Jack Ashes

Jack was cremated and the ashes in an urn was delivered to the house this morning.

I was touched by the delivery man who greeted me by saying that Jack is back home again.

We will be sprinkling some of the ashes in the garden where Jack grew up and then buried the urn in the garden and placed a dog figurine over it.

Since Jason has gone for his BMT and will get his first book out on 30 Aug, we will do it  when he is back home that weekend.

Jack - Our Beagle

Jack had succumbed to the cancer in his spleen and passed away peacefully on Sat 10 August late afternoon.

We had a very good 15 years with Jack as part of our family.

His ashes will be sprinkled in the garden where he grew up and the remaining ashes in the urn will be buried there too.

This photo was taken on the eve of his departure. 

We love you, as always... Jack!

Jack is Sick

Jack has been with us for 15 years + and that is about 80 man years ( no, you are not supposed to multiply it by 7 as I saw a poster on the conversion in the Vet office today ).

About 2 weeks ago, Jack was not well and refused to eat ( can you imagine that... a Beagle not eating...!!! ) and also did not want to move at all. 

After consulting the Vet, he was thought to have strain his back or having arthritis so some pain and anti-inflammation medication was given. It helped a bit and he was up again but then he was sick again;   no appetite to eat and not keen to move too much.

We thought it could take some time for the medication to work and he just needed more rest.

But as the days went by, we were starting to doubt if there could be other issues as he vomited once and his tummy area looked bloated.

We took him to the vet again and we wanted a blood test done and if necessary, an x-ray too to eliminate other potential causes of his illness.

Thankfully, the blood test results are good and no issues with his liver and kidney.

So we move on to do the x-ray, and it showed that there are some water in his lung that could be causing him to cough often. But there was some mass in his abdomen that was not conclusive so we took Jack to do an ultrasound this morning at their other clinic which has the equipment for it.

The results showed that there is some cancerous growth in the spleen and some fluid too in that area and this is causing the discomfort and tummy bloating ( there was an increase in his weight of about 1  kg in-between the 2 visits to the clinic ).

Options given are :

- Perform an operation to remove the growth but there could not be an guarantee that it will not return but importantly, Jack may not be able to take the operation due to his old age so it is very risky; 50-50 chance. If the ops is successful, Jack may have another 1-2 years given his current age assuming no other illness that may come along the way.

- Take medication to remove the fluid in the lungs and abdomen, with the pain and inflammation medication to help with any discomfort. Also, take a steroid to control the growth in his spleen. This may buy Jack some more time but in months only if it works.

The Vet recommended the latter option and after some discussion within the family, we decided to proceed with her recommendation.

Jack taking his car ride to get his ultrasound done, good dog...!

 

Jack's abdomen was shaved for the scan. All the excitement in the morning so he needed an afternoon nap....

Up and about again, looking good.. Jack...!

We love you so much, Jack....!

Bathing Time Again

After cleaning the inside of my ears, Mummy said it is time to have a bath since it was a nice and hot day.....

Also, almost a month since my last shower too and I am dirty....?

I like playing with the towel but Mum like to make me her fashion model...? Turning the towel into a  scarf...?

 

Hmm.... I do look cleaner and smell nicer  now .......

Wandering inside the Garden

Woof... Woof... I was caught red-handed wandering inside the garden....

 

 

Mum just walked me and then Dad caught me inside the garden when he was looking out through the window and took this photo with his mobile ......

 

I found a gap and went thro' the palm tree near the front wall ..... They have to do better to keep me out .. Woof ... Woof...

 

Mum said I cannot go in because some plants or flowers could be poison and I cannot simply chew on them....?

Happy 15th Birthday..!!!

Today is my 15th birthday... or 105 in dog years....!!!

 

As usual, my birthday present is always special treats..... pig ears..!!!

I used to be carried like this when I was a puppy but now has put on some weight...ha..ha....

I always enjoy a nice pat from the family members.... sigh

 

 

Lovely Treats

Uncle Raymond, who takes care of me when my family is away for holidays etc, bought me these nice colourful treats.

Can I have some more of these for my coming birthday...please... please....

Some of my neighbourhood friends...

There are so many dogs in our housing estate and we always bump into each other during my walks..... here are some of them...

This is my Daddy's friend dog, Cai Cai, living a few houses away only. When we meet, the humans like to talk and sometimes too much and forgot about our walk.... so Cai Cai rest on the grass... lor!

 

This is Oscar and so handsome... less than 1 year old and is considered a puppy... even though he looks big...!!! A Labradoodle...???

This is Elmo. living along the street behind us.... so small and cute....!

 

Another one but did not get its name..... woof... woof ....

This one lives at the corner house along our road..... sometimes, he barks at me when I passed by its house.

There are many more dogs around but these ones have their photos taken by my Daddy using his iPhone so here they are.....

Cleaning My Teeth

I got another bone treat again ..... as the family thinks that it helps to clean my teeth....

 

 

Swollen Eye

My left eye was swollen and luckily, Jas noticed it and he took me to the vet with the help of a friend as Mummy & Daddy were holidaying in Penang.

The Dr said it was some eye infection and gave me some eye drops ..... nothing serious..

Fully recovered after a few days... woof... woof ....