In one week, we’ll be in Norway, starting our long awaited two week vacation. Believe me, we’re ready to go. But, for the time being, we’re still hanging out here in Germany, enjoying the sunny, summery weather. I love the mild temperatures and sunshine, but it does have a tendency to make our house a little “clammy”. I think German houses just have a tendency to hold on to heat, which is great for most of the year. In the summer, maybe not so much…
In any case, we had a wine stand last night, so we decided to attend. And now that Noyzi has been to a few of them, he insists on attending, too. I will admit that last night, I was kind of thinking that maybe I’d rather stay in. But Bill was in the mood to mingle, and apparently Noyzi was, too. He made LOTS of new local friends last night.
As we were about to turn to go down the hill, we ran into a German kindergarten teacher named Susie whom we met a few weeks ago. She has an Italian former truffle hunting dog named Billy. She didn’t have Billy with her last night, but Noyzi still recognized her. After saying hello, she walked slightly past us. Noyzi started dragging me down the hill, barking enthusiastically. He wanted Susie to pet him! LOL… I’m sure she thinks he needs schooling, and we probably shouldn’t encourage this. However, it legitimately was an adorable sight, especially since Noyzi used to be terrified of strangers.
I know Noyzi was extremely happy to see Susie, but I also think he knew the wine stand was going on, and was super excited to go to it. It’s like a whole new social aspect of his personality has come out. I think Noyzi likes going to the wine stands because they are held in a familiar place, and he knows some of the people and dogs who attend. Last night, he was more relaxed than he has EVER been in public. Several times, he sat and even laid down on his own.
We talked to several of our neighbors, and met a few new people, including one guy who was wearing a t-shirt advertising a specific brand of African beer that Bill likes. The combination of the beer t-shirt and the guy’s attraction to Noyzi ended up being great icebreakers. It turned out the guy was German, but had lived in Kenya for years. He and his wife live in Breckenheim now, which is a bit safer than Kenya is. Apparently, his mom is a Kenyan citizen now, and she and her husband own a coffee farm. There was a lot more to the conversation, which eventually devolved into a discussion of global issues and the troubling American mindset that we agreed probably comes from people never traveling outside of the USA. I genuinely enjoyed talking to the guy. Maybe we’ll see him again.
In the midst of our chat, we also watched the children of Breckenheim happily playing. A local guy had them gathered around at the church, where he told stories. Later, a cat visited, and was completely unfazed by Noyzi. I watched a little boy climb up a sign pole and was amazed by his upper body strength. We could hear Billy barking for Noyzi, since Billy’s owners live in a house right by our Dorfplatz. And we also saw our next door neighbor’s 85 year old mom, who was finally walking without her cane after having broken her leg earlier in the spring. She was looking good.
Noyzi charmed the owner of the local pizzeria, an Italian man named Fabi who used to work with dogs in Romania. He very kindly brought out some water for Noyzi, as well as some meat. When Noyzi finished drinking the bowl, Fabi brought out some more water and treats. Noyzi was delighted, and I could see that he was enjoying making friends with so many people. He really is a very lovely dog who enjoys interacting with all people and animals. All of our dogs have been special to us, but Noyzi truly is a unique soul. He’s a true canine ambassador!
I took lots of pictures…
Noyzi is totally relaxed now.Pizzeria owner welcomes Noyzi!This cat was on the hunt.An athlete in the making.I love the cat’s expression.Noyzi is better with cats than Arran was. Arran would try to eat that cat.My husband, the goofball.No, he wasn’t drunk. The sun was blinding us.Our neighbor’s beautiful roses.After the wine stand, Noyzi had a romp in the backyard.
