Sheltie Gathering Jan 2012! Juliet third dog from the left!
It’s all gooooood! Mother says that though it’s been only a month since my neuter procedure she has seen some improvement in my behaviour. Don’t know what she’s talking about. I’m already an angel!
Pffftt. You gave Mother hell! I see her huddled in the corner, rocking herself and eating her hair while she mumbles “Romeo.. Mark.. Hump.. Noooo”. *giggles*
My balls are lookin’ gooooooooood. This close shave really makes things (or rather my Thing) look bigger.. Hmm.
Scroll down for pictorial proof.
It’s been 5 days since I went in for the Big Snip and I’m feeling much less discomfort.
You were such a baby the first few days that Mumsy had to get painkillers (Rimadyl) from the vet for you on the 3rd day!
I’m ignoring you. ANYway, Mother took more pictures of my balls of course. If you really must, you can check them out below. Sigh.
Eeeewwww….
This is Juliet, reporting live from the living room of our house, bringing you exciting live updates on Romeo’s balls!
Teehee!
So. Not. Funny.
Almost 60 hours in (from the time of surgery) and his balls are starting to look like this (in colour and everything):
A rambutan (click to find out what the heck it is)
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say goodbye to my 2 best friends, my balls. *sad face*
Rest in peace ballsies!
[Romeo was neutered on 27 December 2011.]
If you want to see a picture of what his “down there” looks like now, after 48 hours from time of surgery, keep going and read the rest of this post.
Mumsy woke us up bright and early today to take us to the National Dog Walk this year. She never goes for these things but they organised, amongst other carnival like things, the Singapore Open Championship in Agility and she entered us in for practice.
Yes except it was far too hot to work so I spent most of my time in the ring posing for the many photographers and trying to get out of the ring!
Mumsy mentioned. Tsk. At least I finished the course (more or less)!
*shoots Juliet a dirty look* Anyway, the sun must have gotten to Mother’s head because she later on came to us a bit weepy and hugged us and mumbled something about not dying.
Have any of you ever fought with a monkey? I nearly did!
Mother took me to Sentosa recently to look at a possibly wedding dinner venue (she didn’t like it in the end) and we were making our way to my favourite “exhibit”, the giant turtles. On the way there, we had to pass a forested area, and as we were walking closer, a monkey appeared. It looked male and it was big. Mother muttered something about it possibly being the leader or alpha of the rest of the monkeys we could hear behind the trees. She eyed the monkey very cautiously, who had made its way down the tree and onto the road. We were less than 10 meters away! Mother stopped of course when she saw the monkey on the road, worried about going further. I don’t know why though coz I can surely take him on!! GRRR *strikes macho pose*
Next thing I knew, Mother turned around and walked back where we came from. I wouldn’t let it go of course and constantly turned around and started to growl and bark abit, which alarmed Mother and she hushed me and tried to distract me from the monkey. Mother turned around at one point and saw that the monkey was hissing, baring teeth and started to come closer. She picked up the pace and practically dragged my “ready for a fight” ass away. Thankfully (to mom) the monkey did not follow.
Mother said her heart was pounding and she was mentally preparing herself to fight the monkey and keep me from harm. I was thinking of all the ways I could tear that monkey apart!! I don’t know why Mother thinks she needs to protect me. Pfft. I am MANLY MACHO RAMBO ROMEO. I can take that puny primate!
After her heartbeat returned to normal, she wondered what we did that could have ticked the monkey off. Then she burst out laughing.
“What? What, Mother?!”
“I think the monkey thought YOU were an intruding monkey. You’re the same colour as he was! And furry! And about the same size! Teeheehee. You look like this! Hahaha! Mommy’s little monkey boy! ”
“…… *grumbles* I think that monkey’s friggin’ blind.”
Who is this poor little puppy, coughing away, having to battle pneumonia at 3.5 months of age?
That would be me. 
I’m clear! I don’t have Degenerative Myelopathy!! Mother whooped for joy then stopped and said “Ok, so now you have a nameless genetic disorder that may or may not get worse. Hmm.” Mother’s happy that she can strike that one off the list tho’. At least now there is a possibility that she won’t need to get ramps for the house and wheels for me!
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals sent a test result slip that said “This dog is homozygous N/N with two NORMAL copies of the gene associated with Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) susceptibility.” To which Mother went “Normal? What does that mean??” and proceeded to tear through the accompanying explanation of results. Of all the dogs OFFA has tested so far, dogs with test results of Normal have never been confirmed to have DM. Normal means I can only transmit normal (non-DM) genes to offspring and it’s unlikely I will ever develop DM. Woohoo!
Some dogs will get the result “Carriers” (meaning they may or may not have DM themselves but their offspring might, especially if they are paired with other Carriers I guess), others will get the result “At Risk” (meaning that they will most likely have DM, if no symptoms show, then as they age, and they will also pass the mutated gene to their offspring.
WOOHOO! CEEEE-LE-BRATE TONIGHT COME ON!
“ROMEO!! Wheee!!! Look Romeo!” screams Mother waving an envelope in the air.
“Wassup mum” say I, lazily licking my paw.
“It’s here!! Oh my god I love it when people are so friggin’ efficient! I get so impatient about these things,” as she tears open the envelope.
“Wassat mum” I go, examining my well endowed maleness.
“Remember I told you I was going to test your DNA for Degenerative Myelopathy and you freaked out and worried yourself pale about scalpels and needles? It’s here!!” Mother exclaims, pulling out 2 sheets of paper and a dubious looking rectangular strip that says ‘Sterile Foam Tipped Applicator’.
I gulped thinking about all the places that swab can go.
“The DIY DNA test kit from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals run by the University of Missouri has arrived! I’m gonna swab your mouth and collect alot of saliva and cheek cells to put on a little card then courier it back to them to test if you have degenerative myelopathy!” she explains as she reads the documents.
I heave a huuuuuge sigh of relief and allow my jewels to drop back down again. “Must I Mother?”
“Yes of course you must! It’s almost impossible to test of it here and testing for it and getting a negative result will give me much needed relief! I’d like to know if you’re going to get worse my boy, if I should start building ramps and thinking about getting you wheels or whatever.” Mother snaps on rubber gloves.
“Now open wide.. AAAAAHHHHH”
