Expressing Himself

Warning to the faint of heart, this post is going to be a doozy.  As in gross.  If you don't currently own a dog, this might scare you off.  If you are so lucky as to be a current dog owner, then, well, let's commiserate, shall we?



So the Husband and I drove up to Monterey last weekend to spend Easter with his family and family friends.  It's a thing.  We decided to bring the little rug rat along, since Rex was going to be there, and any place is an adventure when Theo is involved, right?

Theo is by now pretty experienced with long car rides.  We've driven him to Reno and back several times now, and that's a few hours longer in the car than Monterey, so I wasn't expecting any problems.  So what was wrong this time?  I have no idea!  I think it must have been me.  And I'm not being mopey.  See, I hurt my back last week, a few days before we left.  Jump squats in combination with too much lifting of my Fatty McButterpants of a nephew.  I don't want to talk about it.  Anyway, have you have sat in a car all day with a hurt back?  It was rather excruciating.  So my only guess is that Theo was picking up on my discomfort (read: pain), and added it to his own stress.

Ok, that was a little mopey.

So how do I know Theo was stressed out?  Well first off he kept laying on the floor on the front passenger side, rather than wedging his body on the seat between me and Husband like he usually does.  Second, and more importantly,well...we noticed a smell.  Husband caught a whiff of something he said smelled like fish.  Rotten fish.   He said he thought it was Theo, I said no way it was him, then I smelled my hand, which had been on his butt.  Oh my goodness my hand has never smelled so fowl.

Have you ever heard of dog's having this little thing called anal glands?  They are glands on the rear end of a dog that can secrete some kind of nasty compound.  It's called expressing.  Some breeds get a bit...backed up in the gland area and have to have them expressed by a person.  That's why some dogs drag their butts on the ground. They are trying to relieve the discomfort from needing their glands expressed.  Anyway, from my experience, Corgis are not one of those breeds, and Theo, at least, has never expressed, um, back there.  So we were a bit taken aback that he did it in the car.

And of course he did it in the car, when we were trapped!  For hours!  With that nasty fish smell!  Thank goodness for hand sanitizer and doggy wipes is all I'm going to say on that subject.  That, and I hope you never have to smell the smell.  Ew.  I'm scarred.  For life.  Possibly my next life too.  I'll be a Jungle Princess who at random times smells a mysterious fish smell she can never quite place or identify.  Because by the time I die and get reincarnated the world will have Jungle Princesses.  Mark my words.


In other savory Theo life events...I had another one last night.  Remember that fatty tumor the vet drained a few weeks ago?  He had described it as a waxy buildup, which I didn't understand, since what I was draining was definitely what I would describe as fatty (um, cottage cheese?), and not waxy.  Well, I noticed last night the bump had returned (it was very small), but it was at a head, so like a pimple, I figured I would go ahead and try to pop it and get out any buildup I could.  Well after a couple of squeezes that seemed pretty painful to Theo (poor pup!), and I say seemed because he never verbally complained.  What a trooper!  Anyway, after a few squeezes something popped out that was definitely not cottage cheese!  It looked like a tiny corn kernel.  I showed it to Husband (after I asked him to bring me a paper towel because no way I was going to touch it, ew!), and he reminded me that that was probably the waxy buildup the vet was talking about.  Interesting right?  If you can see past the gross factor.  Poor Theo had a little hole in his skin where the wax had come out.

Husband wanted me to title this post "Wax Balls Under My Dog's Skin".  He might have gotten the idea from me.  But I decided to lead with the expression.

And because I think all things should come in 3s, here's another picture of Theo:

Yup, he's pooping.  Nope, I don't pull any punches on this here weblog.  It's not the best poo shot.  Sometimes his front paws are all the way on top of his back paws, and his back is super hunched.  That's the cutest.  Next time.

Fresh New Attitude

So Theo has been on his new Deli Fresh diet for 3 weeks now, and the change has been unreal. We buy the slice and serve logs (we've tried both the turkey and chicken flavors, which are actually very similar, and Theo of course loves both), slice up about 1/3 of a pound twice a day, cut it into pieces, throw it in his bowl, and that's it! No cooking chicken, no cooking rice, no chopping vegetables, no shopping for multivitamins online because the pet stores for some reason never seem to carry anything that's not for joint health. It's fast, it's easy, and the price isn't that bad. Our local Petco sells it for $15/6lb log. We feed Theo ~2/3 lb per day, so it lasts about a week. $15 a week on food, while definitely not as cheap as kibble, by no means breaks my bank. Especially after seeing his reaction to it.

What I like about this food is that it's the closest thing to real whole food I've found (minus real whole food, of course). When you slice into it you see the bits of carrots and rice. It's the color of chicken, it smells like chicken, it feels like chicken, though processed. It's plainly clear that this is real food that's been cooked and then tightly packed into the log form, rather than torched and compressed like charcoal, a la kibble. I feel like I'm feeding my dog real food which makes me feel good.

Then there was Theo's reaction to the food. I wish I could somehow convey how dramatic the change was. Husband, Mr. I don't want to pay that much for food we can make ourselves, was 100% convinced after observing Theo on this diet for a week. No complaints. No hesitation about going back and buying more. Phew! It wasn't just the extra energy. And Theo had a ton of extra energy. (For about a week there our nightly walks turned into nightly runs. He had so much extra energy to burn that he would just run run run! Good thing I'm in shape!) It was his attitude. He was happy. He was cuddling with us, something he never does. He'd let me pet him whenever I wanted, something he never ever ever does! He was playing by himself, something he never does. And his facial expressions always held a smile.

He's since calmed down a bit. He's back to walking on our walks. And he only cuddles when we're eating. But that pep in his step is still there. There's no doubt it was the switch in food. So, of course, I would recommend Deli Fresh to anyone, and I'm heartily grateful it was recommended to me! (Thanks Philip's owner!)

