Bad and Good News

Before I start on the blog, I believed I finished replying to the messages that collected here during our hiatus.

I'm not sure if people want the bad news first or the good news, but I'll give the bad news first since the good news first would start to confuse people.

Bad news: Mika and Nami got in a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE fight a couple of Fridays ago. Mika was hurt pretty bad, and Nami got away with a couple of scratches. I'll upload pictures once my internet is fully up (currently using public wifi somewhere right now). For those of you who don't like to see pictures of stitches or hurt animals, I will post a new post saying pictures are up and then you won't have to scroll down to see them. If you don't like reading about that stuff, you might want to skip to the next paragraph. Anyways, Mika was shaved down so he looks like he's wearing a vest, a majority of his legs are shaved (3/4, actually a little less because not all of his front left is shaved), his front right leg was wrapped because there was so much damage (and we didn't find out until we took him to the regular vet, we went to the emergency vet, that he had two drainage points in the wrap), he had about 8 stitches in his back right leg with two drain points, his tail looks like a poodle's tail but with stitches where the fur was shaved off, one of his teeth had been knocked out but the root was retained, and his tongue was split. Oh, and he is wearing a cone (earning the nickname "flashlight dog," taken from jolly Ollie the golden retriever's blog, but Mika being Mika still came to that name... he comes to any name). When Mika was at the emergency vet, he had to stay overnight because his blood pressure was low and he was given super strong sedatives and pain killers to keep him from screaming in pain every time he moved. He is currently on tramadol, anti-biotics, and the vet just added an anti-inflammatory after the first visit.



After the first visit with the vet, Mika had to be sedated because he wouldn't let the vets change his bandage (but I don't blame him because he was hurt pretty bad), we had a talk with the vet and she recommended that we found a new home for Nami to prevent future fights that go this bad from happening. I didn't get to see the wounds under the bandage (and actually won't until tonight), but the vet said that the wounds Nami inflicted on Mika looked like she had an intent to do a lot of harm. Mika's daddy and I talked it over at night. I had initially thought of asking Hana's mom to see if she was ready to take in another shiba, but I was hesitant to ask because it hasn't been a very long time since she lost Hana. Mika's daddy called the lady we rescued Nami from and told her what happened. She gave us the choice to do what we wanted, knowing that we would find a fitting owner and home for Nami and we know Nami best, so we knew what would work and what wouldn't. When I left Mika at the emergency vet overnight, I called a couple of people to tell them what happened, Hana's mom was one of them.

Good news time: I had been talking to Hana's mom frequently since this incident happened, and one day, I asked her if she would be willing to take in Nami. She said she would talk to her husband and lo and behold a few days later, they are at our house and her husband is meeting Nami. Nami was shy at first, but once she got to know him, she took to him like a duck to water. She snuggled up to him, tried to drink his energy drink, tried to sucker him into letting her drink the energy drink, played with him. She totally enjoyed herself with him. On Saturday, Mika's daddy and I brought Nami to her new house and family, and to check it out to make sure it had been "Nami-proofed (she's still a puppy)."

So, now Mika is recovering, Nami is having fun with her new family (that we will see often because we're in the same meetup group), all is good. I'm just sad that it didn't work out with Mika and Nami, but Nami is with a really good friend of ours, who we know will be taking great care of her (she already gets to sleep in the bed with them). So far, it looks like Nami prefers being the only dog in the house. Best of luck to Nami (for not getting into too much trouble, and for getting use to how things work at the new house), and I wish the Hana's family good health and hopes she doesn't terrorize you two too much. =P (Hey, there needs to be some kind of action and excitement!)

Snuggle Bunny Hana has crossed the Rainbow Bridge

I was just informed a few minutes ago, that our beloved Hana, the cream shiba inu who loved to just curl up in your lap and snuggle with you, has passed away. For the past few weeks, she had been fighting a bacterial infection in her liver. Very soon after the infection started, Hana's mom brought Hana to the vet where they gave her medicine. Not having much luck with the medicine, Hana's mom rushed Hana back to the vet where they kept her under observation. Today, Hana's mom was supposed to find out if Hana was able to come back home to her loving family. When Hana's mom visited Hana in the morning, she seemed fine, but still on fluids. In the afternoon, she still seemed fine, but again still on fluids. By this time, the vet had started to suspect that it wasn't just a bacterial infection anymore, and suggested that a biopsy and ultrasound be done to find out what it was. Unfortunately, those two procedures were way more than what many of us can afford in this economy, so the vet suggested that they try prednisone for now. Hana's mom got a call later in the afternoon from the vet saying that Hana's heart was slowing down and they were administering CPR. About ten minutes later, the vet called Hana's mom back and told her that Hana's heart had given out and she had crossed the rainbow bridge.

Let us take some time to remember the beautiful cream shiba that loved to curl up in your lap to nap. The same one who was completely content with snuggling with you instead of chasing after those squirrels. May you rest in peace, Hana. We love you and will truly miss you.

Delayed responses

Aloha everyone!

