Casper D Dog - Hi! My name is Casper. I am a mini American Eskimo Dog(Eskie).

Casper Has Passed Over To The Rainbow Bridge

The light of our lives is gone. Casper went to the rainbow bridge Sunday morning. He never gave up but his body just was not strong enough. We are heartbroken beyond belief. He was the best boy anyone could ever hope for. We feel blessed to have had him but his time with us was just too short. I don't think any amount of time would have been enough. We are thankful we were able to bring him home. He was happy here and we did not want his last days to be in a hospital. Casper never wavered. He wanted his Mommie and Daddy next to him at all times and never gave up. His spirit and determination is an inspiration. We will never forget all the things he taught us. He is and forever will be our Superdog.

To everyone, thank you for all the notes you have left for us via his Facebook wall, pm, emails, letters, cards, etc. It is a comfort to us and it is heartwarming to know how much he meant to you all. He was just so special and truly, he belonged to us all.

Here are a few pictures of him during his last days. Always such a happy boy all the way to the end.

We imagine Casper in heaven proudly showing off his new angel wings and saying hello to everyone there; entertaining them all with his antics.

Casper In Hospital

Please pray for Casper. He is currently confined to the hospital. Both his platelets and red blood count have dropped further. His legs were weak this morning and he did not want to eat or drink. The doctor said he has a high fever and an infection and his liver is failing so they are treating him at the hospital but we cannot bring him home.

I am posting updates on his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/#!/casperddog1

Superbark Gone!

When I heard the delivery man ring the doorbell, I opened my mouth but instead of my usual Superbark only a pathetic sounding woof came out. Waahh! My Superbark is gone. This must be how Bolt felt like when he lost his powers coz of the styrofoam peanuts.

I got a red spot on my belly today and the wound in my mouth and tongue are still there. I go for another bloodtest on Tuesday. I wish I can get better soon. I hate taking so much medication and don't like my mushy food and bad poopies. I have not been interested in my toys for days. Mommie promised to make me chicken and rice tomorrow. So that is something to look forward to.

Both Mommie and Daddy are down with the flu so it's been a pretty gloomy household.

The Look

Mommie has been training Daddy on how to prepare my meals and the new medication dosage and schedule. This morning, Daddy was in charge and Mommy did not supervise us anymore. Everything went fine. He carried me downstairs so I could potty, prepared and served my breakfast and gave me my medication. He checked me all over for bruising, red spots and bleeding. After breakfast, I felt like peeing again so signaled to him that I wanted to go out. He let me out but was not paying attention so I went back in and got his attention so he could see me peeing. Then I came back inside and asked for my treat. But instead he picked me up and carried me back to bed. I was so let down. The agreement is I pee outside, I get a treat. But he said I just had breakfast so no need for a treat. I think I should still get a treat coz I peed. It does not matter whether or not I just had a meal. I even made sure he saw me pee. So I gave Daddy the look. I stared and stared at him with my sad eyes to show him how let down I felt that he did not honor the agreement. Soon, the look started to work. He kept commenting to Mommie that I kept looking at him and it was making him guilty about not paying me my treat. All through the day he kept thinking of that look I gave him. Eventually he went to the petstore and bought me two bags of new treats to make up for it. Haha! The new treats are awesome! I am sure Daddy will never forget to reward me again.

Spending More Time In My Room

At night, I sleep in bed with Mommie and Daddy in their room and in the afternoons, I usually sleep on my doggie bed in the living room. I also have a room of my own which is portable. They got it for me for my barkday last year. These days, to enforce doc's orders for me to keep still, I am being imprisoned in my room for quite a bit. Sigh! It gets quite boring in there but at least I have my toys for company and I can still watch TV. It's very roomy in here and sometimes Mommie joins me to keep me company. There's just enough space for us.

At least the cuisine is tops while I am temporarily incarcerated. Teehee! Mommie is soaking my kibble to make them soft and mixing in canned food and either pumpkin or cottage cheese. And I am getting cut up green beans for treats. Yummmmm!

Not My Cottage Cheese!

Mommie had purchased a huge tub of cottage cheese from Costco. She gave it to me to help with my poops. To my horror, she cooked lasagna the other day and put cottage cheese in the alternating layers. I was aghast as I saw my cottage cheese supply being depleted. I thought the whole tub was for me. She says she just used that as substitute for pumpkin for my poops so I get some variety.

That night, Daddy made up for it in a huge way. He had gone to the grocery and found my Frosty Paws Ice Cream. Yey for Daddies! I immediately recognized the box and tried to open it. Mommie let me have just a few licks. She said we should save it for when my tummy is all better.

Yesterday, we got bad news from the doctor. My platelets are down to 12,000 and they are enlarged. Sigh! Doc is upping my medicine again to twice a day. Yuk!!! Now I have to stay in my room coz the orders are no moving. I am no longer allowed kibble or treats that are hard or abrasive as I have had spontaneous bleeding in my mouth, tongue and gums. Before my nose and eyes would bleed, too. Doc says I risk getting a cut if I take in anything abrasive coz I am not clotting due to the low platelets. Also Mommie has to look out for any signs of internal bleeding so poop patrol needs to be more up close. No fun for Mommie.

Sleeping Beauty

I've been continuing to rest so no new adventures to report. My belly is almost back to normal. There are still a few areas that are orange. Not yet the normal pink my belly used to be. But no new bruises have appeared. Yipee! My gums are still pale and poop is still not good despite all the pumpkin and cottage cheese. But at least I get to enjoy eating such goodies. Someone suggested liverwurst to help me take my medicine. It's so tasty. So I gobble up the liverwurst and spit out the medicine so Mommie has to give me more of the good stuff until I swallow my medicine. Nyhahaha!

