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Leslie, I am so happy for you and Squirt! She is one special little girl, and I am so glad you found Dr. Dew cause it sure sounds like he is a wonderful doctor, even with all the hair! :D Keep the good news coming friend!
Love you both,
Shelba and Suni~~
Dear Leslie,
It's so good to hear Squirt is doing well - Yay! :D
It is great to hear all the good news for Squirt!! Keep up the good work!!:):)
Hi Leslie,
We're so happy that Squirt is doing really well :) (aside from the thowing up). Hopefully that was just a one time thing. YAY!! She pooped!! :) Continuing to send healing thoughts from across the pond,
Lotsa love,
Jane, Franklin and Bailey xxx
Hi Leslie,
I wanted to say a quick hi and say I hope that Squirt is still improving:)
Addy
Hi ya'll,
Squirt continues to do well, making her mom so very happy! She is walking further and further and using that leg more and more. I want her to put more weight on it than she is but that may just be me wanting her to be well NOW! :o:p We go back to see Dr. Dew Wed morning for the follow-up so we will see then what he thinks...he is the pro after all. :D
She is enjoying having a place of our own again, too. Her blankets are on the floor in spots she chose and no other pups can get their paws on it, her feed and water bowls are in the same spot each time, and she has her mom all to herself again. ;) The camper is small enough that the crate is no longer needed and she is really thrilled about that. There are non-skid throw rugs all over the floor so she can move around without fear of slipping.
She also has a pen outside that is about 6'x8' where she can hang out in the sunshine for longer periods of time when she wants. It is really too big to keep her movements restricted but she just rolls in the grass and soaks up the rays, grateful to be outside for a bit. As she gets more strength back, this may not be a good option until she is cleared for running, etc. So I keep a close eye on her.
We have missed not getting to sleep together - we have since she was 5 weeks old! I was looking forward to being able to do that again but after 2 nites of sharing the bed, I decided it was better for her legs to stay on the floor for now. She needs a firm surface right now and my bed is soft. Once she is healed enough, we will hopefully be able to resume our nightly rituals.
It is good for her to be getting her routines back; she and I both like our routines! ;) Her stress level should go down, which will be great! It's fun now to see the other pups on the place during her walks and she enjoys them instead of feeling aggravated by them. :rolleyes: She is the Queen, ya know, and feels she shouldn't be subjected to the peons constantly. ;):p
She has gotten a wee bit spoiled....well ok, MORE spoiled, then. :p She liked being carried around everywhere with a bird's eye view from Mom's arms and now she will just stop, sit and look at me when she has walked as far as she wants. But she isn't wanting to go in just then; oh, no...she wants me to carry her around for a bit so she can sniff the air, bark at things she sees and in general rule her domain in total comfort. Being a well-trained and faithful servant, I comply. But then we take an extra walk to make up for the exercise missed, well that she missed anyway. LOL
Assuming the follow-up goes well and Dr. Dew is pleased with her progress, I plan to have the UTK panel run in about another month. I want to be sure the trauma from this surgery is past and her system has had time to settle down so the results will be more accurate. I am sure if she had been tested while in such pain, the cortisol would have been elevated again. Waiting to do the test will, IMHO, give a truer picture of her cortisol level. If I am off track here in thinking this, please speak up!
Gonna take her files from TN to the new vets this week, too. Can't wait to see their faces when they see it! LOL The receptionist at Dr. Dew's was rather surprised at the size of her file from her GP in TN, then there was the one from the IMS office as well. LOL I am looking forward to meeting the IMS that Dr. Nelson recommended and hope he is as good as Dr. Sessions in TN was. Squirt was so lucky in TN to have the best vets we have ever dealt with. I hope we can develop a relationship with our new vets that is just as good.
Hugs,
Leslie and Squirt
Leslie, what a wonderful update :D The image of Queen Squirt, being carried around to sniff and bark some more without having to walk, is priceless :D
I can imagine how nice it must feel to have a place of your own again, being able to follow your own routines again and living life with Squirt as you both are used to :) Except for the sleeping on your bed... But hopefully that will change very soon as well :)
All our best and hugs,
Saskia and Yunah :)
Hi Leslie,
I just love your post! It was so detailed that I could see it in my mind! Squirt sitting at your feet looking up at you with them "eyes"...Awww!!! She is just so precious!
FWIW, I agree with you 100% ;):DQuote:
Originally Posted by Squirt's Mom
Love and hugs,
Lori
Leslie -
So good to hear of Squirt's progress. Who ever said we have our pups trained.....I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. :D You're so right though about missing her sleeping with you. I haven't had Crash in bed with me since his surgery in June. Darby, of course, with the summer months has taken up residence in front of the air conditioner vent so it's kind of lonely in the big bed without either of them.
Keep up the good work with your baby girl. We look forward to hearing about her future progress.
Continued well wishes and extra hugs for you both!
Tammy, Crash, & Darby
Hi Leslie,
What a great update on Squirt!! :):) I'm so glad she's doing so well. Squirt will put more weight on her leg when she's good and ready, I'm sure :p. Until then, you, her well-trained and faithful servant :p;) will just have to continue to carry her around in her preferred mode of transport :). After all... It's the only way to travel :p:D
Wishing you the best of luck that your new vet works out, please keep us posted (I know you will).
Love to you and Squirt, please give her some ear scritchies from us,
Jane, Franklin and Bailey xxx
Hi Leslie,
I'm glad that Squirt is doing so good. Having her own space is great. I'm sure she loves it. She is probably a very happy camper, as I'm sure her wonderful mom is.:)
Take care my friend. Give Squirt lots of belly rubs from me.
(((HUGS))) for you.
Go Squirt!!!!!!!
Oh, it is so good to hear Squirt is improving so:)
Heck, she deserves to be spoiled ALOT!!!!!!!!!:)
Addy
Hi Leslie,
Glad to hear Squirty is doing well. :) I don't think Rozee would ever let me go to bed without her. If I tried, she would be yapping at me all night and neither of us would get any sleep.:p I would have to end up sleeping on the floor with her. Heck I've done it before with Roxee.;)
Keep the good news coming.....
and Squirt...treat your servant well, ;):)
Hi ya'll
Squirt is coming along quite well. Her energy level is rising, stamina increasing, and a distinct improvement in curiosity and interest in the world around her. :):):)
Early this morning she wanted to go for walk...a long one! We walked all over about 1 1/2 cleared acres! I think she sniffed every leaf and blade of grass she came across. Squirt has always been a marker so when she sniffed an old pee spot, well she just had to stop and squeeze out a drop or two of her own. LOL We walked to the pen to visit the horses, out to the barn to sniff the new hay (and poke her very hairy face into! :D ), and around back of the barn to bark at squirrels and a large frog that happened to hop across her path. :) She really wanted to keep after that frog, but it went into a wooded area and her leg isn't ready for that type of terrain yet so she had to content herself with telling it off! :p
She has her balance back for peeing and pooping now. In fact, she is back to tapping that leg when she poops and stretching in out behind her when she is through with her business. :cool: I don't know why she taps when she poops but she always has; it's funny to watch! :p Her little face is so intent and that leg tap-tap-tapping like "come on now, come on...". :p
We went back for the follow-up exam last Wed. and Dr. Dew was pleased with her progress, tho he did want her using that leg more. When he manipulated the leg, he said it felt good. :cool: We go back in 6 weeks and she will have another xray to make sure it has healed properly then she will be released if all is well. Until then, her activities are still restricted - always leashed, no running, no jumping up or down, no more than 2-3 stair steps (which she hasn't attempted yet), and continue sleeping on the floor for fear of twisting that leg. The last one is hard on both of us. :(
John, Squirt has figured out how I can sleep on the floor with her this time, too. If I want to sleep on my right side, I put my head by the sink and angle my legs into the bathroom. If I want to sleep on my left side, my head is by the door and my legs angled around the table. If I want to sleep on my back, my head is by the bathroom door and my feet propped on the couch. :D:p Being 6' tall, getting all the parts arranged in small spaces can be interesting! :p
Dr. Dew has her on Glyco-Flex III for joint support. She hasn't gotten sick since the first dose, so it seems she is adjusting to it, tho her poop has been a bit looser than normal and has a bit of mucus in it. I got 2 kinds - a chewable pill form that I mash up and put in her feed and a soft treat-like kind that is easy to break into pieces for treats. She likes the treats and eats her meals as eagerly as ever. Each pill or treat has 1000mg of Glucosamine HCL along with MSN, DMG and anti-oxidants. Dr. Dew said to give her 1/2 table/treat a day so she would be getting 500mg a day. She is actually getting a bit more than that as she gets tiny bites of the treat kind during the day as well. Here is a link about the Glyco-Flex III:
http://www.vetriscience.com/glyco-flex-III.php
She is scheduled for another UTK panel on Aug. 30th. So far, there have been no panicked calls from Dr. Bryant. :D He isn't familiar with Cushing's and told me straight out he wasn't comfortable treating it...but I think he will come around and be just fine. So far, I really like him; he is very compassionate and kind with the animals. When Crys had to have staples in her head, he kept calling her sweet names and even kissed her. Dr. Nelson, who I also like, said he would be on hand to help Dr. Bryant. I have talked with several other vets around here and feel much more comfortable with Dr. Bryant and his clinic...in spite of his inexperience with Cushing's. So we will see how her hormones are doing soon. I am very anxious to see the cortisol value. If it is still in normal range, that PDH in our title will be removed! :):cool:
Goodness! I have rambled on, haven't I? And could keep on going! :p But I better submit this before I lose connection or do something with this laptop to make it all disappear! :rolleyes: And, BTW, if there are odd things in the text of this post, well I probably did something to make that happen...learning this thing is fun for a technically challenged old broad! :p
Hugs,
Leslie and Squirt
Hi Leslie,
I am so glad that Squirt is doing so well. :) Bless her heart, she is such a little trooper.