We really do enjoy the social events in our village. Unfortunately, we’ll miss the next wine stand, which I believe will actually be the wine festival that they had in September last year. But the good news is, we’re missing that event because, by the 23rd of June, we’ll be in Sweden, boarding the Regent Seven Seas Splendor, and taking a weeklong cruise in the Baltic Sea. So, stay tuned to see the travel blog become an actual travel blog again… at least for a few weeks! 😉
Sorry for not writing much on my travel blog lately. If you know me personally or have been following my main blog, you might know that the last week has been unexpectedly sad for us. I haven’t really been doing anything fun that I can write about. I’ve been too busy tending to one of the less pleasant aspects of life. We’ve been living in Germany this time since 2014. I knew we’d lose at least one of our dogs during our time here. I wondered if it would be like it is in the States. Yesterday, I found out.
Last Saturday, our beloved beagle Zane was unofficially diagnosed with lymphoma. At the time of his diagnosis, he had swollen lymph nodes under his jaw and behind his knees. Since Zane had also had mast cell cancer since 2016, the vet was pretty sure lymphoma was causing the swollen nodes, lethargy, and mild anorexia Zane was experiencing. Our local vet recommended getting him an appointment at the oncology department at the Tierklinik Hofheim.
I first heard of the Tierklinik Hofheim from our vet in Herrenberg, who had taken care of Zane and Arran when we lived near Stuttgart. She had told me it’s one of the best vet hospitals in Germany. At the time, we lived several hours away from it. Now, it’s a fifteen minute drive.
The local vet decided not to start Zane on steroids, since she wasn’t absolutely sure he had cancer. She just strongly suspected. Bill tried to get an appointment for Zane, but they are fully booked until September 20th. By Monday night, I knew that would be too late. Zane’s nodes were swelling so much that he could barely open his eyes. Bill took him to the Tierklinik Hofheim’s emergency department, where a vet aspirated his lymph nodes and the lymphoma diagnosis was official.
We started him on Prednisolone, which is supposedly easier on the liver than Prednisone is. He tolerated it well and enjoyed a couple of good days. I took many pictures, including a few in which he looks pretty normal. He ate lots of people food, enjoyed the warm, sunny days, and slept a lot. We even managed to take a couple of walks. Wednesday and Thursday, he went his regular route. I knew his time was borrowed, but I thought maybe he might make it to September. Yesterday morning, I realized it wasn’t meant to be.
Zane woke up so weak yesterday. He could barely stand. He’d get his haunches up, but his front half was stuck to the floor because he was too exhausted to get into a standing position. He managed to eat and do his business outside, but his bowel movements were dark and a bit bloody. He also had one accident in the house, although he was kind enough to do it on some tile flooring. Zane was extremely well house-trained and hadn’t had an accident in many years.
And then I noticed his belly. Part of it was distended. He resembled a lactating female, as part of it hung down like a teat. We had to wait until 9:00am to call the vet’s office. One other nice thing about being up here near Wiesbaden is that our vet regularly offers Saturday hours. In Herrenberg, different vets were on call.
Fortunately, the same vet who saw him last week answered the phone. Bill explained what was going on, and told her that we felt it was time to let Zane go. She scheduled our euthanasia appointment for noon, then asked Bill questions about what we wanted done with Zane’s remains. Since we move so frequently, when our dogs have died, we’ve always just had them cremated and don’t pick up their ashes. The ashes don’t mean anything to me. What matters to me is the special memories and the great love we shared.
After breakfast, which ordinarily Zane would have shared with us, he went to the front door. Bill said, “He’s expecting us to take him for a walk.” I doubt Zane would have made it very far, but he was a very routine oriented hound. He wanted us to get up and go to bed on a schedule, feed him and walk him at certain times of the day, and give him time in the yard. If something wasn’t done routinely, he would protest, usually in the form of soft whining.
Since he was so weak and exhausted, we spent a couple of hours with Zane out in the yard. He’s always loved sunning himself, and we had great weather for it yesterday. At one point, just before we clipped the leash on him, Bill looked at Zane in the eyes and told him how much he loved him.
