Patrick gets the All-Clear

I totally forgot - at Patrick's recheck his eye was 100% better. I can stop putting ointment on (thank doG!), but the vet said to keep it in case we need it again. I hope we don't!

Patrick - CSI Dog

Well, Patrick is a magnet for for trouble. Today he and Jack were playing and next thing I know Patrick is rubbing at his eye and looking at me like a one eyed pirate. I called the vet and off we went. She did a Fluorescein stain which identifies abrasions, scratches, ulcerations and lacerations present in the cornea on the surface of the eye. The put in the stain and then turn on a black light and his eyes glow like crazy. It is similar to on CSI when they use the light to see all the dried substances no one wants to know about. ANYWAYS - sure enough he has two big old scratches down his eye (thanks Jack). He gets ointment in his eye 4x a day and goes back to the vet on Thursday.

The vet also set me at ease, because I tend to over-react when it comes to the dogs. She said there are three things that should never wait to call the vet. If your animal is hit by a car, if they can't pee and if something happens to the eyes. It definitely made me feel a bit better because she even stayed a bit late to see us.

Patrick was very well behaved at the vets. He was quiet and polite and minded his manners. He weighed a whopping 3lbs9oz.

Tips for Keeping Dogs Cool

I was checking out our pal Simba's page and he offered some interesting tips on keeping cool. Seeing as it is once again a billion degrees, I thought I would look into other methods of keeping the boys cool.

I scoured the Internet and I found a few useful sites. The first one is titled: Tips for Pet Owners - Keeping Your Dog Cool in Hot Weather (Catchy, isn't it?). This site offers some good tips. Some are pretty common sense (Don't leave your dog in the car). The author also reminds us about having lots of fresh cold water, and suggest ice cubes. Patrick and Jackson like to lick ice cubes - I put them in their water to keep it cool. She also suggests baby pools. I think that would be awesome, however we live in an apartment and have no place aside from the living room to put one. I've added it my "When I have a House" list.

Another site, Hot Weather/Summer Tips for Dogs ,warns "Check the ground during walks. Blacktop in particular can get scorchingly hot for your dog’s pads. Bend down and feel the surface to see whether it may be unsafe or uncomfortable for your pet. " Because I am a horrible owner, I learned this the hard way.

More vital information: "Watch out for symptoms of heat stress or stroke. If you see that your dog is panting heavily, salivating or foaming, these may be the first signs of a heat related problem. Symptoms can progress to include vomiting, lethargy and even worse! Don’t wait for symptoms to progress. Get your dog into a cool location, provide small drinks of cold water and if he does not improve within a few minutes, contact your veterinarian right away. "

Now that the summer months are here to say, be vigilant in protecting your dog from the extreme heat.

Sweaters, Adoptions, Colds... Oh My!

The boys got new sweaters! I know, I know. It is summer in California. However, there was a brief time there where I thought the boys were going to have to winter in Canada. So I was getting prepared. Now that they won't be wintering in the Great White North (except maybe for a Christmas visit) the sweaters will have to wait until really cold nights, or winter. The sweaters were custom made by melodypets on eBay. She charges a ridiculously low fee. I doubt it even covered her costs. She made them custom to my specifications. I am showing Patrick's sweater because Jack didn't want to be a model the day I tried them on. The sweaters are well made and I am more than pleased with them!

We did puppy school with Jack at a new location this week. He still did pretty good. It wasn't an overwhelming success like our last few outings at the dog park, but still much, much better than before. While we were there the trainer brought out Otis to help us socialize and get used to other dogs and distractions. Otis is BEAUTIFUL! He is up for adoption at Pet Mania in Burbank. He was saved from Death Row. Pet Mania always has cats, dogs and rabbits available to rescue. Right now, on top of Otis and a few other adult dogs they have a slew of puppies and kittens. Pet Mania is on the corner of Pass and Oak in Burbank.

Patrick seems to have some kind of cold. The vet gave us some CEFA drops to give him. Hopefully it clears up, he's had a rough few weeks. All his stitches are finally gone from his neuter though.

The dog we are babysitting is having good days and bad days. Not to be all negative though, he now sits wonderfully, has stopped digging through the trash and has learned he is not allowed in the kitchen. (Our kitchen is very small - so if we drop something such as a can, knife, bad food, etc it is likely it will harm the dog - so we just don't let them in there.) Also, Jack and Patrick are more tolerant of him. They will still tell him when enough is enough (he has WAY more energy than they do - granted he hasn't been allowed outside due to neuter) but overall they play and share nicely. They have sleeping as a group down pat.

Good News for Patrick

His Liver Shunt tests all came back with good news. He values were all normal. Hopefully this means it was a fluke reaction to the Tramadol. I was so happy to get the news.

No Answers

Patrick is home from the hospital and is back to his old self. The problem is - no one is sure what went wrong. He was absolutely fine, had a nap and woke up in a terrible state. One thought is an allergic reaction to his pain meds - but he hadn't had any in over 12 hours. Very fishy indeed. Their next thought is a liver shunt. This is upsetting to say the least. We won't know the results on that test until tomorrow at the earliest.

The vet clinic took excellent care of him and they all fell in love with him.

He is home today, feisty as always. We are trying to keep him very low key. It's not easy! I'm including a picture earlier yesterday enjoying the sun, and then today when he arrived home from the hospital. He looks sad - it's because his brother and the dog we are babysitting were tearing around the house and we wouldn't let him join in.

