The Dog Days of Summer 2020 (August)

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

As Covid and The Dog Days of Summer continue, if we can’t dock dive together, we will 5K together (in spirit) …to raise money for animals in need!

The Liver Killers joined forces with a few other dock diving teams to participate in a 3-part Dog Days of Summer virtual 5k series (click HERE to see June’s installment and click HERE to see July’s installment) hosted by j&a racing and presented by Banfield Pet Hospital .

During the August installment of this series, Margarita and I walked Freedom Park to cover our 3.1 miles.

There are 3 medals: June (Retrievers), July (Bulldogs), August (Rescue dogs) that when fitted together form a dog bone!

A portion of our registration fee each month is donated to the Virginia Beach SPCA , who believes that the animal-human bond creates healthier, happier, more connected communities. VBSPCA delivers their compassion by providing pet adoption and sheltering, low-cost public veterinary clinic services, humane education programs, wildlife triage and canine pet training.

Here’s to hoping that every dog finds their forever running/walking partner!

Whiskey Run

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

National Dog Day is a very special day for us at Cello’s Corner as it is also the 2nd anniversary of Whiskey’s Gotcha Day! We adopted little Wish the Fish from Pointer Rescue, Organization during our 2018 visit to Canada for a dock diving event. This weekend would have been our annual trip back to Canada. This year we cannot make that trip because of Covid

In honor of Whiskey’s Gotcha Day, we did a Whiskey Run 5K together. We walked the 3.1 miles in 2 parts because of Whiskey’s bad shoulder.

It may be the slowest 5K in history, but we had a blast and enjoyed every second!

A portion of our race fee was donated to the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation .

Day of the Dog 5K

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

Margarita celebrated National Dog Day with her cousin, James, by completing a 5K together!

15% of their registration fee for Day of the Dog 5k was donated to Freedom Service Dogs , who rescue dogs and custom-train them for veterans with PTS, and for people with disabilities like autism, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injuries.

The Scavenger’s Hunt🦝

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

This may be the most fun I’ve ever had doing while exercising!

This event challenged us to collect points for the distance we walked every day in the month of August. The farther you walked (or ran), the more points you earned. We walked a total of 69.9 miles together for the month…But that wasn’t all! Each weekend in August, The Troubled Raccoon sent out the challenges for the following week and we had until midnight on Sunday to complete them!

A portion of each registration was donated to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center to support its mission to save and protect Long Island’s native wildlife.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Dog Days of Summer: Hosted by Medal Dash

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Cello's Corner | 1 Comment

Another 5K in the books! Margarita completed the Dog Days of Summer hosted by Medal Dash Virtual Runs .

A part of this virtual event took us through E. Earle Jackson Memorial Park.

Within this park is a canoe that is wrapped around a tree. This canoe is from the flood of 2004 … when several dams broke and the lake water was this high running through the town, flooding houses, knocking buildings off foundations, and causing other severe damage.

A portion of all proceeds from this event went to K9s For Warriors , an organization that provides service dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and more.

August 2020: Cardiology Check-Up

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

Cardiovascular Examination:
- Auscultation: Grade 2/6 left apical blowing quality murmur. Heart rate 100bpm and regular and occasionally with respiratory variation. Lungs clear.
- Thrill: none
- PMI: left
- Femoral Artery: good quality bilaterally
- Other Physical Exam Findings: Bright, alert, and responsive, friendly and relaxed
Release Notes:
- Limoncello’s heart disease is stable on the current supplements. There has been a slight increase in the heart
  size from July 2019 and a trivial amount of mitral valve insufficiency as noted previously.
- Supplements will continue with no changes and tracking the sleeping respiratory rates (SRRs) will also continue.

Limoncello will see Dr. Bossbaly again in May 2021

Echocardiogram and Ultrasound:

Paws FUR Pink 5K

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Cello's Corner | 1 Comment

Never underestimate the healing power of dogs (especially now during Covid times)!

Rita and I participated in the Paws FUR Pink 5K while raising funds to beat human and canine cancer! A portion of our race fee went to Suzan G Komen, Keep A Breast, Be Well, and canine cancer education research at Clear!

I Run for Margaritas

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Cello's Corner | 1 Comment

You know what really helps with running? Water… Especially when it’s frozen into ice cubes, and blended with lime and tequila!