We arrived at the clinic at about 11:45. I helped Zane out of the car and he gave a little yelp. It was the first yelp I’ve heard out of him since this ordeal began. In contrast, his predecessors, Flea and MacGregor, also died of cancers and theirs were much more painful. I’m grateful Zane’s last days were full of exhaustion and weakness rather than agony and excruciating pain. As cancer deaths go… at least in Zane’s case… canine lymphoma wasn’t so horrible. I would definitely take it over the prostate cancer that killed Flea, or the spinal tumor that killed MacGregor.
Zane greeted the vet with a sniff and a slight tail wag. Then we walked into the exam room. Zane got halfway on the scale, which amused me slightly. He was always such a good boy. Bill lifted him onto the table, since the exam room didn’t have the kind that raise electronically. The vet checked Zane over and drew blood, noting that it was kind of “watery”. She saw his belly and said she thought his spleen might have ruptured. It was good that we brought him in yesterday, because the vet felt he wouldn’t have survived the night. He likely would have gone into shock within hours.
I let Zane lick liverwurst flavored paste from a tube while the vet explained what she was going to do. She didn’t really have to, since we’ve been through this a few times. In fact, my first job was working for a veterinary hospital. I witnessed dogs being put down as part of that job.
Our last three dogs were euthanized in the United States. All three of the American vets sedated our dogs before giving them the shot that would end their lives. The German vet did not do that, but it also didn’t seem necessary in Zane’s case. I also noticed that the medicine she used was clear, rather than pink. I read somewhere that in the United States, euthanasia meds are colored pink so that they’re less likely to be given by mistake.
Bill put his arms around Zane and felt his heart. He does this whenever we lose a dog, so he knows when they are free of pain and sickness. I stroked Zane’s head as the vet administered the medication. It was over in seconds, and very peaceful.
I am so grateful to Dr. Glenn. She was very kind and compassionate. She chatted with us for a few minutes about Zane and we told her a brief version of his story. She gave me a big, sincere hug, and even shed a couple of tears herself, even though she really didn’t get a chance to know Zane like our old vet in Herrenberg, Dr. Schube, did. I’m grateful we didn’t have to ask Dr. Schube to end Zane’s life. They had a bond. Much like his predecessor, Flea, Zane was very much a canine ambassador. He never met a stranger.
Dr. Glenn told us they would send us the bill and we were welcome to spend as much time as we needed. Bill and I stayed with Zane’s body for about ten minutes, then went home to Arran, who seemed confused and upset about being left home alone. He brought us a toy and ran around the house frantically, until he finally settled down and hung out with us all day. He seems little unnerved about being the only dog now, although I could tell he knew that Zane wasn’t feeling well.
We usually get another dog soon after we lose one. I think this time, we’ll hold off on it for awhile. Arran is himself about nine or ten years old. He’s still vital and likes to play, but he doesn’t share well. He gets jealous and picks fights. I’ve also heard that Germans don’t like to let Americans adopt, thanks to the jerks in the military who dump their dogs rather than taking them with them. We’ll see what happens.
It seems to me that our dogs that have passed have inspired me to find new ones… In a lot of cases, it’s almost as if that dog was sent to us by his predecessor. When we got Arran after we lost our dog, MacGregor, we noticed he did some things that were very much like MacGregor. It was like MacGregor was sending us a sign. The same thing happened with Zane and his predecessor, Flea, although Zane and Flea had totally different personalities. As Zane got older, I’d swear I’d see glimpses of Flea coming out in him. I know it sounds like a lot of woo and it probably is… but it’s a comforting thought, just like the Rainbow Bridge story is.
Anyway… now I know. German style euthanasia is much like American style euthanasia. It sucks either way… although I’m grateful for a lot of things that made yesterday go better. Ultimately, I’m grateful that our sweet dog is no longer suffering and that we had each other for almost ten years. Although all of my dogs have been special in their own ways, I think Zane’s imprint on my heart is the most indelible. The next days are going to be hard as we adjust to life with Zane’s leadership. He kept everything on a schedule.