As random aside: apparently Theo loves Golden Spoon frozen yogurt as much as I do. They have a pumpkin pie flavor this month that is so fantastic Husband and I got a quart of it on Halloween (they were having a special for $5, ooooh yeah!). Theo was eying my bowl big time when I was having some last night, so when I was finished, I put the bowl on the floor to let him have the melty bits. Now, if you'll recall, Theo is a big fat chicken who is scared of dishware. Usually when we try this, he backs away and looks longingly but warily at it. This time after his usual initial hesitation, he went for it! That's how badly he wanted some. I can't say I blame him. That pumpkin pie flavor is darn good! Too good, in fact! I've never eaten this much frozen yogurt in my life!

And in other Theo's exciting life news, we actually made it to the dog park, yeesh, two weekends ago. Man, it's been awhile since I updated, huh? In my defense, I was in St. Louis last week. Anyway, it had been forever since we had seen our other Corgi friends and Theo was very excited. I tried taking him to the dog park a few weeks ago, and he had none of it. He just laid there and looked bored. But with his Corgi friends around, he actually played a little bit! It's crazy, I know.

Of course, the picture here is not Theo playing. That's Theo bullying Philip. As I've said before, Theo is usually sweet and submissive with other dogs, but when he encounters a more submissive dog, sometimes he becomes a real bully. Philip is one such pup. It doesn't help that he's so people friendly. Every time I tried to take his picture, Philip would run up and wedge his head between my face and the camera as if to say "Nevermind pictures when you could be petting me!" I am more in love with that dog every time I see him. Yeah, that could be why Theo doesn't let him get anywhere near me. Heh. Fortunately, Philip has the most easy going personality of any living creature I've ever seen. So he's totally unphased make these kinds of faces at him. I wouldn't be so unphased. That's for sure. You can view the rest of the mini meetup photos here. I haven't had a chance to upload them all, but that's most of 'em.

Have you heard about the new dog flu virus that's going around: H3N8? Apparently it's serious enough that my doggy daycare is requiring Theo to be vaccinated by next week. That was fast! I don't even get myself vaccinated for flus. Yet another way in which Theo is better treated than his owners. Hehe. Is anyone else getting their little ones vaccinated?

Not The Pink Stuff!

The only liquid "medication" I've given to Theo before last week was children's benedryl. Since it's made for kids, they added enough sugar to it to make it perfectly palatable for Theo's consumption. In other words, I could get him to drink it right out of the little cup. Pepto bismol? Not so. I've never taken the pink stuff myself, but apparently it tastes nasty enough that even Theo won't go near it. Poor guy. As part of his tummy upset regimen we were instructed to give him a few tablespoons of pepto bismol every day. I only lasted two. I think the picture to the left clearly spells out why.

First off, the only liquid medication syringe at my disposal only holds about 1/16 of a teaspoon at a time. Which means to give him 2 tablespoons in one sitting, took about 30 million little syringe shots. Needless to say, Theo and I both tired of it very quickly. I have since purchased a much much bigger syringe. Also, Theo kept trying to spit it out (see picture), which not only led to doggy spittle all over my hands (see picture), but also to a very pink dog (see picture). Not to mention a pink me. You can't see it in this picture because I look nice and covered with that paper towel, but my entire arm (my favorite sweater!) is covered in pink doggy spittle. Ew.

So it begs the question, did it work? Why, yes! It did! This was the same disastrous evening where Theo decided to upchuck his new "easy on his stomach" food (the I/D). Perhaps because his stomach was already upset. I think it was in protest to the slop. After the upchucking, Theo was mopey and obviously not feeling that great. I eventually wrestled enough of the pink stuff in him, and 5 minutes later he was back to his normal self: wanting to play fetch and eat. After the second day he obviously didn't even need it, so I figured I wouldn't even bother putting us both through the stress.

Where was Husband during this whole debacle? Well since I'm in the photo (like the fun I had with pixelation?), I'll give you one guess. Yep. While I was juggling a stubborn bratty puppy, cleaning up dog vomit, and getting covered in pink goop, Husband was snapping pictures. I guess I should be thankful, otherwise we wouldn't have a remembrance of this extra fun event! *sigh*

On the food front, I convinced Husband to do a trial run with Deli Fresh. From what I've gathered, their slice and serve logs are basically whole ingredients that are gently cooked (as in, cooked enough that their not raw, but not so much that all the nutrients are killed. So like people food rather than kibble). It's sold in the refrigerated section of my local big-name pet store. Unfortunately, they don't carry it at the smaller specialty pet stores I prefer to frequent. Oh well. I'm really liking this stuff so far because it feels like I'm just feeding him regular pre-cooked food. You can even identify ingredients like brown rice and carrots, and it smells like chicken. And you can't beat the convenience! Also, I feel like I'm feeding him a more complete diet. It has all the vitamins and nutrients that he needs added to it in the correct balance to keep him healthy, which was something that always kept me a bit worried with the diet I was feeding him. At my local store it was $15 for an 8lb log, which should last about 8-10 days. So about $45/month. No bad at all! Considering how much time I'm saving by not having to constantly be cooking chicken and chopping fruits and vegetables and cooking rice, I'm thinking this might be a permanent thing.

Oh, and Theo's health issues? Ok, it's kind of a long story. Do you need a bathroom break? Maybe a glass of water? Better get it now. We won't be having an intermission. Also, the rest of this post is mainly going to talk about poop, so the faint hearted should just stop reading now. Seriously.

