HSUS article

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/heartb reak_at_petland.html

Here is the article about me on the Humane Society of the United States web site. There will also be a story in the upcoming All Animals Magazine put out by the HSUS.

Now I am afraid though. If the camera puts on ten lbs, what if my food rations are cut back even further? I could waste away!! This is just horrible. Horrible!

I also went back to the vet and get to cut down my Prednisone some. I still have some pain in my back and shoulders, but it is a huge improvement from before. The new antibiotics are making a big difference and I am much more frisky too!

Stop the Puppy Mills!

From Maggie's Mommy:

The Humane Society of the United States has just contacted me for more information on Maggie, Petland and her surgeries. He asked me a bunch of questions about Petland and Maggie and she will be in his next article in the "All Animals" magazine about puppy mills. He said his deadline for the story is tomorrow and he plans to have several of my quotes in it along with Maggie's story. It is apparently a pretty big publication from the way he talked. I am a member of the local Humane Society, but not the national. Her picture will also be in it.

From Maggie:
If I become a huge star, can I have more treats?

Radiology Report For Magzilla

From Maggie's Mom:

Just talked to Dr. Laviola our vet again. Not only has Maggie’s joint tap come back normal, but the radiology report for her upper body has come back normal too. This is great news and means no more surgeries for Maggie. Our vet thought that we might be dealing with a shoulder problem on top of everything else, but the experts at the University of Tennessee don’t think there are any problems in her neck, shoulders or back. This is great news!



Now we are pretty sure that Maggie has an Immune Mediated Arthritis. She will stay on steroids and antibiotics for several more weeks. It is possible that we will need to increase her steroids again and leave her at a higher dosage for a longer period of time then try to back her off again. The vets at UT also agree with this course of treatment. She goes back in a week for a progress report. Magzilla is telling me that if we increased her food and treat intake, she would feel much better.

Some Good News!

My vet called Mommy over the weekend and said my joint tap came back normal. We still don't have the radiology piece back yet and that will hopefully come in today. The joint tap being normal means I most likely don't have a raging infection or an auto immune disease, although it does not completely rule it out. It is very encouraging anyway. We will wait for the read on the radiology and then decide what course of treatment we should do next. Mommy says I have been quite frisky over the weekend and it started right after we started the Zythromax antibiotic.
I am not liking this new food bowl business. It takes me much longer to suck down my food like an aardvark. I am afraid I am going to miss a morsel in someone else's bowl! I have got to find a way to outsmart this "slow down" bowl. Hmmm....

The Joint Tap

From Maggie:
This was a bizarre trip. First, no breakfast for us kids. Amazingly, Cosmo was the one that staged a protest and went around to each of us barking at us as if to say "Come on! Let's fight for our right to eat". Dad put me in the car which was fine, but I have a sneaking suspision that he went back inside to feed the hungry so the protests wouldn't turn violent while he was away with me. I was very excited to get to ride and go to the vet, but I was not too happy when Daddy left me there! Thank goodness Mommy came to pick me up a little after my "nap" at the vet. Boy did that work up an appetite! The vet said to Mommy "you can give her some food tonight IF she wants it". She then stopped and said "well, there will be no IF will there"? Now the vet even has me pegged.
From Maggie's Mom:

The vet said while she had Maggie sedated, she did a shoulder X-Ray too to see if we are dealing with two separate problems. She asked me if she could take the X-Ray with the Joint Tap to the University of Tennessee Vet School for evaluation by their pathologists. It will be an extra money, but it may help us determine what the problem is. Maggie has not gained anymore weight, which surpised me because I thought she had, but she is painful again down her back and hips, so we are sliding backwards as we are backing off the steroids. If she feels like that will help I had to say yes. She is also starting her on Zythromax too. She said we might have results by tomorrow. She is personally taking them to UT.

She also told me about a special feeding bowl which I should try for Maggie to slow down her eating. I am going to try and find one of those. She said one of her dogs uses one and it has made a huge difference. We will see!

What? NO FOOD AFTER 10PM???

Well, I just don't know what to say. There is serious abuse going on in my household and I am thinking about calling canine services...oh, I was just informed there is not such a thing. Well there should be!

I go for my joint tap tomorrow. I am not sceered at all about that. Poke away. But what is this business about no food after 10PM??? What about my breakfast? How am I going to live with no food? I will be too weak for the test! This is the end of the world. I just can't take it anymore. What is going to happen to me if I miss my breakfast? I will even be too weak to RIDE!!! My car seat harness will have to be adjusted to the tightest fitting and will still be too big! I will be too weak to pick my ball up! Worst of all, I will be too weak to sniff the Cat's BUTT!!! How can this be happening. Why must I suffer in this way? Why can't I have FOOD in the morning??? Maybe Ellie or Smokey will bring home a dead varmint and leave on the patio in the morning. If I am really, really quick (Mom says not likely) I can get to it before she puts gloves on and gets a whole roll of paper towels to pick it up. If I plan this just right, I might just live through this horror...

Fake Snore

The other day Mom and Dad put me up on their bed to take a snooze. I still can’t jump up on the bed or use the stairs, so I need a lift up and down. Anyway, I was snoozing when I heard a mention of food from the folks. I didn’t jump up. I was just trying to eaves drop. Then, I realized they were teasing me. Unbeknownst to them, I was laying there fake snoring with my eyes fully open. When they realized that I was faking, they started tickling me and then took me to get my dinner. Who says us pups can’t fake it sometimes too and play a joke on the folks??? Mommy and Daddy called it “Playing Opossum”. I wonder if an Opossum is related to the Aardvark Mommy keeps telling me I eat like? Hmmm….

Another trip to the vet...

From Maggie's Mommy:

The visit to the vet with Mags was disappointing. She has pain that has come back in her joints. Cutting the meds back made it worse. She can't stay on the steriods, so I don't know what we will do. The vet is going to call an orthopedic vet friend of hers to see what their opinion is. I think we will be doing a joint tap next.

From Maggie:
When is dinner??????

New Nick Name

Mommy and Daddy have a new nick name for me. They are calling me Magzilla. Apparently they think I am quite the terror at meal time. Mommy mentioned to the vet something about a “hawg at a troff”? I don’t know what that is, but that is how I think you would spell it. I am innocent of all charges. Isn’t that what A-ROD says about his “roid” usage? At least mine are legal!

Latest Vet Appointment

From Maggie's Mommy:

Maggie did well at the vet. They trimmed her nails for me and she pitched a fit screaming. What a drama queen! I am glad to know she does that with them too. She has no pain now in her muscles which is great news. She does have pain still in her shoulder joints which is not good. The vet is not sure what to think about it. We went ahead and reduced her steroid dosage and will recheck in two weeks. In the mean time, she is doing some research and will get back to me. Overall, she is doing much better. She has even lost two lbs.!

From Maggie:
Mommy, what do you expect? I don't like my feet touched and I don't mind to be vocal about it:) Had you let me break into the food bags and treat bags in the waiting area like I was trying to do, I might have been too preoccupied to embarrase you quite that bad. Couldn't you at least feed me while my nails are being cut?