It's Mika and Nami's mommy here. I'm sorry for not responding to comments. I've actually been really busy. I have all the comments from the blog tagged (in my email) and I will respond to them in September after I get all my moving stuff done. Don't worry, the pups still live in the same place. I have my own apartment for school (not where pups live), well had. My room mate and I terminated our lease early because we got nickeled and dimed and felt that the place we were living at wasn't worth that much. Anyways, I'm looking for another apartment, and will be moving right after I sign the lease. I figured sometime in September, I'll be settled in at the apartment, and at the house where the pups live and I'll have more time to respond. (Kind of confusing, I know, but the days I have school, I'd rather not have a long commute. The days I don't have class I'm with the pups and letting them distract me from my work. =P ) Again, I apologize for not responding, but I promise I will!!

Shiba Pillow, well Dog pillows

Hi all, Mika and Nami's mommy here. I was browsing Toxel.com today when I stumbled upon a site that makes pillows with dogs on them. Cartoon dogs, that is. These pictures were taken from the PillowPillowPillow site (I'll provide the link real soon.) and even though the description on their website is "akita," it's a shiba to me. Before I forget, here is a link to their site (pillows are under "See our products"): PillowPillowPillow. I know Mika and Nami have some husky friends out there, so here is their husky pillow: If I'm not mistaken, there is a spaniel pup too that likes to drop in now and then, so this is for you: Anyways, before I make this post really long with pictures of every dog pillow they have, go visit the site! You can purchase the pillows from their website or at one of the stores they have listed in "Where to buy."

Note: These pictures do not belong to me, they were taken from the PillowPillowPillow site.

Happy Birthday, Mika!

It's Mika's birthday today!!!!!!

Happy, happy, birthday. Today's your special day! You're one year older than you were yesterday! Hey!

Sorry, we didn't have a big party or anything for Mika. We did spend some nice quality time with him (and he was being a snuggle bunny. Yeah, odd for a shiba to be a snuggle bunny, right?).

Well, happy 6th birthday, Mika!

Something special might be done on the weekend. (Shhh.. don't tell him)

(Sorry, no pictures, we can't find the camera charger.)

-Mika and Nami's parents

Escondido Street Faire Update

Here are the things we picked up at the street faire about a month ago. Mommy finally took pictures of the stuff.
-Mika and Nami

For those of you who want one of these, contact Jim swenson at noahsanimals@sbcglobal.net. The site doesn't have much stuff in it, actually, no shiba stuff at all, but there are other ways to contact him on the site: www.noahsanimals.com.

Surprise!

Mommy and daddy didn't tell us that we were going to have a friend over today! We had a shiba visit us! It's the same shiba that came with [Mika] to UTC mall: HANA!
-Mika and Nami

I'm glad that daddy showered me off last night after I went for a swim in the pool. It was great to see Hana again! She's so calm and mellow!
-Mika

Too calm and mellow. I tried to get her to play with me, but she wouldn't. =( It was great to see her again.
-Nami

Hana learned how to use the dog door today, all on her own! She watched Nami run in and out of the dog door a couple of times, then she explored it and hopped in. Looks like Hana's mom doesn't have to teach Hana how to use the dog door. =) It looks like Hana had a fun time today exploring the house. She didn't make it up the hill to explore, but she had fun exploring close to the house and inside of the house. Well, here is a picture of Hana right before they had to go: -Mika and Nami's mommy

All is Well!

Mommy's operation thing went well. She's in some pain, but not too much. We're being good so far.
-Mika and Nami

I know that mommy's not feeling well, so I'm being on my best behavior, unlike my *cough* little sis *cough*. (Whispers: I tried to visit mommy upstairs last night, but daddy told me "off" and I knew I had to get off the stairs as we're not allowed on or up the stairs. Most of the bottom floor of the house, and all of the backyard is ours, so I guess I can't complain not getting the upstairs of the house.)
-Mika

Hey, big bro, if mommy wasn't feeling all that well, she wouldn't be walking around so much and bending down to feed us and pet us and stuff like that!
-Nami

Laparoscopy

Mommy goes in for her laparoscopy tomorrow... Let the mischief begin!!!!!
-Mika and Nami 0=)

Thunder and Lightning

Just wanted to post that we have no problems with thunder and lightning. We just curl up and nap through it. Hail on the other hand causes [Nami] to bark which causes [Mika] to join in and help her protect the house. We like to go out in the rain and play, thanks to the doggy door, we can run out and play in the rain, then come back when it stops raining and shake inside of the house. =D (M&N's mommy: I guess naming Nami after water helped in that she's not afraid of baths and rain. Nami's name means wave in Japanese. Mika, we've had no problems with water, he loves it. I think Nami is more of the alert dog, she'll bark when someone is at the door, or we're all in an area and the wind blows the door shut and not to mention the hail.)
P.S. The pictures from today's post were not taken by any of us. It was a Google image search. We didn't see the full lighting streak, just a flash of light, and the hail melted as it touched the ground. You could see the little hail drops for a couple of seconds, then it was gone.