All Walked

 The boys are still no problem with Sammi.

Mikey was possibly a little slower, but actually did OK and did/does not seem in pain

He also gulped his tea down! 

 My Lovely Ladies

The Sweethearts and their chaperone 

Deflated This Morning

The boy won't eat! We will just how to asses his mood and mobility over the day.
Following the vets advice we cut the gabapentin down to 5 a day (in 2 doses) on Monday and 4 yesterday. If I have any doubts then I will increase the dose back up today!

A Big Adventure

Yep, he's been out! A big day in a little man's life, 

and a nerve wracking one for me.

First Step Outside

 

Confident (Maybe overly so) happy young man

Almost Back On Track

Three walks - still on slow pace and today the ladies had to settle for less. They don't seem to believe me when I say I'm turning back by the gate. We'll get there girls!

For my last walk I was determined to get to Llyn Cop, but opted not to tell Steve where I was going or he'd have a panic. I told him when got back, predictably .. he was not amused! 

Seemed like a life time since we were last here. 

I was so thrilled to see all three running out there. 

Loki and Sammi messing about! 

The rules of the games don't change as Sammi stalks the boys who are in the water!

Two weeks ago we were "giving Mikey the Week end" and hoping against all odds that the medication would be able to control the horrendous pain he was suffering. Thankfully for a time there is great improvement and the boy even took himself off swimming today! A carefully taken photo to hide the horrible growth still shows how beautiful my boy really is. 

So all in all a pretty emotional walk, first time back here for me and Mikey was there at my side. Even a week ago I honestly wasn't expecting that!

Ole's Genes!

Sammi and Sister Stella 

Ole has now sired 18 puppies in three litters, to date there are no long coats. Is it just one of those things or does he not carry the gene? As I've said should we be lucky enough to get a litter it would be my preference to not have any long coats as it gives me more choice. I know I have someone who would prefer a L/C male, but first and foremost I'm breeding for myself and the the future of Blanik, and as I do not want to keep a long coat having them in my litters always restricts my choice of puppy.
With no long coated progeny so far Ole's owner has ordered a DNA testing kit to see if Ole does carry the gene, or not!  I don't know how long the results take to come through, but maybe before the "J" litter are born we may know whether long coats are possible in the litter or not .. because with "Blaniks" past history, if they are possible, they will be there!

Highlights Of The Day

 Jamie

 Finlay and Isla

 Isla

 Finlay and Junior 

Jezi and Nico

Jimmy Choo

I Bloody Did It

Three walks, OK three short and slow walks, but three walks! 

Jimmy Choo And The Boy Cats

 New Friends Jimmy and Junior - Let The Chaos Begin! 

 Don't Sit On Me Uncle Jamie!

Mr Oliver Blue - A Tad More Reserved! 

Blanik Frankie

It's dawned on me this evening that Tali is now the only one left of the "F" litter. 

We are currently blessed that she is pretty damn well really. As I've said she has no obvious mobility problems, to be honest she's the same as ever. Obviously we know things can change so quickly with an old dog, but Tali is full of mischief and fun, and now with poor hearing she's regularly caught doing things she shouldn't be doing! 

One thing is for sure, however awkward and defiant she is 

I'll continue to enjoy every minute of her naughtiness! 

I'm Back

Broadband is fixed after 8 days of "malu cachu" and chopping and changing from from Open Reach. The conclusion .. exactly what they said it was in the first place. The lightening had hit the box in the village and fried the connection! So why did it take so long to fix? We'll never know!
I had very sad news to come back too. Huggy from our "F" litter was given sleep this morning. Yes a good age, but little comfort when you loose your best friend. A huge thanks to Dave, Susie and family for giving him a wonderful life. Susie writes ... "We have just had to say a final goodbye to our gorgeous boy this morning. He still looked as handsome as ever & was alert right until he fell to sleep in our arms. Saying goodbye is the hardest part of owning pets. The house is so empty without him &my heart is breaking but i'm so glad he is not in pain anymore, it was awful watching our big boy go through such an horrendous illness. I hope you can run free again now Huggy love you so much & will miss you forever. Rest In Peace our beauty xxxxx"

It's A Secret

Sammi is in season.

