My Doggy is Sick Part 2

You can read part 1 of this saga here. 

Annabelle stayed at the hospital overnight Sunday where they administered fluids, steroids, and an immune suppressant medicine to keep her immune system from destroying the red blood cells.  Monday morning I picked her up and transported her to her regular vet.  Overnight her red blood cell count had slightly improved, going from 20 to 23.  They kept her there all day and I picked her up around 5:00. She was still lethargic and didn’t have much of an appetite.  I guess it will take a while for her to get her strength and appetite back.

Tuesday morning (April 21, 2009) I took her back to the vet so they could recheck her red blood cell count and administer some more fluids.  When I picked her up they said her blood cell count was great, it was 33!  She even ate a small breakfast and a snack of chicken breast and some canned prescription food for upset stomachs.  However yesterday afternoon and dinnertime was a different story.  She would only eat a few bites of food, plus she did not move her bowels all day long.  I called the vet back to see if this was a problem.  Dr. Bridges was concerned that her appetite seemed to decrease and asked if I could bring her back in Wed. morning to have her blood count checked again.

Today is Wed.  Annabelle actually got up with me this morning and followed me around a little bit!  I could not believe my eyes!  She wasn’t all that interested in her breakfast and would only eat the chicken breast and not the canned food.  Right now she’s at the vet where they are checking her blood count again.  Dr. Bridges thinks that as long as her red blood cell count is the same or higher then Annabelle should recover from this episode.  However, if this anemic disease was caused by Annabelle’s cushings disease (which most likely it was), then it will probably re-occur.  She said some dogs will be good for a couple months, some may even been good for a year.  Only time will tell I guess.

***  Edited to add that Annabelle just got home from the vet (Wednesday).  Her red blood cell count went down a little bit- to 28 or 29.  Her white blood cell count is still elevated.  They sent her home with 3 more medicines, 2 to help calm her belly and 1 antibiotic.  This sucks.

My Doggy is Sick

We have been very busy at our house lately trying to get everything ready for the baby to arrive.  We decided that since we needed new carpet (didn’t think pink carpet was appropriate for a baby boy), that it was the perfect time to have new interior doors and trim-work installed.  Apparently the previous owners of our house were very rough on things, doors were scratched up from their dogs, some of it had been painted sloppily etc.  And so the preparation began… moving all the furniture around, packing up some items to store temporarily in the basement.  Pretty much everything has been shifted around.

The construction work officially began Friday (April 17, 2009) morning.  About a month ago Annabelle was diagnosed with Cushings disease and the medicine to control that can cause loss of appetite.  I had noticed the day before that Annabelle seemed to be acting a little strange.  She didn’t really want to eat unless I coaxed her.  I gave her a piece of my apple and she barely ate it (usually she scarfs down fruits and veggies).  The next morning, Friday, she didn’t even come out of the bedroom.  Normally both dogs get up as soon as I do and follow me into the bathroom to get petted.  Eventually she came out and slowly wandered into the living room.  I invited her to sit on the green chair- the only chair they are allowed on- and she just looked at me.  Eventually she hopped up there but then she wouldn’t move for a while.  I noticed she was very lethargic and just looked kind of yucky, but wasn’t sure if she was sick or if she was scared because of the construction.  She would not eat anything.  I called the vet on Friday and explained everything to them.  They agreed that she was probably just scared because of the construction and the furniture being moved around.  She only ate a few carrots and some popcorn on Friday.  

On Saturday morning she looked about the same and still wouldn’t eat all day, barely even eating carrots, which are one of her favorites.  Her eyes just looked so sad.  Sunday morning she still looked really bad so we decided to call the emergency vet.  They said to bring her in right away.

Jay got ready and took her in while I stayed home and prepared for an open house and then our baby shower which was that afternoon.  The only thing I knew before the shower was that Annabelle had an enlarged spleen and really low red blood cell count, it was 20.  After the baby shower Jay told me what they found.  Apparently she has some immune anemic disease, called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.  This is a very serious disease and she only had a 70% chance of surviving. 

