Over the last few weeks we have rolled out a group of site upgrade.  This has included a new look and feel for the site.

We noticed a while back that Wally had no testicular signs on the outside of his body like most male dogs. After two visits to the vet it was confirmed that wally suffered from Cryptocchidism, or.... as defined by the wikipedia:

"Cryptorchidism is a common occurrence in dogs and is thought to be a sex-limited autosomal recessive trait.[1] It is found in up to 10 percent of male dogs.[2] Dog testes usually descend by ten days of age and it is considered to be cryptorchidism if they do not descend by the age of eight weeks.[3] Cryptorchidism can be either bilateral (causing sterility) or unilateral, and inguinal or abdominal (or both). Because it is an inherited trait, affected dogs should not be bred and should be castrated. The parents should be considered carriers of the defect and not be bred. Littermates may be normal, carriers, or cryptorchid. Castration should be performed on cryptorchid dogs also due to the high rate of testicular cancer, especially sertoli cell tumors.[3] The incidence of testicular cancer is 13.6 times higher in dogs with abdominally retained testicles compared with normal dogs.[2] Testicular torsion is also more likely in retained testicles. Surgical correction is by palpation of the retained testicle and subsequent exploration of the inguinal canal or abdomen."

A few lines above there is the magic "13.6 times higher" statement, this was given to Lesley as "serious implications" in the first vet visit and given to me as "we need to get them out" in the second vet visit.... Poor Wally was hauled to the vet yesterday, he came out two balls lighter and high as can be, meanwhile I came out $330 dollars lighter in the wallet with a dog that could not walk... Well it was not that bad. The vet said all looked well on the inside and she did find the missing units, and that they were removed successfully!

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Here are some videos filmed at L'Esgargot in St. Maarten.  These were from a while back, but the star of the nigth was Lesley who got to take part in the Cabaret.  I am not sure if being the owners personal trainer really paid off in this case.... If you can not tell Lesley is on the far left in the video.  Below... Jeff with a drag queen, look at that smile on his face! 

 

This guy is a real party animal check this out!

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Wally up to his usual ways....

Today was close up and clean up day.  Up early... all lines off the deck... sail covers on.  All covers on... long day.  Boat is clean inside and out now.  All covers on and all things locked.