RSS

Tag Archives: Veterinary medicine

Monday Mischief: Looking Good, Charlie

03 Apr

Charles had to go back to the vet (going to vet pictures above) to make sure all the heart medicine for his advanced congestive heart failure (see post on March 21: Charles’ 2d Chance) was OK. Jolie, of course, suffering from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), came for moral support. Well maybe Charles was her support, but I digress…

Charles at the Vet with Jolie butting in as usual

Dr. Buchanan said everything is looking good. We are watching his liver and kidneys and all that stuff because between the Phenobarbital, for seizures, and the VetMedIn and Lasix, for the heart, his poor little organs are under a lot of strain. But Charles does not know this, so he is as happy as a lark.(Coming home from the vet – smiling – pictures below.)

One side effect of these meds is that he is really hungry. I mean, eat the wallpaper hungry. He is not only constantly barking at us and demanding more than ever (he is a Pomeranian CHIHUAHUA as you know and currently we must place a very heavy accent on the little demanding dog part of the breed), but now he has taken to jumping up at my arm when I am in the recliner and giving a little nip if I am not listening to him (since I try hard to ignore him if I can).

We are really glad that Mr. New-lease-on-life is still with us, but we really would like to watch at least one TV show undisturbed.

He finally did conk out after all that excitement at the vet, at least for a little while.

OLD Dogs do what they are gonna do!

What kind of mischief did you get into today?

Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤

 
4 Comments

Posted by on April 3, 2023 in Dogs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

DogDaz Zoo: Charles’ 2d Chance

21 Mar

On February 17, Charles had a grand mal seizure. It was very scary for all of us. We started him on Phenobarbital, a drug that is used to treat seizures. He continued to have what we thought were smaller petite mal seizures every few days after that. The vet gave us Diazepam as a rescue drug for when the seizures happen, this was to try and stop what they call ‘cluster’ seizures (one right after another, which is common). But something continued to not be right. Even the smallest excursion was causing him to collapse. Was it the seizure disorder or something else?

You may not remember but Charles has a heart murmur and an enlarged heart. On March 7 we went back to the vet because of multiple collapsing episodes. She said his chest sounded OK and we should continue with the pheno as prescribed. Pheno can take several weeks to kick in. But…things still did not seem right.

I emailed the vet on March 15 and sent a video of him collapsing. Late afternoon, she prescribed a heart medicine called VetMedIn (pimobendan), which improves the efficiency of each heartbeat so that it doesn’t have to work so hard, in addition to the Pheno. I picked it up after work on March 16. I was worried about getting him to take it because it is a large pill for a little dog, so we decided to wait until the morning.

4 AM, Friday, March 17, before we could even start the VetMedIn, Charles went into congestive heart failure. His little heart was racing a million miles a minute. He was panting and wheezing. Off to the Vet we went as soon as they opened. On X-ray, the lungs showed fluid building up around the heart. The vet asked us if we were ready to make the very hard choice about his quality of life.

But… there was one other medicine that we could add to the mix and see if that could help – Lasix, a diuretic. We opted to give it a try. What was the worse that could happen since he already was so weak. We carried him up and down the stairs in the house; we carried him outside to the bathroom; we did not let him exert himself at all if we could stop him.

March 21 – SPRING – and he seems back to his old self. Hungrier than usual but stubborn and sassy and just being Charles. Now he refuses to be carried and wants to do everything by himself. Prayers are still needed, but right now we are extremely happy that he is still with us. Spring and medical intervention have given Charles a second chance. Bang those healing drums and thank modern science for medicines that work.

Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤

 
14 Comments

Posted by on March 21, 2023 in Dogs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Thankful Thursday: Getting Better

03 Oct

Louise at vet

Louise, with her head on my knee for protection at our vet visit this week.  Good news is she is responding well to the Cyclosporin, even though it is not doing great things to her tummy.  The vet says she needs to stay on it for another couple of months.  I found the medicine at about half the cost on 1-800-Ped-Meds (not a recommendation just a fact – but I was happy with their service and they even sent a big bone for the dogs).  Never used them before because I felt like the vet needed the income from the drug sales (I am so loyal it is probably stupid of me), but when medicine is over $400 for a 15 day supply, you have to get what you can, where you can, for as little cost as possible (especially when unemployed).

