Missing our Leah

It's a year ago that Leah was diagnosed and then 3 1/2 weeks later she was gone, looking through some old photo's and found these lovely ones of her with Diva. Taken during her last three weeks, she was always the perfect mother to all the dogs, even those that weren't her off spring. The dogs still miss her mothering and we still miss her. Don't want to put a downer on the blog, but love these pictures of her, and it's good to remember such a wonderful girl and fantastic Mum. (Ignore the date on the photo, they were taken with a camera James had just got and hadn't realsised the date would show up. It was actually June 2008.

Leah

Ali, Andrew and James, I'm so sorry to read about Leah. It's an awful decision to have to make but I'm sure the right one. Best wishes to you all at this time.

Thank you to everyone

I can't tell you how much everyones kind words and support have helped us through the last month with our beloved Leah. I knew I had to let you all know the end had come but didn't feel I couldn't say much as it made it too real but and as I said your words have given Andrew, James and me a lot of comfort so thank you for that, it helped to know Leah, our party girl was loved by so many people and not just us and as it was said in a private message she touched a lot of people especially thoses who have her children and grandchildren. The end came all too quickly her upset tummy proved a bit of a decoy in the end she was unable to pass any urnine at all and the urge to go was so immense for her she just couldn't stop straining. Basically she had a full bladder and no way to empty it without sugery, there was a great risk she would rupture her bladder and no way the tumor could be removed it was not in her bladder but in her Urethra so it block it all. Andrew and I could see no point of putting through anymore as the outcome was inevitable and although it would of given her more time with us, that would of been selfish and we knew the best and kindest thing we could do for Leah was to let her go. It has broken our hearts to lose our very special girl so soon but we will always be glad she was so well right up to the last few hours. The club show provided Lea Lou with a lovely day out she so enjoyed her day out and all the special attention she recieved I will always remember her sat on the grass lapping it all up.

Our other dogs are quiet except for Diva who keeps wanting to play the fool and make us laugh, she is being silly with a purpose, she also astounded us by washing Prima's bits, something she was never keen to do with her own babies, does this mean she is going to take Leahs place as the Mum to all? I don't know but she is the last one we expected to do it.

Thanks again from us all and from a very sad and quiet Blitzan home.

Leah

Blitzan Rhapsody - Leah
16/11/1997 - 23/6/2008

Leah

Not a good couple of days for Leah, she started off being sick and then had raging Diarrhoea all night every 30 mins out to the loo. Went to the vets and have some Pro-Kolin for her, but it's a bit worrying as she doesn't have a temperature, none of the others have any tummy troubles so we're worried the cause maybe more sinister, keeping her warm and dry all weekend and with the weather we have got it's not proving so easy as she is still needing to go out so often,. Back to the vets Monday morning if not before.

On a brighter note glad I didn't go to Blackpool have heard from Christine only to hear she and everyone in fact got soaked to the skin, imagine that and then 7 + hours to get home, been there and done that, Judith and I got so wet one day we ended up driving home in our underwear!!!!
Well done to all the winners. Sorry I haven't done the pictures, will do tomorrow to be honest I have enjoyed a day away from the PC it's been great to just veg and play cards with James and Andrew and watch TV cuddling Leah and the family. Hope you are all avoiding the weather and having a great weekend, thinking of you Karen and Domino and family!!!
Karen A, tried to call you earlier today will try tomorrow if that's OK just wanted a quick word and NO it's not to pass Summer to you!!!!!!

Leah an Up Date

Back from the vets and bless her she was so good, just lay on her side in theater on her right side with me holding back leg up, Alex scanning her groin and another lovely vet stroking her head and also looking at the monitor.
The results are not good, there is no obvious problem with her bladder but there are signs of a tumor in her Vagina, there is a thickening in the wall of her Vagina and at one point it does look like it narrows through a Tumor not conclusive but to be sure she would need another anaesthetic which we don't think would be fair, so I must just enjoy her and make her life extra special the prognosis is not good, but we knew that, however it will now be even shorter. There is a chance she has a low grade vaginitus so antibiotics again and also a cartrophen injection not for her joints but because it will help line the bladder and may help with the irritation she has and the urge to wee all the time. Thanks for all the loving wishes for my girl, going to have quiet afternoon with her on the sofa now.

