New RW site!

Last week there suddenly was a countdown on www.robbiewilliams.com. A new site was on it's way! Monday I visited the totally renewed website and may I say: it's a lot better than before. Well-organized, easy to browse, no Flash-content and... the official forum is back! I haven't been forum-ing for a long time (any forum that is), but after my first visit I was hooked again. Oops, oh-oh..! I've kept in contact with some of the regulars on the old forum through social networking sites, but that's not the same. One by one everyone is returning to the official forum, the F-gang (F for Forum) is back in town!!
A new album is in the making and rumours say Rob will go on tour in 2010. I can't wait!

Good news!!!

This morning we called the veterinary specialists clinic in Amsterdam for Boris. They could squeeze us in to make an ultrasound of his abdomen: kidneys, bladder, etc. Without any problems Boris let us put him in the awkward position on his back. Ron held his head / front and I was at the back, but we didn't really have to hold him tightly. His belly was shaved, water and jelly applied, but he didn't utter a sound.
The radiologist showed us what he was doing and explained what we saw. The kidneys looked good, structure and size okay. In one of them was a little cyste, but it was so small that couldn't have caused Boris' symptoms. His bladder showed an inflammation, he has cystitis. His prostate was enlarged. These things together explain all the symptoms, including the aggression towards the dogs he attacked.
With the results we went to our vet. He chemically castrated Boris to bring the prostate back to normal proportions. He got an antibiotics shot and pills against the cystitis. To gain the weight he lost we have permission to spoil him rotten. :) His food is very good, but he needs more fat and a little extra to come back to his normal weight. In three weeks his urine and perhaps blood will be tested again to see how he's doing. His hotspot is almost healed.
Of course the radiologist and vet can't look into the future, but there's no immediate cause for worry, nothing life-threathening. Yay!!

Results in - still no clarity

The results of Boris' urine and bloodtests told us that he has severe kidney problems. They aren't working hard enough, but it's not clear why and how it will go from here. It can be an inflammation of the kidneys, or a tumor, or they can be slowly shutting down, etc. Drugs and/or a diet are useless at this point, because the vet doesn't know the cause of the kidney problems.
The best option now is making an ultrasound of Boris' kidneys. We got the telephone number of a specialised radiology clinic. We called immediately, but they are on vacation until August 10th. We don't want to wait that long! Then I remembered the vets of the pet shelter have equipment to make ultrasounds. We have an appointment for this coming Monday! We also have the number of other specialist-radiologists in Amsterdam, but they couldn't be reached anymore today. So we 'll see about that after the weekend.
I still hope it's something fairly harmless that can be treated. I know there are other possibilities, but I don't want to be doom-mongering. Boris isn't getting worse at the moment. We go out with him more often to pee, he eats and drinks good... *fingers crossed again*

Boris isn't well

One time (just before we went to Lier in June) Boris couldn't hold his pee and let it go, although I had taken him out for a walk not too long before. Strange but not immediately alarming. In Lier he had the time of his life walking around outside all day on the property. We checked him every day for ticks and took them out. He swam a lot and was very happy.
When we got home he was a bit apathetic and wanted to be taken out a lot to pee. We blamed that on the transition of being home again and inside most of the time. He has always drunk and peed a lot, but we decided to go to the vet on Monday to let him check just to be sure. He also had a foul smell with him.
The Sunday before that we went to the woods as always. When Ron and I are together the dogs walk without a leash. They are friendly and playful and don't do any harm. Boris went swimming in the big pond. When we had almost finished our walk, a dog came towards us. Boris was wagging his tail and they sniffed at each other. Suddenly Boris attacked and grabbed him in the neck and wouldn't let go. Ron had to come between and jerk him away. We were flabbergasted! Luckily the other dog had long hair and didn't have anything. At that moment Boris seemed furious, but within minutes he was normal as always. Now we were really worried!
That Monday the vet discovered a "hot spot", a localized area of skin inflammation and infection, hidden in the thick fur in his neck. He said the attack most probably was caused because the other dog touched the hot spot. I hadn't seen that, but it seemed plausible. We got something to treat the spot and left.
In the last two weeks we took care of the spot, but it doesn't get better. He still is a bit apathetic and he lost weight he can't really miss. He got more incontinent. Yesterday morning when Ron got up, Boris was laying in his own urine. We went to bed late that night, so he had been out only a few hours before. We went to the vet yesterday and again this morning. We have collected some urine, blood has been taken and he has gotten Prednoral ( a shot at the vet's and pills for home). The urine and blood will be tested and we'll get the results tomorrow or Friday.
*fingers crossed*

Making herbal oils

In Lier several herbs were growing along the river Nete or nearby. I decided to take some St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Camomile (Matricaria chamomilla), because there was plenty of it. Early in the morning Ron and I made the beautiful walk along the river and picked the flowers. From each plant we only took a few; we didn't want to harm them! Unfortunately a week later the banks were mowed to the ground...
I didn't have jars with me, so I temporarily put the flowers in Belgian milkbottles. I added "arachideolie"(peanutoil?) to make macerates (explanation). At home I put them in pharmacist's jars. They are now upstairs, in the window-sill or outside. I think I'll filter and bottle the oil during the next full moon.

I'm back!

Foofur and Boris walking along the river Nete

We are back from a wonderful vacation in Lier, Belgium. We stayed on the private property of friends, a lovely cottage surrounded by nature in the middle of nowhere. The river Nete was around the corner. Foofur and Boris could come with us and they had the time of their lives. Outdoors all day, watching the beautiful trees, birds, waters, etc. The weather was very good, although towards the end it was a bit too hot for me. I've slept a lot, read a pile of books, walked with the dogs... We have enjoyed ourselves very much. We relaxed and charged up our batteries in a way only nature, peace and quiet can provide!