THANKFUL that it is working.  Hopeful that when we take her off it, the Peri-anal Fistula disease is in remission.

vet table

The dogs like the hypoallergenic treats that Dr. Cate always has in her treat jar on the counter in the examination room.  If you have to go to the doctor, at least you need to get a treat, or two, or three, or in Louise’s case, four.  (She has lost weight with the meds, so treats keep flowing when she wants them.)

Thank you Dr. Gately-Dean, and the wonderful people at Greater South River Animal Hospital, for taking care of the DogDaz Zoo.

This is part of the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop from PepiSmartDog.com

Thankful-Thursday-Logo-2-150x150

Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤

 
22 Comments

Posted by on October 3, 2013 in Dogs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4.2.3 Love = Proper Health Care

02 Apr

I read an article by Steve Dale, pet expert and certified dog and cat behavior consultant, the other day in my local paper that made me sad.  It says that each year less and less people annually are taking their pets to the doctor and 3X as many cat owners do not take them as compared to dog owners.  This was from a study published by the American Veterinary Medical Association.  What made me even sadder is that preventable illnesses, from pests like fleas and mosquitoes  that could be avoided, are not, because people are not safeguarding their animals with preventives.  OMG!  The cost of the treatment to prevent heartworm disease is so much less expensive than the cost of treating the animal once it has the disease.  And I can not image the emotional cost to the family and the pet, when an animal does get sick.  

2013-01-25_09-38-22_627 2

All the doctor stuff in the vets office

What the saddest part of the whole article to me was that he reported many “owners believe they would know if a pet were sick, ” and, “up to 15%… mistakenly feel they can Google any vet solution.”  This is a very sad trend if people think that the internet can give health solutions for themselves or their pets.   

Waiting for Dr. Kate

Waiting for Dr. Kate

I know that I am preaching to the choir, but if you know people who don’t take their animals to see a vet because they can not afford it, maybe you can raise funds in your community to make it more available?  Locally, Rude Ranch Animal Rescue just opened a Spay Spa and Neuter Nook, for everyone.  I wish that everyone had that option.

If you know people who think they can solve their own medical issues or their animals on the internet, please tell them that doctors and veterinarians are trained to spot a lot of things we regular people can not, like diabetes and cancer.  

Thanks for listening.  

Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤

 
18 Comments

Posted by on April 2, 2013 in Dogs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Xylitol – Understand it or it could be fatal to your dog.

06 Feb

I am seeing so many article on this lately that I think it must be causing a real problem in the dog world.  Please make sure you keep all gum and sugar-free candy away from fido.

Reblogged from Life With Dogs: http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/02/xylitol-toxicity-in-dogs/

Xylitol is a sugar substitute in many products, most notable some sugar-free gums and flavored medications.  Xylitol is safe for people (and oddly, cats), but is very toxic to dogs (and probably ferrets).

If your dog has or may have ingested xylitol, call your veterinary team and have your pet examined right away.  Xylitol, even in small amounts, causes an over-production of insulin, which causes a horrendous sugar crash, or, more accurately, hypoglycemia.

hyp/o – low

glyc/o – sugar

-emia – blood

Signs of Hypoglycemia in Dogs

  • lethargy (abnormal tiredness)
  • shaking
  • ataxia (loss of balance)
  • inability to stand
  • seizures

Do not wait for signs to develop!  Insulin release and resulting hypoglycemia begin almost immediately.  Left unchecked, very low blood sugar or liver failure secondary to xylitol toxicity can be fatal.  With treatment, the prognosis is usually good.  The sooner a xylitol toxicity is treated, the better the prognosis.

Conclusion

You are home from the veterinary hospital with a recovering pet, considerably poorer, a bit shaken by the close call and anxious for the recheck appointment, still weeks away, in which you will hopefully learn that there was no long term liver damage.  You rid your home of all xylitol-containing products and warn friends and family of the dangers of xylitol toxicity in dogs.

Alternate Ending

You finish an article on xylitol toxicity and think, “Hmm, that was interesting…I guess.”  You rid your home of all xylitol-containing products and warn friends and family of the dangers of xylitol toxicity in dogs.

May your pets’ health be boring in the best possible ways, and may you never deal with xylitol toxicity in Real Life.

 
6 Comments

Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Dogs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,