pampa

Can someone please outline how to go about teaching the "release" command I've tried treats, but am obviously doing it all backwards My main problem is with sticks on our walks. She goes from stick to stick getting sooooooo agro at said stick and will not even lower her interest in the stick until it is shredded to tiny bits... She then runs off to find the next stick (BTW I tried a search on "release command" before starting this topic, but I got every single thread with the word "command" in it and thus, gave up... )

My girl is positive for Ehrlichiosis... This was one of the main "reasons" for thrombocytompenia and DBS pointed this out to me months ago, but the vet said that, because the illness is "tropical"and is very rare up north, it is almost impossible that she'd caught it, especially seeing that she is treated all year against ticks, the carrier of the disease. I'm "happyish" because at least this may explain the "why" she is bruising... I am however very concerned, because her being positive makes her illegible for import... We have started a shock treatment today in the hope we can get a negative result before departure, but this is unlikely Feeling a bit *shitty here*...

I didn't know nephrons can be repaired/replaced ! This is good news. In hoping the antibiotics will knock the nasties out of her system, allowing her to get on top of it and at least get her kidneys flushing the waste out of her blood a little better... Are there any holistic alternatives to help illiminate excess water/toxins from the blood whilst her kidneys are functioning so poorly ??... (probably a stupid question, I've never had to cope with renal failure before...)

Could her dramatic improvement (enthusiasm & energy), be due to the vit. B tabs and supplements she's getting at the moment ???... Might her metabolism be picking up due to the added vitamins Whatever the case, I hope the appointment goes well tomorrow and I'll be looking forward to an update

I needed a laugh, thank you rusky ! Dan and Erny, thanks to both of you for your constant support also, I'm needing it at the moment, trying to cope with selling my beloved house, packing, sifting through years of cherished garbage and having to chuck most of it, finding homes for the cats and my girls illness on top of it all is just a bit much for me to cope with all at once... I'm looking into the false bottom crate for her, and have already bought some of those absorbant wipes that absorb 15 times their volume etc... to keep her as comfy as possible. My vet seems to think she'll cope OK, probably better than my white girl who will panic the whole way

*it's mum from me, I won't jinx her* Sorry you had such a scare yesterday... I guess if she's still gulping down though, her appetite must still be good.... That must be a positive sign, no ?... Have you fixed a date yet for the surgery ? Chin up sweetie, she'll be fine

We had a lovely day yesterday I went to a crazy girlfriends place who already has 3 dogs of her own and I went along with a mate, his Briard x boxer and my 3 buggers... (7 dogs in all !) Maud lives right on the edge of a forest and has lovely clear dams, lots of land, lots of rabbits and too many blackberries. The weather was delightful and we had the first BBQ of the year, first drop of Rosé and the dogs had their first swim. My sick girl tore around like an idiot for over an hour when I noticed her vulva was covered in blood. As you know, we had reduced her medication right down and her platelets had dropped dramatically so I was worried about internal haemoraging but I'd let her run anyway, thinking to myself that what will be will be and that I couldn't keep her chained whilst the others enjoyed life. Well, after the initial panic and lots of paper towelling I finally realised that she had ripped her "fanny" on the blackberries and was simply bleeding externally This stopped almost immediately and apart from scratches and bruises all over her, she is fine I'm glad I let her have a nice day even if it was a bit risky. I'm off to the vet to get the blood tests of all three dogs and put a "protocol" in place for my sick girl, in preparation for travel. I can't bare the thought of leaving her behind

What a lovely weekend for both the Lovely Lucinda and our little trooper

So glad to hear Cindy is eating a little bit and is a little bit brighter. It seems you have a wonderful vet/nurse... It must be reassuring to be able to leave her there on rescue days in knowing she'll be looked after and, on top of that, enjoying the day there ! Have you received her results ?...

I'm glad you had a "good day" today :rolleyes: It was "great" for Lucinda also, so the doggy gods must be working extra hard at the moment. Happy to hear she's holding her food down and hopefully you'll get some weight on her before the operation... In hoping tomorrow is just a wonderful

Karen, how is wags doing ???? Thursday was yesterday, so I'm waiting for an update, in hoping you have some "good" news to share with us...

I'm glad to hear that only one lump is palpable... That IS wonderful news DBS, more priceless information...

