Woof - We'd love to share this portion of Dogster with you, but first you'll need to login.
If you don't have a Dogster account yet, you can register in about 60 seconds. Registering allows you to use all our free features while allowing us to create a safer, more meaningful environment for the community as a whole.
Registering is fast, free and lets you create your dog page(s), find adoptable dogs, save your favorites, connect to your Pup Pals and more.
Likes: Food, Going for Rides, Treats, Going for Rides, Food/Treats..........
Favorite Toy: It used to be a nylon frisbee but now I am happy rolling my treat ball around to get out......you guessed it....TREATS!
Favorite Food: Ice cream, cheese , peanut butter
Favorite Walk: Anywhere her momma is!
Best Tricks: Ringing the bell to go out, Shake, Speak, Sit
Arrival Story: I knew I wanted a Dalmatian and I found a man who had some pups for sale. I contacted him and met him to see the dogs. He pulled up and opened the trunk of his car where he had put the litter of pups. I don't remember now since it was 14 years ago but it was either a short trip or he had it set up so they wouldn't have any problems brething or anything. Anyway, I was admiring all the pups and playiong with them and this one in particular kept coming to me and just kept playing with me when all the others were preoccupied with each other and so I decided she was the one for me, she had picked me out. The man asked me if I knew what I was going to name her and I looked at her and thought for a moment and said "I think I will name her Lady". The man said that's what I have been calling her. It was fate that she had picked me out and that I was naming her something she already associated as her name without me even knowing it was. I have been in love with her ever since I put her in my car and took her home.
Bio: Lady has been the best dog I could ever imagine having and am really scared that I won't have that kind of luck again. She has had sort of a rough go at it medically. When I first got her she had bladder problems and the vet told me all these different things it could be, someof which were life threatening. I couldn't believe after a few short weeks with her how attached I was. Anyway after several tests it was concluded that she had an enlarged bladder and she would have to grow into it. So the problem was she would leak urine while she was sleeping because of her enlarged bladder, her bladder muscles weren't as strong as they would have been. She did finally grow into her bladder and then she was basically fine until she was about 6 0r 7 years old. One day just before Valentine's day, she was acting really funny and just clinging to me so I knew she wasn't feeling well. She kept trying to vomit and go to the bathroom and couldn't do either. I called the vet and told me to keep an eye on her but if it didn't get better shortly we would need to get her to the ER because it might be bloat. Well the worried mommy that I was looked up bloat on the computer and when I found out what it was, I decided she couldn't wait any longer. We rushed her to the ER, took xrays and discovered that luckily it wasn't bloat but it was an impacted stomach. They tried to pump her stomach but it was just too thick, so at 10:30pm on a Sunday night the vet is doing emergency surgery . I was able to watch the surgery from outside the room. They had to cut open her stomach and clean it out with their hands. She spent a couple days in the ER and finally started getting better so she got to come home. So while she is healing from that, she ends up having something wrong on her back. the skin swelled up and being extremely infected. Apparently, either the blood vessels is the top of her skin died from being on her back during the surgery or (and this is what my vet (who wasn't the emergency vet)and I think) is that during the stomach surgery they had the heating pad on too warm for too long and it created a blister under the skin on her back which of course became an infected (and I am talking green, pus filled ) wound(it was terrible) that was about 12" from the base of her tail up her back. It took months of trying different things to get it cleared up. Once we finally did, the wound was so deep that it took a couple years of twice daily rinsing to keep it clean and let it heal naturally before the layers of tissue grew back together and the top of the skin would close. The tissue and skin had been so destoyed that when I asked my vet about pulling the skin together and stitching to to help it heal, he said the skin was still too soft to held stitches. It finally closed up but then became itchy and she looked it back open, and we proceeded with more rinsing , etc. finally it got tot the point that it just wan't going to heal any longer. I went to NC State Vet school after I saw an article about a dog that had acquired the flesh eating bacteria and they were able to save him with skin grafts. I talked to the docs at NC State about the possibility of a skin graft and they determined that she was a good candidate. That was just before Thanksgiving 2006, they ended up not having to do the skin graft because she had enough loose skin that they could clean the dead tissue out and pull the skin up enough to cover and let it heal. She was able to come home 2 days after the surgery with a thing of pain medicine inserted just under the skin, that was able to come out after a short period of time and other pain meds. After a lot more TLC and love, Lady completely healed and even more unbelievable, most of her hair grew back to where you can hardly tell anything happened. Through all of this she has remained a happy, non complaining dog, never getting aggressive but just letting me do everything to her I needed to do. Now she did occasionally put a small struggle but nothing that wouldn't be expected.
