This page was brought to completion 13 December 1996.

I really appreciate the people who have asked about Nellie. If you've just tuned in here's Nellie's story.

Nellie is a 17 year old beagle who came to live with me in December 1992 when my grampa died. She was his hunting dog but she's been retired for a long time. Now she helps keep an eye on the 5 cats and 8 ducks that live with us, and she watches a lot of TV. She especially likes Green Acres and fX's Pet Department.

She was scheduled for a physical in early August but we took her in early because she just wasn't feeling too good. She was diagnosed with very advanced arthritis and kidney failure, an incurable condition which will eventually take her life.

Since the end of July she's been undergoing treatments that I'm told are similar to dialysis for humans. She has them between twice a week and every day depending on the results of semi-weekly blood tests.

August 13th she apparently had a stroke, which was probably not her first. Although that slowed her down a bit she still tries to get outside to play "Get The Cat". She's responding pretty well to the treatments so far but one of the effects of kidney failure is a loss of appetite, due to the toxins in her blood. - Plus the fact that the prescription food she has to eat tastes like ---- well, real bad.

For now (August 26th) the doctor has cut back on the frequency of the treatments since her appetite has picked up, the blood test results are looking better, and her veins are too scarred up to put an I.V. in for awhile. She is still pretty active and is in a good mood almost all the time. She's a little mad because she can't just hop up on the couch, she hates relying on help.

Today (September 3rd) her blood tests showed somewhat of a stabilization of her kidney functions. They're not in the "normal" range but the doctor said she's doing well enough for her not to need a treatment. He wants to wait until next Monday and test her again. It's a happy day at our house tonight.

9 September: The toxin levels in Nellie's blood were up more today so they put her back on the I.V. treatments. She'll have three of them this week then be retested. Her appetite was not too good over the weekend and she slept most of the time. Her eyeball rolled back into her head again (third time) which leaves her blind on that side. Between the stroke and the arthritis she's having trouble getting up on the couch and in & out of the car. I took the cushions off the couch and put them on the floor in front of it and made her a step. She and Scheezuyachxs (Baby Cat) still play tag in the house though, just a little slower and the game doesn't last as long.

13 September: She's getting worse now. Her blood toxin levels are going up even with the treatments. And her veins are getting too scarred to keep putting I.V. needles in her. The doctor is going to try Sub-Q treatments starting Monday. That's where they inject fluids under her skin in stead of into a vein. She's been sleeping almost the entire time since we came home yesterday (about 18 hours now) and she hasn't eaten a thing, nor has she peed. The doctor said that's the next step toward total kidney failure.

22 September: Blood tests on the 19th showed the toxin levels to be less! Without any treatments this week! The doctor said that he thinks stress is the big factor now. Going to the vet and getting wrestled down and muzzled is too hard on Nellie. He said he didn't think it was worth it to her to live like that. I called a vet in State College and he said he pretty much agreed with that. On Tuesday They're going to teach me how to give her Sub-Q fluids at home. They also ordered a different food (less protein). Her appetite is not good. She's only eating 1/4 of what she was. That is not good. She wants PIZZA! She is still pretty feisty, when she's awake. She sleeps most of the time. It finally stopped raining so we went for a walk. She wants to be outside. I'm also trying to mix things in her food for flavor that are not harmful. The vet in State College said she could have 1 piece of white bread a day and/or a rice cake with her food. She likes that.

6 October: Trying to give Nellie Sub-Q fluids at home was NOT a good idea. I only thought I was afraid of needles but I am really terrified! I poked her and myself and we both had a bad time. So she started going to the doctor's office for the fluids. I held her while Shelly the nurse put the needle in. After a week of that the doctor thinks that she's not really responding to the treatments. Her toxin numbers seem to be going up and down on their own and, at the moment, not really going far either way. So he wants to wait until Thursday and do another blood test, and then decide if she should have fluids. She' still in a real good mood all the time but she has started to throw up occasionally. Most of the time it's right after she eats but sometimes it's on an empty stomach, and it's not good for her. Her appetite is down, the most she eats in one day lately is 1/2 can of food. She was eating 1+1/4 cans at this time last month. Her bladder infection is back again so she's taking antibiotics too.

19 October: Last week's blood test showed the toxin levels up; this week they came down a little, all without treatments. The doctor said they're not going to give her any treatments for now since they don't seem to do anything. They're just going to check her blood in two weeks. In the meantime she's eating better and now taking vitamins. She's more active too. She lost a couple of pounds so we'll try to bring her weight up. Over all, we're doing pretty good.

31 October: Nellie's doing about the same. She'll get another blood test next week. Some days she sleeps a lot and doesn't eat much, other days she stays awake and walks around and eats more: 1/2 to 3/4 can. She seems to be holding her weight but her ribs show certain ways she stands.

