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Follow-Up Friday – July 29, 2016

July 29, 2016 By Jodi

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer reader’s questions and generally, just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – July 24, 2016

Golden Labrador

Meagan Maher said, “Yes i would and do. Last night when i turned over i slipped off the bed. A yellow labrador decided to sleep horizontally across the top of the bed so i had barely any room.”

He he he, that made me laugh, but I hope you weren’t hurt. I’m not sure if I ever slipped off the bed, but there was that one time when the dogs had the whole bed and I laid across the top, with my head on a chair. 😉

Emma said, “My mom always puts up with discomfort if we furs are comfy. It’s what moms do.”

Yes, yes it is. It’s what moms do. 🙂

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “I miss the days when Callie and Shadow tried to take over the bed. Shadow used to get too hot – even in the winter – and would get back down on the floor next to the bed; but Callie usually spent the whole night next to my feet. God, how I miss that girl!”

🙁 I know, but she’s always with you. Sampson usually gets too hot too and at some point will get off the bed, but that is usually only in the summer.

Genevieve said, “Would I??? I DO – every night of my life! And I wouldn’t have it any other way….”

It’s the best, isn’t it?

Jan said, “I know of no other way to sleep. But I try to stake out my position first.”

That’s key! Always stake out the real estate first. 

Hailey and Zaphod said, “Hailey is my leg sleeper and I will lie there until the pain comes!”

I can until I get a cramp, if I get a cramp, it’s all over!

Jen Gabbard said, “Do you feel guilty when you move, too? I think it’s sweet when Laika falls asleep on some part of me, but I always feel bad when I have to get up to pee or something.”

I do feel bad. Luckily, Sampson usually only stays that way for so long, then he gets up and move. Delilah will let you love/snuggle her, but when she’s done, she lets you know by turning away.

Cystocentesis a.k.a. A STERILE Urine Sample

Chocolate Lab

I like belly rubs, needles, not so much.

Jan K said, “Having a vet that gets you has to go a long way towards making you more comfortable when going through these things….I also wondered if the location of the parts on a female dog had to do with this. Sheba has so much fur back there, things get stuck in it too, so I’m trying to do better at keeping that area clean (we’re planning to give her a bath this weekend but sometimes we just use wipes and trimming to clean it up).

See, this is something I’ve never thought of before. Dear lord, not only do we need to ‘landscape’ ourselves, now we have to worry about our dogs too! 😉

Sue said, “Poor Delilah and poor you! So glad you have such good vet! I wouldn’t have been able to be Zen at all through that – my nerves would be shot.”

Now that I know how well she did, I might consider it next time, but I’m really not sure how zen I can be.

Sand Spring Chesapeakes said, “Great explanation! We always try to get a sterile sample on the first urine sample, it really tells you a lot.”

Thank you! I was trying to remember it all. I’m glad I got it right. 

Jan said, “Great post Jodi. Funny and informative. I learned some technical terms too: pee-shooter and poop shooter. I can’t wait to use them.”

Ba ha ha, don’t you love it? I cannot wait until you use it either! Did I ever tell you how excited I get when I see ‘siriusly’ on your blog? 

Peyton said, “I am always amazed by vets. Not only do they have to deal with someone who can’t tell them where it hurts, they also have to deal do with frantic but loving owners.”

I’m pretty sure in most cases, it’s me that’s the worst. 😉

Monika and Sam said, “Gawd…I love your vet as much as you, Jodi. 😉”

Right! How can you not love a vet that says pee and poop shooter?

Dachshund Nola said, “And I’m sorry, but that visual of wiping off her bits is hilarious, haha!”

The funny thing was that she stood there and let me do it, then she took off like a bat out of hell, and don’t ever be sorry for laughing at something I wrote. That is my goal when I am writing.

Jen Gabbard said, “Right by the poop shooter… I need your vet, seriously. Glad to know they identified the infection, but holy crap coli is not something I would have ever expected.”

Yes poop shooter. I had all I could do not to laugh when she said it. And I’m with you, I was shocked when she told me what it was.

Lost Dog – Found Dog

Delilah, Gordy (in the back) Sampson, Bandit and J.D.

Delilah, Gordy (in the back) Sampson, Bandit and J.D.

Emma said, “My mom is terrified at the thought of either of us running way. We lost a cat and never saw him again and that was bad enough. This is such a wonderful story with a great ending.”

It is terrifying. My mom had a cat that was lost and it still breaks my heart to think of him.

Sue said, “That was a very, very long 12 days.”

It sure was.

Mary Hone said, “It is truly amazing how resilient they can be.”

They never cease to amaze me. 

Clowie said, “5 pounds is a lot of weight for a small dog to lose!”

Yes, it is, poor guy was very thin!

Jen Gabbard said, “The most shocking thing I learned about lost dogs is how quickly many of them start to adopt “feral like” behaviors. It can make getting them back so much more challenging since many of them don’t approach strangers, and sometimes they’re even skittish around their owners.”

I’ve heard that they adapt quickly, it must be their wild ancestors. As for being skittish around their owners, when Mel’s dog was missing I remember Mel saying that once she was found, it took a few minutes of her sitting quietly on the ground, before Lady sighed and recognized her. I think they are in that flight mode and can’t recognize anything else.

Jan said, “Small dogs seem to have wild animal instincts that allow them to survive for surprisingly long times in the wilderness or in urban settings. “Found dog” are two of the most beautiful words in the language.”

I think their size has a lot to do with that. And I agree, “Found dog” ARE two of the most beautiful words.

Jan K said, “I know of some people, through Granite State Dog Recovery, in your sister’s area who lost their dog and he was never found. I can only imagine the horrible feeling when this happens, and I’m so glad it ended well for Bandit!…It can be great to look for a group like GSDR because so many people who have been through it are willing to help. They’ve had a lot of success with traps too but you have to have sightings for that to really work. Bandit really went far – it is amazing (and scary) how far dogs can go sometimes!

I can’t imagine it myself. There is a woman in my area who had her house broken into two years ago while she was at work. In the process, her dogs either got out, or were stolen. 2 1/2 years later, she is still looking for them. And you are right, those groups are invaluable. I bet most animal control officers know of groups in their area that work on finding lost dogs.

Well that’s it for me folks, come back tomorrow for a very special post, for a very special boy who is turning 12.

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Lost Dog – Found Dog

July 28, 2016 By Jodi

In October of 2014, my sister’s dog, Bandit went missing. I shared briefly about it on BTC that month. You can read that post HERE.

Since this month is Lost Pet Prevention month, I thought I’d share what I can remember about what happened to Bandit.

Bandit is lost.

A run of the MILL dog.

My sister lives on 11 acres in New Hampshire. They have a turn out pen for the dogs, but some days, especially if my sister or brother-in-law are outside, they let the dogs out onto the property.

This particular day the three dogs (Bandit, JD, and Gordon) wandered out into the woods. Only two came back.

Delilah, Gordy (in the back) Sampson, Bandit and J.D.

Delilah, Gordy (in the back) Sampson, Bandit and J.D.

What my sister thinks happened was Bandit got nailed by a porcupine, which sent him wildly running. He ended up about 1/2 mile down the road at a local farm, where the guys were out back shooting. The sound of the gun shots sent Bandit running even more.

That was the last anyone saw of him for 12 days.

As soon as my sister told me Bandit was missing, I started feeding her all the information I had about finding a lost dog. Most of which I’d learned from following Lady’s saga on No Dog About It Blog. (If you click HERE you will find a post that recaps ALL the posts pertaining to losing and finding Lady.)

About five days before Bandit was found, my sister and brother-in-law stopped by on their way to Florida. My sister and I were telling my brother-in-law that if he was found, Bandit might not recognize the immediately.

“Bullshit!” my BIL said, “I can’t believe a dog I’ve had for 12 years wouldn’t recognize me.”

My sister and I gave each that knowing look. 😉

My sister was sure that Bandit was gone for good. She lives in a very rural area, teeming with all kinds of predators.

I tried to reassure her that dogs can manage on their own for quite a while, and little dogs have the advantage of being able to hide in a hollow log, or under brush, etc.

Bandit is found.

Bandit is home!

On day 12, someone saw Bandit 10 miles from my sister’s house. The person who saw him, called his Dad who happened to know my BIL and called him. My BIL left work at a dead run and headed to the area where Bandit had been spotted.

As soon as he pulled up, he saw Bandit and got out of the car and called him. Bandit looked at him, turned and started trotting off. My BIL said he felt sick to his stomach, but he remembered what my sister had told him and he immediately dropped down onto the ground and calmly started talking to him. Bandit paused, listening, but it wasn’t until my BIL said the magic words of JD and Gordon that Bandit actually realized who he was. Then he came right up to him and my BIL took him strait to the vet’s office.

He’d been quilled, had lost about five pounds and was shaken up, but otherwise unharmed. He has some different anxiety issues, but otherwise, he seems to have recovered.

The best news, is he was found.

Tips if your dog goes missing.

  • Contact animal control, the police and local veterinarians to get the word out.
  • Make posters with key information about your dog. Include a current photo, names your pet answers to, coloring and distinguishing markings, indicate where they were lost, and what the circumstances are.
  • Most states have a lost dog page on Facebook. Contact them, they may be able to help with posters, and searching. They will definitely be able to help spread the word.
  • If possible, leave an article of clothing or something that smells like home in the area where your pet was lost.
  • If you think your pet would go into a humane trap, check into getting one and leaving some food with the article of clothing in it in the area your dog was lost. Have someone check the trap three or four times per day.
  • Never give up. Dogs can last a very long time on their own, and many of them are very resilient.

All month, the great folks at Pet Hub have been working with pet bloggers to get the word out about ways to prevent pets from getting lost, as well as wonderful tips for helping lost pets find their way home.

You can check out all the posts on their Facebook page.

This post is sponsored by PetHub, I have been compensated for participating in Lost Dog Prevention month, but I will never share information or products I don’t use myself.

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Cystocentesis a.k.a. A STERILE Urine Sample

July 26, 2016 By Jodi

Four weeks ago, Delilah had a Urinary Tract infection. She had a two-week course of antibiotics and my instructions were for a urine recheck a week after she finished them.

Delilah finished her last full day of antibiotic on a Sunday. Wednesday night she was going outside more than she normally would.  Thursday morning I called our vet and asked if maybe we should check her urine sooner than the recommended week.

My vet said she’d like a STERILE urine sample.  The STERILE urine sample is also known as Cystocentesis.

Cystocentesis is a fancy name for a needle inserted through the belly into the bladder, for the purpose of withdrawing a small amount of STERILE urine.

I hate putting my dogs through these types of procedures without exhausting all other options. And since Delilah had only been outside a bit more than normal, with no other symptoms, I felt certain she didn’t have an infection. So I asked my vet if we could check her urine the normal way first.

I was advised to get some wet ones and wipe Delilah’s va-jay-jay BEFORE she peed. SO bright and early the next morning, I found myself with my face down in my dog’s ass, wiping her Hoo-Hah with a wet one.

Either the wipe stung, or the wet one felt good, because right after I finished, Delilah took off doing zoomies around the house. When she settled down, we went outside and using my handy urine sample collection kit, I secured a sample.

We dropped it off Friday afternoon and I was shocked when the vet called me Friday night and said Delilah still had an infection.

WHY A STERILE URINE SAMPLE IS CRUCIAL

My vet was very concerned because either Delilah got another infection while on an antibiotic, OR the antibiotic didn’t work on that particular infection.

It’s also important to find out what type of infection it is as well as where the infection is. For instance, a urine sample can be contaminated in the Urethra (the tube that carries the urine from the bladder out of the body) and not be in the bladder. Without having a clear idea of where the infection is, you can be spinning your wheels trying to treat it.

In Delilah’s case, it’s also important because some antibiotics can really mess with the liver and Delilah’s ALT is already elevated, so we need to tread carefully with antibiotics, not to mention she’d just come off a two week course of them.

My Dr. wasn’t available until later in the day on Saturday, but Dr. Allen was, so I reluctantly made the appointment for 10:20 Saturday morning.

The key to Cystocentesis is having a full bladder, so Delilah had breakfast, went outside and then I couldn’t let her pee again.

I called the vet on my way in and said, “As soon as her feet hit the ground, this dog is going to have to pee. Can you have a room ready for us?”

I have the best vet and the best vet staff on this planet, so they assured my they would be set and if I called when I got there, they’d get her right in.

Sure enough, as soon as I called, they opened the back door and I pulled right up and unloaded Delilah. At first Delilah was excited, because we were hustling her along and talking to her. But when we hit the exam room door, she put the brakes on.

It broke my heart because I knew SHE knew something was going on, because her tail was tucked, and she was hesitant. But like I said, the peeps who work at my clinic are amazing and by the time I’d parked the car, Delilah was back to her happy self.

Dr. Allen came in almost immediately and started talking me through it. Delilah would be placed on her back on padded material. One of the vet techs would be holding her head, talking to her and another would be giving her some belly rubs. If Delilah fussed at all, or seemed the least bit uncomfortable, Dr. Allen wouldn’t do the procedure.

Chocolate Lab

Belly rubs are good, I can’t say I like the needles much though.

While we were talking, Dr. Allen was feeling Delilah’s bladder to make sure it was full.

It was.

At first she was going to do it in the exam room, and I asked if I could hold Delilah and Dr. Allen said, “Only if you can be perfectly Zen, otherwise it will upset her.”

I suggested maybe she should take her out of the room.

So I watched my dog leave the room with Dr. Allen.

I picked up my phone and was going to text Hubby, but changed my mind. Then I was going to text Sue and changed my mind again. So I pulled up a game. I was about a minute in when Dr. Allen came back in the room with Delilah.

“Couldn’t you get a sample?” I asked.

“I got a sample, we’re done, she did amazing.”

Wow, all that worry and Delilah wasn’t even bothered by it.

I thought that was the hard part. No, the hard part was waiting for test results. According to Dr. Allen, it could take up to a week to get the results, as the lab would be checking the bacteria against antibiotics to see which one would work best.

When I got home (less than an hour after I’d left) and was telling Hubby how it went down, I said, “Dr. Allen gets me. She knows exactly how to explain things to me, to make me feel better.” We had a good laugh about that. “She gets me.”

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait the full week.  Dr. Allen called on Tuesday evening and said Delilah has an E-Coli infection in her bladder.

E-Coli? Freaked me out. I mean, we’ve all heard of E-Coli outbreaks, and since she was eliminating it in her urine, I was concerned that Sampson could catch it.

It turns out that he can’t. The way Dr. Allen explained it to me is E-Coli naturally lives in the intestines and sometimes, such as in an E-Coli outbreak, some of that fecal matter gets on your food.

Say it with me. EW GROSS.

In female dogs, because of where the pee-shooter rests, directly below the poop shooter (her words, not mine, I told you she ‘got’ me) some of that E-Coli can get into the urinary tract. E-Coli is very receptive to some antibiotics, and resistant to others, which is why the STERILE URINE SAMPLE was key.

So Delilah is now on a three week course of antibiotics (Cefpodoxime) and we will check her urine at about the ten day mark.

When Dr. Allen and I were discussing the antibiotic on the phone, I made sure to thank her for her care on Saturday. I told her how speaking with her made me feel better (and shared the “she gets me” comment with her). After we laughed about that and she joked the next time I was in we should do a drum circle, I told her I wouldn’t hesitate to have that procedure done on my dog again.  At that point she told me that even a dog that does well with it one time, may not do well a second time. She also said, if we’d done that the first time I brought Delilah in (when she was peeing blood) she may not have done well, because her bladder was so angry.

Sometimes a STERILE URINE SAMPLE is a necessity, especially if a course of antibiotics hasn’t worked.

 

 

 

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About Jodi

jodiHi, my name is Jodi. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! I have all kinds of fun writing about my two crazy pups, Sampson and Delilah. Find out more!

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