Sadness - The weather matches our mood.......

January 20th - 31st

The majority of this time has been focusing on CoCo.  The days before the 24th we were trying to decide what to do and the days since we have been trying to get over our loss.  We are getting there.

She had been getting more and more miserable.  The growth on her foot was not getting any better and she developed a cough and was choking and being sick.  She was still eating but not as much and couldn't keep her medication down. She looked so sad but would still wag her tail occasionally and go for short walks. Since we took her to the vets in Pensacola at the beginning of the month we have discussed what we should do, what would be best for her.  Often not coming to a decision.

When she had her surgery on her ear in 2011 she hated having the cone on her head and walking into things.  The surgery worked for about 3 months and then she was having problems again but we didn't want her to have surgery again so we gave her medication.  Since we left Las Vegas, she didn't seem to have such problems with her ears as we drove east.  We were excited about this as probably the allergies were not so bad.  Then she got this growth and has been getting sicker.

The vet here in Tampa said he would have to operate on the growth to remove it, she would have to have a cone on.  He would start treatment on the cough/sickness with the easiest option and if that didn't work it would be a matter of working through treatments until hopefully one worked.  It could have been the first one or it could have been several down the road or nothing might have worked.  In the meantime, CoCo would have the operation and would be having to cope with the cone.  We just couldn't bear to see her suffer through all the treatment.  

We do not feel that the motorhome is the best place for a larger size dog, although she had some good times since we have been on the road, her allergies going away and her runs on the beach.  It was still a transition for her from a large yard and 2200 square feet of home to run around in, to a 380 sq. ft space and walks three times a day.  

When we came home the first time and she was not there to greet us, we both just looked at each other and knew what the other was feeling.  It was so strange.  She isn't there to wake us up in the morning for her walk.  The first couple of days it seemed that all the dogs around us here were barking a lot.  Maybe they missed her too!!  We have been going to bed even later, sometimes not until 1am but not getting up until 10am.  

Many thanks to everyone for your good wishes, it means a lot to know people care.

The weather has been awful, overcast and raining.  Seems to match our mood.  

We had to report the people parked opposite us as they left their dog outside all day.  She was a good dog and didn't cause any trouble but one day it was raining hard and was cold.  She was standing at their door and looking in the window but they ignored her and left her to lay in the wet.  There was nowhere for her to shelter. It really upset Bryan and the park rules say that animals should not be left outside alone so he mentioned it to the office.  They obviously said something to them because not long after the dog was inside.  Thank goodness, poor thing.

We are fortunate though, our weather isn't as bad as a lot of the rest of the country.  We haven't got to freezing and there is no snow or ice.  Even Pensacola, where we were at until the beginning of the month, has had snow and ice.

We have been out to go shopping.  Bryan has his new phone and it seems to be working ok.  We are looking for new blinds for the window in the living room.  The ones we have got have ripped and do not work any longer, so we have to keep them closed.  It makes it dark inside. We have seen some on sale but we can't find two sets of the ones we need.  We are in the process of going to all the Lowes in the area to see if we can find them.  If not, we have seen some at Home Depot but they are not on sale.

We did get some great news.  Mum's tests came back negative, so she can now focus on getting her strength and appetite back. 

The weather is due to get better so we will venture out again on some day trips and get ready for our trip to the Daytona 500.