His symptoms were strange. He seemed like he was drunk - swaying back and forth struggling to hold himself up. He was also drooling excessively. At first I thought hypoglycemia, but he didn't perk up at all after nutrical. His blood tests at the hospital were all normal and his sugar was also normal. He spent the night on IV fluids and had charcoal given to him as well. Poor guy. I'm glad to have him home.

Bad News

Tonight Patrick took a turn for the worst... the very worst. He is now at an Animal Specialist Hospital at least over night on IV undergoing a battery of tests. They think maybe it is an adverse reaction to his pain medication - but it could be many other things. Please keep him in your thoughts. I hope to have good news tomorrow.

Two Successful Neuters

Thankfully Patrick's neuter went well. They even let us bring him home at 1:30 instead of 4:00. He is very tender and a lot more whiny than Jack was. I think it has to do with the fact that Jack just hunkered down and rested the whole day and Patrick wants to be a part of everything. Either way, the vet people were super nice and helpful. Our last major vet thing for the year (barring disaster) is Heart Worm testing. Apparently it is becoming more prevalent in California. They are going in two weeks for the test and then it should be a whole year until we need to go back!

In other dog related news, Jack is making great strides with his confidence. We had the two best walks of our relationship today. No pulling and no shying at on coming people. He walked happily on a loose leash, listening and responding to my commands. He also played willingly with some company we had over last night. When they came over we told them just to ignore him and pretend he wasn't there. Within 15 minutes he was like "Hey, PICK ME!". Last time these people were here he was so afraid of them he peed on the carpet and the couch. Horrible and embarrassing. The trainer is helping me with ways to make him feel comfortable and adjust better to new situations. It seems to be working in all areas of Jack's life! GO JACK!

I'm posting very baby puppy pictures of the boys since they are growing up so fast. *sob*

Neuter Time...

Tomorrow Patrick goes in to get Neutered. On top of the fact that it is law in LA, he is starting to mark things (outside only -thank goodness) but I would like to nip that in the bud. I know that neutering is a fairly routine procedure, but I'm still nervous. Patrick is very small and any anesthetic is dangerous. Think happy thoughts for him so he can have a good surgery. I'll be anxious until he's home safe and sound.

LA Area - Mandatory to Spay and Neuter

In an attempt to become a No Kill city, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed one of the country's toughest laws on pet sterilization. It requires that most dogs and cats be sterilized by 4 months of age. Show or sporting competition dogs, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders are exempt from the law.

According to msnbc, "First-time offenders will receive information on subsidized sterilization services and be given an additional 60 days. If they still fail to comply they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offense could result in a $500 fine or 40 hours of community service."

This all sounds fine and good, the law is trying to solve a major problem. LA shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs last year and euthanized approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million, msnbc reports.

Other issues aside (which I will discuss at a later date) my big question is - who is going to police this? Are there going be dog patrols out checking all dogs out and about being walked? Will they be tracked via pet licensing? Are vets going to be responsible for reporting law breakers? The people that don't spay their dogs usually don't take them to the vet anyway. Responsible people will be responsible for their pets and the rest will slip between the cracks. A poster on a Los Angeles dog message board fears that, "more sick dogs won't even get to go to the vets because their irresponsible owners will be afraid of getting caught".

So, as I've said it is an interesting law with a great purpose idea. It just seems unmanageable. As Dolittler says, "it's too bad you can't legislate common sense".

Your Pet's Best Friend - An Entertaining Veterinary Blog

I have been referencing a blog lately called Your Pet's Best Friend. The blog is about "a small town veterinarian [who] talks about pet care, veterinary medicine, and what happened today". I find that a lot of his articles aim to make a point - often he illustrates the importance of his point with a worth case scenario example. This article discusses the importance of regular wellness exams. The example is a cat that winds up needing extensive intensive care and a case of diabetes.

Regardless, I feel it takes facing harsh realities for some people to understand the importance of good and regular care for their pets. Pets are a privilege, not a right.

Check out the blog. It is well written and has excellent tips, reminders and information.

Westminster Dog Show

I flipped to the animal channel just now - they often have interesting animal related TV, if not specifically a dog show- and the Westminster Dog Show is on. Normally I wouldn't watch a dog show, but the toy dogs are going now. They are just so darn cute! How can you not enjoy watching dogs that commentators describe as "happy, merry little dogs"? Seriously.

The show is put on by the Westminster Kennel Club.

This is kind of old news but, Uno, a Beagle, Went on to win Best in Show. Hopefully this win will make Beagle's more popular. There are lots of them out there waiting to be adopted. Beagles and Buddies is a great No Kill shelter that specializes in Beagles, but has all types of animals. If you are in the Los Angeles area, they are worth checking out.

Remember to have all new puppies check by a vet! You never know where they have been, and young puppies can take a turn for the worse quickly. This article, The Worst Pitfalls in Pet Adoption, outlines what I mean.

Dolittler - A blog much better than my own

Dolittler is a "veterinary blog for pet lovers, vet voyeurs and the medically curious... " Sounds cool, right? It is cool! Patty Khuly, VMD, MBA writes accounts of cases she has treated, problems she sees as well as opinions she possesses. Some of her more recent posts include:

• Dirty Jobs: One veterinarian’s vote for her profession’s filth - a witty look at the more...disgusting side of Veterinary medicine. Maggots anyone?


• A veterinary rant on the plague of retractable leashes in our midst - the vet's point of view regarding these leashes in the waiting room and other places.


• How could they not know? Cases of client cluelessness in veterinary medicine -it will make you think twice - are you paying enough attention to your animals needs and issues?

The blog is updated very frequently and all the articles have proven to be interesting if not informative to read. I have learned more than a few things - Check it out!