Starlight is doing quite well, except for dandruff.  We've started her on a duck diet which she loves and will see if this clears up the flakey skin. 

She meets Zoe, a small poodle, on her walks.  I'll try to get a pic of them together.  She also enjoys walks to a nearby cafe where we can sit outside on warm days and let people admire her.  She begs for food, which embarrasses  me, but  people think it is adorable, which is true.

Pain meds are still working well and that starlight has no trouble with the steps.  She goes up and down  multiple times during the day (and night).

All the gang  is thriving and send best wishes to you and all at Forget Me Not.

The little girl continues to thrive.  She looks lovely after her trip to the salon, though the transformation does not show up well in photos.  The before and afters look a lot alike.  But believe me her fur is silky and soft, glossy.  The vet says "Her white ruff just glows."  Her mouth is healing well, but the vet did start her on an antibiotic on Friday because one tooth socket looked infected.  Her breath is fresh.  She is no longer a stinky dog.  I wonder if she knows she is beautiful.

Brr!  the weather is very cold for here; highs not much above 30.  Starlight does not  mind the chill,( but Fred and I do.)  Today on her long walk she went over 2 miles.She has so much energy sometimes it's hard to believe she is three years  older than Fred.

Jim calls her the "velcro dog" because wherever we are, she wants to be right beside us. 

We cannot believe how lucky we are to have her.  We have a picture of her, Fred and Boo all lying on the same bed.  Unfortunately it is not a good photo.  Because he is black and lying between the two dogs, Boo does not show up at all.  When he  is deep asleep Starlight gets up to check  on Fred and gives him little kisses.

Starlight came through a hard day.  WHEW! She had ten teeth extracted!  She still experiences the effects of her anesthesia and pain medication so is a bit wobbly and seems a tad confused and restless. Vet says this is to be expected. I must confess that I was apprehensive about the procedure even though both her primary vet and the cardiologist were confident she would do well. As usual she wants to be right beside us. She is eating (soft foods only for a week and  right now that is tender meat scraps into which i've successfully wrapped additional medication for  pain) and drinking small amounts of water which is a good .  I must watch to make sure she does not vomit as we know her tummy can be delicate.  The vet said she might be a little cranky for the first 12 hours or so, as pain meds wear off, but I've seen  no indication of this so far.  I can not imagine how sore her  mouth  must be.  I think both she and I will turn in early.  The bed she has chosen is the least cushy of the three beds available for her, what ever.

The radiologist has not yet interpreted her X-rays , but I will give you information as soon as we have it.

So far, however, all goes well for her.

With a sigh of relief.

PS

She was anesthetized for 21/2 hours!

Starlight came through her ECHO with flying colors.  The cardiologist says that "Her heart sounds worse than it looks."  She has a basically healthy heart which shows "some valvular degeneration, likely due to age, which may progress over time but presents no immediate problem."  She has the go ahead for the dental work which will take place next Thursday.  At that time the vet will do a complete exam of all her joints, to include x-rays.   She remains energetic and much more mobile than we had expected.  I'm sure coming up the steps is not her favorite form of exercise, but she has no problem.  Loves her walks!

We are still working on getting just the right pics to send on to you.

We could not be happier with her.  She is a perfect fit with all the pack members, and we feel so lucky we were able to take her into our family.

10/30/14:

All continues well here with Starlight.  She has found her appetite and is eating dry and wet food.  Sometimes I will take Fred for a walk while she eats so she does not feel rushed.  He gobbles his food and  then stands over her while she eats more daintily so I take her to a separate  room and keep Fred at a distance.  She cleans her plate!  The vet has recommended a food called "Honest Kitchen" which I have not heard of.  She says  it comes  dehydrated and is then re constituted with water.  When I spoke to her two days ago Starlight was still avoiding dry food.  Now that she is eating both with gusto, perhaps Dr. Yanik will have other suggestions.

  We are giving her gabepentin 100 mg bid as well as introducing her to Adequan, which is an SQ injection; dosing starts out twice a week for three weeks then every month.  She's had two doses and does  not to seem to notice she's getting an injection.  These are  in addition to the meds you sent with her.  She is amazing.  This morning she trotted over a mile, the last bit up hill.  She went up the steps with  no problem.  She's been out twice more  for potty breaks and to explore, much shorter walks, however.  She has as much energy as Fred, but I fear she is not quite up to his four-mile daily long walk.  Not yet.

Her first visit to the vet was on Monday.  Everyone fell in love with her.  She now weighs 46 pounds, should maybe be at 40, but the vet says she can take her time to drop the  weight and has not established a diet plan for her yet.  She wants to take care of the teeth first.   Cursory exam of the mouth shows one tooth likely needs extraction, but the vet is hopeful that a good cleaning will otherwise do the trick.  She is deferring the cleaning until after more tests are complete.  Starlight, it turns out, has a "little heart murmur" so next Tuesday  a veterinary cardiologist will exam her and perform a cardiac ultrasound to provide a complete diagnosis.  Dr. Yanik is confident her dental work can be accomplished safely, but wants to make  sure she is "taking every precaution."  I'll give you the results of the tests as soon as we have them.

