Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

When You WTF Yourself

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The dogs have become use to going potty on our walks, especially Sampson. Delilah will go out in the yard, but with Sampson’s bad legs, he mostly only does his business on our walks, which happen twice per day.

Like the majority of the country, the northeast has been hit with a vicious heat wave.

Up until Sunday, we were managing walks ok.  Morning walks are tolerable, although I can’t say I’m a fan of boob sweat or swamp ass at 5:30 in the morning, but at least the temps are in the 70’s.

Sunday was supposed to be the worst day, but we managed a morning walk just fine. In the afternoon it got blazing hot.  It was 98° at 5:00 pm.

When it’s super hot and humid, I modify our afternoon walks. By modify I mean, I usually shorten them, or wait until the sun has started its descent so the pavement is cooler, and we walk uphill, where the shade is.

I thought if I drove the dogs up to the woods, we would have some relief from the heat, and Sampson could enjoy a walk in one of his favorite places. It would mean shortening Delilah’s walk, but with her heart issues, I was fine with that. I brought some water with me, and gave them both water every couple of minutes.

By the time I realized this wood walk wasn’t a good idea, it was too late, we were already at the turn around point. My first clue was the way Sampson was lagging behind, but he was sniffing and Delilah was pulling so I missed that signal.

Then he lay down on the path. Shit! We had to turn around and head back home. It was all down hill so I thought he’d be okay.  (In retrospect, I should have called Hubby and had him meet us at the top, but that’s in retrospect.) By the time we were approaching the car, Sampson’s back end was giving out, he had that sloping walk that today’s GSD’s have and every time he stepped on his bad leg, his hip sank. I was afraid he was going to collapse.

I helped him into the car, and watched his ‘good’ leg knuckle. I just about threw up at that point. I gave him some more water, and drove home.

I got him out of the car and coaxed him to the back door, and pounded on the door for Hubby to come out and help him. He got him about three feet inside the door, and he lay down again. He was panting really hard. (Sampson, not Hubby. Hubby was smart, Hubby stayed inside.)

Hubby brought the water bowl over to him, and gave him some water, then he moved the fan so it was blowing on him.  We had the air conditioning on, but it was so hot, that the air inside the house was still in the upper 70’s to low 80’s.

A cool, refreshing drink.

I wanted to take a quick, cool shower, so I left Sampson in front of the fan.

While I was in the shower, I was thinking about Sampson. We don’t have a bathtub that is low enough for him to climb into, so I contemplated bringing him in the shower with me, but I was afraid of him slipping on the tile and hurting himself.  I wished we still had the little wading pool.  Lying in the little pool would help him cool down. I thought about the times on our hikes, when he would put his belly in the stream.

Then a light bulb went off, and I thought, “A cool, wet towel on his tummy!”

I hopped out of the shower, grabbed a hand towel and soaked it with cool water.

Sampson was still lying on his tummy, so I rolled him onto his side and draped the towel over his stomach. The fan was positioned to blow on him, but he was still panting.

I finished my shower, and checked on him again. The towel was still cool, and he was still panting.

I texted Jen, “Help, I fucked up.”

She asked if I’d taken his temperature.

I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t even have a thermometer.

She told me to not let the towel absorb his body heat. To keep checking it and refreshing it, so it stayed cool.  She also said I could rub his gums with an ice cube, and cool his paw pads with cool, but not super cold water.

By now, about an hour had passed and he wasn’t panting continuously, but in smaller increments. I tried rubbing an ice cube on his gums, but the little shit ate the ice cube. I took the towel and wiped his paws.

I felt like the crisis had past, but I didn’t encourage him to move. I was concerned about feeding him his dinner, but he stood up fine and didn’t seem to be having the same problems with his legs.

While we were eating our dinner, he got up and moved into the living room.

I don’t think it was heat stroke, or heat exhaustion, but I do think for Sampson the heat and exercise was just too much for him. I told Hubby, “From now on, when it’s that hot, walks will be after the sun goes down, and if it’s still too hot, it will just be enough to do their business.

Moral of the story, don’t walk your dog when it’s almost 100°, it’s not worth their life. Or the time you shave off your own, thinking you killed your dog.

For some great tips at keeping your dogs cool during the hot months, check out what Jen had to say on this My Brown Newfies post.

 

Why We Blog About Dog Injury/Illness

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Making decisions for our dogs as they age is probably the hardest bit about owning dogs. It is something I really wrestle with, and I know you all do as well. Am I doing the right thing? Who does this benefit, them or me? What kind of decision would I want, if someone were making it for me? Those are the questions I struggle with when trying to make decisions.

As my dogs have aged, they’ve encountered illness and injury and I’ve tried to share that here, giving as much information as I can. Why? Why do we blog about dog injury/illness? For me, it’s to share knowledge I may have, that might help someone else be comfortable with a decision for their pet.

The other reason, is there are so many other animal lovers who have already dealt with illness and injury with their pets, and perhaps they have some insight, that can help me or you in the decision process.

Diagnosing Degenerative Myelopathy

Two of my friends have actually had vets tell them they suspected their dogs had Degenerative Myelopathy (a.k.a. DM).  Unfortunately the diagnosis of DM is only confirmed postmortem BUT there IS a test that can rule it out.   This test will tell you if the dog is clear, or if the dog has the DNA marker for DM. I couldn’t wait to share that with my friends. The test is simple, you send away for it, take a DNA sample and send it back.  Both of my friends confirmed their dogs did not carry the marker for DM, what a relief!

How do I know about this test? Because Sampson was misdiagnosed with DM when he had his first CCL tear.

She about lost her mind on that one.

Sampson will be fourteen the end of July, and Delilah is around twelve and a half. Other than the graying of their fur, you wouldn’t really guess their ages by looking at them.

Unfortunately, outward looks can be deceiving and they are both facing some serious issues.

Just before Sampson tore his second CCL in 2016, he was diagnosed with an arrhythmia, and a heart murmur. We had an ultrasound performed to see if they could determine the cause. The heart ultrasound showed nothing, but they discovered a mass on one of his adrenals. At the time, our vet said the only way to know about the adrenal was to remove it, which would require surgery, which wasn’t recommended due to the arrhythmia, so we passed on that. When the CCL tear came a week later, we didn’t know enough about the heart issues to have surgery, so he’s had to manage on his own. Knowing then what I know now, I would make a different choice, but I cannot turn back time.

A couple of months ago we had another ultrasound of his heart to check on that arrhythmia and murmur and were thrilled to find out there has been very little progression in two years. His heart disease is slow moving and his murmur is graded at a 2. At this point, he needs no medication for either of them.

Which brings me to the next issue, Sampson has a couple of bruised teeth, and some really bad tartar on his back teeth. My vet is concerned that somewhere down the road, Sampson will need those teeth pulled, and his age or health will not allow, and we will be faced with a very hard decision.

I’ve been wrestling with having his teeth cleaned, which I realize at the ripe age of fourteen, is a very scary thing. I looked into an anesthetic free dental, but my vet said she would never recommend it, because firstly they cannot get below the gum line while your pet is awake, and they also cannot do x-rays to check for issues, nor can they pull teeth.

Secondly, she’s seen many pets have problems with aspiration pneumonia.

So we took this one right off the table.

Dental Cleanings in High Risk Dogs

After the heart ultrasound, I discussed dental work with my vet. She recommended a vet who specializes in high risk cases. So last month I took Sampson in, and had a discussion with the vet.  I made sure they won’t warm him with electric heating pads, and asked about his monitoring during the procedure. He has two assistants in the room with him. One is his extra pair of hands, while the other one’s job is strict monitoring of the animal.  While Sampson is under, the vet will do x-rays, and if he sees anything that needs attention, like a tooth being pulled, or a root canal, he will call me right then, and everything will be done in one visit. That way there is not a risk of putting him under twice.

As of right now, he’s scheduled to have this cleaning July 31st, the day after his 14th birthday. I won’t lie, I’m still on the fence, wobbling about this, so if you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Endothelial Decompensation

As for Delilah, last year she was diagnosed with Endothelial Decompensation in her eyes, a condition where the cornea thins and liquid gets behind it, causing blisters which can turn into ulcers.  She has had problems maintaining her weight and initially the vet thought she had Cushings, but testing ruled that out.

Can you see how her eyes have a ‘blueish’ tint to them? That is actually the Endothelial Decompensation.

A number of years ago she had some higher than normal liver levels, but we are using milk thistle and it seems to be keeping it under control.

Another Type of Arrhythmia

Delilah went for her annual on May 31st and she was free of tick borne diseases, her liver levels were the same, she had no blisters/ulcers in her eyes, BUT, Dr. Soutter also discovered an arrhythmia with her as well.

It was alarming enough for Dr. Soutter to ask us to come back in a week and run the EKG again, which confirmed her suspicions. Delilah has a heart arrhythmia that involves all four chambers of her heart.

This type of arrhythmia is usually attributed to a tumor on the spleen or heart (rare, although dear Katie from MY GBGV Life had one), or a disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). As best I can tell, and from speaking with a friend who is pre-med, this is due to the arteries becoming blocked, which causes the heart to work harder, and it also becomes enlarged.

When I consulted Dr. Google, I found that hardening of the arteries has to do with the Endothelial membrane, which set off all kinds of alarms in my brain.

Canine Cardiologists

I love my vet, but when it comes to an injury or illness, I prefer to seek the services of one who specializes in whatever disorder/injury I’m dealing with . Delilah sees an Ophthalmologist for her eyes, and I want her to see someone who specializes in the heart.  Dr. Soutter recommended a Cardiologist who is about 40 minutes away. When I called, the receptionist told me they were booking six weeks out, but she did have times for emergencies. Then she asked, “Is she showing any symptoms, is she collapsing?”  It totally caught me off guard, because really, to watch her, you would never suspect there could be a problem. When I walk them, Sampson is always panting. He starts out panting, he pants the entire walk and he pants for a while after we’re done. He pants so loud, that our friend Karen can hear him coming. Delilah on the other hand, will pant lightly, but not right away. And as soon as she stops walking, she stops panting.

I told the receptionist that I wasn’t seeing any symptoms, but because my vet found the arrhythmia, it is considered emergent, so we have an appointment scheduled for this Friday. In the meantime, I’m trying my best not to speculate, or to think doom and gloom. I’m trying to be positive and wait to see what the Cardiologist says.

There are a lot of things up in the air right now, issues I’m wrestling with, and things I’m not sure how to handle.

But I do know one thing, I will not watch Delilah struggle to breathe.

 

One Way to Reduce Toxins in You and Your Dog’s Lives

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One of the topics I’d really like this blog to be known for, is my natural approach to treating my dogs. From supplements, to food, to medical treatments, I will always seek out a natural approach.  Of course, there are times when the natural approach isn’t a good fit for whatever we have going on. Things like Tapeworms. UGH.

Do we have to talk about THAT again? You get one little worm and you never hear the end of it.

For a while now, I’ve been thinking about a series where I share with you, the ways I work to reduce my, and the dog’s exposures to toxins in our lives. Let’s face it, our environments, our world is filled with toxins. We are exposed to thousands of them every day, whether it’s in the air, our home, the products/food we use, or our water.

For years we’ve been told that bottled water is safe. But I recently read a post by the BBC where a report uncovered that almost all bottled water has particles of plastic in them, and while there was no evidence of harm posed by these small particles, I prefer to not ingest them. I also prefer my dogs don’t ingest them.

Of course, there are times and areas of the world, where you may well have to drink from plastic bottles, but whenever possible, I prefer to filter my water myself.

For the last 12 years, I’ve worked in the field of engineering. I learned a lot. One of those things was how our water is processed and treated. While I understand the need for the process, I don’t have to like it.

I would even suggest people with wells, also filter their water.  There are all kinds of chemicals and toxins that seep into the ground through rain and natural processes, and it’s just better in my opinion to take as many precautions as you can.

We have city water. Turn on the faucet and you get a strong smell of chlorine, I like to eliminate that chlorine if possible, so I filter it.

Ways to Filter Your Water

Plumbed water filtration systems – We looked at water filtration systems that were plumbed right into the house. Our local home improvement store had two different kinds. One that filtered just the sink you were using and one that filtered all the water for the home. We ultimately did not go with either at the time, as we have too many projects on our plate, but my ideal would be a system for the whole house. That way, I’m reducing the toxins ON my body, as well as the toxins I’m putting IN my body.

Faucet Filters – Before we got our long-neck faucet, we had a Brita filter on the sink. I always had a pitcher of filtered water on the counter, so I could easily refill the dog’s water bowl when there was a need. Then I would refill the pitcher so it was ready the next time I needed it.

Filter Pitchers – With our long-neck faucet, the Brita filter no longer fits, so I bought a Brita pitcher instead. I keep the pitcher on the counter, just like before, and I also have a couple of one quart mason jars filled with water, right next to it. Whenever I fill the dog’s water bowl, I dump another quart into the Brita pitcher.

Rent a filtration system – There are also companies that rent water filtration systems. Where I work, we have a water ‘cooler’ plumbed into our line. It is always full, always filtered water. They will come out and change the filters or unit, once a year. My daughter also rented a system where the water came right out a faucet on the sink.

Boil your water – As for cooking, I do not filter water when I use it for cooking. Mostly because any large amount of water I use, would be boiled, and we all know, boiling water is a great way to sterilize it. SO, that being said, if you don’t have the means to filter your water another way, you could always boil it, and let it cool before drinking.

Today’s post is the first in a series of ways to reduce the toxins and chemicals you and your pet are exposed to.

Wonder what her next topic will be? Your guess is a good as mine.

Do you have any tips to reduce toxins in your life or are there any topics you’d like covered?

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