The Tali Alarm

 The routine has always been the same. We all get up, the troops go out, I prepare their breakfast and put the meals in their crates and everyone shove and push in to their own crates for their breakfasts. Similarly in the evening the meals are prepared at 4.30pm and placed in their crates for everyone to charge into their own safe space for their meal. So when you've done that for what seems like forever it gets very confusing for us and them to break the routine, but for Tali change it we've had too.
Tali needs her vivitonin a minimum of 30 mins before a meal. In the morning it's working quite well she gets her pill in a diced piece of chicken before she goes out and then comes back in for breakfast. Realising it's not there she hesitates outside her crate, but with a little convincing she goes in to wait for it. We have our breakfast, I get washed and dressed and Tali then has her breakfast with her second pill .. the steroid is strictly "Give with food!" Again the diced chicken breast comes in handy as I pop the pill in one of those and put it on top of her breakfast. It doesn't hit the sides! I buy the diced/cubed chicken in the freezer section in Tesco, they are just ideal for canine pills!
Yep the new routine is working well, but sadly not so in the evening. At 4.30pm Tali comes in with everyone to find one lump of cubed chicken in a bowl in her crate, it's enough to get her in but I have to shut the door quickly. I then go off to feed the cats and prepare our meal with the intention of feeding Tali just before we eat at around 5.15pm .. but I forget. I ask Steve to remind me, but he forgets. Poor Tali has now missed a couple of meals as I've discovered her "tea" in the cupboard when I've gone to prepare her supper. I can't leave the meal out anywhere as the cats will eat it, so I came up with a solution .. My phone now has an alarm set at 5.15pm called the "Tali Teatime Alarm!" Believe me it works, Tali would have missed several meals now without it or at least had them very later. After their meals the large group spend about an hour and a half in their crates, my fear of torsion is so great that I can not risk the youngsters running around after eating, and this is just one of the precautions we take to try and avoid it happening. Of course what ever we do, sometimes it just happens! After their meals Nico and Jezi on the other hand just chill in the living room with us, but no running around, rolling or play fighting is allowed!

Today Tali's steroid dose is being reduced again. From 50mg daily three weeks ago, today it has been cut down to 5mg, which will be her permanent daily dose. Long term they say steroids have a damaging affect on the organs. Kiri was on them for 10 years for her MMM, without them she would have died. In the early days we tried taking her off them twice, but the condition returned, so there was no choice! Kiri was almost 14 when we lost her, I can't imagine her 15mg a week did her much harm. (Though the 60mg she was on daily for the first few weeks sure did have some adverse affects and on week three the dose was halved) Anyway here's hoping this dose continues to give Tali the feel good factor she seems to currently have. I'm not cold when I say we don't have long term with Tali, I'm realistic. Shes twelve and a half now, and that pretty old for a GSD. She has already outlived 2 of her offspring and all of her siblings so quality of life and happiness on a daily/weekly basis is far more important than worrying about what "long term" affects this medication may have on her. It was great to see her enthusiasm in Cwm Dulyn yesterday, wonderful to see her still able to swim and there is no doubt the combination of medication is now giving her an enthusiasm for life that without them she may not have. Go Tali go ....