Ok, so about 2 months ago we noticed Theo's poops were consistently soft. Not runny, not like diarrhea. Just soft. All the time. It wasn't anything to cause alarm, but I started restricting his diet to clear it up. I started by taking him off the kibble. Maybe it was just a bad batch. Then I took him off dairy. Then I added pumpkin. Nothing changed. Next to go were the fruits and veggies, leaving just the bland chicken and rice. Nothing changed, leading me to think it wasn't an issue with his food. This was over the course of several weeks. Then I got a postcard in the mail telling me it was time for one of Theo's vaccination shots. I figured while I was at the vet, I would have them look him over to see if they could shed any light on the issue.

$200 later I was sent home with some anti-diarrhetic (flagyl, I believe it's called) pills for the soft poops, and some probiotics for his digestion. They also did a fecal analysis that came back negative. He was on the meds for a week, and they seemed to clear things right up. Almost immediately his poops were hard. I remember scooping up the first hard poop, shoving it in Husband's face and saying "It's FIRM!" It's amazing how caught up you get about poop when you're a dog owner. And it's rather embarrassing how much it comes up in conversation with other dog owners. Sorry neighbors, for constantly steering the direction of the conversation to poop! After the week on meds things went back to normal. I reintroduced Theo slowly to his more regular diet, and his poops stayed good. I should also mention that through this whole process his appetite and energy level never changed. Other than soft poops he never had any other visible symptoms.

Then a few weeks later Theo's doggy daycare called to tell me Theo was having major diarrhea. I told my boss "I gotta leave early. My kid is sick at daycare." Just for effect. It was fun. It was a Friday evening. Theo had diarrhea (and I wish there was a worse term for what kind of diarrhea he had because I feel like diarrhea just doesn't cut it here) until we took him to the vet that Monday morning. Probably about every 2-3 hours he had to go, and usually felt like he had to go every hour. That includes the middle of the night. Husband and I had to take turns taking him outside every couple of hours. 3 nights in a row was brutal. Yes, I know we're not ready for kids. I'm fine with getting up once. Twice was a bit torturous. By the third time I was fed up enough to wake up Husband and make him do it. Hehe.

As I said, it wasn't just diarrhea. It was soup. It came with a complement of squirty noises. Lots of doggy wipes were involved. Theo had the most adorable embarrassed-looking face every time he went. But other than that, no change in his demeanor. He would be playing fetch out in the backyard, same as always, and suddenly stop and run off for the occasional pit stop. It was rather hilarious, actually.

So that Monday morning Husband took him back to the vet. You already mostly know how it turned out. Even though he told them Theo was on a chicken and rice diet, they insisted on pushing their swill on him. And the same exact meds as before. And another fecal test, which of course came back negative. The meds suppress his symptoms, but they made no effort to diagnose him. Why was he having the issue in the first place? I have to think it's related to the soft poops from the last few months. They apparently just shrugged it off and said he had probably "gotten into something". First off, he didn't. I watch that dog like a hawk. And second, what could he have possibly gotten into that would cause that level of diarrhea for 4 days?! Honestly, it never showed any signs of improving the entire weekend. When we took him to the vet, whatever was bothering his system was still bothering him.

The meds have suppressed the issue, so we're just going to wait and see. If it's something like an infection or some other issue that hasn't already cleared up on its own, it'll rear it's ugly head again. And when it does, we'll be ready. To take him to a new vet. Hooray!

In the meantime we're looking into pet insurance. Because really, I wasn't convinced, but I think in the long run it'll be worth it. Anyone have insurance with a company other than VPI? Just curious, since VPI seems to be what everyone has.

And that's the saga of Theo's poop troubles! My intestinally-challenged little troublemaker. Did you survive? Should I say diarrhea one more time just in case I didn't already offend you with the frequency of its use? Naw, I wouldn't do that. I'm classy like that.

Inedible

If you read this blog, know Theo, or own a Corgi yourself, chances are you'll understand the gravity of the statement I am about to make. I found a food Theo won't eat.

OMG!!! No wai!

Way. There's kind of a long story there, and there's a ton of stuff I need to post about and haven't had time. Soon! But I couldn't wait to tell you that my dog - Yes, the one who will eat anything edible (including dried up crunchy worms, a delicacy!). The one who I have yet to find a food he won't eat, including all manner or grain, vegetable (even brussells sprouts!), and fruit. The one who prefers real food, but eats his kibble like a trooper and without complaint. The one who instinctively stays away from all things non-edible, like tree seeds, rocks, bark, and uncooked lentils that I've spilled all over the kitchen floor (because I'm me, and that is my life). Yes, that one. - He won't eat the Science Diet I/D dry food.

This is the stuff that you're supposed to give your dog when he has an upset tummy. This is the stuff that, while supposedly easy on their system, also has a first ingredient of corn. There's also soy. This is also the stuff my vet pressured my husband into buying after he told them we've been feeding Theo chicken and rice. A ten pound bag of it. A month's supply, supposedly. How is it that chicken meal and rice processed heavily (to the point where all the nutrients are cooked out of it) with corn, soy, and other fillers that are hard to digest are better for my dog's digestive system than fully cooked chicken breast and brown rice?

Aside: My old professor who I talk to on Facebook says that most vets don't take classes on canine nutrition in veterinary school. I told her that I had never taken a class on canine nutrition either. I do, however, possess enough common sense to work it out for myself. What can I conclude, except that my vet does not possess common sense?

In other news, I will now be finding a new vet.

Anyway, this 10lb bag of processed disgustingness? Money down the drain. Theo took one look at his food bowl last night and gave me a look that very clearly said "Seriously? This is my dinner? How am I supposed to eat this!?" He picked up a few bites, but they mostly ended up on the floor next to his food bowl. After a couple of attempts he just walked away. He walked away with all the food still in the bowl! And then he upchucked. Yeap. He had a look of pure misery on his face. From the upchucking or the ingestion of that swill, I don't know.

