Jasper (12 yr old Mini Schnauzer) is now at peace

I know, I was surprised by the strep also, and my vet kind of made it sound like it was a bit unusual, she kind of acted a little surprised too I think. I am a little worried with how she made it sound so resistant. And also worried that it might hurt his kidneys. I wonder how in the heck he got that in his urine?! I hope the culture didn't get contaminated by the staff setting it up somehow. Probably unlikely but it occurred to me. I wonder why it didn't grow until 72 hrs?

Yes Sharlene, I agree. Since I got him to eat the rice and hamburger, I wanted to give him the clavamox. But since she said to hold it for today I figured I better do it. If I didn't follow her orders, something would probably backfire, and that wouldn't be good. He ate another half cup of rice/hamburger about an hour and a half ago, so hopefully he will eat it tomorrow also and I can get the abx going. I will keep the IV option in mind, thanks for bringing that up!

Yes, my little boy is always a challenge it seems. :rolleyes:

How has he done with the food last couple of days, hope his appetite picking up and you get the clavamox into him. Hope to read some good Jasper news during the week sometime! xx

Hi Tina,
I'm finally catching up on posts. Awww..I hope Jasper is making some progress with his appetite. Trixie has been on Clavamox in the past and she had no adverse effects from it...no nausea or anything like that.
I know how you feel having pancreatitis as a constant threat...it makes me so nervous too. Last night Trixie woke up at 2am and wanted to go out. This is unusual for her and I got so shaken up. My husband took her out and she was ok...soft poops, no diarrhea but I'm giving her a few doses of Metronidazole. The vet gave me some and it's a life saver having them on hand, it seems to help her very quickly.
Could the strep infection be making Jasper feel lousy? Glad he only had the one vomiting episode..maybe he sensed the storm and got nervous. I hope by now he's feeling better and you're seeing improvement.

Barbara

Thanks Trish and Barbara! I wish I had some great news to report, but I am still struggling to get Jasper to eat. I think he is a bit better overall, but he is not keen on eating his kibble. Thank God he will eat the hamburger and rice so I can get his meds down him.

He has been on the clavamox consistently since Sunday, so has completed 5 full days. It doesn't seem to be causing him problems, no more vomiting that I am aware of. But I guess I was just expecting some significant improvement by now.

My vet will be calling today to check in and to see about refilling the clavamox, so I will see what she has to say. Maybe this is just going go to be a tough bug to kick. I hope that is all it is. He still seems quite off, low energy, mopey and subdued. :( I'll see what she has to say today.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Hi Tina

Aww I just missed you, well I am pleased to read Jasper has not gone backwards and is eating his hamburger and rice. Flynn did take Clavamox too a while back, it did not agree with him, he was not vomiting but he was definitely quiet. So that might be contributing to him still feeling a bit under the weather. I hope when they stop he picks up, hopefully your vet has some good news today. xx

Poor sweet little Jasper. You both have certainly been through a lot. I'm glad that You've been able to get Jasper to eat something, even if it's hamburger and rice. That way you can get his med down. You must be exhausted and running on fumes.:o It's hard to believe that he actually had strep. I didn't even know that was possible. :confused:

Sending you both much love, hugs, healing energy and strength.

I hope Jasper starts feeling better soon and it is probably a combo of the bug and antibiotics that have him off. You are such a good mom, Tina but please take care of your self too.

Love and hugs to you both

Hey Tina, just bumping Jasper up so you can easily find him when you come in to do your update :)! Pleased to hear on the other thread he is eating, hopefully the pickiness will settle once off ABs xx

I'll do the bump with Trish! Hope Jasper continues to get better and gets over this nasty infection. It really seems to be hanging on!

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Me too...bumping this up again. I hope Jasper has improved and gotten some more of his appetite back and that's he's feeling better. ;)

Barbara

We are all doing the bump. Is it like the hustle? :D:D:D

Waiting and watching for your update Tina. Hope Jasper is kicking that infections butt to the curb! :eek: xxxxxx

Aww, you girls - doing the bump for my little man, that is so sweet of you! You are all too cute! :D

Well, I am up at the butt crack of dawn to go in early to work, but wanted to at least do a quick check in since I can't seem to get a proper updated posted on Jasper. Thank you all for checking in on us.