Stud dog is confirmed, Idexx Kit is ordered, Blood test booked
Transport is organised. 

But please not for discussion on Facebook

Finlay

Grumpy Bum has been here for 9 years today - 

so Happy designated 13th Birthday Finlay.

Some Photos

My First Second Walk 

Little Jimmy 

My First Walk with Sammi and Loki last week.

Took The P/C to Mum and Dad's so I could just catch up on the show entries. 

Took the opportunity to post a few pics....  

A Couple Of Mikey Out And About 

Catch Up

20/7/16 - So lightening strikes for the third time.
 With a night storm forecast we thought we were on the ball, paying it safe when we disconnected the router and phone before going to bed .. Ha! You are not going to get us this time! At around 2 am the predicted storm arrived, the sky lit up for hours, and the rumbling shook our mountain home till well after 6am. Though it wakes you from your sleep, somehow your take comfort from the fact you’re indoors and you’re not scared. Though there was no wind to contend with the rain bounced off the flat bedroom roof as severe as any Winter storm, and we were quite taken aback to discover in the morning that a lot of the pebble dashing on the side and back of the cottage had literally been stripped off! Still our broadband was safe yeah? Wrong … Mother Nature wins again and the lightening hit the box in the village causing damage that can not be fixed in a day! Well maybe another company could but when Sky have to call in Open Reach you know it’s going to take time to get anything done!
 3g is really poor here but occasionally I can just about log into Facebook and see the odd post. I was amused to discover someone’s “working bred” GSD’s were terrified of the storm. I’m not amused at the dogs distress only at the fact the owner regularly comments that the “show line bred” GSD is not fit for function, unlike her “Working line” dogs. Well my show line dogs slept through the storm, they didn’t give a flying feck about it! In this case … Point made I think!
Mikey is doing well on the gabapentin. The vet treating him is on holiday and another vet decided to cut the dosage by half on the repeat prescription. I’m quite concerned but they assure me this is sufficient as a maintenance dose. He does look odd .. I’m not sure what I mean by that, but his expression is different, his eyes almost popping out of his head his pupils a little “starey.” Maybe he’s a bit “high?” Maybe I should try them???
 21/7/16 “Oh What I Have Done!”
 Sharon who owns Maya, Asha and Mikey’s sister, works at Ffor vets. Every year throughout “Kitten season” she takes in dozens of unwanted, farm or feral kittens. She domesticates them, nurses them to health when needed before finding homes for them. So many kittens in this area owe their life to her. A couple of weeks ago a litter of ferals where trapped in Wynnstay in Rhosfawr. Sadly up till now mum has avoided being caught. Ideally, she should be trapped neutered and released back in the same area. A feral cat after all is as close to a wild animal as you can get and don’t take kindly to incarceration. But the little people, caught early have a chance of making it as domestic pets. Though she is very careful Sharon’s kittens are usually rehomed quickly through her work place and this litter were no exception .. apart from one of them! Sharon has christened the little guy that was left “Jamie” and the first time I saw him was when we took Mikey in. (the day we both thought he may not come home!) Already an emotional wreck I cried as I cuddled him, well we couldn’t call him Jamie could we … there can be only one! Yeah, Jamie, Junior and … Jimmy I joked! Updates told me during the week that other kittens had come and gone, but little Jimmy was still there. I even mentioned him to someone who said they would love a kitten, but not that one! Hell why? What’s wrong with him? He’s not the most glamorous guy in the world but he’s not plain, actually he’s quite cute with bags of personality! My heart ached for him, and I started sharing his rehoming post on Facebook. 6 days later I was back at the vets collecting meds for Mikey .. yes Jimmy was still there. That night I couldn’t sleep, all I could think about was Mikey and Jimmy, Jimmy and Mikey .. and whether I could make it work for the little guy here .. or not! The conclusion was, well why not? I would be breaking my own 6 cat rule, but what the hell! Jimmy arrived at Blanik at 7 pm last night, and the name has stuck!

