughing. She'd cough and gag. She just couldn't stop coughing so our owner took her to the vet. She didn't think that they could do anything as Kennel Cough has to run its course.

But once the vet saw Francesca he had an idea. He prescribed a cough suppressant that also would dry up secretions and help her with the coughing problem. We wondered if it was a good idea to suppress a productive cough but the vet explained that the coughing was irritating her wind pipe and unless it could be stopped, it would keep on getting worse.

When she got home she took the medicine and, surprise of surprises, it worked! Francesca was feeling better and was back to normal. Each time the medicine started to wear off, she started coughing again. The medicine she took was Hydrocodone-Homatropine, a narcotic. It didn't really make her sleepy. The downside of this medicine is that it causes constipation.

We made sure she stayed home and didn't come in contact with other dogs because Kennel Cough is very contagious. She is pretty sure she caught it at her day care because they said several other dogs had recently been sent home after they started coughing. Don't think for a moment that I wasn't concerned about my own health. I started worrying about catching it. Every morning I woke up and wondered if that would be the day I would start coughing. But so far, I'm OK. So far, I'm not coughing.

After a few days, things got really SCARY! One night, Francesca woke up and wanted to sleep on our owner's bed. Because she was sick and because she is spoiled, she was allowed to go in there around 1 a.m. In an hour or so, our owner noticed she was snoring. While that can be cute, it wasn't something Francesca usually did. At 3 a.m. Francesca woke up all congested, coughing and sneezing. She was having trouble breathing. Her breathing was fast and shallow and she gagged and mucousy stuff came up. Don't watch this video if you can't handle seeing a sick dog. SHE WAS VERY SICK!

Our owner got up with her. Francesca was getting really tired but couldn't curl up and sleep. She could lie down on all fours and held her head up to breathe. I was getting really scared and wondered what could be done since it was one of those days when the streets were all iced up.

Once dawn came, our owner called the vet and found out that he couldn't even get into the office until afternoon because of the ice. But he said give Francesca the medicine for coughing and keep her comfortable. She wasn't looking a bit comfortable but we did what we could. She wouldn't eat or drink. That wasn't like her at all. I kind of stayed out of the way. When I had my breakfast she didn't even get up to see if there was food for her.

Early afternoon the vet's office called and Francesca had an appointment. She was getting weak and so our owner had to lift her into the front seat of the car for the drive.

Here's sick Francesca in the front seat
on the way to the Vet.

Once she was inside the vet's office they looked at her and said she looked like she felt miserable. But they had a plan. Francesca was given a blanket to lay on while they got everything ready. First she needed an x-ray and a physical exam. The xray showed she had pneumonia. The exam showed that she was dehydrated. So the plan was put in place to give her IV hydration and breathing treatments which had antibiotic medicine in the solution. Our owner was sent away to buy some expensive antibiotics at a human pharmacy while Francesca got these treatments. (She also said they clipped her nails since she was so lethargic, she didn't care!).

Here's Francesca at the Vet's office lying on the blanket.

Here's Francesca in the hospital.

About three hours later, it was time to pick her up at the hospital. Francesca was feeling a little bit better and was able to hop into the car under her own steam. Once she got home, she had a small meal and she slept and slept.

Francesca spent a lot of time in bed.

The next day she was feeling a lot better. She was hungry! I was happy to see that. She scarfed down a big breakfast and got her antibiotic wrapped in bread and peanut butter. Because I was whining about being neglected, I got some bread and peanut butter too!

Francesca had to go back to the vet for two more appointments for breathing treatments. That was mainly because her oral antibiotics wouldn't really kick in for three days. She started feeling almost normal. She chased a squirrel with me and wagged her tail. She did take lots of naps, though and loved falling asleep with her head on our owner's lap. She was becoming a BIG, SPOILED BABY!

Francesca insists on sleeping with her head on our owner's lap.