I was devastated.  Annabelle is my baby (well both dogs are my babies).  She is only 10, how could she be so sick and possibly leaving me already?  We’ve only owned the dogs fo 3 years, we got them when they were 7.  She is such a good dog.

Annabelle stayed at the hospital overnight Sunday where they administered fluids, steroids, and an immune suppressant medicine to keep her immune system from destroying the red blood cells.  Monday morning I picked her up and transported her to her regular vet.  Overnight her red blood cell count had slightly improved, going from 20 to 23.

Stark County Open House April 19th, 12-2

7880 Bentwood Cir. in Arlington Meadows

Open house Sunday April 19th, 12-2

Nice 4 level split nestled on the cul–de-sac of a quiet neighborhood in Jackson. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms. Home has new flooring, carpet, fresh paint, and new Pella windows. The large master bedroom has a full bathroom. The new deck and backyard will be great for entertaining this summer!

View more details and photos at http://www.polarbearhomes.com/3011129

Contact Chrissy Moock Cutler Real Estate for more information or to schedule a showing. 330-936-2519

Stark County Open House March 22 2:00 – 4:00

Open house in Jackson township March 22, 2:00 – 4:00

7880 Bentwood Cir. in Arlington Meadows

Nice 4 level split nestled on the cul-de-sac of a quiet neighborhood. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms. Home has new flooring, carpet, fresh paint, and new windows. The large master bedroom has a full bathroom and a balcony that overlooks the semi-private backyard. The new deck will be great for entertaining this summer!

View more details and photos at http://www.polarbearhomes.com/3011129

Contact Chrissy Moock Cutler Real Estate for more information or to schedule a showing. 330-936-2519

Homebuyer Tax Credit

If you have heard anything about the stimulus plan, you may have heard about the tax credit that is being offered to first time homebuyers.

In case you haven’t heard, here is some information:

– Home Ownership Tax Credit – A non-refundable tax credit of up to $8,000 will be available for buyers who purchase a home this year-before December 1, 2009-and who have not bought a house in the previous 3 years. This tax credit amount is based on 10-percent of the home’s purchase price, up to $8,000. To qualify, homeowners must keep their home for at least 3 years.  There is more detailed information at:  http://www.ChrissyMoock.com click on tax credit.

Contact Chrissy Moock 330-936-2519 for more information.

Want Instant Information on All Listings?

Have you ever pulled up in front of a house with a for sale sign and wondered what price it was, how many bedrooms it had, etc? Well, at Cutler Real Estate we now have a solution to provide you with instant property information right from your cell phone as you sit in front of the house.

The solution is Cutler Mobile MLS. The mobile MLS is very easy to use. Simply call 1-800-465-4556 and then enter the address or MLS # of the home you are interested in. You will be provided with an instant audio description of the home.

Contact me today to get registered to utilize this great tool! For questions or to register, please contact Chrissy Moock 330-936-2519 or by email to: chrissy@chrissymoock.com.

Mortgage Lender vs. Tax Auditor

This morning my husband opened a piece of mail from Fifth Third Bank in regards to our home equity line. They said that according to a market study of our area, the value of our home has been significantly lowered. Because the value is lowered, they are lowering the amount of money available to us through the equity line. This doesn’t really affect us because we have never really used the equity line, it was just the mortgage loan that worked for us when we bought our home.

We have known for a while that the value of our home is declining, however last year the auditor significantly raised the tax appraised value of our home, at least $20,000 higher than the home would ever sell for. I did all the paperwork required, submitted recent comps, and even met with the REALTOR who works at the auditor’s office. They would only agree to lower the value of our home by a small amount.