This week Margarita also completed the “I Run 4 Margaritas” Virtual 5K! This Challenge was hosted by I Run 4 Movement and supports Stand Up To Cancer in an effort to help SU2C get one step closer to its mission of making everyone diagnosed with cancer a survivor… just like our very own Señorita Margarita! 💖🐶

2020 Challenge

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Cello's Corner | 1 Comment

2020 has been one of the most challenging years ever. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has been difficult for everyone to handle. To combat the stress Rita and I hit the pavement in support of COVID-19 relief. This was a challenge hosted by Will Run For Bling and Charity to cover 20 miles between July 26th to August 8th.

A percentage of our registration fees went to the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC) . The mission of the NAFC is to ensure that the medically underserved have access to affordable quality health care especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3 Years Old

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

Breakfast: bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel with a side of hash browns

Porter’s Epilepsy Episodes

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

This is a log of Porter’s Seizure activity to provide a summary of how often his seizures occur, what types of seizures he has, and how long it has been since the last seizure.

Every dog’s seizures may look different, especially depending on what kind of seizure your dog has. Porter has had Grand Mal, clustering Grand Mal, Focal, and clustering Focal seizures. During Porter’s Grand Mal seizures, he has violent convulsions, and often foams at the mouth, clenches his jaw down on an object, urinates, defecates, or vomits. He is unaware during his this type of seizure. During Porter’s Focal seizures, he is very much aware, and looks to us for comfort. Porter’s Focal seizures cause him to have facial and ear twitching, full body twitching, and balance issues during or immediately following the Focal seizure.

I highly recommend using a camera that offers movement/sound notifications and constant record/play-back to monitor your dog while you are not home. There are many brands of cameras out there. However, after researching, we chose to use Google Nest cameras in our home and on our camper. This will allow you to get notified that your dog may be in danger, and also will enable you to save clips of your dog’s seizures to share with your dog’s medical team. I also encourage others to video the seizure when safely possible if the seizure happens while you are home so that you have actual footage to share with your dog’s doctors.

Seizure Log:

1/2/2019
- 3 am / Grand Mal
- 1st observed seizure
- CBC
- Full Chem
- Urinalysis
- fecal
2/26/2019 (55 days from last seizure)
- 1:50 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 5:10 am / Grand Mal /50 seconds
  - 3 hours, 20 minutes from last seizure
- Hospitalization required
- started medication: Levetiracetam (Keppra)
5/8/2019 (71 days from last seizure)
- 1:48 am / Grand Mal / 5 minutes
- 1:57am / Grand Mal / 1 minute, 45 seconds
- Hospitalization required
- Porter was prescribed Midazolam injections for us to have on-hand for emergencies when Porter cannot come out of seizures on his own
5/26/2019 (18 days from last seizure)
- 2:30 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
- Medicine Change: Added Zonisamide
6/15/2019 (20 days from last seizure)
- 9:55 am / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
7/9/2019 (24 days from last seizure)
- 2:15am / Grand Mal / 45 seconds
- 2:16 am / 30 seconds
- 2:17 am / 45 seconds
- Medication change: Weaned off of Keppra / Started Phenobarbital
7/28/2019 (19 days from last seizure)
- 6 am / Grand Mal / 50 seconds
- Medication Adjustment: Increased Phenobarbital
- Started Melatonin at night
8/11/2019 (14 days from last seizure)
- 9:44 pm / Grand Mal / 32 seconds
8/13/2019 (30 hours since last seizure)
- 4:11 am / Grand Mal / 32 seconds
- Medicine Change: Added Potassium Bromide
8/28/2019 (15 days since last seizure)
- 7:46 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
9/17/2019 (20 days since last seizure)
- 8:15 am / Grand Mal / 31 seconds
- 8:17 am / Grand Mal / 46 seconds
- 8:18 am / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
- 8:19 am / Grand Mal / 1 minute, 4 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
- 8: 22 am / Grand Mal
- 8:23 am / Grand Mal
- Hospitalization required
- Medicine adjustment: Reduced Potassium Bromide
10/1/19
- MRI
  - no abnormalities found
10/11/19 Medicine change: Added Gabapentin in evening
- used as anti convulsant and also to help Porter sleep since he was not sleeping much through the night
10/14/2019 (27 days since last seizure)
- 1:04 pm / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
- 1:06 pm / Grand Mal / 49 seconds
- 1:20 pm / Grand Mal / 41 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
11/1/2019 (18 days since last seizure)
- 11:14 pm / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
  - Medicine Change: Weaned-off Potassium Bromide and Phenobarbital. Reintroduced Keppra
    - Porter’s neurologist expressed that despite the medication changes, Porter is still having the same or similar cycles of seizures. However, due to the increased and severe anxiety that we observed, he feels it is best if we backed him off of both the phenobarbital and potassium bromide. He also feels that re-introducing Keppra again may be the best alternative since the anxiety and behaviors were not noted while he was on this medication.
11/11/2019 (10 days since last seizure)
- 8:49am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 8:51 am / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
- Medicine Change: stopped Gabapentin at night and started Trazadone
11/23/19
- began CBD oil (Charlotte’s Web brand)
12/5/19 (24 days since last seizure)
- 10:51 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 10: 52 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
12/30/19 (25 days since last seizure)
- 9:58 am / Grand Mal / 38 seconds
- 9:59 am / Grand Mal / 10 seconds
- 10:00 am / Grand Mal / 51 seconds
1/28/20 (29 days since last seizure)
- 1:15 am / Grand Mal / 20 seconds
- 1:17 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 1:18 am First observation of what we thought was Focal seizures
1/29/20 (43 hours, 25 minutes since last seizure)
- 8:40pm clustering focal seizures / Clustering until 10pm
- Midazolam injection required
2/1/20 (3 days since last seizure)
- 3:15 pm / Focal / 3 minutes
- Midazolam injection required
- Medication Change: Increased Keppra dosage
2/27/20 (30 days since last seizure)
- 4:49am / Grand Mal / 50 seconds
- 4:50 am / Grand Mal / 45 seconds
- 4:51 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
- 4:52 am / Focal / 3 minutes
3/23/20 (25 days since last seizure)
- 12:04am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 12:05 / Focal / 30 seconds
4/8/20 (16 days since last seizure)
- 11:30 pm / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 11:31 pm / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 11:32 pm / Focal / 3 minutes
- Midazolam injection required
5/3/20 (25 days since last seizure)
- 12:21 am / Grand Mal / 55 seconds
- 12:22 am / Grand Mal / 50 seconds
- 12:23 am / Focal / 3 minutes
- Midazolam injection required
5/20/20
- Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas Nutrition Consult
5/23/20 (20 days since last seizure)
- 12:40am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 12:41 am / Focal / 1 minute
- 3:22 pm / Grand Mal / 1 minute
- 3:23 pm / Focal / 2 minutes
5/24/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
5/25/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
- Midazolam injection required
5/26/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
- Midazolam injection required
5/27/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
- Midazolam injection required
- Medicine change: Increased Keppra and Zonisamide
5/28/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
- Midazolam injection required
5/29/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
5/30/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
5/31/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