Yes Erny, it is a similar problem to Leukemia and we cannot rule *THAT* out either unless I decide to do a spinal/marrow tap... The strange thing is though, is that she is neither lethargic nor anaemic On the contrary, she is as bright as a button since day one, never an *off* day, eats like a horse and has very pink, healthy colouring...whatever she has is, to date, fairly mild *running to touch some wood somewhere*... The vet is a bit stumped, although, admittedly, he is not an expert in the field... I'm hoping that 10mg per day of Pred. will be enough to keep her "just right", albeit on the low side of normal, at least until she has reached destination and got through quarantine, although that will be another adventure (only 25 days to go ) DBS, thank you for the priceless info above... I will print it off and discuss with the vet when we go back in 2 weeks, although, according to what he says, these options are VERY expensive ;)

I am delighted that you have put up a special thread for the lovely Lucinda so that we can follow her bumpy road with hopefully more ups than downs I assumed she was a standard poodle (I guess due to your avatar ), but, in the photo you put up, she appears to be a Maremma I'm sooooooo sorry if I'm wrong, but the photo doesn't enlarge much and I probably need glasses... She is devine, whatever the case may be Echos of thanks from me too... You will never know how much you helped me, by recognising the symptoms we were faced with and putting me on the right track, right in the beginning of our ordeal. Thank you Helen ;)

We have been weaning my girl off the Prednisone now for about three weeks and she is down to 10mgs every second day.... We had blood drawn on Tuesday to see how she was going, knowing that, until that same morning, I'd seen absolutely no sign of bruising... (In the waiting room, I did however notice a little red bruise behind her ear ;) ) Where we took the blood (and where I took off the hansaplast) came up in an immediate bruise and I feared the worst. Blood tests are now back and she is back down to a 50,000 platelet count (bare minimum is 100,000 ) We are putting her back up to 10g per day, (which is half the ideal dose) in the hope she will produce enough platelets to keep her healthy, in doing as little damage as possible with the cortisone... It is *suck and see* at the moment... My vet advises me that long term cortisone is BAD for vital organs but the alternative cancer treating medication (chemo type drugs maybe ) are extremely expensive... Helen, could you please advise me to which drugs he may be refering ?? He was on his mobile so I didn't want to ask too many questions... I'm quite distraught because I simply don't know where to head from here on in...

Oh dear Ern, it appears she's going down-hill quickly... The report on SD in roo meat and such is very timely and I'm glad you are boosting her Thiamine... Maybe you are on to something It will be interesting to see if she picks up with the supplements... Roll on Wednesday... You must be impatient to get it all over and done with and get that rotton tumour out of there ASAP... Big hugs to you both PS : my girl has had new tests and are awaiting results, I'll refresh our thread when I know more.... Thanks for asking ;)

Wow, what a great vet His explanation seems logical to me ( )... I'm sorry you had such a scare and lets hope our little trooper can get on with his chemo protocol and get it all over and done with ASAP. Hang in there sweetie :rolleyes: Thinking of you both *big tummy rub to Ollie dog*

HAve you had news from Dr Guy ??? When is she scheduled for surgery ??? Just wondering :rolleyes:

This brings back memories When I was a Nanny in a Paris family years ago, I was alone with the kids around Easter time when we started hearing the weirdest noises coming from somewhere in the house... We finally tracked it down to "Mousse" the geriatric Cocker Spaniel that had happened upon the easter stash and had eaten every one of the kids eggs and was barfing up gooey chocky into the seagrass matting ... He was OK in the end but was pooing tin foil for days ;)

Still no news from Dr Guy, buddy ?...

Dogbesotted ?, Erny ?, Jodie ?... Fingers crossed for the best possible results next thursday Falgall, we'll be thinking of you (BTW, I'm running out of candles so I'd really appreciate great news from your next post ;) ...

Karen, how is wags doing ?...

Oh damn it sweetheart, I was so desperately hoping that the gland hadn't changed size nor form, even if it meant you still didn't have any certainty of what was ailing Kal... This is shitty, shitty news and I can't say much to enlighten your heart ;) I'm not a religeous person but I'll be burning a 4th candle from now on... One for my girl, one for Ollie dog, one for the beautiful Lucinda and one for Kal, which until now didn't need to be lit

Helen, seeing both are doing so well this week, have a celabratory glass for me too

No news is good news (I'm hoping that "nothing to report" is the reason for your lack of updates here Jodie )