Jasper has been gradually eating a bit better each day for the past couple of days, so I am hoping that trend continues with no further back pedaling. Gosh, what a struggle this has been. It sounds like he will need to be on the clavamox for another couple of weeks or so. I guess this is a tough bug, and kidney infections are much more difficult to treat than a regular UTI or bladder infection. So we are trying to hang in there. I am so looking forward to this long weekend, I can't even tell you how much.

I will post what my vet had to say when I can get the update in, but I just wanted to thank you all so much for looking after us. :)

Happy Friday all, and Happy Weekend Trish!

Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Glad he continues to do better eating. Yep, I've heard that kidney infections can be hard to get rid of. It sounds like this is doing the trick though so that is good. It's all about progress and Jasper is king of "baby steps" LOL

Probably good thing we aren't bumping AND grinding and NO twerking :eek:, thank you very much. :D:D:D

huggers
Sharlene and molly muffin

I sure hope this gets resolved soon so our Jasper can feel like eating again. I know some antibiotics just rip up my tummy. Poor boy.


Hope your update is good, Tina.

Hi Tina, it must be nearly home time for you and the start of the 3 day weekend... HOORAY!! You must be stuffed after being up so early!! Hope you get lots of couch time with Jasper and Shelby this weekend. Hoping the brekky went down OK! LOL Sharlene the mental picture of us all twerking is a little alarming!! xx

Thanks Girls! I'm finally getting to this much delayed update on my boy. I talked to my vet on Friday 5/16. She was hoping he would be much better by then, but felt he was showing enough improvement to continue the clavamox. She said a kidney infection is much tougher to treat and takes longer to respond than a regular UTI. She is pretty certain that is what is going on since he has been feeling so poorly and with the appetite issues, and said that he may need to be treated for 3-4 weeks. :eek:

She said to keep offering his kibble but that it is ok to keep feeding him hamburger and rice if that is what he will eat. She feels that as the antibiotic makes him feel better, his appetite will improve.

When I had him in last Saturday for his Percorten injection with the tech, I asked about getting a couple of cans of the canned version of his prescription food. I don't know how I didn't think of asking my vet about that. But I was able to get some, so no problem. It seemed like he might be getting backed up on all that rice, so thought I would try it. He seemed to like it, so I started mixing some in with the hamburger and rice, and a little bit of kibble, and he would eat it. Yay!

So that is what I have been feeding him all week, gradually decreasing the hamburger and rice and increasing the kibble and mixing with a bit of canned. I got him to eat a full meal of the kibble without any canned food on Thursday night and yesterday morning, but then last night and this morning he wouldn't eat it again, so I mixed the canned food back in to get him to eat. So his appetite seems much better, but it is still somewhat difficult to get him to eat at times. I am grateful for any improvement, I would just like it if the back pedaling would stop.

Well, starting last Sunday Jasper seemed like he was starting to feel a bit better. I noticed he was a little perkier. He had been on the antibiotic for a full week, so maybe it was finally taking effect. He is still having accidents in the house from time to time while I am at work, by this I mean not using the pooch pads and having accidents on the carpet. But the number has decreased significantly. So I feel this is another sign that things are improving.

When talking with my vet last Friday, she let me know that she needed to have surgery and would be out for two weeks. :eek: Yes, immediate panic set in, but I got it in check pretty quickly, however I still feel a bit of underlying worry. We went over the detailed plan going forward, and also a back up plan, but I am hoping we won't need anything urgent while she is out. *said in a whisper as to not jinx anything* But I will definitely feel better after she is back in another week. She is such a Dear, she said not to worry, that she has everything well documented about Jasper, and if needed, the other Drs could call her at home. Have I mentioned that I love my vet? I feel guilty for selfishly letting her see my worry when she was facing surgery. She even said she was feeling guilty about being gone. :o

So he continues on the reglan bid for nausea and to help with possible gastritis related to the antibiotic, and clavamox 125 mg bid in addition to his usual meds.

One good thing that I want to share - I tested out to give his Percorten injections at home starting next month. I finally took the time to do that and passed! :cool: I give injections to people, but it is totally different when it is my baby. But it wasn't too bad. I will just have to buy the vial of medication and it is about $175! My vet said she thinks I can get a price break on it since I am buying the whole vial. She will check into it for me, so I hope that it will be a significant decrease in price.

