Postings by Penny's Family

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Lucy Is it naptime- yet?     Barked: Mon Mar 25, '13 4:30pm PST  Thank you so much for the reassurance, it really makes me feel better. I'm probably one of the most paranoid pet parents around! Lucy seems even better today. Her back isn't quite as tender as it usually is, so I know the rest and anti-inflammatory is doing its job. Thanks again for your advice and kind words. Oh and I agree, my vet is a keeper! We love him! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Lucy Is it naptime- yet?     Barked: Mon Mar 25, '13 2:05pm PST  Hi everyone! I'm looking for a little pep talk. I took Lucy (10 year old mutt - 9.5 lbs) in for her vaccinations on Friday at 11:30 a.m.(she got Distemper and Bordatella vaccinations - Rabies shot isn't due til next year). She did great at the vet and we came home - no problems all night - she ate and drank like normal. I should probably preface this by stating that Lucy is the laziest dog around - she loves sleeping in the sun or on my bed. Saturday morning she was fine - went outside to go potty and spent the rest of the morning sleeping. I ran out to the store and put her in her kennel when I left - When I came home, about an hour later, I took her out to go potty again and she went and came back in, happy and ready for a treat. I sat down to watch tv and she was sitting on the floor in front of me. All of the sudden, she stood up and raised her front left paw. At first I thought she was hurting from where they took blood from her for her heartworm test the day before, but then realized it was her other leg. She kind of contorted her body a little and raised her back and tried walking away. I picked her up and she was shivering a little - like she does when she's cold - not the kind of shaking I would think she'd have if she was having a seizure. I put her back down and she raised her front right leg and then her rear right leg. After this she seemed ok. She was a little skittish, but I thought she might be in pain still. I immediately called the vet - worried that she could be reacting to her vaccinations. They told me to bring her right in. Once at the vet, I explained what happened and he asked me to put her down and watch her walk. He then did a thorough exam - took her temp, felt her stomach and range of motion of all of her limbs, etc. (She was at the vet 1.5 years ago with a back problem that was similar to the incident that occurred on Saturday). He looked at her xray from back then and did a physical exam of her back and said that she was Very tender near her lower vertebrae (she was previously diagnosed with spinal stenosis) - you could see her skin/muscles twitch as he applied very light pressure in this area. He said that what he thinks happened was that her back muscles tightened and caused the pain and involuntary movement of her leg. I explained that she did jump in and out of the car the day before and she's always jumping up and down off of furniture. He said that the shots she got the day before could've caused muscle stiffness and pain and that the jumping (more than ususal) could've aggrivated everything. I told him my worry that maybe this was a seizure (never seeing a seizure before, I don't know exaclty what they look like) and he indicated that what I explained to him didn't sound like a seizure at all - no violent shaking, no drooling or staring off in space, and a couple other indicators of seizures. He gave her an anti-inflammatory and she's been great since that. I do keep her kenneled while I'm at work - so she could've had other incidents like this that I don't know about. I guess more than anything, I'm looking for reassurance that she didn't have a seizure. I trust my vet, but sometimes, I need to hear things from other dog lovers or people who've had similar experience. She's an older dog and I just want to make sure I'm doing what's best for her. Sorry this is incredibly long! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Loose Stool/Diarrhea

Penny 1233246     Barked: Tue Oct 16, '12 11:55am PST  Thank you for the reply. I called the vet and they're both going in this afternoon to be checked. I went home at lunch and Lucy had all liquid stool. Penny's was more formed but soft with some white mucus. Hopefully he can find out what's wrong with my girls! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Loose Stool/Diarrhea