Edited to add: On September 13, we received the final bill for Zane’s euthanasia. In all, it cost about 230 euros for the procedure and cremation. We also received a “death certificate”, which I thought was kind of odd. However, the certificate listed Arran as the deceased dog, so we’ll have to get that corrected.I have really been missing Zane a lot. He meant so much to me… and for many reasons, his death has hit me particularly hard.
This is a video I made yesterday with pictures from all of our years with Zane…
Since Bill and I returned to Germany, I have been spending a lot of time in the veterinarian’s office. The vet we currently use is the same one we used last time we lived here. That vet diagnosed our dog, Flea, with prostate cancer back in 2009. I never met her last time we lived here. Bill took Flea to his vet appointments because we only had one car. We also used the vet on Panzer Kaserne for routine stuff, but that proved to be a real pain in the butt since appointments were hard to come by.
These two dogs are Flea and MacGregor, the dogs we had during our first Germany tour. Flea is the one standing behind MacGregor.
Flea survived Germany and we took him with us to our next duty station in Georgia. He lasted another two months in the States before we sent him to the Rainbow Bridge. About a month after we lost Flea, Bill and I adopted our dog, Zane, from Atlanta Beagle Rescue. Zane is pretty much a bigger, sweeter version of Flea.
Zane, the tri-colored beagle… and adopted “brother” Arran.
When we got back to Germany and rented a house near Herrenberg again, we decided to use the same vets we did last time. Because we now have two cars, the duty of taking the dogs to the vet often falls to me. Zane gets allergy shots every month. I could learn to give him the shots myself, but I’m a bit squeamish. So every month, I take Zane (and often Arran) with me to the vet. She gives Zane his shot and any other treatment he needs. We’ve been in this routine for about two years now.
Many Americans who live in Germany comment that it can take awhile to get to know Germans well. Germans seem to be fairly private people, especially in a professional setting. That has definitely been the case for our German vet. Our visits have been mostly all business. In fact, until a couple of months ago, I was calling her by her colleague’s name. I made this mistake because Bill got their names mixed up last time we lived here and passed his mistake to me. Our vet didn’t introduce herself when I came in the first time, so I was assuming her name was her colleague’s name. For two years! It wasn’t until I mixed the names up in the vet’s presence that she corrected me.
Most of our visits have not been particularly friendly. There’s been a minimum of small talk. The vet has been very matter-of-fact about most things. I actually found her kind of hard to talk to, although she seemed very competent.
Both of my dogs have had cancerous mast cell tumors removed by our German vet. Arran had one taken off in July 2015. It was a very low grade bump that, so far, has caused no more issues. Zane had one taken off in October of 2016. Zane’s tumor was a little bit higher grade and it was larger.
In the weeks since his surgery, Zane has also not really been acting like himself. For several weeks after his surgery, he seemed lethargic and less social. I suspected that he was in pain. Thanks to the mast cell tumor’s presence, I started becoming obsessive about looking for new lumps. I would mention them to the vet, who was astonished that I found them. They weren’t exactly big and noticeable. One was buried deep beneath some muscle.
After Zane was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, Bill stopped by to talk to the vet and she said, “Your wife is really good at finding lumps on Zane. She seems really knowledgable about diseases. Is she a nurse or something?”
Bill explained my education and work background to the vet. He later told me that when he explained my public health experience, it was like a lightbulb went off over the vet’s head. Suddenly, she started becoming a lot friendlier toward me. I went in to see her in late November to talk to her about changing Zane’s diet, putting him on Benadryl and Tagamet for the mast cell disease, and avoiding unnecessary vaccines. She also asked me about my background and I told her. I also used to work for a vet and spent most of my childhood working in a barn. With that knowledge, it seemed like the vet started seeing me in a different light. It was as if I wasn’t just some American hausfrau anymore.