So that is where we are at. Sharlene you are so right, he is the King of baby steps. But slow and steady wins the race, right? I hope we can just continue in the right direction now! Ok, of course I got long winded again, thanks for reading! :p

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

That all sounds Positive and we,ll take those baby steps as long as jasper is baby stepping forward it's the right way :D

baby steps are good and Jasper is headed on the straight and narrow to feeling better.

Ouch on the wallet for the meds though at least you will save money by giving the injections.

good idea on the canned food, seems like it perked Jasper up. I can just imagine how his poor tummy feels on the antibiotics. I got so sick from Cipro, I cant even begin to tell you. Poor baby boy. Hopefully this will knock out all that nasty bacteria out of his kidneys and keep it that way.

big hugs Tina

Has he eaten OK today Tina? Poops ok? What food is he on now, he came off the renal diet I think?

I was reading something about diets, they said imagine if you were eating the same health bar every day, it might have all you need in it but you would probably still get so very sick of it. I wish I could change up Flynn's diet more often but with his IBD that is a no go. He so loves his food usually and looks longingly when we have various meats, I feel so mean keeping him on boring old venison. ;)

Molly only wants to eat her dry kibble if I put some canned on it. Tonight I didn't because she had some uck poop on the second go this morning, so figure it was the can as she has done very well when just having the dry. They sure can let us know when they aren't happy with their diets, one way or another.

Very good to get qualified to do the shots yourself. Good idea, I hope that you can get it cheaper too.

Your vet is a doll! She has been a valuable member of yours and Jaspers team. I think you'll do fine though while she is away. You are very much on top of what is going on with Jasper and I think you could fill any stand in vet in on the details as needed. Not that I think you'll need it, Jasper seems to be on the upswing of things, baby steps in the right direction indeed.

Enjoy this long weekend of freedom from the shackles of work. We all need these breaks now and then and you've been on overload at work for awhile. So, enjoy the sunshine, do something fun with the Jasper and Shelby. :)

hugs
sharlene and molly muffin

Awww, thanks you guys. Yes, I was really needing this long weekend. We have enjoyed today, maybe too much as I didn't get much constructive work done! Tomorrow I have a graduation party to go to, but other than that, just hanging out here. Which of course will meet the approval of both Jasper and Shelby! Isn't that funny how we all have long weekends but on three separate consecutive weekends? So nice.

Sharlene, I hope Molly's poops straighten up, that is so stressful.

Trish, Jasper was switched to Royal Canin GI lowfat prescription food back in January I think, when his triglycerides went sky high. Thank goodness they make a canned version also. This morning he wouldn't eat until I mixed in a bit of the canned food. Poops are ok so far *whisper*. I am getting ready to see if he will eat supper in a few minutes.

There is a hockey game on tonight, I didn't realize that. Guess I won't be getting any chores done tonight either! :D :rolleyes:

Excellent, another couch night. Flynn was on that food after his surgery when we were worried about pancreatitis. He went off it too, would you look at giving him a change?

My friends are waiting for the Habs (Montreal Canadiens) to play tomorrow.

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Trish I don't think he will be able to go off the lowfat food because his triglycerides were so high, my vet was worried about pancreatitis of course, but also the value was so high that it was in the range where it could cause seizures.

She said if the food didn't help he would have to start the medication for it, which she doesn't like to prescribe. Thankfully the food made a difference along with the fish oil. The last result was still quite elevated, but not at such a critical level. He has schnauzer hyperlipidemia, which doesn't help matters.

Sharlene, I love the Canadiens! Such tradition there. I think they are the only current NHL team that existed before the formation of the NHL, if I'm not mistaken. I LOVE Stanley Cup Hockey, all the teams are so good by the time they get to the conference finals. Very exciting hockey. Ok I'll shut up now, lol. :D

But there must be other low fat options?? I am going to google!

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-d...-fat-dog-food/

Tons, I am just thinking maybe bit of a swap may perk his appetite?

Thanks so much for the link and checking into it! There are lots of choices there, but it looks like they all have quite a bit more fat than his current food, and also pretty high in protein, which we also have to watch due to his kidney issue.

His currents food has fat 5% and protein 20.5%. The Royal Canin that Jasper is eating just happens to be what Dr Peterson recommends in his blog too, so I felt pretty good about that when I discovered that!

I know, a change would most likely help his appetite, but we are very limited with what we can try, I think. :o I remember my vet saying that the over the counter lower fat foods would not be low fat enough to lower his triglycerides. :(

Hey Tina

Has it been a good week? I hope so :D It is coming up time for me to order new food for Flynn. He loves the ziwipeak he is on now and his IBD seems stable on it, but I am worried about the fat content after having this conversation with you. His is 27% fat :eek::eek: that is not good with his liver problems so it is going to have to change. It is just so hard with all his different maladies!! We have had to focus on IBD so I am a little loathe to change, but this whole fat thing is worrying me. Will let you know what I come up with. We could go back to the RC one Jasper is on but he quickly started refusing it. Hopefully hear from you over the weekend ! xx for you Jasper and Shelby!

Hi Everyone,
Haven't meant to be absent, just a busy busy week at work, typical end of the month BS. Yesterday I was out at the assisted living with my Nana most of the day taking care of some things out there for her. I was wiped out when I got home, and now today trying to get caught up on things at home.

Jasper has been hanging in there and we managed to make it through the time my vet was out on medical leave without an emergency, so I am very relieved! He continues to take baby steps with progress. For the most part I am able to get him to eat his regular kibble, but he back pedals often. He will do good for 2 or 3 meals, and then the next time he won't eat it at all unless I mix some canned food in. But I am just grateful that I have been able to get him to eat something so he can take his meds. It is definitely much better over the past week, mostly going in the right direction but still not back to normal. He seems to feel better overall, but still low energy and mopey a lot of the time. The frequent urination has shown some improvement also, but we still have a little ways to go there.

I talked to my vet Friday afternoon. She feels he is making improvement and she wants to continue the clavamox for another week, for a total of 4 weeks. She said he has been fighting so hard, and while it would probably be ok to stop treatment after 3 weeks, she doesn't want to take any chance whatsoever that the infection might not be totally gone and could recur. And she feels he is not quite back to normal yet. I am in agreement with that plan, as he seems to be tolerating the clavamox for the most part, thank goodness. And I remember she said previously that he may need to be treated for 3-4 weeks. Better to be safe than sorry. We have come this far. She is right, this has been a very hard fight for my little man. She also said that there may still be some nausea associated with the clavamox that is affecting his appetite, and is hopeful this will continue to improve once we can get him off the antibiotic. He will continue on the reglan bid as long as he is on the clavamox.

We have been under a severe thunderstorm warning for the last couple of hours, several separate cells have moved through. 60 mph winds, and my neighbor's back fence partially blew down again. He still had not fixed the post that snapped a couple of storms ago, he just did a band-aid fix. Well, it is near where our side fence joins and puts a lot of pressure on my back fence, but so far mine has held. It is always such a worry with high winds. I wish he would just fix the damn thing already! This same neighbor has a poorly maintained above ground pool that apparently was empty, because it went completely airborne, and is now resting up against and on top of the other side of his back fence. :eek: :eek: I saw it happen, and about had a heart attack. Thank God the wind was blowing the direction it was, or that thing could have ended up on my fence or yard, or house! We are in a break now, but it sounds like things are revving up again, lots of thunder and lightning. Hopefully the severe stuff is over.

Jasper and Shelby are doing pretty well with the storms, considering all the wind and thunder. Jasper is the one with the fear, and I have just been ignoring him when he is acting anxious. It is so so hard, but must be done. I have to just act like nothing is happening as he most definitely senses everything from me. It is so hard to see that pitiful face and pacing out of the corner of my eye, I can't even look directly at him or he takes that as a sign of encouragement or something and tries to get me to hold him, which would reinforce his anxiety. I just keep typing away on my iPad like nothing is happening. :o

Well, it took about an hour and a half but he finished his food, one bite at a time. He kept looking at me like "when are you going to add the good stuff". I usually wait about a half hour or so before I mix a little canned in, but wanted to use tonight as a test to see if he would finish without it, since I had time to wait.

Trish, thanks as always for checking in on me and Jasper. Happy to be able to chat for a little bit, I hope you are enjoying your long weekend! I posted about the food over on your thread. Looks like you have signed off now, maybe catch up with you a bit later. :)

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Sorry I disappeared, I had to take Mum up town to buy a new stereo for her bedroom, we had Queen's birthday sales on. With a bit of supreme control I managed to not buy anything... I don't know why but whenever I go to those stores I have to look in all the fridges and ovens :D:D

But pleased to get home and see the Jasper updates!! Sounds like he is progressing Tina, that is great news!! I was just wondering if you could put a little something non fat but tasty even some flavoured stock on his kibble to tempt him to gobble them up?

When the cats were here and if Flynn happened to be off his food, I would leave them around while he was picking at food. If they even looked like going to sniff his food Flynn would run over and eat any left in his plate up super fast, ain't no puss going near his food!! He still does that at Mum's with Elle, but it is not often that there are any leftovers... he is a definite gobbler, not a grazer. I was just wondering if Jasper would eat more if Shelby was around, or would he just not care if she ate his yucky biscuits? :rolleyes:

I reckon the clavamox will be affecting him, even with the reglan. Are you planning to repeat MSU at the end of the AB treatment? Gawd I hope that is gone and never to make a return, it has been a bugger to get rid of!

Wish I had done what my friend had and took the next days off work, but did that at Easter which was only last month!! So back to work in the morning for me!! Might see you if you're up for a pitstop! x

Did your Mum find a new stereo? Queen's birthday sale, must be like our Presidents' Day sales here, Lol! :D I know, I always have to look in all the fridges too! Mine is so old, the new ones have such cool features.

I have thought about adding stock or broth to Jasper's kibble, but have to be real careful with the sodium due to his PLN. So far it works great to add a little of the canned lowfat food, but I just don't want him to think he can have it all the time, or I won't have anything up my sleeve when he truly won't eat.

When he is eating normally, he just eats steadily until his meal is gone. When he is just being finicky with his food and Shelby looks like she might be thinking about snatching some, that will usually prompt him to go and finish it. But if he really isn't feeling well, he doesn't really care if she is hovering. She does pretty well, she usually stands back in the middle of the kitchen looking longingly at his bowl. She knows better, I have told her "no" enough. But if she can steal a bite or two she will try to sneak it. And she is fast! After about 5 minutes it becomes too tempting, so I just have to confine her until he finishes. Normally I only wait about a half hour or so before mixing in the canned food. But sometimes now he will eat the kibble just fine. It is variable I guess.

Yes, I believe we will be getting a follow up urine culture after he finishes the clavamox. My vet did not say that, but that is what she usually does. And after this difficult bug, I will ask for it if she doesn't order it. Gosh, I know, this has been so hard to get rid of. Always in the back of my mind is that something else might also be going on. I sure hope not, but it does enter my mind.

Our minds work in mysterious ways!!! I know I have dreamt up calamities that have never eventuated too ;) One more week when he is off the ABs, then we will see what is up with that appetite!

Shelby sounds like an opportunist!! I think they all are :). I said to Mum once that Flynny always wants to share our food, but he never wants to share his with anyone :D What's mine is his, but what is his is his!!

What is the main meat in that RC diet? Maybe you could make your own stock by just boiling a bit of that meat in water, then you have no added salt or other additives?

Oh yes and Mum did get a new stereo... Her old one was OK but for some reason she gave Luke (my nephew) the old speakers. So she went in to get new ones, but it appears they only make them for that model and you cannot buy them separately. So she ended up buying a whole new stereo. just a small one. She got home and wired it up, she's not bad for nearly 80 LOL!! Started blasting some music, she has eclectic tastes my mother :D Glad your weird like me, I like looking at all those fancy fridges with their fancy attachments!! LOL, would be fun to go shopping with you Tina!

Wow, your Mum did great getting it all set up herself! I don't think my Mom could handle that, she is very technically challenged, lol. She is 76 and does pretty well with most things, but not electronics. My Mom likes a lot of different music too, but she is mainly all about Elvis. She loves him. Yes, it would be fun to go shopping!

The meat in the RC lowfat is chicken. I am sure it is not a very high quality chicken, I just cringe when I read the ingredients, but it is what the vet says he has to eat. He was on a holistic kibble before he got sick, and the ingredients were so much better. That is a great idea about making my own stock! I never thought of that. Thanks, I will have to keep that in mind. :)

I know, I was talking to Dad a bit when we got back there then went down to her room to set it up and she had already done it!!

Well I reckon get a skinless chicken breast chop it up to little bits then boil it and sieve it. The put the liquid on his kibble. That won't alter it too much would it? Might help to soften up the kibble too!

What happened with the storms, nothing hit your house I hope??