About an hour and 2TB of pepto bismol later (OMG, is that ever another story! And with pictures! Ooooh, I hope I have time to post about that this week!), Theo was back to his normal self. And he happily downed the chicken and rice we gave him. No issues. Seriously, he went from pathetically run down to normal Theo in less than 5 minutes. It was kind of amazing. We were ready to throw the I/D in the trash, but I had a thought this morning. What if his disdain for the kibble was due to the fact that he wasn't feeling well? Had we let our preconceived notions of the crap food lead us to conclude the upchucking was a result of the food rather than the other way around? So I gave him another bowl for breakfast. I got another one of those looks. But this time he powered through a few bites. And then he left his food bowl when Husband sat down to eat his breakfast. He left his food bowl with food still in it in the hopes of scrounging a morsel or two from the floor around Husband's feet. This is about as unlike Theo as you can get. It really is a testament to how nasty that stuff is. Eventually I mixed in some chicken and rice just to get him to finish eating.

And now I'm left with a dilemma. Do I chuck the bag of vet-prescribed disgustingness? Or do I continue to mix crap food with real food? That good ol' common sense I was talking about tells me I should just nix the crap food, but the goody two-shoes rule-follower in me says I should try and stick with what the vet says since Theo wasn't getting better on chicken and rice. *sigh* What to do?

More on Theo's tummy woes later. Nothing serious, so no cause for worries. Unless you're worried about me getting my uninterrupted 6-7 hours of sleep every night, in which case, be very worried.

Cuddly

Last night I cuddled with Theo. I picked him up and held him in my lap, and he put his head down on my leg and rested quietly while I gently pet him. This may sound like a completely normal interaction for a person and his/her dog, but I don't have just any dog. I have Theo. Mr. 2 foot rule. He doesn't do laps. He doesn't do petting. He certainly doesn't reward you with cuddles when you have the audacity to lift his tushy off the ground. So what, you may ask, was the matter with him? Oh, I may have forgotten to mention that his head was swollen up like the Pillsbury dough boy at the time. Yeah, that might have had something to do with it.

You may recall this same exact thing happened almost this exact time last year. It was not a doggy daycare day, so when I got home I took him out to go potty and play some fetch. He was fine during this period. After about 5 minutes we went back inside to play some more fetch. He was fine during this period. After about 30 minutes Husband came home with dinner. Theo was very interested in the food, as per usual. I fed him his dinner, and Husband and I ate ours (Rubio's, yum!). It was about this time I noticed Theo's face looking ever slightly so puffy, and his behavior being ever so slightly different. Over the next 15 minutes or so he puffed up like a balloon. He went from being happy to miserable. Queue the lap time with mommy. He was in dire need of some comfort, poor thing.

I don't know what the heck happened to him. He ate the same food he always eats, we went only so far as the backyard for 5 minutes. He didn't seem to have any bee strings or obvious punctures or pains. I checked his feet, his muzzle, his legs. It was obviously a reaction of some kind, so I broke out the children's Benedryl. Remembering my mistake last time of not giving him enough, I gave him 3 teaspoons this time. After about 10 minutes the swelling went down considerably, but he was still pretty swollen, so after another 20 minutes I gave him 2 teaspoons more. That did it. His face went back to being ever slightly so puffy. Husband also decided that he felt a little hot, so we gave him some crushed ice, which he couldn't seem to get enough of. I think that may have helped with the swelling a bit too. His energy came back with a vengeance. He was playing fetch non-stop, so we figured it was safe to walk him. He did great. No issues. We put him to bed, and hoped he'd be okay in the morning.

This morning I woke up and checked on Theo. He looked fine. I couldn't tell if there was still that small amount of swelling because he was still in his crate, but there was no obvious swelling. I went for my run (Theo doesn't like to come running with me anymore. He prefers to run at night, apparently, but that's another post), I came home and let him out of his crate. He still looked fine. Maybe the tiniest hint of swelling, but I think I was mostly just being paranoid. I played a little fetch with him, then went on to do more exercising. While I was exercising, I noticed Theo being very restless. He went from laying next to the sofa, to on top of the sofa, to the foot of the sofa in the other room, the the top of that sofa, etc. Usually he just runs upstairs and hangs out on his bed until he hears me preparing his breakfast. So obviously, something was still wrong with him. Then the swelling began again. This time it was his eye and cheek that swelled. I tell you, it would have been hilarious if he didn't look so dang miserable.

He was still very willing to eat, but he had no interest in crushed ice this time. I gave him the last of the children's Benedryl, which was only 2 teaspoons. It helped, but he was still pretty swollen while Husband and I were getting dressed for work and discussing what to do. I asked Husband to take him to the vet, even though last time they charged us $300, for what was basically just a shot of concentrated Benedryl. Theo was obviously uncomfortable, so I figured I would just pay for the drugs.

$130 later (woohoo! Half the cost this time around!) Theo got his shot and we got some anti-inflamatory pills, including enough to last us until when this happens again next year. Hopefully when I pick him up at doggy daycare today he'll be his normal skinny-faced self. Poor thing.

What keeps happening? We have no clue, and neither does the vet. I noticed when his face swelled this morning that it started on his muzzle, and it looked like a bump or two formed before the rest of his face swelled. I would guess it's a bug bite of some kind that his system just really doesn't like. I'm going to wash his bedding tonight, in case there's a spider hiding in there or something. *shudder!*

I'm trying to look on the bright side of things. At least I got to cuddle my dog last night!

And no, I didn't take any pictures. I would have...I was just too busy being an over-worrying puppy mama. By the time I thought to take any the swelling was mostly gone. Maybe next time.

The Vet Recognizes Theo

It's official. Theo is sick way too much. I broke down and took him to the vet this morning and she recognized him as the puffy faced dog from a couple weeks ago. Ack!