I love your descriptions of her pooping and you trying to sleep on the floor with her.:D I know it's amazing what we are willing to do for our precious furbabies.
(((((HUGS))))) for you and Squirt.
Love ya,
Terri and the Corkster
Go Squirt!!!!
So glad to hear about Squirt and her progress so go ahead and ramble all you want, we love it!:D
Thanks for all the tips for my Zoe, too:)
Wishing all good things for your family.
Addy and Zoe
Great news Leslie - you are such a good momma!!
Well, that picture of Squirt is just TOOOO cute! I, too, just read the whole thread and am thrilled that Squirt is on the mend. I know you will be so glad to have her home and "running" on all 4's.
Hugs and squeezes from us.
Carrol & Chloe
Way to go Squirt! Nice job. Good job mom too. ;):D
Hi Leslie
Just catching up ... and saw they great news about Squirt. Absolutely fantastic!
All the best
Angela and Flynn
Squirt started swimming this week in the pool. It's 24' and she swims about 22' at a time which we repeat 5 times now. So she is swimming around 100' a day, a bit over. The first day, she was really panting after each crossing but that has improved 100% with each passing day. I think part of that was fear and she is adjusting to it better now.
The effect on her leg is unreal. She is using it a great deal more, supporting full weight on that side to pee, and stretching both legs after her business now! :D On her walks yesterday and today, she has voluntarily slowed down to use all four legs instead of me holding her back to keep her from hopping. And she is really interested in exploring as we walk...more and more each day.
If a weeks worth of swimming is making this much difference in her, then I highly recommend anyone who has pups with ortho problems to give it a try if at all possible! Now, what we will do in it's place over the winter....dunno, yet! ;)
Hugs,
Leslie and Squirt
That's great news Leslie....I feel so much better when I can get my swimming in. Glad it's helping Squirt out too,
Jo-Ann :)
Hi Leslie,
Did you have to put a life jacket on her? Do you have chlorine in your pool?
I only ask because I wanted to try my pups in our pool but with Zoe's thin coat I was worried about the chlorine. That and she is scared of the pool, we always taught her to stay away from it. She fell into the shallow end when we first brought her home. I figured I would have to put one of the vests on her.
Oh, I know it would be good excercise for her.
Way to go Squirt!!!!!! On to Doggie Olympics!!! You should take a video:D:D
Addy
Hi Ya'll,
Squirt continues to improve and act more and more like a much younger pup! We have gone to every other day on the swimming to give her coat a chance to dry out. Blow dryers and Squirt do not mix! I am concerned about her skin with all the swimming and have been using a product called "efa HyLyt" on her after we get out. The "efa" stands for essential fatty acids. So far, my concerns have proven groundless but just in case I will continue to use something after we get out. If anyone has any other products for this they would recommend, I am all ears as the HyLyt is almost gone.
She is up to about 200' on the days she swims now which nearly wears me out just walking back and forth across the pool! :rolleyes::p Her breathing is strong and steady while I'm the one huffing and puffing! :p
I have been watching her for signs that her cortisol really is out of control and I just don't see it. Her urine is a nice yellow every time, no excess drinking or peeing, her coat is very thick with no hair loss, no pot belly, and no panting for no reason. She still seeks cool places to lay at times but also enjoys laying out in the sun for extended periods of time in her little pen. She has always been a little piggy so appetite isn't a good indicator for her. Before the surgery, her skin had gotten quite dark on her belly but now it has lightened up and is back to her normal coloring. I think she is just a pup who strongly reacts to trauma in her little body. I will be surprised if her liver values are still up and if her cortisol comes back elevated after her test on the 30th. I hope her estradiol and progesterones have come down this time.