 Today I had my first walk. I had set my heart on Llyn Cop but with the cattle about I had to change my plans! Just a short walk for me, Sammi and Loki .. but the beginning of normality! Steve was like and over protective mother, but it was time for me to go, and go alone! I understand his concern, I’m well aware that I had brain surgery 16 days ago, but it’s time to start getting my life back now! I felt so free, walking on the purple hill, I do so love the heather … and my Angel and her Norse God brother where a treat to walk and super company!
 22/7/16
 Mikey is doing really well, the reduced dose of Gabapentin does not seem to have made any difference to his mobility. I was concerned at first, but now agree with the decision to reduce the dose. The original huge dose gave him the boost he needed, and that vet saw him whilst he was in tremendous pain. As I said yesterday, at one point we didn’t think we would be bringing him home that day. Anyway now a lesser maintenance dose is sufficient .. and Mikey is more himself. He has lost that strange expression, is eating well and today he came for his first walk since before my surgery. The lump is enormous.. horrible to look at but now that the pain is under control again it is not affecting him.
Jimmy is settling well, occasionally uncertain of himself but getting more affectionate and playful with every hour. As I held him in my arms earlier I cried. I reassured him, it wasn’t that nobody wanted him, it wasn’t like that at all. Someone somewhere had a plan, it was just fate that he should come here to be with us, he was the one chosen to come here when we needed someone to lift up our spirits! He was never left behind.. he was chosen!

23/7/16 Still no internet, now there’s a surprise!
It was only the beginning of the week when I giggled at a news report on how bad Open Reach’s customer service is. No other company could get away with their shoddy shitty service, and they should loose their contract to be in control of all broadband/internet and telephone resources, get a bit of competition and they may pull their socks up. They have treated us disgracefully on more than one occasion … awful company and I don’t care if their broadband is cheaper then can stick it where the sun don’t shine! I’ve managed two short walk today .. and I’m proud of myself. I also drove the van to the village to post a card yesterday, bloody great! Sadly I could not do three walks, but the others got a run in the field with Steve whilst I was out. I’ll try and mix and match for a week or so now, before maybe building up to the third walk next week end. Here’s hoping.
 Mikey is still doing well, I’m pleased to say he’s been quite a vocal knob today! His breathing isn’t perfect, but at least his pain management is working, and that’s all I ask. Quality pain free time whilst we still have him .. and also I’ve just measure the lump, it has not grown this week, so I guess another blessing! Maybe we can start to look further forward than day by day? Here’s hoping!
 24/7/16
Out of pure frustration Steve phoned Sky at 4pm yesterday, not being able to use his kindle fire, he’s now lost too. The report from Open Reach was that the fault was fixed … errr NO! I’m not just saying this, but Sky are so helpful, they would ring Open Reach and get back to us within 30 mins, they did! Though Open Reach’s online documents record the fault as fix, on speaking to someone Sky were told, there was more damage than expect, we have ordered parts .. now hang on isn’t that what they said on Wednesday? Well yes, almost word for word!
I will need to ring the vets tomorrow and order more gabapentin for Mikey .. Oh by the way, not that it matters, but they are not expensive. It was the antibiotics prescribed with them that were expensive, had I looked at the break down of the bill I would have known! I hope to discuss with the vet the chance of getting a longer prescription, maybe a months worth of tablets. I’m hoping he will agree and have faith in us to now monitor Mikey’s quality of life, we will not let him suffer, we would never “keep him going” for us. Quality of life and no pain is paramount. Sammi is still not in season, though the boys are still showing great interest. I’m quite disappointed as she’s now getting to a point that I didn’t want to be in. To be honest to keep away from the Xmas period she needs to come in season now, or within a week or so at least! I really need this, I need something to focus on and look forward too. Come on Sammi, we want Ole x Sammi babies, shit I already have a pet name for my little girl! (No I’m not saying)
 25/7/16
As we sat having breakfast this morning Jimmy was busy emptying the contents of his toy box all over the kitchen floor. Steve and I just watched .. mesmerised at his antics. He’s such a happy, busy little boy, who only seems to get demanding when he gets tired. Steve commented that the tabby smudge on Jimmy’s face made his face look dirty. I only see a tabby marking, Steve sees a dirty face. I wonder if others saw the same as Steve, I wonder if some people saw a dirty face and that was enough to sway them towards another kitten? People can be so fickle can’t they! Anyway to be honest, who really cares? Jimmy is part of our family … he even met a couple of the boys yesterday, and that went really well.
 Yesterday was the worse day for me so far without my broadband. I found it all so totally frustrating, everything I wanted to do involved the internet. I could see from the phone that there were photos coming in from the breed shows .. but I couldn’t open any of them. A friend posted pics of their pups … I couldn’t open them. Steve’s niece and family came to visit, she posted pics of her kids with Asha and Loki … I couldn’t open them! I go so frustrated that I gave myself a headache! The 2 dogs where great with the kids, and though the kids where not 100% confident they were respectful and did as they were told. The youngest was desperate to stroke a cat, but with only Tia in the room we convinced them it wasn’t a wise move! Right best get this vet rung and see where we go from here ….
Still no broadband but Linda has lent me her dongle. It will be Thursday before Open Reach make it to Fron!
Photo of a happy Mikey!

