Heart Like a Dog

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

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Thursday Barks and Bytes – Coyote Ugly

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Blog Design 

As many of you noticed yesterday I have a new blog design.  The design was done by Julie Melfi from Leg Up Creative Solutions and The Daily Dog Blog.   Every single thing you see on this blog is all Julie.  She chose the colors, the layout, the header and designed the graphic in the header as well.

Can I tell you how much I love this design?

To infinity and beyond.

Julie I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Daily Walks

Our daily walks have become sporadic.  First off it’s dark and I don’t like walking the dogs by myself.  What I started doing was taking Sampson for a very short walk and then coming home and grabbing Delilah and taking her for a longer walk.   One day last week I was walking on the road and Delilah was up on the grass.  We came to a hedge and I can’t tell you how it happened but Delilah was ass over tea kettle rolling on the ground.  Once she got up, she was staring intently into the darkness and I thought, I’m out of here.  I hurried her home so I could examine her in the light to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

Thankfully I couldn’t find anything that indicated she’d hurt herself.

Then last weekend I came down with Diverticulitis and didn’t feel much like walking.  When I did I thought I’d take both dogs for a slow walk up the street, then stop and drop Sampson at the house and continue with Delilah.

Well it snowed Tuesday night into yesterday morning and that Polar Vortex wandered down this way and we couldn’t walk Tuesday night, so last night I thought I’ll walk the dogs.  I leashed them both up and headed up the street.  We’d gotten about four houses up and  Sampson lifted his bad leg.

I thought he probably has snow in his paw, so I wiped it but decided to turn around and head towards home and he limped.  I stopped him in his tracks and called Hubby and said, Come get him, he’s limping.

As of the writing of this post, he hasn’t limped but I’m not taking a chance he could slip on the ice and blow that knee out.  He’s done with walks until we get the all cleared.

Coyote Ugly

Because of our limited walks I decided to try and give Delilah a wood walk on Sunday and we ran into a walking buddy we haven’t seen in eons!

She told me that her partner saw a HUGE coyote in their back yard that morning.

Photo used with permission from my friend Dawn. This is not the same Coyote that is in my area.

Photo used with permission from my friend Dawn. This is not the same Coyote that is in my area.

Their. Back. Yard!  OMG

Just to give you some perspective I made a crude little map.

Coyote

So, my house is that first reddish pin prick at the end of the crude green line.  (Hey I love you guys and all but I’m not putting my home address up…..you have to call first before you stop over.) 🙂  The big red star is the woods where we walk and the red pentagon is where my friend lives.  That red arrow to the left of the pentagon is a rough idea of where she saw the coyote.  In a strait line, it’s probably only about 1/4 mile away.

Yikes!

Barks and Bytes

Welcome to our first Thursday Barks And Bytes Blog Hop!

This is what happens when two blog hops collide!

I am thrilled to be co-hosting the Thursday Barks And Bytes Hop with my pal Linda from 2 Brown Dawgs.

To kick off the new hop we are giving away a $25.00 Amazon gift card.  To enter the give-away, all you have to do is display our badge in your post and enter the hop.  The hop will be open until 11:59 PM on Saturday 1-25-14.  We will draw the winner at random and announce it next Thursday.

Resized B and B

So grab the badge and join the hop!

Five Pills in One Gulp

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Our initial directions for supplements we purchased when we were told Sampson had Degenerative Myleopathy was one dose, twice per day for the first week and then increase it to two doses twice per day.  I was slightly concerned as the Immuplex was over $60 a bottle and at that dosage we would be tearing through a bottle like an iguana through a head of lettuce. We would have figured it out though, because my boy is worth it.

Supplements

After the diagnosis changed to a partial ACL tear, my vet said we could just continue the Immuplex and the Neurotrophin at the lower dosage, but increase the Canine Musculoskeletal Support as she felt this would be the supplement that would do him the most good.

So for those keeping track, Sampson was talking 1 Immuplex, 1 Neurotrophin, 1 Gaba Pentin, 1 Tramadol and 1 Carprofen two times each day.  That’s five pills per day at the low dose!

The Musculosketal Support is a powder which is sprinkled on his food and it must taste alright because he eats it with no problem.  (Thankfully he has finished the Gaba Pentin so our pill count drops to four.)

Anyone who has ever given a dog a pill knows, it’s not always easy. 

Once long, long ago I could hand Delilah her thyroid pill and she would swallow it, but I think she’s wised up to the fact there are other ways to take pills and it’s better to hold out for the good stuff.

Sampson on the other hand has always been very picky with what he eats.  Once the teller at the drive thru window gave him a Milk Bone which he politely took and then dropped it into my purse.

So the issue became, how do we get him to take all these pills?  I mean we could use peanut butter, BUT it’s fairly fattening and he’s on really limited exercise so he’s not burning as many calories on a daily basis.  I can’t imagine the size of a peanut butter ball that was full of five pills.

One of the pills, the Tramadol has a bad taste and my vet said some dogs will drool if it touches their tongue and some will stop taking it.  I can deal with the drool (I have labs after-all) but the refusal to take it is never pretty in my house.

You do the math.

One stubborn lab + one stubborn Mama = Bad Times.

Hubby came up with a great idea using Coconut Oil for the evening dose.  Since they are getting Coconut Oil anyway, he puts all the pills in the cap of the jar and then drops the Coconut Oil into the cover and wads the pills up.

Gulp, it’s gone.

The morning dose was slightly more problematic, until I had the BRILLIANT idea (if I do say so myself) to use some left over Ricotta cheese.

Typically Ricotta cheese is not the best thing to give your dog as it can be very high in fat and calories and some dogs don’t do well with dairy.

I however bought the no fat Ricotta cheese which has 40 calories for one quarter cup.  Don’t freak out I’m not giving the dogs 1/4 cup of Ricotta!

You guys, this stuff is SO EASY to use.  We use a cereal spoon.

Ricotta

Smear the spoon through the Ricotta. (It might look like a lot in the photo, but it’s barely 1/2 the spoon.)

Hollow

Using your finger, spread the Ricotta and flatten it down, making a small hollow in the base of the spoon.

Ricotta 1

Add your pills.

Ricotta 3

Fold the Ricotta over the pills.

Ricotta 4

Roll it around if you’re concerned about the presentation.

Viola, five pills in one gulp.

Of course I would advise you to make sure you are giving this in small doses and you’re aware of what your dog can tolerate.  Some dogs will NOT tolerate dairy well and others may be able to handle little bits.  My dogs get yogurt or Keifer every day so I’m comfortable with small doses of Ricotta Cheese.

If you are unsure at all, always consult your vet!

Totally switching topics here, how many of you will be joining us tomorrow for the inaugural Barks and Bytes blog hop?  Did you remember we are having a giveaway for all participating blogs.

You can get your badge here, from my side bar or head on over to 2 Brown Dawgs and check out her badge.

Resized B and B Then come back tomorrow to add your link.

The Blessing of an Ear Infection

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In yesterday’s post I shared the story of Sampson’s trip to our veterinary clinic and his diagnosis of Degenerative Myleopathy.  I tried to indicate to you that despite an initial devastating diagnosis all was not lost.

Based on some of the comments, I’m not sure I accomplished that and for that I’m sorry.

Some of you will know the symptoms of DM but for those that don’t there are two pronounced indicators.  

One is what is called Knuckling, where the dog’s toes turn under and he basically ends up walking on his ‘knuckles.’  Understandably the nails on the dogs toes get very worn down.

The second indicator is often times referred to as a ‘wiggle’ although from the video I saw, it looks more like a ‘hitch’ to me.

You can see a video of dogs with DM here.

After my vet consulted with the original vet, she told me she thought it best to go ahead and test him for DM.    I scheduled the blood draw for Wednesday, January 8th, and immediately became obsessed with watching Sampson run and walk.  I shot video of him walking on gravel, grass, leaves and pavement. I shot video of him running and walking side by side with Delilah.  I posted all of these videos to my Facebook page and tagged my friends.  Even folks who didn’t know why I was posting video were commenting and none of them could see anything that made the vet think DM.

Tuesday, January 7th I noticed Sampson shaking his head.  A LOT.  He wanted his right ear rubbed and I spent a good part of the evening with my finger in his ear, rubbing it.

Wednesday I called the vet and asked if I could add an ear exam to my blood draw appointment.  Thanks to the amazing ladies at the vet’s office, they fit me in to see our regular vet at 4:20.

After confirming an ear infection my vet said, “Do you mind if I exam his back end?”

Are you freaking kidding me?  I’ve only been praying you would every second of this day since I made the appointment!

I reined in my excitement and simply said, “No, go ahead.”

She examined him thoroughly and asked, “When was the last time he saw the Holistic vet?”

She recommended he be seen again as his spine is out of alignment, she also feels he may have some arthritis in his hips and then she asked, “Do you mind if I take him back to see Dr. B? (the vet who diagnosed him with DM)”

Of course not!

I could hear them chatting, but I couldn’t hear what they said, BUT when my vet came back she said, “Dr. B doesn’t see what she saw last week.  I don’t think it’s DM at all.  I think he has a partial ACL tear.”

She based this on the fact that Sampson’s knee was considerably looser than it was in December and then went on to explain that Sampson is a very stoic dog, which is why he hasn’t exhibited any signs of discomfort.

One of the tests they do to check for DM is to take the dogs toes and turn then under.  Typically because DM is neurological the dog will hesitate to ‘fix’ the toes because he can’t feel them.   She recalls the surgeons at Tufts telling them that ACL can mimic DM because a simple act of fixing their toes can be extremely painful when the ACL is torn.  Since Sampson had been on anti-inflammatories and pain medication for a few days he was feeling better and quickly fixed his toes.

SO the blessing of an ear infection brought us a different diagnosis, which is challenging in and of itself, because our goal is to give Sampson the time he needs to heal on his own without having to do surgery.

For now we are keeping him on the Herbal supplements we came home with, keeping him on the anti-inflammatory and pain medications and trying to keep him quiet.  No free access to stairs, no running and no jumping and he is limited to five to ten minute walks.

He is pissed off.  And he pouts.

Pouty I don’t see how you think an ear infection if a blessing, you don’t have this funky crud in YOUR ears.

He’s ridiculous.

But it’s something we can work with.

Thank you for hanging in there with me and all your words of comfort and support and for sharing your stories and virtual shoulders.  I’m extremely hopeful that we can get Sampson through this, and allow him the time he needs to heal so he doesn’t need surgery.

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