A Red sweater for a dog named Blue

“Dogs are our link to paradise. 

They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. 

To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be 

back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.” 

― Milan Kundera

I am happy to say Blue seems to be doing a lot better.  She has her spunk back.  The antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory meds are helping a lot.  She is not peeing blood now and she has been eating and drinking again. When my husband comes home she does her little dance for him to give her a treat like she used to.  Everyone is so happy to see her happy again.

I have been playing phone tag with the vet. I've been having some bad pain days.  It has been snowing so I usually have flare ups when the weather changes.  Anyway, since I haven't been getting out of bed until after 3 or 4 pm I've been missing her calls.  I call her back and then miss her return call.  She finally said on the message the the pathologist isn't convinced that the tumor is a Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC).  It could be a connective tissue tumor or just a large mass of inflammation.  Whatever it is, she definitely feels a lot better.  She has arthritis in her back legs and usually has trouble going up the two steps to the back door or hopping up on the furniture (which is not allowed unless I'm not looking).  She had a different med she was taking but they had me switch to a stronger one to help bring down the inflammation in her bladder and now she is skipping around like she's a puppy again.  She's my 13 year old puppy.

Anyway, I have been working on a sweater for her since I know the temperature could drop any time. We have some snow but it hasn't been too cold for her yet.  I had to alter the pattern because she has Cushing's Disease so her belly is big like a pot bellied pig.   Most dogs are bigger in the chest and then get smaller around the belly but she is one inch large in the belly than her chest measurement and she also has some swelling that the vet said should get better over the next little while.

I found a pattern on Craftsy.com by Copper Llama Studio that looks like it would be easier to alter. I'm pretty new at trying to alter a pattern.  I took a lot of measurements and with some tips from a friend I was able to make this sweater to fit Blue.  I made it in bright red just in case she had a job interview to go to.

I added some extra stitches onto one side of the belly section to make a flap with button holes so it can wrap around her tender belly and fasten with buttons to the back.  That makes is so much easier to get it on her without hurting her.  It is a little snug on her around the middle but the vet said her belly will start to be smaller as she get her meds.  I also made the neck piece a little too big so I'll probably fix that later. It looks like a stylish cowl neckline lol  It is more important that she be warm than stylish.  Now I need to get busy and sew her some new booties so she wont get frost bite on her feet.