Update, July 30, 2010

Things are slowly getting back to normal.

Haley is most of the way out of season, and Elvis is experiencing much less attachment to her than he has in the past couple of weeks. He's still interested in where she is, but yesterday and today has seen him willing to be in separate rooms. That's something he's not been happy with for the last two weeks...including the night time.

Currently, we've been moving his crate into our bedroom at night and placing it so it faces Haley. That seems to satisfy his need for keeping tabs on her. That also means that I get to sleep in bed rather than on the sofa...something that was about to put me in traction earlier in the week.

Because he's slowed down on eating, I've pulled him off his liquid Lasix and Robitussin DM and am giving him Lasix and Guafenesin pills. Hopefully I can switch back to the liquid tomorrow or Sunday (not only because it's easier, but also because I've only got three or four Lasix pills).

His coughing that's been triggered by separation anxiety is almost all gone, and his Valium dosage is down to 1/4 tablet right before bed. I'm hoping that by tomorrow night, neither the Valium nor the Torb will be needed. We're also going to try separating their crates some so he begins to get used to being apart from Haley. With any luck, his crate will be back in the den early next week.

Which brings me back to Haley and the other reason the blog hasn't been updated so regularly.

We had to take Haley in to see Dr. Walthall for some facial swelling. It's been an on/off thing over the last year or so, but it's been "on" for the last week. Looking at her, Dr. Walthall thinks it's a back tooth. Like me, she saw a tooth that was healthy in the mouth, but the facial swelling and the fact that it began leaking blood Tuesday night just screamed infection.

So for the next couple of weeks, Haley is on antibiotics, and once the infection is cleared up, she'll be scheduled for a CBC and dental. I hate the idea of putting her under anesthesia at her age (14 1/2), but there's nothing for it. If the tooth comes out easily, and there's some question about that since it appears to be firmly attached, Haley will also be spayed. I should have done that years ago, but the money situation precluded it, and when I did have the money, well, she had gotten older and I don't put old dogs under unless there's good reason.

By the time Haley is scheduled for surgery, Elvis's concerns for her should be well passed. Which is good because this has been very hard on him, and with his medical problems, that's not good.

If everything continues to go well with him, I will probably not update the blog again until Sunday or Monday.