Sunshine also got a new splint today and is boarding at the vet in an effort to keep her from destroying another cast and keep her quiet. Her leg has started to heal
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Frank is improving
Frankie poo is taking it easy tonight. He lost his manhood today as well as a badly broken tooth. He is recovering nicely from the mange. His coordination has really improved! He is now weaning off the prednisone and as he does he is starting to limp so we did x-rays today too. His hips look good so we are leaning more and more towards the HBC theory.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
So how IS Frank?
Well, there's not a whole lot going on with Frank. He is improving steadily since Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, I actually thought that I might have to put him down. He was miserable, skin inflamed, seemed feverish and was refusing water. His ataxia had not improved and seemed a bit worse. I called my vet and luckily they said to bring him in and I dropped him off to stay for the day.
Seems the vet on Saturday misdiagnosed his demodex and it is really sarcoptic mange. Which is contagious but easier to treat and not re-occuring. The only thing she did get right was the severe pyoderma but because we were only treating that and not the mange...he was not improving. The dose of ivermectin for demodex is much less than the dose for sarcoptic.
We took him off the pain meds, put him on prednisone to work on the inflamation and allergic reaction to the mites. Changed his ivermectin dosing. Since that alone did not account for his ataxia, we decided to re-do his HW test to include lyme and erlichia, did a fungal culture and bloodwork.
Not a whole lot interesting in his bloodwork except for a couple of values. His thyroid is below normal at .8. He could be hypo thyroid secondary to his current illness or this could be a growing problem for him and in rare cases hypothyroid can cause some ataxia and muscle weakness along with lethargy and weight gain. It would be hard to tell at this point which is the first one because he is definately very tired but he is on the thin side of healthy weight.
He is also mildly anemic, again could be secondary to what is going on. WBC normal range so for the moment we are ruling out an infectious agent at this point.
tick titers were normal
So for now we are going to work on his skin and closely monitor his neurological issues this week and come next week if there is not improvement as his overal health improves we will re-address and perhaps do a thyroid panel. If his anemia and thyroid values are secondary to whatever is going on....they should begin to resolve. None of this really addresses the cause of his unsteadiness and we still don't know the answer. If we had more history, we could potentially know if he was born this way, got this way due to trauma, trauma of a single event like HBC or multiple events (abuse), etc.
He said if we choose to go the thryoid panel and get no results, then there is the spinal tap and/or mri and possibly a specialist. I am not ready to consider those options at this point.
Seems the vet on Saturday misdiagnosed his demodex and it is really sarcoptic mange. Which is contagious but easier to treat and not re-occuring. The only thing she did get right was the severe pyoderma but because we were only treating that and not the mange...he was not improving. The dose of ivermectin for demodex is much less than the dose for sarcoptic.
We took him off the pain meds, put him on prednisone to work on the inflamation and allergic reaction to the mites. Changed his ivermectin dosing. Since that alone did not account for his ataxia, we decided to re-do his HW test to include lyme and erlichia, did a fungal culture and bloodwork.
Not a whole lot interesting in his bloodwork except for a couple of values. His thyroid is below normal at .8. He could be hypo thyroid secondary to his current illness or this could be a growing problem for him and in rare cases hypothyroid can cause some ataxia and muscle weakness along with lethargy and weight gain. It would be hard to tell at this point which is the first one because he is definately very tired but he is on the thin side of healthy weight.
He is also mildly anemic, again could be secondary to what is going on. WBC normal range so for the moment we are ruling out an infectious agent at this point.
tick titers were normal
So for now we are going to work on his skin and closely monitor his neurological issues this week and come next week if there is not improvement as his overal health improves we will re-address and perhaps do a thyroid panel. If his anemia and thyroid values are secondary to whatever is going on....they should begin to resolve. None of this really addresses the cause of his unsteadiness and we still don't know the answer. If we had more history, we could potentially know if he was born this way, got this way due to trauma, trauma of a single event like HBC or multiple events (abuse), etc.
He said if we choose to go the thryoid panel and get no results, then there is the spinal tap and/or mri and possibly a specialist. I am not ready to consider those options at this point.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Two puppies at once?
I have had several requests lately from families that just got their first pit bull puppy and now that it is 14-20 weeks old...they love it so much they just HAVE to have another one and would like to rescue. Most of them get mad and think I'm calling them bad dog parents when I deny their application and I am not. They don't even listen to my reasons for denying them at the current time. Some people just got a puppy of a different breed and just want to have two puppies at the same time because they think it will make life easier to housebreak two at the same time and they can keep each other entertained. That's the lazy way to raise puppies - letting them raise each other and it will come back to bite you.
Adopting two puppies of ANY breed is a bad idea just as it is a bad idea to adopt siblings or same sex puppies. Honestly, I think the worst mistake someone could make is getting two same sex littermates. The best idea is to have each puppy bond and be trained by the family as they enter the home separately. A responsible breeder will want you to have your dog raised, trained and neutered before adding another and they would explain things similarly to the links below.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2043
http://www.essortment.com/all/puppiesbuying_ralf.htm
http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/raisingtwopuppies.pdf
http://members.petfinder.org/~AZ137/MISTAKES.HTM
It is in a puppy's best interest to enter a family that does not have another puppy and can dedicate time to his/her training and development, not expect two puppies to entertain each other and raise each other. That is the surest way to have behavior problems. The puppies would bond to each other instead of the family. They would be more difficult to train because they are not that bonded to people. They would be more "doggie" than a dog that entered the home separately. When the dogs begin to socially mature, they would likely have problems with competition because of their close age, those that are the same sex usually start having problems getting along as they try and assert their dominance with each other.
