A Quick Hilly Update

Before I begin to tell the woes of Hilly, let me just say that Dulcie is super cute and she knows it! She thinks she is hot stuff...until she hears a dog bark or sees a trash can. Then she remembers that she's just a wee thing. Otherwise, she's a bold puppy. Right now she's at a puppy sitters while Mary is in San Rafael for Marley's graduation tomorrow (YAY!!!). We decided it would be easier for her to transfer to me on Sunday when Mary gets back since she's too young and shotless to attend graduation and there was no one in town her could watch her while I attended as well. So, Sunday is the day. Looking forward to it.

Now, on to Hilly.

I don't really know where to start. Ah, of course. This poor, poor dog. Seriously, my heart breaks for her. She's definitely had a rough time of things lately and is handling it like the little trooper she is.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Hilly was my third guide dog puppy. She was transferred to me at about 15 months old in the summer between first and second year of University (seems so long ago now...) for severe dog distractions. She came so close, but really never got over them and was career changed that August. In those short couple of months I had fallen head over heels for her and my parents agreed to watch her for me while I was still attending University. Of course, when I adopted her and convinced my parents to watch her I had no idea that she was going to break.

Hilly had always had food issues. I heard that the reason she hadn't been spayed before coming to me was that they were waiting for her to have solid stools...or at least not have diarrhea. When I had her she didn't have a great tummy, but she rarely had an upset tummy. But still, we had to be careful what we fed her. So, when she started having reoccurring ear infections, I suppose it was safe to assume that it was some kind of food allergy.

Let me explain. A couple months ago, when I was talking to my parents on Skype, I noticed that Hilly was shaking her head a lot and that Rosie was very, very interested in cleaning her ears. I told them to get her checked out by the vet since it seemed like she may have something in her ears. Turns out, she had an infection. The vet put some of this goopy, waxy medicine in her ears and they were on their way. Well, a few weeks later they were back at the vet because the ear infection hadn't gone away. Once again they put that goopy stuff in her ears. A couple of weeks later they were back because it had come back and once again they just filled her ears with the goop and put her on prescription food. That was probably a good idea as it really seemed like that goopy ear medicine wasn't working. The fourth time she went in they put more goopy stuff in her ears and gave her some antibiotics.

So, here I am, helping her finish off her antibiotics whilst feeling indignant that they tried this stuff not once, but four times. They even tried it twice before they thought of something else. She is doing better now on the prescription food and the antibiotics, but my only concern is that I'm pulling a whole bunch of gunk out of her ears and that when she's done with the antibiotics there's a good possibility that the ear infection will come back. I have a follow up visit on Wednesday where I am going to discuss the possibilities of putting her on an antihistamine and possibly getting some allergy tests run. I know they are fairy pricey things to get done, but I don't want her to go her whole life on this icky prescription food if she doesn't need it. I'd like to know what food she is allergic to so that I can get her on the raw food diet.

Why don't I want her on this prescription food you ask? It's helping her feel better you say? Yes, it has helped a little. The problem with it is that there is no oil to it so Hilly's skin is dry and her coat is brittle and a little dull. We use to give her salmon oil with her food to help with coarse fur (the only downside to the black lab), but we don't know if she's allergic to that. You begin to understand why I want allergy tests performed yes? Well, not only does it make her skin dry, but she's got hot spots. I mean, sure why not? She's already got icky ears, why not throw in a couple of hot spots too right?

So, she's on antibiotics, prescription food, and she's got some spray for each of her little hot spots.

Like I said, she's handling this all in stride. She gets a little annoyed when I try to go and spray her but she lets me eventually if there is a treat (prescription mind you) involved. But she's a pretty happy dog despite all of the head shaking and hot spots and icky prescription food. Hopefully there will be answers when we go to the vet on Wednesday.

Poor Sick Puppy

It seems like I have too many posts that are titled with the word "sick" in them. Anyway, you remember how Rocco went to the vet all Tuesday? Well, his stool samples came back positive for coccidia. For those of you who don't know coccidia is a bacteria in the stomach that cuases really bad poop. That's the basic explaination. Why did he pee so much though? Well, the vet said that the bad tummy probably caused a bladder infection. So, Rocco's on his fifth set of pills. Fun stuff right? At least he only needs to take one for both the coccidia and the bladder infection. He's seems absolutely fine. He's just as active as ever so he'll be right as rain to get on the train to visit his grandma tomorrow through the weekend. I'm pretty excited about taking him on the train for the first time. I know he's going to do great!

I promise pictures will be coming of Lance. He's so stinking cute that I took a whole bunch!

First Ear Infection

Rocco's got a bit of a yeast infection in his right ear. Last Wednesday when I was still at my mom's house I noticed that Rocco's right ear was all brown and funky. When I got home from puppy meeting Thursday night I cleaned out his ear and used THREE cotton balls. It was pretty disgusting. Since I clean my puppies' ears once a week I though this a little weird. So after our preschool talk on Monday I had Mary check his ears. They were pretty funky again even though he had just had his ears cleaned so she told me to take him in to the vet. While there we saw this dog who had a bad infection in both of his ears. He kept shaking his head and breaking my heart. Then we saw a purple poodle. The vet's office I'm going to for Rocco also does grooming and apparently someone wanted their poodle to be purple. :/ Anyway, when we went in he was weighed (a whopping 52.8 lbs) and the vet told him he was a handsome, big boy. :) Then they stuck one of those long cotton swabs in his ear and pulled out more brown goop. It was quite disgusting and this is coming from the girl who used to work at an animal shelter in the isolation unit. :0 So he's on drops twice a day for seven days. I feel so bad for him. He doesn't shake his head and hadn't the whole time, but any time I would touch his right ear in puppy handling he would flop his head to that side and rest it on my shoulder with this look that said "My ear hurts Momma." It breaks my heart. But for a lab it's pretty good that this is his first ear infection.