Penny 1233246     Barked: Tue Oct 16, '12 6:32am PST  Thank you all for your help and advice with Penny's Luxating Patella - I think for now, she's going to be great! No problems since that first night. She's no longer on pain meds and is running around just fine. Now on to my next worry. While we were at the dog park last Tuesday, she drank a little water out of the pond there. (We were at the park around 3:00 p.m.). Around midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, she woke up with bad, smelly diarrhea. I withheld food that morning and put her in her crate while I left for work. I came home at noon to let her out - no diarreah, she went potty and came in. I went back to work. When I got home at 5, she had diarrhea in her crate. That night, I gave her some boiled chicken and rice. She got up a couple of times Wednesday night with loose stool - not as bad as the night before but there was a lot straining. Thursday morning, I gave her some pepto bismol. She was fine while I was at work. No accidents. Thursday night before we went to the Emergency Vet, she had a soft stool. She really only ate a small amount of chicken/rice/cottage cheese Thursday night. (I explained to the emergency vet that she was having diarrhea and what I thougth the cause was, but they said if she's fully vaccinated and she didn't have a fever, they really weren't concerned) Friday, she was acting just fine, so I stupidly gave her her normal food (Merrick Whole Earth Farms Dog Food) and she had a really soft stool again that night. Saturday, we went back to chicken/rice and I added in some pumpkin. She had a harder stool that night - not as hard as it usally is, but it was getting better - but still smelly. Same story Sunday. Last night, I made her a mixture of Chicken/Pumpkin/Dog food and she had a couple of loose stools last night (and they stink!). My other dog has now started with diarrhea too - but I think that's because she was eating/stealing the chicken/rice/cottage cheese and it's upset her stomach since she's not used to eating it. (her's has been the last 24 hours). Should I just try withholding food for 24 hours and then start the chicken/rice/pumpkin again? She seems to HATE the rice. And she acts ravenous if I don't feed her at her normal time - she scavenges the kitchen! She's acting totally normal except for when she needs to 'go', she pants a little and seems agitated. Otherwise, the rest of the time, she's playing with her toys and loves going on walks! Any thoughts? I'm making myself sick worrying about this dog!I feel like my vet thinks I'm nuts since I'm always running there at every sign of a problem! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Luxating Patella - what to do?

Penny 1233246     Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 1:20pm PST  Thanks everyone for your advise and words of wisdom. I think for now, I will wait and see how she reacts to the pain meds. This is the first time this has happened with her, so it was a little frightening! She's crated during the day while I'm at work, so she's getting rest and staying off of it right now. She's not a super active dog - walks around the subdivision and occasional trips to the dog park, so I might see how this goes. If it would progress and be painful all the time for her, I wouldn't second guess having surgery to fix it. Thanks again - I'll keep an eye on her this weekend and baby her a lot and hope she starts feeling better. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Penny 1233246     Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 7:47am PST  So, on Tuesday, I took Penny to the Dog Park. She ran and ran and ran and had a blast. She also drank some of the pond water there and had an upset stomach for a couple days. I was worried about that...until last night. I got home from work and she was limping and not putting any weight on her left rear leg. I watched her for a little while and she was limping a little bit and then if I walked her on a leash she'd put full weight on the leg and walk fine. It seemed like the more she rested, the pain would return when she got up. I took her to the emergency vet last night to make sure it wasn't something serious - like a broken bone- and the vet there diagnosed her with a luxating patella in the left rear-knee. She said maybe a grade 2. She gave Penny a pain medication injection and sent her home with a prescription of Tramadol for the next 2 weeks. She did indicate that Penny might need surgery to fix it. Penny is 18 months old and is healthy - she's about 3-4 lbs overweight, so I know that she needs to drop those lbs. Currently, she takes 1/2 of a gloco-flex pill a day and has for the last 8 months. I guess I'm just wondering if surgery is an absolute MUST? When she got up today, she limped for a few steps and when I took her out to go potty, she walked fine, she'd skip for a step or two, but never seemed to be bothered too badly. Is it something that I can just watch and might get better with some restrictions (rest, no running, stairs, etc). If Penny were your dog, what would you do? I'd hate to put her under to fix something that can be treated without surgery. Any advice or been-there-done-that stories would be great. Right now, she's resting at home in her kennel. Thanks!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Shih Tzu > Shih Tzu cross breeds?!

Penny 1233246     Barked: Thu Jul 12, '12 1:43pm PST  Penny is a Shih Tzu Sheltie mix - and quite a cute mix if i do say so. She's about 12 lbs and as cute and funny as can be! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Get dew claws removed?

Penny 1233246     Barked: Sat Apr 21, '12 4:45am PST  Penny is home now. Surgery went well. Her dew claws were removed and she has two little stitches on each leg. She's been pretty lethargic and has been laying around sleeping a lot, I'm assuming the spay was more traumatic than the dew claw removal. so hopefully over the next couple days she'll start feeling better! Thanks again fr everyone's advice! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Get dew claws removed?

Penny 1233246     Barked: Thu Apr 19, '12 10:02am PST  I just got back from dropping Penny off at the vet. He said that he would definitely recommend getting her rear dew claws removed. There's no bone there and should be a pretty easy/quick procedure and recovery since it's being done the same time as her spay. I'm a nervous nellie so, i'm going to be worried about her all day -but he said to call aroudn 4 and they'll let me know how she's doing. Thanks for all the advice! As always, Dogster members are the best! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Penny 1233246     Barked: Wed Apr 18, '12 1:29pm PST  Can anyone give me an idea of what recovery might be like? Will it be pretty painful for her for a while? Will it impact her walking? I'm not sure how they are removed as a puppy, but surgically, it seems like it might be worse than the spay? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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