Back to earth with a bump

Leah has had her Urine test done and the results are not good, she has a lot of blood and white blood cells in her water and the Vet suspects another aggressive tumor, I am taking her intomorrow for another scan, but not sedation I am going through with her to help her lie still, I hope it will be good news but I don't think so, I will let you all know tomorrow. :-(

Leah

Oh Ali, I can't believe I just read that about Leah. I am so sorry, don't know what else to say. If there's anything I can do or if you want a chat or cup of tea (or stronger), you are welcome to call or come round here. Poor Leah!

Leah

We have had the worst possible news, heartbreaking, Leah has cancer and yes the tumor was removed, unfortunately it is in her Lymph glands and we have been told that's also the problem with her bladder, they have give us an optimistic time scale of 6 months. You can imagine how we are all feeling, wanted to let you all know as your were so kind and supportive of her when she had her operation, maybe a bit quiet for a day or two just need to get my head around it all. :-(

A visitor

Fantastic Sophie I shall look forward to seeing you all there.

Logi bought in a friend last night! totally unhurt as he pooped him down and the hedgehog ran off at a rate of knot's! I put him outside with some food but boy was he a big fella and so friendly, let me stroke his face and all!

Leah Update

I took her back to the vet and she is now sporting a body stocking and pressure bandage, it seems she has had a bleed under the skin which is now leading to huge bruising, it has spread again down both legs and up to her ribs, she really doesn't seem bothered by it at all, but I will be putting cold compresses on and I will keep you posted.

Leah

No not in pain seems fine and quite comfortable just a little worrying at the rate it is spreading will go to the vet in the morning to have it checked.

Ceilidh is a star bless her, pinched it for Elle's video blog, http://munstermagwhatsnew.blogspot.com/
She is such a sweetie and was so well behaved at the show that I am not surprised she was so good in London.

A spot of shade and Leahs spreading wound

The only spot of shade in the garden and this morning is was needed!
The actual wound is 2 inches the red is what is spreading she is ok in herself, bless her

Leah

Yes thank you to all your good wishes has helped her sail through, well almost!

Alex the vet, (who is superb) x rayed her lungs, Liver, kidneys and Bladder, she scanned her, did an endoscopy and thoroughly checked her all over and NO OTHER TUMORS present, hooray.
Her water work problems is probably just an old age thing so will sort that after her recovery from the mastectomy. She is tired and sore but quite bright all the same. I am so relieved she is home and fine, stitches out in 11 days.

The others are being so gentle with her and for the first time her daughters are washing her for change!

A couple things to say before Lea Lou and I have an early night, all new owners I no it is an overwhelming thing having a Monster pup (sorry Munster pup!!!! ;-) ) but you are all doing very well, Elspeth did a tremendous job with Ceilidh yesterday, her first Munster, her first Champ show, in fact any show and Ceilidh behaved beautifully I was very proud of them both.
Please remember they are all individuals ( I know you know this but just want to help you all)
and there is no manual, read books but only use as a rough guide and don't worry if none of it applies to your puppy, Munsterlanders are very different to most breeds in lots of way. The odd dogs I have had back are often from people who have read a book and tried to use it as a manual and then panic when it doesn't work the way the book says it should. Common sense and they are more like a very fast, very quick to mentally mature human child, they will try it on, they will push the boundaries and play one of you off against the other, BUT their whole world
revolves around Mum and Dad and they will love you so much.
Dogs need to be dominated and hate it if you let them become top dog it is too stressful for them.
Putting them onto their back and making them stay there until they relax is a great, kind way to teach them you are boss, you can even tickle their tummy so it's a nice thing so long as they relax, don't give up even if it takes 10 mins, (it wont honest) you must win if they battle but most just say oh OK I will roll over! As for the teething, (see earlier post) they do grow out of it and once the teething is over it stops.
They have come from a house with 8 siblings and 5 adults to a home on their own and they want to play with you. YOU need to tell them and show them what is acceptable in play and what is not, they will be full of energy so get them outside and play to wear them out everyday they will need more and more as their energy levels increase.
Watch how long you feed puppy food for if they end up very hyper cut it back to adult food as soon as you can, by 12 weeks old most of mine are on adult food and if yours are getting too hyper once their walks start try a small bag of junior and then onto Adult, lets just say a Munsterlander on high protein is like a child on coca cola and sweets and then shut in a small room with nothing to do - Murder.
Any help and advice you can post on the blog OR e mail me privately anytime.
Good Luck and enjoy your baby he will be a big boy soon enough!