Elmer

Hey Everyone. Elmer is due for his surgery on the 24th of May. That's 13 days away! Please send him good thoughts. We're all hoping that his surgery is a success.

Eli Update

Hey! I found a picture (from his raiser) of Eli at the hospital and I thought I would share it with all of you so you could see him for yourself.

He looks so depressed and a little pathetic with all the IV tubes around him. But his raiser said that he's alert now. It looks like he's going to recover.

I'll let you guys know as soon as I know more. I really think he's going to make a full recovery because he's held on so long and is getting better everyday! :) He looks so much like Freya I can hardly believe it. Not as much as some of her other half brothers and sisters. Zamira(graduated guide) and Rica(phase 10) look so much like her. I think it's because they're both Dylan puppies. But Eli and Freya have the intelligent Belle look.

Here's looking to you little Eli!

An Eli Update

I saw today that Eli's test results came back with a lower white blood cell count. That's not good for anyone who doesn't know that already. He's starting to lose muscle mass now...BUT he's producing his own sugar now too! He's still fighting though and that's a blessing in it's own right. Still think of little Eli. I know it sounds weird but I think of him as one of my babies because he's my baby's little brother. I'd really like him to get better.

Poor, Sick Eli :(

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but I suppose someone has to do it. This is Raiser Erin again and again I bring a little sadness.

Well, you all know that a few weeks ago my puppy was having a little trouble with his tummy. Now he's on two different kinds of antibiotics and he's doing much better. When he started having his bad tummy Mary found out that almost every dog that came down from Guide Dogs around the same time Rocco did had bed tummies too. Odd, but definitely not unheard of. So really, I didn't think much of it. Until today that is...

Today I got in touch with Eli's puppy raiser. You all remember Eli right? The loudmouth puppy that I fell in love with when I saw him on the puppy truck? The cute little black lab with the name that I would have wanted had I gotten an "E" puppy? Well it turns out that he's having some problems too. Only, it's worse than Rocco's. Eli has contracted Parvo.

For those of you who don't know to word "PARVO" to a dog owner is one that makes your skin crawl. When it's said in context of your puppy it's like getting shot in the stomach. Parvo, or parvovirus, is a very serious, though pretty common, disease for dogs of all ages. But it's worse for puppies. What it is is basically an infection. There are three kinds of parvovirus. The first is asymptomatic. This is basically where there are no signs and is most common in puppies to 1 year of age. The next is cardiac. Cardiac parvo is less common due to widespread vaccinations. This is also the most serious kind. Severe inflammation and necrosis (cell death) of the heart muscle can cause death in very young (8 weeks and younger) puppies. Older dogs generally survive but have scarring on the heart muscles. The last is intestinal. This is pretty common. Intestinal parvo can cause severe damage to the intestinal tract and cause sloughing of the cells that line this tract. This leaves the dog open to secondary bacterial infection. Most affected puppies are under a year old. Usually they're between 6-20 weeks old before all of the vaccinations can be given. Signs for intestinal parvo include vomiting, lethargy, loss of appetite, diarrhea-usually bloody and foul smelling (a characteristic odor particular to the Parvovirus infection), and fever.

From what I have heard I believe Eli has Intestinal Parvo. Right now he's been in the hospital for 4 days. He's on an IV and antibiotics to keep him from throwing up. The most common cause of death from parvo is dehydration so the vet is doing everything possible to keep fluids in him. Eli will be 13 weeks old tomorrow so he's an older pup. This is a good thing. He has apparently lost a lot of weight...but he's getting better. His raiser tell me that he is perking up a little and she hopes that he'll be well enough to come on in another few days. I hope so too. I, and his raisers and all of Guide Dogs, would like you to keep him in your thoughts as he fights for his life. He's already proven that he's got the will power and the spirit to get better because he's held on this long. Please help my baby's little brother get better and pray or chant or send out good vibes to universe.

I'd also like to take this time to caution everyone. Especially fellow raisers for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Parvo is extremely contagious and a puppy who has not had all of his/her shots should not be taken to places where there is a possibility of stray dogs. If you want to be overprotective like myself carry them into the vet office until they've finished their shots. And remember that puppies are most prone to disease and infection the WEEK AFTER they get a shot. Puppies should not be allowed into pet stores until they've finished their shots. Keep them on cement or asphalt, do NOT allow them on grass. If you must take them for a walk, like I have to take mine due to his high energy, keep him/her in your neighbourhood. If you see poop on the grass or anywhere near your house or other houses in your neighbourhood stop walking them and burn their energy in the house. It's better to be safe than sorry because watching your puppy go through this is awful. Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy raisers: Eli's vet said that he had been exposed to the infection about 10 days before he was brought in. Unfortunately this means he might have got it up in San Rafael. Things like this can happen when you have so many dogs in one place. If you know that your puppy was on the same puppy truck as Eli please keep a eye on them. If you're not sure, he came through Fresno on March 24th.

Thank you all in advance for you well wishes for Eli.
Raiser Erin.