....like I only have bad news anymore.
So, we had Reilly in the vet again yesterday. He's got two new issues. The short term one is that he's got one suture line from the surgery that has developed an infection from internal suture material. That one needs hot packing and antibiotics. It'll be good soon.
Then there's the long-term problem.
Reilly is producing crystals in his urine. Struvite crystals. How do we know this? Because he had a urethral prolapse. The tip of his penis inverted, so he basically has a doughnut shaped protrusion coming out of there. Nice and painful. He can still urinate without a problem, which is good. The urinalysis showed the crystals. They form in urine that's too alkaline. So he needs to have the pH of his urine changed. And how do we do that? He goes on a prescription-only grain-based dog food that will keep the pH of his urine down so he doesn't make crystals. So now we'll have dogs on two different diets. And this will cost more than we spend on our own food, which is always fun. Currently he's on major antibiotics (which will also work on the knee), anti-inflammatories, and a new diet.
To total it all up... we have growth abnormalities, some of which do not look like they are going to correct. He will probably remain cow hocked, particularly on the right hind leg. We have OCD, requiring major surgery. We have this new urine pH issue. And assorted small issues. I also need to get his eyes checked, per the purchase contract, and will need to get a referral to another specialist for that.
I'm frustrated. I went to great lengths to find a good puppy. A puppy meant to help ease my life somewhat. I found a great breeder who tested for everything possible to test for. And it seems that Reilly is getting everything it's NOT possible to test for. Instead of easing my life, it's added another physical drain which I can ill afford.
Life seems to enjoy throwing me curve balls. Sigh.
Meg, Reilly, Jake, and company.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
It's going slowly
Yes, my posts are getting further apart. Reilly is healing and growing. Jake is working, but although we are slowly overcoming some issues, and I will continue to work with him, I really don't think he's going to work out long-term. He's too "soft". He does the balance and bracing work well, but he's intimidated by new situations. He really doesn't have the personality for it. What I can hope for at this stage is that he gets comfortable in my work situation, and ends up working well there, at least. I don't know if that's going to happen, but I'll keep working with him at least through this semester. At that point, I'll re-assess.
I doubt I'll be posting often, and if Jake ends up washing out I will close this blog wannabe. A bit distressing at this point. At least we have the three best dogs on the planet, and they're all good snugglers. Can't beat that!
Meg, Reilly and Jake
I doubt I'll be posting often, and if Jake ends up washing out I will close this blog wannabe. A bit distressing at this point. At least we have the three best dogs on the planet, and they're all good snugglers. Can't beat that!
Meg, Reilly and Jake
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
When it rains, it pours...
It's been one thing after another lately, and my life is just hard to track. Thursday before last, I had the most wonderful experience...a flat tire on the way to work. My husband was in Colorado, my kids live in different towns, and I really didn't have anyone I knew personally I could ask to come help me. (and I used to rotate my own tires...now I can't change a flat!)
So, I called Hubby and asked if he preferred I use the roadside assistance on our insurance, or AAA, which he had recently signed us up for. He wanted me to test out AAA, so I pulled the card out of my wallet, and prepared to call. Just as I was about to dial, a car pulled up, with this big bearded bear of a man in it. He looked at me. I was sitting with the car door open, my crutches leaning in the opening, and both legs out, so my brace was fully visible. He said, "Honey, you don't look like you can change that. Do you have help coming?" I told him I was calling AAA. He told me not to, said he worked at the local Chevy dealer, but he was driving a customer car and couldn't help me then, but he'd be right back. He was. He came back with a younger man, in a pickup with a big jack in it. Those gents had my tire swapped in three minutes flat. I offered to pay them. No takers. I held out my hand to shake and told him he was my angel for the day. He bypassed my hand, told me he did hugs and gave me one, then said to just remember where he worked and went on his way. I went on to work on my donut tire.
Since Chris was going to be in Colorado until Saturday night, and I had to drive to Georgia Monday after work, I decided I'd best get that tire repaired and back on as soon as possible. So I stopped at a small gas station on the way home. It's a locally owned place that has a full service pump, so I don't have to fight with gripping a pump handle. They are used to me pulling up for gas, but they have never seen me get out. This time, I pulled up near the door. Several of the employees were inside, and watched me pull up, open the car door and start to get out. Then there was a mad rush for the door! Once the crutches came out, they all ran to see what I wanted! I asked if they had time to check and see if my tire was repairable, repair it if possible and remount it. They said they did. A quick check showed a gash over half an inch long in my tire. I have no idea what I hit on the road. It was too big to plug. He said he would try a patch from the inside. So they dismounted the tire from the rim, patched it, remounted it on the rim, inflated it, tested it for leaks, then remounted it on my car. He cautioned me to keep an eye on it, since the patch was large. Then I asked him how much I owed him.
$15.00. That's it.
The best flat tire day I ever had.
On top of it all, that morning I had decided not to take Jake to work. I had exams to build, and needed to concentrate at long stretches without interruption. So I didn't bring him. If I had, he would have ended up having to squeeze into the front seat of the car, as everything in the back had to be moved forward to get to the tire, and the full-sized tire wouldn't fit in the space for the donut, so nothing could be put back until the tire was fixed! If I believed in premonitions........
After work on Monday, I went to Georgia, as my Mom was having a medical procedure early Tuesday. All went well (and the tire held!) and I drove home Tuesday evening, tired but home. Went to work Wednesday as usual. Then Thursday came, and I ended up with hubby in the ER at 5:30 with chest pains! Five hours of intermittant chest pains. They kept him overnight, and did lots of tests. Cardiac involvement was ruled out, but they still don't know what is was. His GP will be running more tests. I went to work Friday morning while they were running stress tests on him, but I cancelled my afternoon classes to go back to the hospital. They finally let him go about 2:30. They hadn't fed him breakfast, because they wanted the stress tests on an empty stomach. They hadn't fed him lunch because he was going to go home! I hadn't eaten either, so we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's on the way home and ate lots of salad.
And I woke up with that lovely gastroenteritis that's going around. I wish it on nobody. I lost 7 pounds in 24 hours. It's taken me until today to feel good, although I went and did my classes yesterday. I sucked honey sticks between classes to keep my blood sugar up, as it was in the 50's when I got up. But today is all good, I think! New week, good week!
But...What about the DOGS? I can hear you asking. The DOGS! This is supposed to be about the DOGS!
Reilly continues to heal from surgery. However, the surgery only corrected the OCD in his knees. It did nothing for the other growth issues he has. I look at his mostly straight front legs and try to remain optomistic about his skewed hind legs, but I really must wait. He's got to rebuild muscle mass and strength before any judgements can be made. he's happy and wants to play...and gets to, some...and that's important.
Jake is another ballgame. He works well for me. He is so much more comfortable than my crutches it's hard to describe. I've had colleagues tease me that I walk so well with him it's "obvious" that I don't need him at all. (they are joking) He's a huge help on stairs. But. (there's always a "but", isn't there?)
He's not enjoying going to work with me. He balks going down to one classroom. I teach three classes in that one. I practically have to drag him there...which is NOT good for my balance! I had thought it was the room only, but last week he also balked at going back indoors when we had been out for a walk. I will not be taking him to work on my teaching days for a while, but only on non-teaching days where I go in, as his balking is a liability when I have a schedule. I can work with him on the other days, and try to sort out what the problem is and see if it's something that can be solved.
I know full well that he doesn't really have the temperament for this job. If he works out, he does. If he doesn't, I cannot fault him for it. It's just not his nature.
What I really need is Reilly's wonderful temperament in Jake's sound body. I won't get it.
In the meantime, Jake will finish beginning obedience, and get his CGC, then I'll take Reilly back through from the beginning (since hubby has let him start pulling on the leash!) and we'll see where we stand then.
Right now, I have three dogs surrounding me, sound asleep. Two under the table, and one on a dog bed behind me. Snores fill the air.
Meg, Reilly and Jake.
So, I called Hubby and asked if he preferred I use the roadside assistance on our insurance, or AAA, which he had recently signed us up for. He wanted me to test out AAA, so I pulled the card out of my wallet, and prepared to call. Just as I was about to dial, a car pulled up, with this big bearded bear of a man in it. He looked at me. I was sitting with the car door open, my crutches leaning in the opening, and both legs out, so my brace was fully visible. He said, "Honey, you don't look like you can change that. Do you have help coming?" I told him I was calling AAA. He told me not to, said he worked at the local Chevy dealer, but he was driving a customer car and couldn't help me then, but he'd be right back. He was. He came back with a younger man, in a pickup with a big jack in it. Those gents had my tire swapped in three minutes flat. I offered to pay them. No takers. I held out my hand to shake and told him he was my angel for the day. He bypassed my hand, told me he did hugs and gave me one, then said to just remember where he worked and went on his way. I went on to work on my donut tire.
Since Chris was going to be in Colorado until Saturday night, and I had to drive to Georgia Monday after work, I decided I'd best get that tire repaired and back on as soon as possible. So I stopped at a small gas station on the way home. It's a locally owned place that has a full service pump, so I don't have to fight with gripping a pump handle. They are used to me pulling up for gas, but they have never seen me get out. This time, I pulled up near the door. Several of the employees were inside, and watched me pull up, open the car door and start to get out. Then there was a mad rush for the door! Once the crutches came out, they all ran to see what I wanted! I asked if they had time to check and see if my tire was repairable, repair it if possible and remount it. They said they did. A quick check showed a gash over half an inch long in my tire. I have no idea what I hit on the road. It was too big to plug. He said he would try a patch from the inside. So they dismounted the tire from the rim, patched it, remounted it on the rim, inflated it, tested it for leaks, then remounted it on my car. He cautioned me to keep an eye on it, since the patch was large. Then I asked him how much I owed him.
$15.00. That's it.
The best flat tire day I ever had.
On top of it all, that morning I had decided not to take Jake to work. I had exams to build, and needed to concentrate at long stretches without interruption. So I didn't bring him. If I had, he would have ended up having to squeeze into the front seat of the car, as everything in the back had to be moved forward to get to the tire, and the full-sized tire wouldn't fit in the space for the donut, so nothing could be put back until the tire was fixed! If I believed in premonitions........
After work on Monday, I went to Georgia, as my Mom was having a medical procedure early Tuesday. All went well (and the tire held!) and I drove home Tuesday evening, tired but home. Went to work Wednesday as usual. Then Thursday came, and I ended up with hubby in the ER at 5:30 with chest pains! Five hours of intermittant chest pains. They kept him overnight, and did lots of tests. Cardiac involvement was ruled out, but they still don't know what is was. His GP will be running more tests. I went to work Friday morning while they were running stress tests on him, but I cancelled my afternoon classes to go back to the hospital. They finally let him go about 2:30. They hadn't fed him breakfast, because they wanted the stress tests on an empty stomach. They hadn't fed him lunch because he was going to go home! I hadn't eaten either, so we stopped at Ruby Tuesday's on the way home and ate lots of salad.
And I woke up with that lovely gastroenteritis that's going around. I wish it on nobody. I lost 7 pounds in 24 hours. It's taken me until today to feel good, although I went and did my classes yesterday. I sucked honey sticks between classes to keep my blood sugar up, as it was in the 50's when I got up. But today is all good, I think! New week, good week!
But...What about the DOGS? I can hear you asking. The DOGS! This is supposed to be about the DOGS!
Reilly continues to heal from surgery. However, the surgery only corrected the OCD in his knees. It did nothing for the other growth issues he has. I look at his mostly straight front legs and try to remain optomistic about his skewed hind legs, but I really must wait. He's got to rebuild muscle mass and strength before any judgements can be made. he's happy and wants to play...and gets to, some...and that's important.
Jake is another ballgame. He works well for me. He is so much more comfortable than my crutches it's hard to describe. I've had colleagues tease me that I walk so well with him it's "obvious" that I don't need him at all. (they are joking) He's a huge help on stairs. But. (there's always a "but", isn't there?)
He's not enjoying going to work with me. He balks going down to one classroom. I teach three classes in that one. I practically have to drag him there...which is NOT good for my balance! I had thought it was the room only, but last week he also balked at going back indoors when we had been out for a walk. I will not be taking him to work on my teaching days for a while, but only on non-teaching days where I go in, as his balking is a liability when I have a schedule. I can work with him on the other days, and try to sort out what the problem is and see if it's something that can be solved.
I know full well that he doesn't really have the temperament for this job. If he works out, he does. If he doesn't, I cannot fault him for it. It's just not his nature.
What I really need is Reilly's wonderful temperament in Jake's sound body. I won't get it.
In the meantime, Jake will finish beginning obedience, and get his CGC, then I'll take Reilly back through from the beginning (since hubby has let him start pulling on the leash!) and we'll see where we stand then.
Right now, I have three dogs surrounding me, sound asleep. Two under the table, and one on a dog bed behind me. Snores fill the air.
Meg, Reilly and Jake.
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