"Don't put off 'til tomorrow what can be enjoyed today."

The Josh Billings quote above has quickly become the new motto around our house and the perfect lead-in for this blog post. Bandit recovered wonderfully from his myelogram and CT and needed to use a sling to get around for only those first few days. I brought him home to his brothers and sister on Martin Luther King, Jr. day and he has only been back to the vet for routine follow-up visits. He is doing pretty okay, but he has both his good and his bad days. Sadly, the tumor continues to affect the entire left side of his body and he is slowly losing the ability to walk. The blessing of it all, however, is that he still isn’t in any pain, with or without medication, and remains the same happy little dog. That said (and so long as Bandit is able), we, as a family, have decided to take as many weekend road trips and car rides together as possible. I will post photos and blog about those adventures in the months to come.

In the meantime, our regular vet has given us an herbal mixture to help slow the growth of the tumor and he is currently taking prednisone, an anti-inflammatory steroid, to help reduce the pressure of the tumor on his spinal cord and tramadol for his achy muscles, but the progression of the disease continues and late last week he began showing signs of knuckling on his back right foot. We have stopped acupuncture and switched to physical therapy at the specialists office to help keep his muscles strong. This, of course, is the same scary place Bandit went for his myelogram and CT, but, as always, Bandit was quite the little trooper and sat bravely on his rug in the lobby until Dr. H came out to greet us. His first appointment was January 26th.

During the session, we learned several different exercises, including toe stretches and side bends, and Bandit did 3 minutes and 15 seconds of walking on an underwater treadmill! Yes, an underwater treadmill! I was so proud of that little dog! It only took him a few short seconds to get the hang of it and, to be honest, I’ve never seen him look so happy. Bandit hates, and I mean HATES water, but, since it made him buoyant, he was able to trot along in that tank just like he did on land before the tumor and I think that made him happy. Bandit hasn’t done any running since Thanksgiving and this chance to “run” was such a welcomed gift. By the time his therapy session ended, Bandit had received a kiss on the head from Dr. H and a grapefruit shampoo bath, followed by a mink oil conditioner and a fuzzy towel rub to get him all dried off and ready to go! Needless to say, the session was a fantastically positive experience for Bandit and Dr. H’s turkey treats were a big hit! The photo above and to the right is a photo of Bandit just after his second session yesterday afternoon and the video below is from his second session, as well. That said, let me just end this post by saying that Bandit is simply the happiest underwater treadmill walking dog that I know!