As you can probably guess, I took him to get his foot checked out. The bump was getting better, but not fast enough and there was a little bit of clear puss that was coming out when I squeezed it, not to mention it was still bothering Theo. It wasn't anything to really be alarmed about, but I'm glad I took him in. I was paranoid that there was a stinger or something stuck in there that was going to eventually fester. There wasn't, but the vet said that infections, even minor ones, on a dog's pads should be taken seriously. Apparently they don't get as much blood flow to their pads, so things are slow to heal, and if the infection spreads to the pads themselves it can get very serious. So she prescribed him an antibiotic to kill the infection quickly, just to be safe. Interesting stuff, eh?

Hopefully by the end of the weekend this little problem will be fully cleared up. And hopefully Theo won't need to go back to the vet until March for his next immunization!

PS: Have you noticed the new "followers" feature in Blogger? You can now follow blogs, basically like Google Reader (it links to Reader and you can import your list), and add a gadget to your blog to track who is following you. Check out the panel to the right to follow my blog! I don't want it to read zero for too long. :(

Apple Of My Eye

When I was little I was one of those kids that always got sick at the worst times. My Aunt would always complain that I got sick whenever my mom would leave me with her (which was true, but it wasn't always my fault). I got the chicken pox on our trip to England when I was six. That sort of thing.

So I guess it's just me getting a taste of my own medicine to say that Theo is always sick! Not sick per se, but there's always something wrong with him. First it was that throwing up/runs incident. Then it was the runs again. Then it was throwing up. Then it was eye goop. Then it was face puffing. The latest thing has been limping. I know, serious stuff. Over the weekend I noticed that when I exercised him a lot (like playing fetch at the dog park, for example), he would start to limp on his front foot. I figured the front foot is better than the back feet because at least it's not an issue with his hips (which is a huge concern for Corgi owners!). But I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. I tried gently rotating his legs and elbows, but he took it in stride. I tried massaging his shoulders a bit, but I think he would have liked that either way. In the mornings he was fine again so I've just been watching him like a hawk, figuring he stepped on some uneven ground wrong or something.

I also noticed that he's been hesitant on our walks the last day or two. He's doing the whole foot planting thing he did when I first got him. This morning I couldn't get him to walk at all. Every 20 feet he would plant feed, lay down, and refuse to move. Since there was obviously something wrong I didn't push him and we turned around and went back home. I finally figured out what I think has been bothering him.

I don't even know how to describe it. A callus? A blister? It's a small growth on the side of his pad, under the fur, on one of his middle toes. It's hard, but it's definitely a growth. It doesn't seem to cause him pain because he didn't cry out when I inspected it, but it obviously causes him discomfort because of the limping and refusal to walk and the fact that he kept trying to pull his foot away from me when I was looking at it. We have puppy class tonight so I'll try asking the trainer if she knows what it is. So far I'm guessing it's something not serious that just needs to heal.

Anyone seen anything like this before?

Update: My trainer thinks it's just something that got caught in his paw that irritated it. Today it looks more like an owwie than a growth. I've been cleaning it and putting Neosporin on it in the hopes that it'll go away soon. If it's not improved by tomorrow morning I'll call the vet.

We had some words this morning (read: he bared his teeth and snarled at me (but of course didn't even think about biting because he's as gentle as a kitten (where does that expression come from? Kittens aren't very gentle))) while I was trying to clean out his owwie. He was freaking out over the hydrogen peroxide I was trying to pour on it, even though I don't think it was hurting him because it was already basically clean. It didn't fizz or anything. So I got really annoyed at him because he was being such a bratty baby and I wasn't even hurting him. Ugh.

Allergies Attack!

This morning I woke up to find Theo looking like this:

The whole right side of his face was swollen! He looked like that one kid at summer camp that had so many mosquito bites, their face swelled up and their eyes swelled shut. I checked in his mouth and all along the gums and under his lips to make sure that it wasn't an infection from a cut in his mouth. All clear. He wasn't in any pain, he just was obviously uncomfortable and itchy. He was licking his feet and scratching his sides. I figured it was allergies and gave him some children's Benedryl. Awhile later the swelling around his eye went down, but his whole muzzle was still puffy. Poor guy!

He's in doggy daycare right now. We gave them instructions to call us if the swelling didn't go down so we could take him to the vet. I have no idea what he reacted to. We didn't feed him anything new yesterday. I'm guessing the construction dust from the remodel got in his sinuses or something.

Once again we have an example of Theo getting sick and possibly needing vet attention right before we leave to go out of town! Ack! Husband and I will be gone for the weekend for a funeral so Theo will be staying overnight at the facility he goes for daycare. Hopefully we won't have any problems!

Update: The daycare just called and said that the swelling wasn't going down and the other side of his face was starting to puff up. Great! Husband is on his way to take him to the vet. I'm guessing they'll just give him a shot of a stronger antihistamine, charge us an arm and leg, and send us on our way.

Update again: Husband just got done at the vet. They said they thought it was a bite, even though they couldn't find one. Husband thinks they're full of sh*t and it was construction dust. Whatever it is, they're keeping him for the afternoon, shooting a bunch of stuff in him, and charging us $300 for it. Goodness this day just gets better and better.

Gone Electric

I was at Petco over the weekend and came across an overpriced electric toothbrush "just for dogs" (it looks suspiciously just like the ones that are "just for kids", except there aren't pictures of Disney princesses all over it). It may seem like a silly purchase on my part, but I did it, and I'm glad I did it!

Here's the thing: Theo hates getting his teeth brushed. He jerks his head and tries non-stop to chomp on the toothbrush the whole time it's in his mouth (which is not often thanks to the head jerks). With an ordinary toothbrush I just wasn't getting the job done. It wasn't brushing so much as waving a toothbrush in his face. No longer (as much). Thanks to the toothbrush doing the actual "brushing" part for me, I just need to make sure to hold it in place, which Theo seems to find a lot less offensive.

