What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Tag Archives: DogBlog
DogDaz Zoo: Louise Is Now An Angel
There are almost no words to express the deep pain that we feel after the loss of Louise last Friday, June 17.
She was such an excellent soul. Quiet and gentle; the cats all wanted to be her friend; the dogs all looked up to her. She never complained even at the end when I knew how much her back must hurt with a compressed or ruptured disk that made it almost impossible for her to walk. Stoic to the end – she did not like me helping her to get around and especially not to go to the bathroom. What is weird is that, since the oral cancer diagnosis last December, we thought that was what would take her from us. But, I guess, the powers that be had other ideas.
We want to believe that she is running free in that big meadow in the sky over the rainbow bridge with Sofie and Nine, and her big brother Squash, who left when she was only a puppy. Now I hope she is with her best friends Mojo and Amy, who she missed every day since they too left this earthly plane, and whom she never stop sniffing for.
Go softly, my sweet Louise. Your memory will always be a blessing to us. Thank you for letting us be your family for 12-1/2 years.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
DogDaz Zoo: Bang Your Drums for Lulu
Louise’s health has taken a turn for the worse. Actually, it is not the oral cancer but other issues. Last week her anal glands got infected and on Saturday her back went out again. We believe that her disks are compressed and she is not responding to medication the way she did in April. Dignity and honor are our codes here at the zoo. We never want them to be in pain or to be so debilitated that they cannot function.
I don’t think I can post for a while until her health stabilizes if it does. And we are also dealing with Charles’s enlarged heart, kidney stones, and bladder stone situation. Bang your drums, say your prayers, and keep them in your thoughts. This has just been a horrible few months. We are not over losing Nine and Sofie in March.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
DogDaz Zoo: Not Good News for Charles
We thought Charles had a UTI so off to the vet we went. When he starts licking himself more than usual, that tends to be a sign.
As you can see in the picture above, Charlie was not too happy when the vet said she had to take him in the back and look at his privates.
Because Charles has a known heart murmur, she wanted to do an x-ray to see how his heart was doing. Well, we were surprised at what the x-ray told us.
First – Charles’ heart is enlarged. An ENLARGED HEART (dilated cardiomyopathy) is more common in large dogs (our luck). Not knowing the underlying cause we can’t say if it was because of an infection or some structural problem. Right now, we are just in watch mode due to other issues. From the x-ray, his lungs are clear (all that nice dark area around the heart in the ribs is the lungs), which means that they are not currently seeing congestive heart failure (which would be very bad). The vet said that you should be able to fit 3 hearts in that cavity.
Second – When they took the heart x-ray she notice that he has KIDNEY STONES (arrow above but see closer image below). This was an ‘incidental finding’ since she was actually x-raying his heart. According to pethealthnetwork.com, metabolic kidney stones, those that form due to some blood or urinary imbalance, are a bit more common than those from infection. The most common type is calcium oxalate. There are several different types of stones (we are learning). Stones tend to be a small dog thing but usually females. We are hoping they are not calcium oxalate but actually something called Struvite. That is a composite of magnesium, ammonium, and phosphate and can be dissolved, where the calcium oxalate can’t.
Third – and most critical at the moment – was the finding of BLADDER STONES, and a ton of them. Again we have no idea what caused all these stones, but the poor man has a ton in his bladder. Some theories are that the stones are caused by bacterial infection, body metabolism, previous disease, or dietary factors, like a lack of certain vitamins. Like kidney stones, there are several types: struvite, urate, xanthine, cystine, and calcium oxalate. Our hope is that these are struvite stones because they are the easiest to deal with.
I know your next question is how does one deal with the stones. There are several options.
- Dietary Dissolution
- Surgical Removal
- Non-surgical urohydopropulsion
- Ultrasonic dissolution
First, we are trying dietary dissolution. He is on a special Royal Canin Urinary SO diet and absolutely nothing else. The hope is that this food will begin to dissolve the stones. If nothing else, the vet hopes that it will at least make no new ones grow. He is also on an antibiotic (because he probably does have a UTI which is what we thought). Luckily, so far, he likes the food. I mix both wet and dry. We are making sure that he is passing urine every time he goes to the bathroom because the biggest concern, especially with a male, is a urinary blockage because of the stones. The vet said we need to take him to ER immediately if that happens. We are blessed that there is an Animal ER in town.
We go back on June 24th for another x-ray to see what is going on. He seems less lethargic and happier the last week, so maybe the food is working. Beat your drums for him. He is going to need all your prayers.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Wonderful Wednesday: Guarding Lulu
I do not know exactly what Noel and Mini Cooper knew, but when they started guarding Louise while she slept, I got nervous. I know that animals are much more in tune with each other than we are with them. They know who is sick and who has something going on long before our senses even begin to wake up. So when the cats gathered around Lulu, I was on alert.
Noel had started to stare at Louise and stay close. That is unusual behavior here at the zoo, though sometimes if Mini can, she will try to lick a dog’s face and ears, which quickly Lulu will tell her to ‘bug off’ and Charles will take a quick snap.
Being the oldest (15 and 3 months), of course, Miss Noel sometimes takes a short nap even while doing an important job..
Lulu is OK. Her condition has not changed that I know of, however, when the animals talk, I really try to listen.
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Monday Mischief: Stringing Me Along
Charles, your Main Man, here: I had to go back to the Vet to check on the stitches that were supposed to dissolve when they took out my molar. My luck, there was one that was just hanging on. I hate to go to the vet. Though I don’t mind being with Mom, I really think that car rides are overrated. They tend to end up in places that I don’t want to be in.
The good news is that the Vet was able to pull that last stitch out and everything looks OK. But Mom says no really hard chew stuff for a while just in case. But, I really like that chew stuff.
Remember to have your human check your teeth regularly to make sure they are in good shape.
What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Wonderful Wednesday: Singing The Song Of My People
<Turn your sound on> In the morning, I feed the animals and then I go into my office. It never fails that almost every morning Queen Noel, who eats in her cat window in the kitchen, grabs one of her loveys and sings until I come back to the kitchen so she can present it to me. I assume it is her way of saying either, ‘thank you for the meal’ or ‘feed me more, servant!’.
The story behind the pink arm: I was throwing out a whole bunch of old dog toys a few weeks ago after Sofie passed, and there was this pink arm in the bottom of the toy bin. I put the broken and chewed up toys in the trash but the arm must have fallen on the kitchen floor only to be squirreled away by Noel. She appears to have added it to her pile of yellow birds and ‘puppy’ behind the plants in her window. Now it is one of her morning loveys. She is always so proud when she brings me her ‘kill.’
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Monday Mischief: I Want It Now!
When Louise wants something she is not shy about it. As she got older she really started finding her voice. Now she yells at me all the time but in the sweetest, gentlest way. How can you not give this dog another cookie?
(Yes, that is the Canine Acanthomatous Ameloblastoma tumor that you see. She is doing OK right now with it.)
What kind of mischief did you get into today?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
DogDaz Zoo: Mom’s Are …
Mom’s are for walking on.
Mom’s are pillows.
Moms are for hugs.
Moms are healers.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Wonderful Wednesday: Playful Nine & Sofie Memories
A memory that Peanut found of Nine, Sofie, and Louise. Nine and Sofie were probably about a year old and Lulu a year older than that. I guess it was around 2011 or 2012. Nine and Sofie used to play together a lot back then. Nine loved to play with the dogs. Photographic Memories are a wonderful thing to have. Photographs are a great way to look back and smile.
Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
DogDaz Zoo 