So that brings us up today. She has quit coughing and so doesn't have to take the cough suppressant. She has to take the oral antibiotic for three weeks. And, at the two week point, she has to go back to the vet and get another x-ray to make sure her lungs are clear. But she thinks she's just fine.

It's been 10 days now since she came down with Kennel Cough. They say I can come down with it still. Sometimes it takes two weeks. SO I AM HOPING I DON'T GET IT! I am counting the days. I am praying every night. Please, St. Francis, don't let me get Kennel Cough!

Here I am praying to St. Francis

I wrote all of this because every dog with Kennel Cough has a different experience and different treatment. Here is what Fidose of Reality Blog had to say about their dog's experience. After you read that you'll probably wonder if Francesca and I had the Bordatella vaccine. Yes, we did. We had the oral vaccine. But we do know it doesn't completely prevent Kennel Cough.

Love, Cinnamon

What I got for Christmas

Hi everyone! It's a snowy day here and so I am looking for things to do inside. I didn't get a chance to tell you how much I am enjoying my Christmas moose. I had one last year just like it but Francesca and I got a bit rough with it and, well, you know....

So I'm happy to have an intact, squeaky moose to play with today.

Here I am telling Francesca to back off and leave my toy alone!

Wordless Wednesday: Our Best of 2015 on Instagram: Cinnamon takes the lead!

Look who got all the likes? It isn't Francesca!

Fireworks are NOT allowed in Vancouver, Washington on New Year's Eve

After I worked so hard on a fireworks ban for the City of Vancouver. And after I celebrated when the Mayor and City Council voted to approve the ban beginning in 2017, I read this disturbing announcement from a nearby city:

The Battle Ground Chamber will have its annual fireworks stand open, and selling pyrotechnics now through Thursday, Dec. 31, at the corner of W Main St. and 12th Ave., across from Fred Meyer and Riverview Community Bank. This is one of the chamber’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Hours are noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, and from noon to 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (New Year’s Eve).

Now Battle Ground is not all that far from where I live. I wondered if they had dogs there and people who are disturbed by personal fireworks. I wondered how they could sell fireworks knowing how terrified dogs like me are when we hear the pop, bang, roar of fireworks. Is the money worth it?

Now I'm glad I live in Vancouver. In Vancouver you can't shoot off stuff on New Years Eve. It's against the law! So don't go shopping in Battle Ground and bring that horrible stuff into MY city. Why don't you stay inside and have a great little party?

Enough said,

Cinnamon the Coonhound
Executive Director
Dogs Against Fireworks

Cinnamon's Year in Review - 2015

It's getting to be the end of the year. It's a time I reflect on what brought me here... the times alone, on the streets of Santa Fe as the snow fell and it was getting very cold. I was adopted in the winter and so that is what I think about when I am alone in my cushy bed having trouble getting to sleep.

Life has been good since then. I've traveled across the country and had some wonderful experiences. 2015 was another good year. Here are my top memories of 2015:

THE BEACH! I love the beach with smells of dead crabs and drying seaweed. I love getting the sand between my toes. I enjoy going to Long Beach, Washington because they are very dog friendly. I've stayed at several places that accept dogs. My favorite things to do are to walk the Discovery Trail and run on the beach avoiding the waves. I don't even mind when the wind kicks up and I get sand in my eyes.

Here I am at the beach checking out the razor clams.

The Farmers Market Vancouver, my home town (now), has a great Farmer's Market. The best part about the market is that they allow dogs! Of course I am always on my best behavior there. I look longingly at each booth as we pass by in hopes of getting samples. And sometimes I do! My owner's favorite things are the flowers, jams and local produce. I like Olympia Provisions and the salmon people!

Here I am hoping for Salmon samples at the Farmer's Market

Dog Parks! This year I continued to enjoy the Clark County dog parks. Clark Dog Paw, a non-profit, works with Vancouver and Clark County to maintain the best dog parks I have ever seen. I like the Brush Prairie Dog park with green grass, lots of running space and a view of Mt. Hood. It's my happy place!

Here I am looking all gorgeous at the Dog Park.

Francesca I'll bet you are surprised that I would mention Francesca in my list of memories, but I have to. From the day we picked her up from Animal Control, she's been a problem. I've worked hard to train her... to let her know what is mine and what is hers. And to let her know when she has to stop bugging me! But now I call her my buddy. When she goes to Day Care (because she can't be trusted home alone), I actually am happy to see her when she gets home.

Here we are bringing Francesca home.

Christmas Christmas was pretty special this year. We had a visit from our Country Cousins which includes Indy! We also got PRESENTS! Christmas day was spent doing things we enjoy like opening gifts, playing with new toys, going to the dog park and getting some treats. I like Christmas!

Here I am with my Christmas gift.

There was much more going on in 2015, some good and some bad, but all in all it was a very good year. I am hoping that 2016 brings more travel, food testing and more toys!

Love, Cinnamon

Cinnamon and Francesca's Excellent Christmas

Hi everybody. I sure hope you all had a Feliz Navidad because I sure did. It all began with sleeping in. That's my favorite thing to do! It was chilly outside so I wasn't in a hurry to get up. And, I didn't know that we would have presents! (But we did!)

Sleeping is a very good thing on a chilly day.

So after I woke up, we both went outside and checked for squirrel trails in the yard. We were very surprised when we noticed the scent and sound of a big dog right next door.

Now we are used to the teeny little dog named Cheri. But this was something new.

All of a sudden the dog charged the fence barking at us. Imagine, barking at us in OUR yard! So what did we do? We forgot all our Christmas kindness and charged the fence right back at him barking and baying. Francesca even summoned up her bouncy super powers and jumped at the fence. Soon he was gone. I guess we scared him!

After all that excitement it was time for Christmas breakfast. Well, if kibble can be considered Christmas breakfast. We ate it anyway.

We'd been eyeing these two presents
hoping they would be for us!

Then our owner went to the radio cabinet and picked up two turquoise gifts. We were getting really excited. They were for US!

She gave us the gifts and we tore into the wrappings.  As soon as we saw what was inside, we high-tailed it for our room carrying the gifts.

Francesca took hers to her bed to unwrap and I took mine under the table.

These were really GOOD gifts! And we didn't want to chance it that the big dog next door would see them and steal them!

So we got them totally unwrapped and I had a new moose toy that sqeaked. My old one got torn up because we both played with it all summer. And Francesca got a grey squirrel toy that squeaked. We love those squeaky toys. Also in the present were two new squeaky balls. But we were so excited about the toys, we ignored the balls.

Here's Francesca ripping into her present

Here I am with my new squeaky moose!

After we played with our toys for awhile, we got to go to the dog park! Everyone there said Merry Christmas to us. Francesca went squirrel hunting and I went around saying Merry Christmas to all the people. I was full of Christmas cheer and grateful for the gifts and the outing.

After that we went home to take a nap. The house was nice and warm and we enjoyed our nap and dreamed of Christmas dinner!

And we got just what we dreamed about! We had kibble topped with cut up chicken sausage. We had smelled the sausage earlier when our owner was making her special breakfast and had hoped there would be some for us. And there was!

After dinner we were having such a great time. We went into the TV room and played tug-o-war. We got all our toys out including the new ones. It was a great toy time!

Here we are playing. You'll notice how seriously I take this game.
And, I won!

By then I was getting really tired so I trotted off to bed. That's what I do when I'm sleepy. Francesca stayed up and then fell asleep with her head on our owner's lap. She's a big cuddle bunny. Me? not so much. She was full of Christmas cheer and ended her day just the way she wanted to... cuddling.

Francesca falls asleep after a great Christmas day.

So I think this was one of the best Christmases I have ever had. We got to do DOG THINGS all day. Isn't that the way it should be?

Love, Cinnamon