Well, it's time for our swim today so I'm headed to the pool. Then I will spend the rest of the day making her menu for the week. She still loves that food so I love doing it for her!
Hugs,
Leslie and Squirt
Hi Leslie,
It's always so good to hear how well Squirt is doing. I'm glad she is enjoying swimming. It is great therapy, not only for our furbabies, but for us, too. I hope she continues to do well.
I am using Comfort Conditioner on Corky, to keep his skin from drying out from the KetoChlor. It's a soap free, anti-itch conditioner with oatmeal and Omega-6 fatty acids. As far as I know, it's only sold through licensed vets. After wetting their fur, you leave it on for 5-10 minutes and then rinse it off. This might be something you might be able to use.
Give Squirt hugs and belly rubs from me.
Hi Leslie,
What a wonderful update on Squirt!! Like Terri, I too, am sooo happy that she is doing so well.
Am hoping and praying with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Squirt's Mom
Love and big hugs,
Lori
Sounds like Squirt is doing fantastic! Remember - don't let the numbers take priority.... sounds like you've done a wonderful job so take the health and continue to enjoy every single minute of it. You deserve it!!! So happy for you. Kim
I wish you could take a video of Squirt in the pool, I would so love to see it!!!!
Hoping the test is good news and so glad to hear how well our little "olympian" is doing:D:D:D
Addy
Here are some still shots and a video of Squirty swimming her little legs off!
http://s752.photobucket.com/albums/x...rt%20Swimming/
OMG Leslie!
How cute is that video of the little girl doing laps--lol. How very awesome indeed. Keep up the great work Leslie. I am so very happy for both of you. BTW, you will never catch my Princess in any body of water, great waterdog Lab that she is. Haaaaaaaaaa. Warmest regards and luv ya both dearly. Tight hugs. Jeanette
Oh Leslie,
How cute is that?????:D
It is so darn cute. Squirt is just swimming away. She didn't even need a vest!!!! She isn't afraid, just swimming, and swimming.
Gosh, Leslie, you made my day. I love it.
Addy
Loved that! Go Squirt Go!
Oh, yeah...........Olympics for sure!! The only thing missing is the cap but I'm sure she would win on "cutest face" for sure. It is so wonderful to hear good news - that's what keeps us goin' :D. Enjoy the swims and keep up the good work, Squirt.
Love & tail wags,
Carrol & Chloe
very cute! terriers are not terribly fond of water...but put 'em in it and they will swim it! :p
Oh, she hates it, Jeff! You can see the determination on her face to reach that ladder and get OUT NOW! :p There's always a disgusted sigh when I turn and head to the other side for another crossing. :rolleyes::p You can hear her saying that a Queen should NOT be subjected to such treatment against her will. :p Oh, well! :);)
Thanks, everyone! She is working hard and doing great!
Hugs,
Leslie and the wet Queen :D
From the video one would never know that Squirt hates her swimming laps! The "Queen" is a natural born swimmer! :) She looks sooo cute too!
Love and hugs,
Lori
The first time she had this done on her knees and was allowed to do this, I would take her out to a lake near by for her therapy. It was shallow for a long way out so I carried as far as I could walk and put her in. She would fly to the shore, leaving a V-wake behind, hit the beach, shake good, and TAKE OFF! :p She didn't go far, but she went fast! We entertained folks around that beach several afternoons until I found a "catcher" to bring with me. The "catcher" would stand on shore and wait for her to get out then nab her. Either way, getting out was the best part for Squirt - that's when the games began that she had worked so hard for in her mind! ;):D It was a sight to see apparently, Lori!
I loved the video, Leslie. She looks so adorable.
I can relate to her not liking it. When Jay was still with us, he would take Corky across the pool at the shallow end, and I would stand on the steps so he knew where to go. He would jump out of the pool, shake the water off, and then turn around and give Jay such a dirty look. I wish I would have taken pictures of it. They are just too cute.
Leslie,
You ans squirt make me laugh :D:D:D Great video and you can see the determination on Squirts face to get out.
Hi Leslie,
Just catching up... Love the video of Squirty going for a swim :D:D:D she's a great swimmer (whether she wants to be or not). So happy to hear Squirt is much more mobile and doing so well :D:)
PS: Franklin wants to know how Squirt keeps her ear tips dry while swimming :)
Love and belly rubs,
Jane, Franklin and Bailey xxx