It definitely took him some getting used to. He freaks out when I turn it on. He freaks out when I first try to get it in his mouth. But after that he's ok. But at least when I'm done I feel like I've actually cleaned his teeth!

I'm not generally very anal about clean teeth (I hate flossing!), but there's something about seeing a dog with so much buildup on their teeth that you can see more brown goop than white tooth! It's just sitting there, rotting their teeth away. Blegck!

And while I'm on the subject of teeth, I find it interesting that some people, when they learn I brush Theo's teeth every(other)day, give me a judgmental look and say something along the lines of my dog being spoiled. How is it spoiling a dog to make sure their teeth don't rot out of their mouth before they're done using them? If you'd observe Theo during said brushing, you'd know he doesn't feel spoiled about it. That part I actually find annoying. The interesting part is when I say my reasoning for brushing my dog's teeth is because it (hopefully) avoids or at least delays the hundreds of dollars it would cost to have his teeth cleaned every 6 months by the vet (that's not really the reason, I just like watching their response). With that my dog is no longer spoiled and I am no longer a crazy dog woman because, since it's all about money, it makes total sense. Is it sad that people think I'm crazy for wanting to keep my dog healthy, but change their minds when they think it's only for monetary reasons?

The Champ

I have to say, Theo has just been awesome since his surgery. I haven't seen him try to lick his stitches once, and I've been watching him like a hawk. It's hard making sure he doesn't jump up on the couch or run up the stairs, but other than that, he's been a dream. I know how lucky I am. I'm glad I only had to make him wear an e-collar for the two days while I was at work. Even that small amount was a lot for him. Hehe.

He's been acting like a dream in other ways too. We took him over to a co-worker's house yesterday for a barbecue. When we first got Theo, it was hard to get together with people because he would bark non-stop. It was hard for others to play with him because he would be mouthy with them. It was hard to bring him over to other people's houses because he would pee. Well he was just wonderful yesterday. He didn't have a single accident (he actually walked outside to go when he had to), he didn't get mouthy once, he played with the toys we brought him, and he didn't bark at all. Everyone commented on how well behaved he was and how much improved since we first got him. It made me really proud of Theo, and myself and Husband, since we worked so hard on training him in all of those areas. I'm glad it paid off. I know he's not usually that much of a dream, Theo always behaves better than usual around other people, but even at home just with me, he's definitely improved.

Theo also has a new play friend. Bailey the Beagle. She is the cutest Beagle I've ever seen. I love her howl, and her soft fur, and most of all, how great she and Theo play together. Her owner is a really nice and fun woman too. Whenever we meet each other walking, she always lets Bailey play with Theo as long as she wants, and we always end up walking around together afterward. Maybe after our kitchen is done we can have them over for a puppy play date.

Settling In

Theo's home. He's fine. R.I.P. Theo's testicles.

He was pretty uncomfortable last night after the pain meds wore off, but we weren't allowed to give him any more until this morning. Poor thing! This morning I think he's feeling better, but since we're going to be gone at work most of the day, he has to wear an e-collar. Theo hates e-collars. As soon as I put it on him he laid down on the floor and refused to move. I tried to get him to just stand up for a treat, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it or me. Poor thing! It's only for a day or two, hopefully.

I finally uploaded a bunch of new pictures in flickr, including the one here on the right. I know, it's another one where he looks funny, but I love it! It was the second right after a yawn.

Un-becoming A Man

I dropped Theo off this morning for his neutering (I was able to control my idiotic tendencies for a day, it's a miracle!). It cracks me up that every man I tell this to immediately starts giving me his condolences. He's not dead, gentlemen, he's just becoming an "it"!

He'll have to be confined to his crate a lot over the next few days because we're under strict instructions not to let him jumps around or be too active. Does anyone have any other tips for keeping Theo safe and comfortable during this time? It doesn't sound like there's much to it to me.

Oh, and while he's at the vet, Theo is also getting microchipped! I'm a huge fan of the microchip. While I don't anticipate ever losing him, or ever having him outside without his ID tags, it makes me feel better knowing that if someone ever did pick him up, there would be a way to identify him.

One day a few years ago I found a lost puppy wandering the streets on my way to work. Thanks to a friendly neighbor and my own diligence (and getting over my shyness abhorrence of randomly talking to strangers), we found the pup's home and deposited him behind his front gate. I was about 2 minutes from taking him to an animal shelter before I found a neighbor that was home and could tell me where he lived. That puppy was so darn sweet and cute I would have taken him home if no one had claimed him at the animal shelter. And ever since that day I thought that if something like that ever happened to Theo, I'd be darned glad that he had a microchip so hopefully someone else couldn't be tempted to take him home.

I'll be sure to (eventually) post lots of pathetic recovering Theo pictures.

I'm A Big Forgetful Idiot

8am this morning I was supposed to take Theo in to get neutered. At 6:30am this morning I decided to do my usual thing of feeding Theo breakfast. At 7:40am I was about to head out for the vet when I realized what a big dumb idiot I am. When I made the vet appointment last Friday they told me "no food after 8pm the night before and limited water in the morning". Oops. Theo's testicles are safe for one more day. Let's see if I can get it right tomorrow...

Goopy

Theo, I've noticed, likes to get sick right before I go out of town. I'm pretty sure the explosive diarrhea incident happened the day before I went on travel last time. Well I'm heading out of town (to St. Louis for work, blegh) tomorrow morning and when I work up this morning I found Theo with about a gallon of eye goop under his right eye. It was seriously nasty. I wiped it away, but the goop just kept coming. When Husband saw it he said it was allergies. What's he allergic to?! I'm thinking it might be the bit of mold that's grown under our sink (leaky faucet we're fixing next week). I caught Theo inside the moldy cabinet under the sink this morning (we had left it open after we cleaned it out). Hopefully that's all it is and he'll be right and rain tomorrow. Husband is going to take him to vet just to be sure. His eyes are really red right now and he's obviously pretty miserable. Did I mention he likes to get sick on weekends too? Ugh.