Now I know that our city, county, and schools need the tax money to continue operating, but it just doesn’t seem fair to be paying taxes on an amount that’s higher than our home is worth. Is it being unrealistic to expect the auditor to use fair market value? I thought I had learned at one of our sales meetings at the office that the tax appraised value is usually lower than the fair market value of a house. I know they can’t adjust the price of every home every year, but if we did sell our home this year at an amount that is way lower than the tax appraised value, would it be adjusted for the new owner?

Need a Little Help Getting Your Home Sold?

Frustrated that your home hasn’t sold?  Have you thought about purchasing a St. Joseph statue to bury in your yard?  There really is no proof that the statue helps the home sell, but in my experience it’s worth a try.  I took buyers through a home that had been on the market for about a week… inside the house was about 3 St. Joseph statues pointing towards the door.  A few days later the buyers wrote an offer and the house was sold.  Another client I know had purchased and buried a St. Joseph statue in his yard.  After a few weeks with no offers, he became frustrated and dug the statue up.  Did the home ever sell- no. 

Here is an article that talks more about the St. Joseph statue.  St. Joseph

If you are looking for something different to try to help get your home sold, why not try to St. Joseph statue?  What have you got to lose?

What Kind of Shopper Are You?

There was an interesting article in yesterday’s newspaper about the 4 different types of shoppers. 

The Primitive (or compulsive) Shopper

The compulsive shopper is driven by anxiety.  They aren’t worried about what they’re buying, as long as they are buying.  The compulsive shopper will go home after their shopping binge and hide the packages.  They also prefer to purchase a certain item, like shoes or clothing for women, or electronics for men.

The Neurotic Shopper

The neurotic shopper shops excessively, looking for the perfect item.  They will plan their shopping around something they need or want.  The neurotic shopper is looking for the “perfect” or “particular” type of something, like a particular style of sweater.  This shopper will buy several items, bring them home, try them on, then either return them all, or pick one.  They tend to return things. 

The Psychotic Shopper

The typical psychotic shopper is represented by a person who appears to be in “manic” phase who went on a shopping spree.  This type of shopper is commonly mistaken as a compulsive shopper. 

The Normal Shopper

The normal shopper saves their money and plans their purchases.  They understand the ideas of delayed gratification and saving money for big ticket items. 

So, what kind of shopper are you?  I am probably a neurotic shopper.  I will usually have an idea of what I want a certain clothing item to look like and then I will hunt and hunt until I find it.  During my hunt I will buy clothes along the way that would kind of work and then return them later.  I often find myself getting disappointed when I can’t find exactly what I want, or if it doesn’t fit right. 

I recently was shopping for a dress to wear to my company’s holiday party.  This usually wouldn’t be such an ordeal, except that I am about 3 months pregnant making it harder to find something that would fit and meet my expectations.  I wanted something that was holiday-ish with some sparkle to it.  I went to every store in town that I normally would buy from- Sears, Target, Kohls, JcPenneys, Macys, Burlington etc.  In my shopping process I purchased several items which I later returned.  I’d find a dress and think, well this isn’t really what I want, but I guess it will work.  I finally went back to Sears to return something and took one more look at their dresses.  They must have got a new shipment in!!!  I found several new ones to try on and finally found one that satisfied me.  Sigh.  Ok, so it was still a little too big, but at least there is room for my belly to grow.  I won’t even talk about maternity clothes- that might take another 5 paragraphs.  Who do they design those after????

The Tree is Decorated!

So, after about a week’s time we finally got all of our Christmas decorations up.  This year our decorating wasn’t nearly as exciting as last year.  We didn’t run out of lights thanks to my stocking up last year after Christmas.  We did have 1 strand of red and white lights that didn’t work this year, but I improvised by putting 1 white strand and 1 red strand on the tree at the same time- which worked awesome by the way.  Since we didn’t run out of lights there really wasn’t any arguing between my husband and me.  If you’d lke to read about last year’s Christmas decorating click here.  Here is the picture from this year: