Last activity: 11 days ago
Status: missing Petey ~ he crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.
status/mood updated 22 days ago
Member since: 13 Apr 2008, Viewed: 829 times
My Blog
Goodnight Petey
Our little Petey crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. He will always be in our hearts as the best hugger around. Sleep tight Bubby...we will see you again one day.
Back again!
Hopefully the computer glitches are GONE!!!! This was the only site we had trouble with and we missed everyone! Well, we are working hard with a new trainer to make sure Sophyra is NOT the alpha dog anymore :) Its going very well and I'm really proud of her. Also, today is the one year mark of when we found each other !!!!!! It feels like yesterday I brought home my 45 pound 13 week old puppy, but on the other hand it seems like forever ago! With all the trials and medical issues she's had, I'm looking forward (and crossing our paws) for a very uneventful year ahead! At just over 15 months old, she is now measuring at 34" tall and weighing in at 115 pounds! Her chest is broadening and her coat is rapidly gaining new spots daily! It was only a few months ago that she was wilting away from us at 70 pounds. WOW!!!!! Well, I hope all is going well for everyone else! Oooo, tomorrow is my first great dane club meeting so I'm looking forward to that and finding other fanatics of my love's breed!
Hello again!
Hi everyone! Sorry we've missed you all so much, but our computer was in a funk and MDS seemed to catch the brunt of it! So, we're still having some attitude issues, but now we just let Petey and Sophyra work it out. There's no blood, just a LOT of noise. We're working with an animal behaviorist who is amazing! I worked with a natural trainer with my horses too, and this is so similar ~ I love it! On a down note (somehow I always have these too) Sophyra had a seizure 2 Fridays ago. I took her to the vet and she's on phenobarbotal for two weeks and then we'll take a blood test. She's never had one before and I honestly thought I was watching my baby die right in front of me. Gladly, she came out of it, but it was so scary, maybe more so for me than her. The following Wednesday morning she had another, but much more subdued and Doc said it was probably better bc of the meds. So until there's more news, there's nothing much to do. Other than that, we had to stop all other meds, so her stool is awful again. But, she is up to....drum roll please...105.8 pounds! And she seems to be happy as can be, so I have no idea what I'm going to do with her! And, she'd like everyone to know she got a very special "bling-bling" collar from her aunt that is just fab-u-lous! As if she needed any more attention from strangers...she's definitely hit A-list celebrity status :)
Attitude Problem!
Well, Sophrya and Chulo definitely teamed up quickly! They LOOOOOVE each other and love to play all day long. However, for the past week, any time Petey goes near Soph, there has been a huge ordeal. It started last Saturday...they can't even be in the same room now. She goes straight for his jugular and he fights back as hard as he can. Separating them is no treat either. Until now, Petey has been staying in a bedroom to keep them apart. That's no fair to him, seeing as it is his house too, and no dog should be confined to one room. The only variable I can come up with is the puppy. Sophyra and Petey have had their differences, but it never went past a sigh or a sneeze and walking away. I have to crate or leash her to get him outside and now he won't even come back in past her. Finally, this morning, she got him and he was limping. He seems to be better now, but shakes when he hears her coming. If anyone has any ideas, please help me! The magic spray bottle that has worked for EVERYTHING, is completely ignored for this. Obviously, I'm trying to find Chulo a home, but until then, I can't have Sophyra attacking poor Petey. He's never done anything wrong. She is feeling really good, and with this new medication is looking awesome, but would that change her attitude towards Petey???? I'm at my wits end here...
2 new (temporary) additions to the family!
Well, we picked up two new pitbulls today from the Rescue. Their pictures will be up tomorrow. I love Chulo, but Junior needs a new name. He has Demodex and strangles so the foster mom called him Curly Jr. after her last foster who had demodex, Curly. I'm more into the uncommon names, so any ideas??? Help me out friends...it does have to be Jr. ______ to make his papers all go together.
So far we have:
Jr. Quigley (Quiggs)
Jr. Mack
I know...I haven't gotten too far. But, it will be what he gets adopted with so it has to be "likeable" ~ thanks in advance!
Abi
Medical Update (finally)
Well, the hospital doctor finally called last night. He said she has Giardia, Clostridium perfringens, and Coccidia. All are relatively "normal" in doggie language. All, except, of course, for my dear-a Sophyra. The giardia is NOT a canine variety. Correct, not canine. So, needless to say, its rare for it to show up in a dog and especially for a vet to even think of it. The coccidia is another parasite. The clostridium, however, is a bacteria. There is no medicine to "cure" it. There is a med to stop the reproduction once its in the cells, but from what we've found searching the web, it needs to be caught relatively quickly. Unfortunately, Soph and I have been together for almost 10 months now, so it is not a new problem. There's a lot of "chronic" and "dangerous" talk in all the info I've read, but Doc didn't seem too stressed yet. He said he'd look back through all the treatments we've tried and get ahold of our primary vet and they would work out a plan together. Lucky for us, these guys seem to be on track and really trying to find an answer. Unlucky, its taken this long to find out the actual problem. Now, its more crossing our fingers (and paws) and more positive thinking. We should hear more tomorrow...which is Thursday. I have been working crazy 3am - 3pm shifts to try to start making a dent in these vet bills so I haven't been spending a whole lot of time on the computer. But, thank you for the well wishes and I'll keep everyone up to date!
More update 5.31.08
Sophyra is continuing to put on weight and getting stronger every day. She has definitely grown, but I haven't measured her lately. From sight, I'd say at least another inch! I love it and am so excited. It's making obedience class a little more of a challenge, but who cares? I have waited sooooooo long for her to feel good, I could jump to the moon and back on my chipperness! Today is the last day of meds so "paws crossed" tomorrow will be the beginning of the norm, hopefully!
Can anyone help w/ tail issue?
So, as if I don't have enough issues to be returned for the Lemon Law here in Illinois...I have a "happy" tail. All you Dane parents know about that Danger Zone within a 3 foot radius from our backends! Well, I've managed to bust open about 2 inches from the end. Mommy cleans it (and my body from all the wagging and tossing blood around) everyday and puts antibiotic ointment on and covers it with vet-wrap so I don't lick it off (how rude!). But, still I can't control my excitement apparently and break it open every single day! Mom's afraid that soon we'll get an infection or with my luck, get to the point of amputation eventually. Does anyone have any ideas of how to protect the end of my tail???? Grandma thinks a pool noodle toy would be funny, but PLEASE there has to be something more fashionable! Thanks! P.S. Just an FYI ~ we haven't heard from the hospital yet, but I'll let you all know as soon as results come in...
Higher hopes...update 4/30!
Well, I went back to the specialist at the hospital today. Mom and Grammy decided it was important to go NOW and their nice bosses let them stay home today! So, luckily this time they got to actually meet the doctor...I love him, by the way. He's so calm and intent on finding my problem. Anyway, he clearly figured out this isn't just some case of runny poop ~ clearly... so the GOOD news is he has more ideas! My regular vet tried really hard and worked with this doctor and my mommy very hard, but he knew it wasn't getting better so it was time to see the one guy who EVERYONE has recommended and "hasn't found a case he couldn't solve" - that's from his fans, not the doctor himself :) Well, I did have to stay with the nice tech for an hour so he could get all my bodily fluids to send into the labs for different, specific tests. Also, one of my stool samples is going allllll the way to Colorado State University for a smear that only they have. You should've seen Mom's face when he said the test was only in Colorado. I think she was imagining a road trip starting tonight. My mom isn't a huge fan of my brother Petey in the car. He usually whines the whole time, although it seems to be from excitement instead of nerves. But either way, she says its just the right pitch to send shivers down her spine. So back to the car...or I think she was trying to figure out which credit card she'd be able to buy the plane tickets on and which would be used for the new airline safe crate (I can't believe anyone would think I'm cargo!) and which one for the actual vet visit. Luckily, back to the exam room, the good doctor told her he'd be mailing them a stool sample...haha Mom...see it can always get worse! We should results in the next two weeks. It seems like forever, but it also seems like there's finally a light! I haven't seen Mom and Grandma so relieved EVER! I did lose another five pounds, since Friday (yes, a pound each day and a total of 10 in the past 2 weeks) so now I get hard boiled eggs, rice and cottage cheese in each meal! I'm always up for more food!!!! Thanks to everyone for the happy thoughts! Keep 'em comin' please ~ I think they're working!!!!!
High hopes on her birthday...
I'm one today!!!! Thanks for all the birthday wishes :) Well, I'm not feeling great, but starting last night we're on to yet another treatment plan. Mom was very sad, but we decided there's no point in being sad. She kept asking me to make it to my 1st birthday, and now I did it! I'm better than I was a few months ago, but slowly losing more weight with no explanation. We now are going to keep smiling and hope the treatment works this time. If not, then our specialist is the next step to refer us somewhere - anywhere. There has to be a rhyme or reason for my being sick and our vet has been so nice to try to fix me. Unfortunately last night's doctor visit didn't go as we'd hoped, so for now, I'm just asking for everyone to keep positive thoughts and hope this works! Now, Mom has started requesting I make it to the big 2nd birthday, so I have to try really hard to get better! My relatives have made it to 15 so I have high hopes to make it to all those birthdays too!
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