x x x x from Leah to you all, she is the puppies Great Great Granny, My Truly litter's and Summers litter, Stella Great Granny, Mum to Duchess Diva, Zeta, Logi, Granny to Prima, Keisha, Duke, Summer, and sister to Zeb and Dylan, hope I haven't missed anyone if so tell me and I'm sorry very very tired now and off to bed to cuddle Leah!

I hope this rambling is coherent, I know what I am trying to say anyway! as I said sooooo tired.

Thanks to you all

We really appreciate the well wishes, this week will be a bit tough but Andrew is taking the time off to be with Leah so I will still come to Birmingham and I am off to the LMC AGM tomorrow and he is looking forward to a quiet day at home with Lea and the others, I have to say though I will take Logi with me as I don't trust him with Logi and Diva! is that awful? perhaps not any accidents we have had over the years is always 'cos he left a door open, never me and never James!

I will indeed call you Elspeth and Karen, probably on Monday now, thanks for the offer x x

Hope you all have a great day and lovely to have you with us Andrew, Caroline and Maud and by special boy Raich, if he had been Black and white I would of fought you for him! So gorgeous and so cuddly. Love the pictures everyone and thanks again.

Leah

I have been thinking about Leah all day wondering how she got on at the vet. Sorry they confirm the lump and that she has to go through x-rays and an operation. Poor Leah and poor you having to go through all the worry. You are welcome to call for a chat if you want to. I hope she gets through it all OK and gets back to her usual self.

Leah

Well I have been to the vets with Le-lou and they were really lovely at the practise a total opposite to Logi's episode, Thanks Karen for the suggestion, even though the Vet didn't know what breed she was, the Vet did admit that to me which I thought was good at least she was honest. A lady Vet who made me seem old as she herself looked very young.
Anyway Leah had a full MOT and yes the Lump is a mammary tumor, she also has a waterworks problem which we hope is an infection but could be stones in the bladder or another growth.
The plan of action is a strong course of antibiotics and then X-rays of the bladder on Friday followed by a mastectomy, if she is X rayed first they will know if she need further investigation into her bladder. Bless she was so good, provided a urine sample on cue, had a blood test and wagged her tail the whole time, I shall be glad when Friday is over with.
The only other dog I have had with this was my old Collie Allea dog, she had a mastectomy when she was 8 and then developed malignant lymphomas at age 10 we lost her at 10 1/2, so I am afraid I am in a bit of panic mode at the moment, having lost Solo, Leah's litter brother at 8 years old you tend to panic. She is such a sweetie and mentally still young can't bear the thought of losing her.
Thanks for all the lovely wishes you sent her way, I did read them to her and she wagged her 1/2 a tail like mad! Thanks everyone x x x

Bad news

I have some bad news and am dreading going to the Vets, I have found a lump in Leah's Mammary gland, she has been having some waterworks problems but earlier on I found rather a large lump in the bottom of her mammary gland so we're off to the Vets, I am dreading what he will say to me, needless to say I am not going back to the same vets I used with Logi, so have to trust a new one, Karen I am going with the one you suggested.
Wish us luck :-(