Now here we are 2 years later and she has somehow, at the age of 14 1/2 gotten 4 different kinds of bacteria in her lung and has bronchial pneumonia which seems to be chronic because she has been on several antibiotics in the last few months trying to clear it all up. It seemed to be almost gone but some of the congestion seems to be coming back. Then she also has gotten weak in her back legs from what appears to be some neurological defect/spinal stenosis. She gets tramadol to help her be able to keep her balance, but this defect affects her ability to know when she needs to have a bowel movement until it is almost too late and her bladder is weak again, so if she is sleeping and gets up and falls or has pressure on her stomach, her bladder lets go. Her back legs are very weak and the muscles have really gotten small, even her tail hangs down and isn't like it used to be (you can feel the separation of the muscles and tissues. I still can't believe how she soldiers on and doesn't cry or wimper or anything. She sleeps alot but she is almost 15. I am so thank ful that she has made it this long and I just pray every night that I know when it is time to let go. I do not want her to suffer in any way. People tell me that you just know when it is time and I hope that is true or that she goes peacefully in her sleep.
I love this little dog with everything I have and can't bare the thought that she will probably be gone soon but I just take every precious moment I have with her and keep loving on her and take her for her favorite homemade ice cream at the farm down the road.
Forums Motto: Watching over momma from Rainbow Bridge
The Groups I'm In: ****Creata Greeting And Photo Shop****, ♥All Fur Fun♥, Fancypants Cafe, Animal Rescue, Dal Pals, Just Dogs, light a candle...., P*I*F (Paw it Forward), Pawsome Pages, Rainbow Bridge Angel Babies, Spotted Ladies, Yappy Hour!, ~~~*♥Dog Park USA♥*~~~
The Last Forum I Posted In: I want to learn more about Dalmatians
Today is 1 year ago that I had to let Lady go to Rainbow Bridge. I miss her every single day.
My Dearest Lady Bug,
Today is a sad day for me but at the same time I know you are pain free. I hope that you are happy and able to run and play and be young again with no health problems. You had a rough life from the very beginning. You always were having to go to the doctor for something being wrong from your enlarged bladder when you were just a pup right after I brought you home to the many ear infections and then you had the impacted stomach that led to almost half your life spent fighting problems from that until the last 2 years of your life when I was finally able to get the doctors to sew up your back. You had almost a full year of not having anything wrong until the last year of your life where you suffered with the pnuemonia that led to almost having kidney failure and then at the same time your back legs started failing you, that I believe was spinal stenosis.
Through all of this you still met me at the door every day so very happy to see me and still followed me from room to room. You were my first dog and you tought me so much about unconditional love.
You have touched a place so deep in my soul, a place I didn't know could be touched. I will never forget you and I will love you every day. I miss giving you big hugs and I miss the hugs you would give me back and the kisses you would give me.
Welcome to the new edition of 2009 get to know your pals.
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
Copy this diary entry and paste into your diary and delete my answers - then you can fill in your own. We can get to know our pals better!! Have fun! Then send a rosette OR send p-mail to 4 pals and ask them to post in their diary!!!!
I've been tagged by good furiend Maizy :
1. What color is your collar?
I had a red one that is mostly what I wore, but mommy bought me a black one with diamonds (Lady's momma here......it was really rhinestones but we won't tell her that) a short time before I went to rainbow bridge. My harness was red.
2. What kind of food do you eat?
I used to eat Purina OM and sometimes Blue Buffalo Lamb and Rice then for the last month or so I got to eat canned food cause that was all I would eat besides people food of course.
3. What are your favorite treats?
Cheese, peanut butter and whatever my mom was eating.
4. Do you have a Valentine or significant other?
No, I never had one.
5. Do you get Table Scraps?)
Yessiree bob you bet I do and if they aren't given freely I would try to steal them.
6. What is your favourite toy?
It used to be a golf ball when I was a young pup and then I like my chuck it frisbee (not that I would chase and fetch it but I like playing tug of war with it).
7. When is your Birthday?
January 26, 1994
8. How many times a day do you get to eat?
Two times a day... in the morning & again in the evening!
9. Do you have a favorite color?
Red but black was nice on me also, but of course we could wear anything since we have neutral coloring.....BOL!!!
10. Do you hope all your pals put this in their diary?
Yes I do, but only if they want to.
PALS I TAGGED:
1. Birdy
2. Sparky
3. Wellington
4. Ember
Birdy tagged me so I am going to write my 7 things>>>>
1. I don't like baths...........but when I would have to take one after my mommy would dry me off with a towel, she would open the door from the bathrooma nd I would take off running as fast as I could through the house and stop real fast and turn around and run real fast in the other direction. I would do this 3 or 4 times and sometimes I wouldn't stop to turn I would jsut turn at full speed. Woo Hooo!!!!!!!!! Then she would dry me with the hair dryer....I loved that part!
2. My favorite treats are cheese, ice cream and peanut butter (Jif) cause choosy moms choose Jif. BOL!!!!!!!!
3. I loved to go for rides in the car and when I lived in Peachtree City Georgia I loved riding on the golf cart, I was even in the city's 4th of July parade on our golf cart one year.
4. I don't like getting wet........if it was raining I wouldn't go outside to potty unless it was raining all day and I couldn't wait any longer.
5. I like to sleep with my mommy no matter where she is sleeping.
6. I would pull my mommy's arm and make her get down so I could kiss her when she got home if she tried to do something else first.
7. I always knew when it was 8:00pm ------- time for my treat!!!!!!!!!
I am tagging Spotz, Deanna Troi and Patch!!!
Those of you I have tagged must give us all 7 things we never knew you.
My Account
