Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As I'm writing this blog, there is a delightful turkey aroma in our home. Our little munchkins have been sticking close to the kitchen, waiting patiently for a little piece of our twenty pounder tonight. Yep, it's a big one, lots of leftovers on the way. I will also freeze some for Cooper & Spicy and make a stock with the carcass.

All is good with us although this past week was somewhat disturbing. On Monday, Cooper developed a sudden jaw issue after biting on a small piece of dehydrated chicken, which he ended up not eating. We kept an eye on him for the rest of the day and we could tell that he wasn't himself.  It was timely that we already had an early Tuesday morning appointment with the internal medicine specialist, Dr. Javard. Mr. Cooper wouldn't let him or anyone open his mouth to examine the jaw so he was slightly sedated but even that didn't do the trick.  We then opted to get a 2M antibody test to determine if the cause could be masticatory muscle myositis (MMM). This test takes up to 14 days to process. 

Having said all this, Cooper's jaw has improved. He now allows Russell to brush his teeth. He does an almost full yawn, his bark is virtually back to normal, all those littles things that are different when a mouth is not fully opened. He is not 100% back to normal though. We still soften his kibbles. He will pick up his enzymatic chew but he knows better than to chew it. Our local vet is in the loop. We spoke to Dr. Javard again on Friday as we got the results of Coop's geriatric blood panel, all good on that front, which is excellent news. Given the jaw improvement, Dr. J is cautiously optimistic that MMM is not the cause. Could be a simple tooth trauma. Unless things go backwards, we will wait for the test results then get a full dental x-ray done under general anesthesia in the next two weeks or so. Just another day in the life of our pooches. Oh, and the 3 pm crunchy treat hasn't been so crunchy for Cooper but I came up with a solution 😍Miss Spicy gets her crunchy though 😋

Other than dealing with Cooper, we didn't do much. We stayed home most of the week as we were either waiting for a phone call from our vets or keeping an eye on the Coop. Yesterday, we did go for a walk though. It was sunny and the air was crisp. This morning, Russell gave both a much needed bath. The rest of the day will be spent just lounging around, waiting for dinner...and bonus, the sun is shining now!

That's my blog for today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. As for us, we are thankful for what we have and appreciate each day to its fullest. Have a great week everyone!

Our Thanksgiving floral center piece, wonderful
colors and textures.

Cooper and Spicy and the glory of Fall

Two munchkins just hanging on the couch.

Cooper has his usual big smile while 
taking a nap post Dr. J's visit.

These two always enjoy their deck time on a
warm, sunny Fall day.