aljones wrote:

From history the codeine like pills seem to be bitter so I'll have to grab a pack of hotdogs to make sure she'll actually get it down.  

Al, have you tried peanut butter? For Ami's Doxy, I spread a tiny bit of peanut butter on the palm of my hand, put the pills (2.5) on top of the peanut butter then put some more peanut butter on top of the pills and mush it around into a tiny ball. I hold my out spread hand to Ami and he licks it clean. The peanut butter is sticky so he keeps swallowing and then after, he's thirsty which is good cause they want hint to have a good drink with the pills. Total portsmouth butter is less than a half teaspoon.

Definitely did not like her reaction to the Tramadol.  I gave her one early on with the Gabapentin and she was restless I gave her one by itself last evening - in place of the Gabapentin and, man, she was wired last evening and couldn't relax.  In - Out - In - Out, into the kitchen, back to the living room, into crate, out ...

I think I'll offer the Gabapentin on an 6 hour cycle - skip the middle of the night ( I never did like the "Okay, wake up and take your sleeping pill routine." )  It's easy enough to give her the capsule, I just put it in with her food and it magically disappears.  Want to consult with Mary but her scrip reads "one or two by mouth as needed every 12 hours"

ETA: Mary says I can either go the 6 hour routine or give her 2 morning and evening. Since she's responding well to 1 capsule every 12, just adding one at the half way mark should help ... we'll see.

Yeah thats not good. If it says 1 or 2 every 12 hours doing 1 every 6 should be ok.

The dogs were inside and Avalanche went berserk ... looked out to see a cougar go wandering across the yard at the end of the trailer. Sent a (noise maker) .25 round his way to convince him that he's not welcome here but he's big enough that *I'm* not going to really discuss the issue with him (her, it?)

You got the mountains, go play in them!!!

Lol

Ok, ok. You guys make living in the snowy northeast more and more attractive.

And...today, we had to fix a piece of aluminum window trim that came loose over the kitchen bay window. Even though we had a very stiff west wind, the piece did not crease so it just needed to be mailed back down.

Then, while out there I noticed the northwest corner of the shed porch was lower than the other 3 corners. There's no footer under it, just sits on the concrete pad. Which is sadly deteriorated and now broken off from the main slab. And, with our expansive soil, with freeze the cycles, had begun to sink. We jammed a 2x6 underneath next to the post took we can find someone to fix it properly. Gonna be an expensive summer. The pool liner is on its last legs, too...

I had to think on this a bit, Mary wants Sasha in Monday to run an ACTH test which, as I understand it, is a test specifically for Cushing's. In a prior note Mary stated that it definitely wasn't Cushing's so I'm not sure what she's testing for ...??

Of course, I'll ask Monday but wondering if anyone here can shed some light on her thought process ...?

Addison disease?

Sasha's scared the bejeesus out of me a couple of times now.  I think I Know what's going on but I'm not sure.

Since I feed her inside and the other two on the porch, I normally have her bowl outside her crate.  Sometimes, if one of the others is inside, I'll set her bowl in the crate and shut (but not lock) the door.  Twice now she's done something and screams bloody murder - it sounds like someone is stabbing her!
Last night, the second time it's happened, she disentangled herself from <something?> and gave her bowl a look that said "I'd shoot you if I had a gun!"  It has only happened when the bowl was in her crate and immediately after she's fine and normal.

She's shoved the bowl around when it's in the crate and at times has used it as a pillow so it's not any aversion to the bowl - and it's always the same bowl - I don't know what it is but I really wish she'd stop doing it, twice is at least one time too many!

Somehow getting pinched, or is it metal could be static

@Lostmaniac I'll go with "getting pinched" but I can't see how.  The abruptness (and vocalness) make me think she's gotten a paw trapped somewhere and can't get it out but by the time I get to where I could see, she's gotten it out (and quiet again.)

My poor little girl is not happy with me this morning.  I'm not a morning person and operate on 'habit' for a lot of things and feeding her is part of the habit so yesterday, when she was supposed to be fasted prior to the ACHT test, she got fed.  Test delayed for 24 hours.  She got fed last evening as normal but this morning I'm hearing complaints that "Dad, it's time for breakfast!" and they're getting louder and longer as time goes on.  If this keeps up, they'll hear her in Alpine *long* before I get there.

I need coffee!!

Spider has a wire crate, or well did until i moved it upstairs. More then once she has gotten a toe stuck between the wire and the plastic tray. She throws a fit screaming when that happens and then once shes free its like it never happened. Dont know what kind of crate sasha is in.

Damn i may be a pot head but without coffee i am not functional.

@Lostmaniac Sasha also has a wire crate and that possibility has crossed my mind but there's a thick pad on top of the plastic and Why only when she's got the bowl in there?

Sasha says "I'm hungry and it's breakfast time, if you won't listen to me then I'm just gonna stand here and stare at you til you feed me!" Poor girl, it's gonna be a long time (14:30 appt) before you get a chance to eat - at least the test is to draw blood, feed her, wait and then draw more blood so she won't have to wait till we get home before she gets something.

Maybe shes pinching her foot between the crate and the bowl. Apider likes hers to just have the plastic. If i put anything in there she pulls it out before she goes in.

At least she gets to eat at the vet.

@aljones Zev is my screecher. Not just a talker. Not necessarily for any particular reason that we can discern. Just the most blood curdling, spine chilling sounds you can imagine.

Had my coffee this morning with Ami and his pills. For some reason it was weak

Hopefully she doesn't have a cracked tooth that is opening if a kibble hits it just right.

Well, I was wrong, the poor girl didn't get anything to eat at the vets. She got a blood draw, injected with ACTH and then after an hour or so another blood draw. I grabbed a pizza in town so she got a couple of pizza crusts as we came home.

Mary hadn't ruled out Cushing's, that's what this test is for.

@TwisterII she's only screamed like that twice, both times she was in her crate and both times she had her metal bowl in there with her. Both time she'd finished what she had to eat - by 15+ minutes - so I don't think teeth. I tend to agree with @Lostmaniac in that she's pinching her foot between the crate wall and <something>, I just can't figure out what the <something> is. I've been feeding her outside the crate and everything is copacetic.

It would also test for Addisons which in a nutshell is the opposite of cushings. Ive come to the conclusion that google is not my friend today. Not when it comes to lab results.

@aljones when do you find out the results?

The blood was sent off to test so it'll be early - mid next week. We shall see what we shall see.

Goodluck hopefully its something treatable

Have'na heard anything yet from Mary, I'll ring her in the AM ...

Everything with Sasha stays pretty much the same, I think it's called gradual deterioration. Walks are getting progressively shorter, once around the trailer is generally enough and twice is difficult - she starts stumbling. At the same time though, there isn't a bush, shrub or clump of grass that she doesn't spritz on her travels ... so our once around the trailer is really about twice the distance as she's wandering from shrub to shrub.

I'm not sure what this is - Sasha's always been a little aggressive with Sky but lately it's getting more so. Maybe she's getting pushed when she doesn't feel like playing but I'm looking for the day I have to break up a tussle between them - so far I've been able to break them verbally and I really don't want to try to grab either dog if they're "in the zone."

Avalanche, my perpetual puppy, took off on a run the other evening and wasn't enthused about getting in the Jeep after his run (about a mile down the road) I really need to get him out more but, regrettably, my old legs aren't what they used to be ... age is a real bear!!!

So if shes still on gabapentin that can cause personality changes. Cushings can also cause behavior changes. Some breeds are prone to doggy dementia. Oh and pain can most definitely cauae that. So take your pick, until you hear from the vet any of those could be the issue.

Breaking up a bitch fight can be scary. Ive been bit by squirt a few times breaking up the girls. I dont know if yours will fight to the death like mine would.

Maybe time for a constant leash so you have something to grab? I would not relish breaking up a Sasha fight. And you don't need any more stitches!

Yes, age is a bear. I don't suppose you're up for bicycling, perhaps?

Would Avalanche consider a backpack with some weight to maybe make what walk he gets a little more work for him? That's how I used to burn kenzi down when I first got keno and we were gauging how much impact his HD would have on exercise since he had never really had any before we got him.