6/1/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
6/2/20
- clustering Focal seizures throughout the day
- Hospitalization required
- bloodwork
- urinalysis
- Medication change: Reduced Keppra and Zonisamide, and added Lyrica (Pregabalin)
6/8/20
- Medication change: Poor reaction to Pregabalin (Lyrica) – tapering off by 6/10
6/9/20
- Began transition to new diet, CBD (ElleVet brand), and supplements suggested by VSH of the Carolinas
6/10/20 (18 days since seizure)
- 11:06 pm / Grand Mal / 36 seconds
- 11:07 pm / Clustering Focal Seizures / 2 minutes
  - (8 days since last Focal)
- Midazolam injection required
6/22/20 (12 Days since last seizure)
- 6:55 am / Clustering Grand Mal / 2 minutes
- 6:57 am / Clustering Focal / 2 minutes
7/6/20 (14 days since last seizure)
- 6:39 am / Clustering Grand Mal / 2 minutes
- 6:41 am / Clustering Focal / 4 minutes
- Midazolam injection required
- 7:10 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 7:111 am / Focal seizures / 4 mins
- Midazolam injection required
7/16/20 First Acupuncture session
- Began Chinese herb Di Tan Tang
7/25/20 (19 days since last seizure)
- 10:17am / Grand Mal / 45 seconds
- 10:18am / Focal seizures / 23 seconds
- 10:18 am / Grand Mal seizure / 32 seconds
- 10:20 am / Focal Seizures / 3 minutes, 25 seconds
- Midazolam injection required
7/28/20 second acupuncture session
- Added Chinese herb Tian Ma Bai Zhu
8/12/2020
- started new CBD
  - Veterinarian Recommended Solutions brand: ENDO Blend
8/16/20 (22 days since last seizure)
- 11:24pm/ Grand Mal/ 25 seconds
- 11:24 pm/ Grand Mal/ 25 seconds
- 11:25 pm/ Grand Mal / 30 seconds
- 11:25 pm / Focal seizures / 3 minutes
- Midazolam injection required
8/27/2020
- Added Neurotrophin PMG supplement
9/7/2020 (22 days since last seizure)
- 7:59 am / Grand Mal/ 2 mins
  - significantly more mild convulsions than in the past
  - snapped out of it on his own and did not need Midazolam shot
  - no Focal seizures
  - postictal phase was much shorter than in the past
- 9/23/20 (16 days since last seizure)
  - 9:01 am / Grand Mal / 37 seconds
  - 9:02 am / Grand Mal / 38 seconds
  - Midazolam injection required
  - Increased dose of Chinese herb Di Tan Tang
- 10/4/20 (11 days since last seizure)
  - 7:07 pm / Grand Mal / 39 seconds
    - followed by focal seizures
  - 7:09 pm / Grand Mal / 42 seconds
    - followed by focal seizures
  - Midazolam injection required
  - Increased dose of Chinese herb Tian Ma Bai Zhu
- 10/20/20 (16 days since last seizure)
  - 11:32pm / Grand Mal / 1 minute
    - followed by focal seizures
  - 11:34pm / Grand Mal / 1 minute
    - followed by focal seizures
  - Midazolam injection required
- 10/25/20 (5 days since last seizure)
  - 9:33 am / Grand Mal / 45 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
  - 9:34 am / Grand Mal / 50 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
- Stopped Acupuncture and started weaning off Chinese Herbs and Neurotrophin PMG supplement
  - Porter’s medical team all agreed these were not helping Porter
- Porter’s medical team also concluded that his special diet was not helping, so he is being weaned off of that as well.
- 10/29/20 added Topiramate as a daily medication
- 11/9/20 (15 days since last seizure)
  - 7:11 pm / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
  - 7:12 pm / Grand Mal / 40 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
  - 7:13 pm / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
  - Midazolam injection required
- 11/15/20 (6 days since last seizure)
  - 6:36 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
- 11/25/20 (10 days since last seizure)
  - 5:43 am / Grand Mal / 30 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures
- 12/7/20 (12 days since last seizure)
  - 8:25 am / Grand Mal / 53 seconds
    - followed by focal seizures / 2.5 minutes
- 12/8/20 (34 HOURS since last seizure)
  - 6:30 pm / Grand Mal / 39 seconds
    - followed by focal seizures / 2 min 34 seconds
- 12/22/20 (13 days since last seizure)
  - ***STATUS EPILEPTICUS – Hospitalized***
    - 8:44 am / Grand Mal / 41 seconds
    - 8:45 am / Grand Mal / 39 seconds
    - 8:46 am / Grand Mal / 1 min 13 seconds
    - 8:48 am / Grand Mal / 42 seconds
    - 8:52 am 2mL Midazolam injection
    - 8:53 am / Grand Mal / 44 seconds
    - 8:54 am / Grand Mal / 39 seconds
    - 8:56 am / Grand Mal / 36 seconds
    - 8:58 am / Grand Mal / 33 seconds
    - 8:59 am another 2mL Midazolam injection
  - Hospitalized
  - Added Potassium Bromide back to daily medication
- 4/12/21 (112 days since last seizure)
  - 5:57 am / Grand Mal / 15 seconds
    - Followed by focal seizures / 4 mins
- 8/24/21 (133 days since last seizure)
  - 10:16 am / focal / 1 min

Jäger: GSP Rescue of NJ

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

We had taken ourselves “off the market” for fostering, but this guy found himself in a bit of a predicament and needed a spur-of-the-moment place to go, so……Meet Jäger!

(He came to us with this name, I swear!) This handsome root beer head is a 3 year old German Shorthaired Pointer. He is an owner-surrender because his family could no longer take care of him with his special needs. Unfortunately Jäger suffers from seizures due to Epilepsy. Jäger has a dominant personality and from what we know at this point will most likely need to be adopted into an only-dog household. He is be available through GSP Rescue of New Jersey to approved adopters in NJ and NY. Further medical and behavioral details about Jäger will be shared privately with approved potential adopters.