The Bella Report

One week after radiation Bella is doing so well!

She is still limping a little bit, but it is truly incredible to see how much the radiation therapy has helped to ease her pain. I have to admit I was somewhat suspect of the procedure. But really, there is a noticeable difference.  I am very grateful to  Dr. Lyons at The Veterinary Cancer Group.

Bella

Today Bella insisted on walking all the way around the block, tried to chase some pigeons and somehow convinced my boyfriend to feed her an extra meal.  Bella was already a master at giving that puppy dog look. But now she’s upped her manipulation game; adding to her repertoire with a new look that somehow screams, but Mom,  I have cancer… you can’t not give me that treat, that spot on the couch, that spot on the bed, that last piece of your bagel, a little bite of your chicken, and so on and so and so on. But of course, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

B&B

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive.  Now go on and spoil your dog  like I spoil Bella. That way I won’t feel as though I’m the biggest pushover dog mom I know. 

P.S. Isnt’ this the greatest picture of me and girl? My friend Kristin Chalmers took it. She lives in Boston now and she is an amazing photographer. So if you live there check her out at http://www.kristinchalmersphoto.com/.

Have a Great Weekend! 

B&B

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canine cancer sucks

this week has not been all that fun. an mri on monday showed that bella has a tumor in a hard to reach spot under her armpit. a biopsy and ultra-sound done on wednesday confirms that it’s cancer; either a spindle cell tumor or an osteosarcoma. both are aggressive types of cancer.

i have started, stopped, erased  and restarted this post at least 6 times. how do you even write about this? but when you have a blog about dogs, how do you not write about it???

ughhh. i love her. i love her more than i can easily communicate. with absolute certainty i can say she has made me the person i am today- literally. without her i wouldn’t have gotten into rescue; wouldn’t have written a book- i wouldn’t have had something to write about. she is my rock. 

i am grateful for the time we have had together,  and while i don’t want it to be one day shorter than it can be, i promise not to be selfish. it makes me crazy when i see people putting their dogs through hellish cancer treatments so that they live just a few more weeks. i’m a big believer in leaving the party when everyone’s having a good time.

i mean i understand the inclination to try every avenue of treatment completely. of course you want to be with your dog forever. but it can’t happen. and moreover as opposed to treating humans with disease, dogs can’t communicate in the same way. i can’t exactly ask bella what she wants. so then it’s back to me making decision for her which can be confusing. am i making the right decisions. is this for her or for me or…or…or.  UGH!

so before i spin out of control, i come back to this. i love her and i know her. we have had a good ride and hopefully i’ll know when it’s time to let go. i won’t be happy about it, but it will be right. 

in the meantime send your good thoughts to bella for her days to be happy and as pain free as possible. 

hugs

bella & betsy

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bella & pet insurance

bella has been a card carrying subscriber of petcare insurance since 2003. and thank god. soon after purchasing the policy bella burst her spleen and had to have emergency surgery to save her life. the costs came to well over $2300 dollars. within a few weeks of submitting the claim petcare wrote me a check for $1700 dollars !!! that was 70% of the cost, minus my deductible.  how awesome is that?

within the last week, we have found what appears to be cancer in my sweet bella. it’s probably a bone tumor; not easy kind of cancer to deal with.  i made the call today to petcare. and to be honest i was/is/am really freaked. will they cover this? i mean i knew they covered her last time, but i’ve heard all the horror stories of both human and pet insurance companies not covering on technicalities.
while i of course don’t have anything in writing, i did have an incredibly reassuring phone conversation with the petcare representative. his name was gabriel and he was great. i have some tough decisions ahead on how to best chart the course of dealing with cancer. but at least with insurance i have a little less stress about how i’m going to pay for the decisions i make.

for more information on pet insurance click here for a great article in the houston chronicle about pet insurance!

think good thoughts for my bella girl!

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Coyote Alert in Los Angeles

With the unseasonably warm temperatures and near drought conditions it appears we Angelenos have another thing to worry about– other than those conditions scream earthquake weather of course. In fact I’m talking about coyotes. Many of the hillsides are bare and the coyotes are hungry which brings them further into populated areas than one might imagine they’d venture. Last week I saw one running down the middle of the street at Doheny & Third; that’s near the Beverly Center for you out-of-towners. Of course I stopped because I thought it was a dog and I tried to catch it. 

Then, this week a friend from high school, contacted me asking that I spread the word through my network that her dogs were attacked last night in Encino. These dogs were inside a fenced backyard (8 feet high by the way) in an area (North of the Boulevard) where residents had rarely seen coyotes. 

So, with the weather how it’s been and really just because we cohabitate with these animals here is a link to the County of Los Angele’s Coyotes Page. It’s got some really great information; particularly on how you can Protect Your Pets.  (WARNING: You may want to turn down the sound on your computer before clicking, the site features the sound of coyotes barking and howling)

Even if you have bigger dogs, live away from the foothills, or think this won’t happen to your dog, please do educate yourself about the danger of coyotes and remind your friends and neighbors to do the same.

xoxo

betsy & bella

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