Thanks for the recommendation for the rake for grooming.  I've not  seen anything quite like it, so will probably order it on line.  Thanks for directing me to the website.

The two dogs behave as though they've known one another for a life time.  They come nose to nose and collide with one another coming through door ways.  We have several shots of them together; the first, on day one shows them at opposite ends of the carpet.The next, which Jim snapped yesterday, shows them nose to tail on the same carpet. We'll load the best of them and send them  off to you soon. We've seen them side by side gazing up at us, usually expecting food, but have not been able to capture these poses on camera.  We will keep trying.  Neither  dog is an "alpha" ;that and the fact that they are boy and girl perhaps accounts for the compatibility; he a gentleman, she a lady.

IT IS GREAT. NO COMPATIBILTY PROBLEMS AT ALL.  THE TWO WALK RIGHT PAST ONE ANOTHER, ACKNOWLEDGING BY  A SNIFF AT THE MOST.

Fred spent the night on his bed beside our bed; while little Starlight chose to sleep in the living room at the spot in front of the sofa where she passed most of the evening yesterday.  As long as she is happy.

Last night we took  her on several 1/4 mile walks.  She did the steps on our front porch each time, with no trouble till the last when Jim had to help her with the hind legs. If she were just a few pounds lighter he could carry her up the steps.  Meanwhile there is always the sling. She was the first one awake this morning and was all tail  wags and "Let's go!"  She went a very brisk 1/2 mile, was still trotting when we returned, and up the steps without faltering.  We're thinking with rest periods of 6 hours or so between outings we will not tire her.  She will set the pace.  We will try 1/2 mile distance with each unless she acts tired or wants a longer  walk.  There is a little cafe by the lake about 1/2 mile from here where, on nice days, people sit out side with their dogs.  I'd love to take her there. We could rest a while, let her greet the other dogs if she wants to, then back home again.  Trouble is,I'm not sure how many nice days are left for the next 5 months! Looks like I will be passing my days walking one dog or another for the foreseeable future; my choice.

No digestive problems.  We know she is hungry, but now is eating only her wet food, cookies and her meds. Turns up her nose at the dry food, even when we mix it  with chicken broth and wet food.  She picks out the wet food and if it is mixed in too thoroughly with the dry, will leave it.  When we first adopted Fred two years ago, he also ate very little for the first few days and surmise this is not unusual behavior.  Do you think we should concentrate solely on the wet food for now and /or give her a bit of chicken or turkey?  Do you think this might set up a bad habit?

We will call our vet tomorrow to arrange an appointment.  Dr. Yanik has said her intake visit will be free!  I think she can safely clean her teeth.  She will review her current meds, and also might suggest she drop a few pounds to ease stress on the joints.

She does need a good grooming; all that thick fur!  We will begin combing and brushing her today.  You know though, she does not shed much.  After a few weeks we will take her to a professional groomer, who is likely to recommend a "tidy trim."

You are right about her being a total sponge for affection.  When they are both awake  both  dogs want pets and massages, and I wish I had four hands to keep them  happy.  Also true is your observation that she wants to keep a constant eye on her people, follows us about  and even when asleep will occasionally lift her head to check on our proximity.

AS YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED, WE CAN  NOT IMAGINE THAT WE WILL WANT TO RETURN HER.  THE TRANSITION IS PERFECT. 

 EVEN BEFORE WE WERE HOME YESTERDAY, JIM SAID," I'M IN LOVE!"

Light out now and no rain.  Time to take Fred for his long walk around the lake.  Must keep his happy routines.

Thank you so much for letting us adopt Starlight.  We are so lucky.

Starlight made it to Seattle with no recurrence of car sickness.  We took Fred and Starlight for a walk together ; no problems.  They both got very wet, however. Now that they are home, Fred shows no sign of jealousy or hostility.  They have sniffed one another rather thoroughly.  Fred's tail wagging appears to be the curious and friendly type; certainly no stiff leg posturing, raised hackles or growling.And of course Starlight is the portrait of politeness  They both seem relaxed and comfortable. 

 Starlight has discovered her bed and seems to like it, but we must keep it at our feet, otherwise she will lie on the carpet, so she can be next to us.  She makes good eye contact, is wagging her tail for us and for Fred.  She still pants a little and is very thirsty.  She is not yet interested in her greenies, but she has taken her medication and her cookies.We will try to give her dinner in a bit.

Boo watched her from afar for the first hour then came up and gave her a kitty kiss, which she graciously accepted.

We couldn't be happier with her settling in process so far.  We will continue very watchful of Fred.  I know some times there can be confrontations even when dogs will eventually be companions, but I don't want to have this happen.  We continue to lavish him with praise (and  treats) for behaving like such a gentleman.