Happy Labor Day!

What a weekend so far! And we have one more day of fun left!

It finally warmed up enough to swim again. We've had an unusually cool summer.  Tallulah's paw still hasn't healed enough for her to swim. Boo. 

However, that just meant more swim time for Isabelle! Double boo!

This is one unhappy pug. She was so mad, she was shaking. She's not a fan of swimming, but that's the only exercise she can safely get. 

It makes her feel perkier later on and makes her tired enough to sleep soundly. 

After swimming came the nail trims. This is how Isabelle gets her nails did. She doesn't have the oomph to roll over and can't reach up enough to try to bite mom's hands. Although it is very undignified.

All was forgiven when mom brought the bones out. That blur is a frozen rib bone.

In really stupid mom news, she did a number on Tallulah's hurt paw. We went to the vet Saturday morning to make sure it was healing. It is, just slowly. The vet said that mom didn't have to do the gauze and tape bandage routine anymore. Just a bootie to keep Tallulah from licking it. 

Well, apparently two weeks of perfect bandages did not carry over to taping a simple bootie. 

 This is what happens when you wrap the tape too tight. 

A giant swollen paw. Very bad mom. 

Do not wrap the tape too tight. 

Fortunately, with some massage, the swelling started to come down. Although she *looks* like she's giving serious stink eye, she was actually dozing off while mom rubbed her paw. She is walking on the paw normally, and the swelling should be gone in a day or two.

 We are promised steak tomorrow, even though mom got hers tonight. 

After a lot of thinking, crying and praying, mom decided not to choose chemo for Isabelle. It just isn't the right choice for her. If everything went perfectly- the chemo didn't make her sick and it got all the cancer, there's a high likelihood of recurrence. And she will still have breathing issues. If the cancer didn't take her, pneumonia likely would. 

We are focusing on her comfort. We are using the Dog Cancer Survival Guide by Dr. Demian Dressler to guide her care. She's taking Apocaps, a supplement designed by him to help fight the cancer. He recommends other things like moderate exercise, sunshine, massage and foods like sardines and krill oil. 

We are seeing our holistic vet for some additional treatment like Traditional Chinese Medicine and possible acupuncture. She's experiencing some back end weakness which mom isn't sure is cancer, arthritis or age related. We are also seeing the regular vet because there may be another tumor near where the first one was. It isn't like the first one, but there's something there. 

We are trying to enjoy every day with her and make her as comfortable as possible. She's eating with gusto still, but then she's a pug. When it's time, Isabelle will go with a belly full of burger and laying on her favorite bed. As much as mom hates that she has to, she's mostly at peace with the fact that Isabelle will not be with us for long. 

Cancer truly, truly sucks. 

We hope that everyone is having a fantastic weekend full of grilled goodness, sunshine and snuggles. Take this time to really be with the ones you love.