Cross your fingers I don't get washed away in a flood!

The Nightmare

Sorry for the lack of posting (see my non-dog blog for lame excuses). This story is a couple weeks late, but it's good so I'll tell it anyway.

There I was, one night two weeks ago, heading home from work. I had left Theo out of the pen, but still confined in the family room/kitchen area, as we had been doing the last week or so. What I came home to that day was the stuff of nightmares. He had gotten sick...again...everywhere. There was diahrea...everywhere. He had thrown up. He had peed. It was disgusting. But the real nightmare was the poop. I almost wish I had taken a picture so I could show you all, but I'm sure you're glad I didn't. Hehe.

The poop...there were piles of it all over (only the carpeted area, of course). Some of it was bloody and mucusy...it looked like jam. Eww! There was some on the couch (thankfully leather!), smeared. I can only imagine him standing on the top of the couch pooping and then riding the poop down the couch cushion like some kind of sport. lol.

My husband and I spent the better part of the evening cleaning it up. It was by far the most disgusting thing I've ever done. Thankfully I still had some of his anti-diahretic medicine from the last time he was sick, so I gave him some of that and fasted him for the rest of the night. With a careful diet the next few days he was fine. Now that I've experienced it once, I don't think I need to spend $1000 each time. Hehe. I'm all over it now. But man, anyone getting a dog, know what you're getting into!

He Pooped!

I'm sure you're all wondering about now "What am I doing reading a blog that covers the bowel movements of someone's dog?" I've got no good answer for you! Except to say that this blog charters the territory of puppy raising, which unfortunately entails lots and lots of poop.

For those of you who aren't offended by the racy subject and are brave enough to read on, the long awaited poop in question arrived on my grassy lawn this morning. It was quite large, but very healthy-looking. I've never been so excited to see a piece of poo my whole life, and I hope I never am again. Hehe.

More News On The Patient

Sorry for the delay in news, Theo is a handful! In short, he's home. We picked him up Monday evening, and he's doing fine...for the most part. This is an experience that I think will be with all of us and never quite leave.

I'll start with the medical stuff. After all those expensive tests, the vet didn't really tell me anything worth hearing in terms of what was wrong with him. It was either a virus, bacteria, or something toxic he ate. Next time I'll give him some pepto-bismol right off the bat and wait on going to the vet. I was very unimpressed with the whole experience, but I'm glad that Theo came out of it mostly fine. They had to shave him! Hehe, ok, I'm being dramatic. But they did have to shave a small patch of fur on his foot for the IV. It makes him look very pathetic.

Now that he's home, he's doing well. I was given this disgusting Science Diet wet food called I/R, which is supposedly easy for him to digest. I don't know if I believe it, since he's gotten some horrible-smelling gas from it. I've started on weening him off of the sh*t today. I was told to feed him only 1-2TB, 3 times per day. So little! His energy level is great considering how little we're feeding him, and his appetite is almost too healthy. Hehe. He actually jumped up on the couch for the first time (usually he just haunches up on his front paws and cries) trying to get at my food. I'm not supposed to take him on walks or anything for a few days, so it's a good thing I'm not feeding him too much or his energy level would be unbearable, all couped up in the house. He's almost back to when I first got him. He plays hard for a few minutes, and then he just crashes and sleeps for an hour.

In almost all cases he's back to normal, but there's definitely some things that are different now. He has a new-found abandonment issue. Whenever Chris or I leave the room, he freaks, and when we leave the house all together, he goes ballistic! He thinks we're leaving him and never coming back. The first night home he never strayed more than 5 feet from me. For Theo, that's very strange. He's usually fine with doing his own thing, as long as he can see me. But now it's such a heart-breaking chore to go to work in the morning! It doesn't help that we can't give him any treats. Usually we give him a biscuit to munch on while we leave, so there's no stress because he's too busy enjoying his treat to notice or care. But now we can't give him anything, and I'm afraid that all his good manners will soon go out the window. I think I'll try incorporating treats back in tomorrow.

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be out of the woods yet. He hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea since Sunday afternoon. But ever since I got him home Monday evening, he hasn't pooped either. Not a single poop. I know that I'm also feeding him less, but a day and a half is a long time to go with no poop. If he doesn't go by this afternoon, I'll have to call the vet again.

Please poop Theo!

So my advice to all dog owners out there is this. Always have some pepto-bismol on hand. If your dog starts throwing up and pooping everywhere, try a little of the pink stuff first. If he gets better, cool. If he gets worse or doesn't improve, go ahead and take him to the vet. That's what I plan to do next time.

Update On The Patient

I'm told that Theo did very well at the ER yesterday. No vomiting or diarrhea, though he was only on fluids, so it's not like they really gave him anything to pass through his system. They finally fed him around 11pm, and he was able to keep it down. Yay! They discharged him this morning, but said that he needed more observation and suggested I transfer him to my normal vet. So off to the normal vet I went. They admitted him and said I would be able to pick him up tonight. *sigh* Now I just have to wait. Hopefully he'll go the rest of the day with no vomiting or diarrhea and this business will be done. Cross your fingers!