Youngsters Splashing About

 But The Young Man Is Refusing To Share The Pool

 And The Middle Aged Lady Keeps Emptying The Pool!

 Oh Loki!!!!

Something To Make Me Smile

The Angel up to her old tricks .. 

Steve says it's my fault for throwing them in the coal bucket and not the bin! 

I smacked her bottom twice for it! lol 

More Pills

Feeling optimistic I've just ordered a further weeks worth of gabapentin for Mikey ... expensive pills, but to be honest I don't care! They are definitely helping him and at the moment that's all that matters. They are buying us quality time so worth every penny.  

Mixed Emotions

The gabapentin and Preds (steroids) are definitely making a difference and giving Mikey pain relief. There is a difference in his demeanor and mobility today, he's even eaten his breakfast without much encouragement. Obviously he's no way near the bouncy bubbly boy we are use to, but I'm at least encouraged that he appears to be in less pain. But of course there has to be a huge spanner in the works, as we do over the week end I measured the blasted growth, it's now 12 x 12 inches, it was 8 x 9 last Saturday. I just can't fecking believe this ... With the rate of growth and pain management I can't see we have a future with Mikey beyond a couple of weeks now and it's fecking killing us!
I feel I have nothing else to write about, nothing else on my mind except Mikey right now. It's so hard to focus on anything else and hard to have any positive thoughts. My thoughts come to haunt me and I cry in bed at night, eventually I sleep .. I wake up, I remember and I cry again! Sometimes it's all so unfair!
There is greater interest in Sammi here. When she has a wee the boys stand behind her and then spend ages sniffing and licking the spot, so things are changing and she's definitely giving off a stronger scent. She is also scratching the spot with her back legs to enhance her smell ... so hopefully it won't be long now. I check her ever day .. so far her "twinkle" is normal, but the boys are really the best indication that change is a foot! Still I guess Sammi likes to keep us waiting!
The oldies are both ok  ... Finlay is the same, eats well, toddles about and poos where he likes! Tali is great, happy with her toys and her kids, even plays with Loki for short periods before telling him  "bog off, I'm bored with you now!"
Anyway whatever the future holds this is my place to confess, share a secret, shed a tear as I write and celebrate the good days. Writing helps me, and this is why Tali's Tails exists, to help me through the hard days and as a record of the beautiful and heartbreaking days of Blanik. I know lots of people read it, but never know who you are .. all I ask is that what's written on the blog, stays on the blog until I choose to share it on Facebook!