5 November: Nellie's not doing good. Friday night she started breathing real slow and heavy. She woke up in the middle of the night crying until she saw that I was there. She slept all day Saturday and hasn't eaten hardly a thing since then. When I tried to wake her on Sunday I really thought she was dying. After a while she did wake up and walked around the house a little bit. I had a gig Sunday and I really hated leaving her home alone. Monday she saw the doc and he did blood tests and urine analysis. The toxin levels are about the same as they have been and her urine shows a bladder infection; she's been dealing with that for a few months. Her back legs are starting to give out on her. The doc gave her a shot, some antibiotics, and a fluid treatment. Today she ate very little. She's lost 2 more pounds; she weighs 14.3 pounds now. The doc says if she starts eating more she'll do better, except for the arthritis. He said her heart sounds good and her lungs are clear.

13 November: Nellie has lost more weight. She is no longer interested in food, not even her favorites like toast and spaghetti. I talked to a hospital nutritionist in Erie and she gave me some good advice and is send me a copy of a research paper and diets that they use for human renal patients. Nellie sleeps most of the time although she wakes up when I come home and follows me around the house until she tires herself out. She can usually climb up on the chair to sit with me but she falls on her back on a lot of the attempts. Since we're not sure when her birthday really is I decided to give her a birthday party and call her 18. I know she would be 18 by the end of the year if she's still here. I'm afraid that my earlier entries in this log were too much on the optimistic side. But then, optimism can mean everything sometimes. As long as Nellie is not suffering in pain, I will try to make every day as comfortable as possible for her and I will NOT even consider any "humane alternatives". She still has too much life and love in her.

26 November: I got a copy of a special recipe for dogs with renal failure. Nellie liked it for a few days but her tastes are changing too fast for me to keep up with. We're back to spaghetti, or at least putting the sauce on the new food. Another thing she likes is pecan cookies. Her arthritis is getting worse. She can't move her tail at all and her back legs are very stiff. She still walks a lot when she's awake. And she still meets me at the door, just as happy as ever that I'm home. I know it's only because she wants me to turn on the TV for her, but that's o.k. We're going to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parades together. She has a thing for Underdog. Then will have our spaghetti and cookies.

5 December: I took Nellie to the hospital yesterday. She hasn't eaten a thing for a few days, and only a few bites before that. They did the blood tests and told me that her blood toxin levels are so high that they're off the chart. And that her kidneys are approaching total shutdown. When that happens it will only be a matter of days before we lose her. They gave her an I.V. treatment and had her back for another one today. She goes back tomorrow. If they can dilute the blood toxins she may be able to eat. When we came home I gave her a couple pieces of chipped beef. She loved that. The doctor said that if I feed her like that, it will speed up the kidney failure and she'll die. If she doesn't eat anything she'll die too. So he said it's like giving a dying person her last wish. From now on she can do and eat what ever she wants. All I can do is make her as comfortable as possible. He said, in his opinion, she is NOT suffering or in pain. I also have some vitamin supplements and high calorie concentrate for her. She did bark at Fred - the cat - when he tried to take her piece of beef from her. It's the first time she barked in over a month. Please check back here soon. I'll post more on Sunday.

8 December: She hasn't eaten anything since Friday. She goes back to the doctor tomorrow for another I.V. treatment. I'm giving her liquid vitamins and a high calorie food that squirts in her mouth, but that won't keep her going for long.

13 December: When I came home from work Tuesday, the 10th, Nellie could not stand up by herself. She did manage to get up once to pee but she fell down right after. When I held her up to the water bowl she couldn't hold her head up enough to keep her nose out of the water. Wednesday, I took the day off of work to spend with her. We spent the whole day sitting in the recliner together. She couldn't eat or walk or stand, but she kept trying to crawl closer to me, putting her nose right in my ear. She did drink a little but I decided not to try to give her the liquid vitamins or the Nutrical (food in a tube). I told her that I didn't have the courage or the strength to take her to the vet's to help her pass, and I asked her to go to sleep when she thought best. We slept on the recliner together, as we had been doing for months. Thursday at 4:41 a.m. Nellie woke me up to say goodbye. She cuddled up as close as she could while I petted her and told how much she is loved and will be missed. I kissed her forehead and said goodbye; then she stopped breathing.

Nellie's grave has just been dug and she is resting in her casket, that I made. She will be buried tomorrow in the little cemetery behind the duck house.

We've gotten phone calls, cards and e-mail from all over the country for Nellie. I can't tell you how much that means. Thank you all so very very much. The song I've written, "Nellie's Song", will probably not be sung for a while. I played it last at a gig in November; my parents and grandma where there. Nellie was my grampa's dog until he died four years ago.

Again, I would like to thank everyone that's asked about Nellie.