Theo experienced the e-collar for the first time this morning, and oh man, I wish I had brought my camera! He looked so pathetic! He kept trying to sniff the ground, and as he would lower his head, the collar would get caught on the ground and his body would come to a grinding halt. Too funny. He also couldn't walk through doorways very well because, again, the collar would get stuck. He ended up getting so frustrated that he just refused to walk at all! But with a little coaxing I was able to get him from point A to point B. He was still crying a lot, so he didn't seem very improved to me. Hopefully another day at the vet's office will be just what he needs. But I have to say, it was quite heart-wrenching watching they vet technician walking away with my Theo. He looked back at me with a look on his face that said "don't let them take me away again!" Poor guy.

They Took My Baby!

Right now my Theo is in the doggie hospital! We're not exactly sure what's wrong with him yet, but it all started yesterday. He threw up in the morning. I'm not sure why, and I'm not sure what it looked like because he had eaten it back up before I even knew he had done it. Gross! But I figured he had just eaten his breakfast too fast, no big deal. He was fine while we were at the dog park and during lunch, but then on our way back home he puked...all over the car. Gross! I should also add that he had been crying pretty much all morning. When we were at the park and he was distracted by other dogs and people he was fine, but before and after he was definitely doing more than his usual share of being a cry baby. I couldn't understand why, but I wasn't all that surprised when he threw up. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there.

After we got home I took him outside where he had (warning: the rest of this post is not for the squeamish) the soupiest diarrhea I have ever seen. It was like his butt was a melted milk chocolate dispenser. Next I figured we needed to settle his stomach, so I tried giving him some pumpkin. He wouldn't eat it. I even put a little on my finger and held it right up to his mouth: no go. That's when I knew something was really wrong. He's always hungry! Then he started to throw up again. I called the ER vet and they said to go ahead and bring him in.

Now yesterday was just "one of those days" kind of days. Everything that could go wrong did. Right when all this was going on, Husband also discovered that our kitchen sink was leaking water everywhere. Lovely! Go big or go home, I guess.

So I packed Theo into the car and hurried over to the vet while Husband stayed behind to deal with the cleanup (heh, sucker!). I wasn't very impressed with the vet (He kept saying "we" when talking about Theo, such as "We're not feeling well, our stomach is upset." It was creepy.), but there's limited options on the weekend. The vet told me the full list of all the possibilities and then asked me which I would like to do. Well how the heck do I know? I'm not the one with a degree! I basically told him that I didn't want to run all those tests if he didn't think they were necessary, since the only symptoms he had were loose stools and vomiting (he didn't find anything unusual in the exam). So they gave him some fluids, some medicine for the vomiting, and gave me some medicine to give him for the diarrhea. And $168(!) later we were on our way home. Nothing much to report on yesterday after that. He pretty much just slept the whole day (pictured), and late last night I fed him some boiled chicken, which he was able to keep down.

Then this morning we woke up like normal and I fed him some chicken and rice, which was the doctor's orders. His attitude and appetite were good, but he was still crying quite a bit. He tried to poop a few times and nothing came out. Then finally something did come out, but it wasn't poop. It was blood. Not a bloody stool, just blood. I didn't waste any time calling the vet again. He said that even though it was scary, blood wasn't anything to be worried about unless there were other symptoms, like more vomiting, and that I should give him some pepto-bismol. While I was out at the store he threw up. Ugh! So back to the ER we went.

This time we all agreed to run the gambit of tests (most of which involved shoving something up his already sore bum, but guy). Theo was even good enough to demonstrate what his vomit looked like to the doctor: yellow and foamy. Gross! The test for parasites and parvo came back negative (he has his vaccinations, but the vet still wanted to rule it out), and the doctor told us we needed to leave our Theo with them for more tests. They took my puppy! And $630(!!!) later, Husband and I were on our way home with one less member than we had entered with.

We've since heard that the xrays showed no bowel obstruction, and his lab work came back normal. Hopefully this means he doesn't require surgery, but it also means there's still nothing tangible that's wrong with him. At this point it looks like he just has some major gastrointestinal irritation, and Theo just needs to get the better of it already! Hopefully an afternoon of fluids and rest (which is exactly what he had yesterday) will make him all better. I don't like my Theo being sick like this one bit! I'll keep you posted on his progress.

PS: Due to all this hoopla, I wasn't able to post things in the correct order. Theo went to his first Corgi meetup yesterday before he got all sick, so I'll be doing a post on that later as well.

PPS: Tons of new pictures up on flickr. Check 'em out!

Tender

As I said yesterday, Theo got his last set of shots. Well he didn't react the best to them this time around, poor thing. Yesterday when I went home at lunchtime to feed him, he was acting very lethargic (which is normal). Normally the garage door wakes him up, but yesterday he was so conked out, he didn't stir until I started talking to him after I had gotten in the house. Normally he'll put his front paws up on the pen to let me know he wants to say hello to me, but yesterday he only pawed at the floor a little bit.

When I went to pick him up, he squealed in pain like I've never heard him squeal before. Man, hearing a puppy in pain is absolutely the worst sound in the world. I immediately stopped. I hadn't actually lifted him off the ground, I had only put some pressure on his chest and butt. I leaned over again and put pressure on his chest again. He squealed again! Ack! My poor puppy! This time I just lifted the pen so he could crawl out under the bottom. I very gingerly pulled him into my lap, turned him onto his back, and inspected his underside and chest area. He seemed uncomfortable, but ok. Gently putting pressure there didn't cause him pain anymore. Phew!

When I took him outside I noticed that there was a little bit of a different rhythm to his gait. He was slightly limping. That was the last straw. I called the vet's office and told them he was extremely sore. The vet asked where he was sore, and when I told them, they said that was where he was given the shot. Phew! It makes sense then! I asked if it was normal for him to be sore where he had received the shot, and they said yes (though I guess most dogs don't experience it). Phew!

It was a bit of a scare, but I'm glad I was able to discern what the problem was. When I got home from work at the end of the day he was totally fine. No limping, no pain, no lethargy! It can be so hard not being able to ask him what is bothering him. Heh.