No, I think that chicken stock might be worth a try. The only thing is that boiling chicken smells sooooo bad. But I will do anything for my boy. :)

The storms were pretty bad, lots of tree damage. Some big trees down in a neighborhood near mine, but just small to medium branches in mine. I didn't see any reports of homes being damaged thankfully. Lots of shingles everywhere in my yard and the street, but they don't match mine, so hope the roof is ok! Luckily no tornadoes this time, but very damaging straight line winds.

On Mother's Day we had a tornado touch down in Omaha, it tore the roof off several houses about 5 or 6 miles from me. I don't think it made the news as it was only an EF1, and there were many more damaging storms in the Midwest that evening. But that was a bit scary. We were down in the laundry room (aka my storm shelter) for a while that night.

Holy cow, just noticed the time, I stayed up way too late again. I better try to get a bit more sleep before work. Nice chatting Trish. See you again soon. Smooches for Flynn. xo

Ok good, sounds like you survived that one OK!!!

Yes, I was thinking it was getting very late for you. Gosh that scares me you were so close to a tornado :eek::eek: Give me a good old earthquake any day!! Night Tina, catch up soon.... Hugs to Jasper and Shelby too!! xx

Hi Tina,

I'm glad to hear that Jasper's appetite has picked up, it is so worrisome when they don't want to eat.

I take reglan for nausea and I just wanted to let you know that it may cause constipation (it does to me, anyway :o), hopefully sweet Jasper will not experience that side effect.

Sending loving hugs to you both, Lori

Hey Jasper, taking those baby steps still eh. Well that is a okay, because baby steps will get you there, just maybe not as fast. :)

Tina you're doing an excellent job with Jasper! You and your vet make a good team. I agree about boiling the chicken. Molly would be right at the kitchen door as soon as she smelled it. She loves the smell of chicken cooling.

My stupid GE refrigerator valve on the filtered water, ice maker thing went kaput again. I think we've replaced it 6 times now. I think I Need to be looking at those new frig gadgets. :) :) Ahh, well, doubt we'll replace this one yet, but boy it is tempting some days.

Yikes, hope those storms settle down. Some of them, like the tornado ones are very scary. Even a 1 would freak me out I'm sure. Gawd, can you imagine, a pool on top of the house! He needs to stake that thing down and fill it with water so it can't move, or get rid of it! sheezz, that's a hazard!

Well hope you have a good week. I'm back to the grind myself. joy joy

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Thanks Girls! Yes, I am very relieved that I have been able to get him to eat. Since I last posted, he has done some back pedaling again and has refused to eat unless a small amt of canned is mixed in. But he finishes it off with the mix, so I have been doing that. I don't have a lot of time to mess around in the morning. We have 3 1/2 days of Clavamox remaining.

Lori, I haven't noticed any constipation but thanks for the heads up on that, I will keep an eye on it. I am on eternal poop patrol anyway. :)

Well, we have had heinous storms all afternoon and night so we have been in the laundry room off and on all night. :( I typically don't get too panicky with severe weather but this has been very scary. This afternoon after the tornado sirens went off the first time, the forecast was so bad, they let us all go home from work early when the immediate all clear was given. I don't remember that ever happening except for a blizzard. It was dark as night at 4 in the afternoon, all the street lamps were on. I barely made it home before the big wind and hail hit. We have had several super cells going through one right after the other, but very fortunate again to have escaped the most severe wind and damage in my neighborhood. So incredibly grateful, I can't even say.

I saw on the news that police and firefighters were going around in rafts to evacuate people from certain parts of town where the flooding was at dangerous levels. I don't remember ever seeing that except for the horrific flooding of the Missouri River in 2011 when the dams up North were opened wide to ease the flooding up there. They showed people with their shivering terrified rain soaked pets in those rafts and I just cried. Thank God no flooding in my immediate area. I don't know how I would be able to manage Jasper in an evacuation, it is difficult enough with a healthy dog.

I think maybe I have been using the wrong strategy when it comes to Jasper and his storm anxiety. These storms went on for so long tonight, there was no way I could ignore him the whole time, it went on for over 8 hrs and we are still having heavy rain and loud thunder right now. I had pity and let him up on my lap after a while. It really seemed to help. He didn't calm down completely, but he became significantly calmer, and stayed that way for the most part.

I don't know if it was the right thing to do or not, but I couldn't stick to my usual strategy for all that time, it would have been bordering on abuse in my opinion. So I guess if I reinforced the behavior then I did. :o He is laying calmly here by me on the couch right now, and that is the goal. What do you guys think?

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo