Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Conservative Management

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We’ve been managing Sampson’s partial ACL tear conservatively.  The common term I keep hearing is Conservative Management.

Simply put this means we are giving Sampson the time and support he needs to try and allow his body to heal the tear without surgery.   Translation = lots of rest, limited physical exercise, traditional and non-traditional treatments and medicines.

Traditional – Sampson is currently taking Tramadol and Carprofen.  The Tramadol is for pain while the Carprofen is an anti-inflammatory, he’s also taking Ligaplex II (supports tissues and joints and encourages connective tissue healing.)

Non-traditional – Sampson is also taking Kola Gotu (an ancient herb, used for healing minor injuries) and a Chinese herb called Xiao Huo Luo Dan (stimulates circulation.)

He’s had some Accupressure as well as Cold Laser Therapy.

What's not to love, I get this nice cushy place to rest and mom and Emily give me love and treats. I don't feel cold at all.

What’s not to love, I get this nice cushy place to rest and mom and Emily give me love and treats. I don’t feel cold at all.

His exercise has been extremely limited.  We’ve barely walked all winter and when we have it’s been very short and very slow.

I’m happy to report that so far it appears to be working.  Sampson had an appointment with our vet last Thursday and after examining him, she feels his injured knee is as stable as his uninjured knee.  She’s allowing us to increase his walks just a bit, to allow him some play time with Delilah (3 to 5 minutes) and we have begun the process of weaning him off the anti-inflammatories.  If he does well on the reduced dosage, we will continue to wean him off the Tramadol and Carprofen.  He will remain on the LigaPlex II and the Kola Gotu for a while longer.

She’d also like him to begin some physical therapy to help build up his muscles.  (Someone please text me or hit me up on Facebook and remind me to make this appointment, I totally spaced it yesterday.)  He is also scheduled to see the Holistic Vet on April 1st.

He will remain on leash walks for the foreseeable future.  I want to make good and sure that he’s healed thoroughly before we give him complete and total freedom.

On our first extended walk this past weekend we took them around the block and I noticed about three houses from home, he had really slowed down and was panting a bit.  We will have to work on building his stamina up again and helping him get back in shape.

Someday I'll get back to you, I promise.

Someday I’ll get back to you, I promise.

When we weighed him at the vets last Thursday he was at about 89.5 pounds.  I’ve cut back on their food a little and I’m hoping once we can start walking regularly again, we can help him drop a couple more pounds.

Even though it’s been a tough couple of months, and I know we still have a ways to go, I’m really glad we decided to treat his partial ACL tear this way.

How about you?  When your pet is injured or ill what type of treatments do you prefer?

 

You Make Me Smile – March 9, 2014

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You make me smile.  The funny, sweet and loving things my dogs do that make me smile or laugh on a daily basis.

This picture was yesterday morning.  To set the scene, when I get up in the mornings I put the dog’s breakfast of chicken necks in a bit of warm water to take the chill off them.   Typically I put the bowls in the microwave while I get dressed for work, but yesterday as I was putzing about the house, I set them on the counter.  I was a bit concerned about Delilah getting at them, so I made her follow me around.

As it turned out, I didn’t need to.

Sampson, when you guard your breakfast to prevent Delilah from stealing it….

Food Guard Not only do you make me proud, you make me smile.  And I may have giggled a little too.

Isn’t that the cutest thing?  What has your baby done to make you smile?

‘Twas Just Before Spring

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‘Twas just before spring, when all through the yard

Something was stirring, despite the snow being hard

Yup, there’s something moving about in the yard and it’s mostly hiding in the piles of wood.

Woodpile1

Two weeks ago the pups were interested in the pile by the retaining wall.  They stuck themselves so far under the tarp, they scared me.

Tuesday I took the dogs out after I got home and was doing my poop patrol of the yard, when I noticed Delilah had a Mohawk.  (Sadly, I could not get a photo.)  The fur right before her tail was all puffed up.  I looked around to see if I could see anything that might have gotten her hackles up, but found nothing.

Woodpile

Then yesterday morning her fur was up again and both dogs were interested in some uncut wood Hubby had wrapped up in some tarp.  They both climbed up on the snow bank and stuck their noses down.  I swear I saw something brown move under the tarp, so I hurried up on the deck.  Then I thought, it’s better to get your camera and record it.  How many times have you missed an opportunity because you didn’t have the camera?

It reminded me of the time I went home at lunch to let the dogs out.

Delilah was intent on this tree in our yard.  It had been topped and stood about 4 to 4 1/2 feet tall.  There was a small hole in the dead center of the top of the tree and this is where she focused.  Being inquisitive and curious myself, I decided to play the Bear Went Over the Mountain and walked up to it to see what I could see.  I peeped over the top of the tree and it hissed at me.

You read that right,  The. Tree. HISSED. At. Me.

You can imagine that I jumped back startled and I maybe, might have screamed like a little girl.

Then that curiosity thing (you know, the one that killed the cat) got the better of me, so standing a good distance away, I began to throw rocks at the tree.  And I giggled a little thinking how the dogs would chase after whatever it was that came screaming out of that tree.  Until I realized I was probably in the direct trajectory of one very pissed off animal.

Visions of a rabid raccoon tearing my face to shreds while the dogs barked and jumped danced through my head and I decided it was better to wait until Hubby came home and let him deal with it.

I’m almost certain I sent him a text that said, “Dude, the tree hissed at me.”

He text me back, “It’s probably a bird.”

A bird I scoffed, birds don’t hiss.  WTF are you smoking? I’m a grown ass woman, you can’t pull that over on me.

I was on pins and needles waiting for Hubby to get home. Sometimes and I say SOMETIMES, Hubby approaches things a bit differently than I do.  He grabbed a mirror (why didn’t I think of that?)  Meanwhile, I put on my running shoes, just in case.  Standing a good distance away I watched as he approached the tree.  He stuck the mirror over the tree and said, “It’s a bird.”

WHAT?  I couldn’t believe it.  I had to see it for myself.   So Hubby showed me how to angle the mirror just so, and I peered into the mirror to see a wide-open beak hissing up at me.

Well dip me in fruit juice and call me a Popsicle, I had no idea.

That story quickly raced through my mind as I went inside to get my camera, but by the time I got back outside, whatever had interested them had made it’s escape.

As for that tree?  I took it down to the ground in the fall.  Ain’t nothing hissing at me in my yard!!

Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs.  Hop along to see what everyone else has to say!

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