Last month, I asked the vet about having Zane tested for tick-borne illnesses. I knew that Zane would come up positive for ehrlichiosis, because he had it when we lived in North Carolina. Ehrlichiosis can cause some of the symptoms Zane has been exhibiting. Also, Zane was bitten by a number of ticks last summer, despite my efforts to keep them at bay. He’s been chewing and licking his paws a lot. I thought it was due to the allergies, but now I think he’s been doing it because he’s been in pain. It was not enough to make him limp noticeably, but it was enough to make him not want to play or hang out with Bill and me. I remembered Zane’s previous bout with ehrlichiosis, told the vet about it, and she agreed that he should be screened.
I also told the vet that Zane was having issues with his paws. He would lick and chew the pads until they were raw. Then he would have pain when trying to walk on the frosty grass because the raw paws would be in contact with the grass. The vet had sent me home with medicated shampoo that was supposed to help heal Zane’s paws. Having used this remedy a few times on both of my dogs, I didn’t have much faith that it would be that helpful.
Coincidentally, the day after our visit, I made a big change in Zane’s regimen. I started giving him 5% CBD hemp oil. Hemp oil is rapidly becoming well-known for improving the quality of life for dogs with a variety of ailments.
Yesterday, I took Zane in for a blood test. We had a tick panel done in December and Zane came up positive for ehrlichiosis. The vet wanted to do a more sensitive test to determine if the infection was active. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving Zane the hemp oil and I’ve watched him become more energetic and social. He seems to have less pain. He’s stopped licking and chewing his paws as much. Now he confines the licking to one paw, rather than all four, and he doesn’t chew the pad until the skin becomes raw. It’s been nothing short of astonishing.
Prior to yesterday, I had not seen the vet since I made this change. While she was drawing Zane’s blood, we started chatting. She was friendlier than ever. I told her about the CBD oil I’ve been using and how amazed I was by it. She started telling me about other essential oils that we could use for Zane’s allergies. So far, I’ve noticed that the oil seems to make Zane feel better overall and perhaps helps him with pain and inflammation. While he’s still not quite 100%, he’s probably now at 85% or even 90% as opposed to 65% or 70%.
She asked if I was using the CBD oil for myself and I said I’d tried it. I mostly give it to Zane, though, because it tastes like hay. She laughed and I ended up telling her about how I tried marijuana for the first time in The Netherlands. She laughed and asked if we visited a coffee shop. I told her about how it was my 43rd birthday and we got a space cake from a coffee shop near our hotel in Haarlem. Then she told me about how she and the other vet went to Amsterdam with their husbands and the husbands wanted to visit a coffee shop. It may seem silly to mention this, but remember, I’ve been visiting this lady for the past two years, often more than once a month. And this was very close to a friendly conversation! In fact, it was probably the longest chat we’ve ever had.
Having lived in Germany for a total of about four and a half years, I have come to realize that Germans, by and large, can take awhile to warm up. But once they do, you start to see a very appealing side of them. As we continued chatting, we started talking about politics and the vet amazed me by showing that she knows as much or more about American politics than I do. I would be hard pressed to know much about German politics, although I did read yesterday that Germany has just loosened up the regulations on the use of medical cannabis. So we chatted a bit about that… and I would not be surprised if she was surprised that I knew about the new medical cannabis legislation in Germany (which I think is a great thing).
Another thing I’ve learned during the two times I’ve lived here is that dogs can be excellent ambassadors. I have met more Germans because of my dogs than I have in any other circumstance. That was true when we were living here last time, too. Our dog, Flea, actually got our first German neighbors talking to us after we’d lived next to them for over six months. And when Bill and I ran into them last spring, they asked about our dogs (we have different ones this time).
I don’t know how long we’ll have with either Zane or Arran. But I can see that the vet really likes my dogs and is particularly fond of Zane. I could be wrong, but I think her opinion of me has changed a bit, too. Our frequent visits are now a lot less awkward than they were even just a few weeks ago. Who knew we’d bond over pot?
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