Adopting puppies that are one to two years apart will reduce competition and tensions that come when dogs are beginning to socially mature and test their dominance boundaries with each other. A pit bull is a very hands on breed and needs the time and attention and structure that a multiple puppy home will not provide.
Adopting two puppies of ANY breed is a bad idea just as it is a bad idea to adopt siblings or same sex puppies. Honestly, I think the worst mistake someone could make is getting two same sex littermates. The best idea is to have each puppy bond and be trained by the family as they enter the home separately. A responsible breeder will want you to have your dog raised, trained and neutered before adding another and they would explain things similarly to the links below.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2043
http://www.essortment.com/all/puppiesbuying_ralf.htm
http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/raisingtwopuppies.pdf
http://members.petfinder.org/~AZ137/MISTAKES.HTM
It is in a puppy's best interest to enter a family that does not have another puppy and can dedicate time to his/her training and development, not expect two puppies to entertain each other and raise each other. That is the surest way to have behavior problems. The puppies would bond to each other instead of the family. They would be more difficult to train because they are not that bonded to people. They would be more "doggie" than a dog that entered the home separately. When the dogs begin to socially mature, they would likely have problems with competition because of their close age, those that are the same sex usually start having problems getting along as they try and assert their dominance with each other.
Adopting puppies that are one to two years apart will reduce competition and tensions that come when dogs are beginning to socially mature and test their dominance boundaries with each other. A pit bull is a very hands on breed and needs the time and attention and structure that a multiple puppy home will not provide.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Oh! Valentines Day
One of the saddest days I've had in a long time. I went down to a shelter in the next town to look at a dog and ended up sitting in my car crying before I made the decision to take Ol Frank with me. I couldn't find a vet that would stay open long enough for me to get back to Richmond and I was so worried he had something contagious that I didn't want to take home to my 12 year old dog. Thought I was going to have to leave him with a request he be put out of his misery or go to VEC on Cary and mortgage my future children to pay for his care.
Thank goodness though I had a friend call Fairfield AH on Nine Mile and they were still open but walk in's had to arrive by 1 and I was going to be just shy of 1pm. So a friend ran up there to start filling out paperwork so we would make the deadline. So, as Frank and I are outside waiting. Me watching the day pass by, frank just passed out on the grass....my friend approaches with a little red puppy in her arms and trailing behind is her "owner". He bought her on the 13th and let her get hit by a car just a few hours later. Now it's mid afternoon on the 14th and she still hasnt received any care for her dangling left back leg. I am sure it's broken. He isn't planning on getting her care because he claims he can't pay for it - even though he just paid
for her yesterday. He's just planning on dropping her off and hoping that someone will come through. So now we have passed out Frank and dangling leg puppy and still waiting to see the vet. The world works in mysterious ways.
The puppy's (see sunshine, she's up for adoption) tibia is broken and it's getting pinned on Tuesday 2/17. She will have a cast for a while, then finish up her vetting and find a new home. She will recover completely and be better for it. She'll get a home that will walk her on a leash and not let her be abused or neglected in any way. She's a typical punky pit bull puppy.
Frank, frank, frank. He's a different story and I wish we knew where he came from and what happened to him. He walks like he's drunk and has some ataxia like motor problems. Stiff legged walk, wobbly off balance and has a difficult time on slick flooring. He doesn't have
enough muscle mass for his large frame and that's just one of his problems. He has a raging skin infection and mange. His skin is weepy and itchy all over his body. He scratches himself to blood and he is unable to settle down and can barely walk without falling over from trying to scratch his itchy body. He has meds for pain, meds for infection, meds for mange and meds for worms. We won't know if Frank will be put up for adoption for a while. I can only hope that where ever he came from...that person has a visit with Karma. It is tragic that a dog could be allowed to get in this condition.
Thank goodness though I had a friend call Fairfield AH on Nine Mile and they were still open but walk in's had to arrive by 1 and I was going to be just shy of 1pm. So a friend ran up there to start filling out paperwork so we would make the deadline. So, as Frank and I are outside waiting. Me watching the day pass by, frank just passed out on the grass....my friend approaches with a little red puppy in her arms and trailing behind is her "owner". He bought her on the 13th and let her get hit by a car just a few hours later. Now it's mid afternoon on the 14th and she still hasnt received any care for her dangling left back leg. I am sure it's broken. He isn't planning on getting her care because he claims he can't pay for it - even though he just paid
for her yesterday. He's just planning on dropping her off and hoping that someone will come through. So now we have passed out Frank and dangling leg puppy and still waiting to see the vet. The world works in mysterious ways.
The puppy's (see sunshine, she's up for adoption) tibia is broken and it's getting pinned on Tuesday 2/17. She will have a cast for a while, then finish up her vetting and find a new home. She will recover completely and be better for it. She'll get a home that will walk her on a leash and not let her be abused or neglected in any way. She's a typical punky pit bull puppy.
Frank, frank, frank. He's a different story and I wish we knew where he came from and what happened to him. He walks like he's drunk and has some ataxia like motor problems. Stiff legged walk, wobbly off balance and has a difficult time on slick flooring. He doesn't have
enough muscle mass for his large frame and that's just one of his problems. He has a raging skin infection and mange. His skin is weepy and itchy all over his body. He scratches himself to blood and he is unable to settle down and can barely walk without falling over from trying to scratch his itchy body. He has meds for pain, meds for infection, meds for mange and meds for worms. We won't know if Frank will be put up for adoption for a while. I can only hope that where ever he came from...that person has a visit with Karma. It is tragic that a dog could be allowed to get in this condition.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Beyond dog breed myths
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902090331
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Guinness's lucky day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