I've been sleeping most of the time. Nothing much else I can do since I cannot go out and cannot play. So here's a bunch of napping photos. Mommie calls me Sleeping Beauty. Teehee! My favorite toys to sleep with are my gator and bear toys. They make good napping companions.

I spent the 4th of July holiday at home. It wasn't too bad. I watched the fireworks on TV. I heard some firecrackers outside from time to time. But I was brave and did not get scared. Mommie is very proud of me.

No Fun Being Sick

This morning, when I saw Mommie opening the medicine case, I turned around and faced the wall in protest. I did not want to eat my medicine. They taste so icky. When she tried to come around I would keep my face in the other direction. But eventually she was able to feed them to me. Yuk!

It's no fun being sick. It has been a very boring week. Mommie won't let me play or take a walk. I keep bringing her toys so she will play with me but she said we cannot. My platelets are a now bit higher at 38,000. But the normal range is 150,000 to 400,000 so it is still way below what it should be. My bruise is getting better. Most of it has turned from black and purple to bright red to my normal pink. So only a few parts are still black and purple. Instead of walking, Mommie let me ride in the car to pick up Daddy from work yesterday. I was quite excited to be out of the house but fell asleep in the car right away. She even carried me to the car so there was no reason to be tired. Sigh! I guess I am really not in good shape. No improvement in poop quality either. Mommie is planning to go buy me pumpkin to help with that. In the meantime, I have to content myself with the only allowed activities watching tv and grooming my toys and parents.

In Relapse Again

Today we had to go back to the doctor's to get another bloodtest. This time the doctor was able to confirm that I am in relapse. She is doubling the dosage and frequency of my meds. She thinks my body is confused to the point that even if there is no trigger I can go into relapse. And with the higher dosage, I'm gonna be thirsty and hungry all the time again and have to go potty so often again. It's so unfair! I just want to be healthy and play.

Latest Doctor's Visit

Here I am at the doctor's office waiting for my turn. It was quite a long wait so Mommie snapped a few pictures of me.

The doctor said I am very beautiful and that Mommie does a good job grooming me. Teehee!

And she gave me 3 heart shaped cookies. Yummm!!!!

We left the doctor's office feeling good. No new issues to report except for my warts which the doc said was not a concern. My weight was good and everything looked ok based on the exam and poking they did. So just needed to wait for the blood test and urinalysis test results. But when I woke up the next morning, I had this giant bruise on my belly. Waaaah!!! That means platelets are low.

When the doc called with my test results, she said PCV is good but confirmed that my platelets are low and spontaneous bruising is to be expected. Now I can't go for my walk or play. Mommie says I have to rest coz my platelets are down. Sigh!

A Broken Promise

Last year, Mommie had to go out of the country for work and Daddy decided to join her. Check out the posts here of my abandonment at http://casperddog.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html. Anyway, I was quite upset and when they came back they promised never to leave me again. But a couple of weeks ago, they broke their promise. Hmph! This time it was Daddy who had to go out of town for work. He had to go to New York. Mommie decided it was a good idea to go with him and meetup with my pal Ronak the Eskie. Initially I considered it betrayal most foul. To leave me to go visit another doggie. I was quite outraged. But then, I calmed down since I figured it was Ronak who is a dear friend of mine and if it was up to me, I'd want to go meet him, too. I could not go with them coz the hotel Daddy's office booked did not allow doggies and also Mommie was worried about how to take me on a plane since I am too big to fit under the seat and that I might get stressed coz flying is much different than riding in the car. Excuses! I think I could do it. I just need to try it.

Anyway, they took me to the doggie store so we could get some yummy treats to bring to Ronak. I decided to make the most of it and pick out goodies for myself, too. Mommie was too guilty to stop me. Haha! I picked out a bag of goodies for Ronak and a bag of goodies for myself. And I got this alligator greenie to chomp on.

It's so cute!

Hmmm I wonder where I will start.

So for the next few days, it was just me and Grandma. I waited by the door in case they would come home but eventually I'd see them on Skype and know it wasn't gonna happen. After we Skype I just go straight to bed and hope the next day will be the day they return. Sometimes I sleep with Grandma but sometimes I go to our bed and sleep on Mommie's side.

On the other end of the country, Mommie met up with Ronak and his Mommie and spent the afternoon with them. Both Mommies still hope that one day Ronak and I will be able to meet in the fur. I hope so, too. Daddy joined them for lunch and after he got out of the office so he got to meet the East Coast version of myself. Teehee! Ronak was super excited to meet Mommie. He was barking a greeting to her and could not keep still. He was so hyper. Haha! He kept asking for more of the treats Mommie brought. They were a big hit with him.

Isn't he cute?

And of course Mommie took pictures of him from all angles.

Ronak liked presenting Mommie with his beehind so she would give him a rubdown. He would do a cute little butt dance by slowly lifting one foot and then the other over and over while she gave him a rub just on top of where his tail is.

They took Mommie down to the waterfront where they spent a lazy afternoon. Here is Ronak enjoying the view.

Then they went to the doggie boutique to do some shopping. They also stopped for some gelato. I think Ronak wants some.

He's just a little cuddlebug like me!

Mommie said the food in New York was pretty good. But her favorite was the doughnuts. They found this doughnut shop near their hotel on their last day. Creme brulee, pistachio, coconut creme, peanut butter glazed with a blackberry center. Mommie even went for another creme brulee doughnut after they ate all this.