Ollie Doodle

One of Murray's fellow doodle friends on Facebook is going through a very difficult time right now.  Ollie Doodle has a condition called "chylothorax" which causes his chest cavity to fill with fluid.  He found out today that he has to undergo a risky operation, or have only a few weeks more to live.  To quote Ollie, "we decided that I am well worth taking a chance on, I am one tough little doodle"...so he will have his surgery in the next few days.  I am just asking all of my new blog friends out there who are so good at lending their prayers, support and positive wishes, to please direct some toward Ollie.  He sure could use them.  Thank you so much...paws crossed.

**For any of you on Facebook, HERE is Ollie's page link 

Adorable Ollie Doodle

Wordless Wednesday

I know it's Wordless Wednesday, but please look for my next post following this fun one.  It is a more serious "crossed paws" kind of post....but in the meantime I give you

Murray Mohawk!

 

Hurricane Sandy Pets

This clip caught my attention this morning and I thought I'd share.  Please continue to keep these people and pets in your prayers.

Thankful

We have had a rough week!  I have not posted in a while because life got very stressful. We have not been having much fun or enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  Last Monday Murray was acting really sick.  He was eating, drinking and going to the bathroom, but he was very lethargic and heavily panting.  We got him into the vet that night, but didn't have much success in figuring out what was wrong.  His temperature was normal, his heart sounded ok, and basically everything was checking out to be normal.  He tested positive for a small amount of worms, but that was relatively new because he was tested 3 weeks prior and was worm free!  My mind kept going back to his recent gulping episodes and in my heart I felt his discomfort was centered around his throat, and it will soon turn out that I was right.  It did feel like there was swelling in his throat, but after the vet checked, we weren't sure if it was actual swelling or his normal throat size/shape.  It didn't make a lot of sense that he would be eating normally if his throat was swollen.  It was decided he would be wormed and sent home on an antibiotic.  By Tuesday he was only marginally better.  I once again called my vet to figure out what our next steps should be if this did not start to improve.  We decided if there was not improvement by Wednesday, Murray would go to the vet again on Thursday for xrays, blood tests and a possible throat scope.  Wednesday was only a little better compared to Tuesday.  By this time I was getting extremely nervous.  I was now noticing Murray flinching as if I was going to hit him if I approached the left side of his head.  I noticed his bark sounded muffled and whenever he started to yawn, he immediately cut it off.  I had become more certain this issue was related to his head or throat somehow.  So, after a teary call to my vet, we set it up for Murray to spend the day there Thursday for the proper tests.  To sum up the findings...blood work was normal and xrays only showed one minor thing (minor compared to the kind of things running through my mind).  Everything appeared normal except there was a shadow of his epiglottis showing up on the xray.  Doc said he shouldn't really see the epiglottis, and the fact that he could, suggested it was infected or inflamed.  We assume it was somehow damaged in something he chewed or ate (a stick, a sharp edge on a treat), and then over time became severely irritated or infected due to food passing over it everyday.  This was GOOD NEWS!  We were sent home (earlier than expected because my good boy didn't even have to be sedated for his tests) with directions to finish our antibiotic, feed a soft food diet for a few days, and do a course or prednisone.  By Friday Murray was starting to act much more like himself.  Just today I heard the first normal sounding bark and it was music to my ears!  I'm not even going to complain that I am up every couple hours through the night because the predisone causes a lot of peeing.  I am so so happy my bouncy boy is back to himself.

PS...I am hoping the gulping over the past month was related to this issue and that will be resolved as well.  Fingers crossed.

Black n White SUNDAY

Sunday Funday Runday in the park!

Gulping- Can Anyone Help??

So, we have been dealing on and off with a new issue.  About a month ago I posted how grateful I was (and still am) that we got through a night where Murray seemed to struggle with a piece of Milk bone in his throat.  Well, that same choking type reaction happened again a couple times this past week, and it wasn't related to having just eaten.  It's made me a bit nervous and I have spoken to my vet and done tons of research.  I believe it's an ailment (I call it an ailment because I'm not sure what else to call it) people have dubbed "gulping".  It doesn't involve gulping food or water, but instead it's a rapid swallowing and gulping of air.  As it gets underway, it turns into gulping grass outside.  It seems to be relieved through the grass ingestion, calming him down through gently petting and many times a loud burp.  In all my research, I have learned many people have this issue with their dogs, and it's gone undiagnosed.  The three main thoughts about a cause are that it could be a seizure type behavior (this one I least expect personally, but who knows!?), an allergy to something (likely a food item or ingredient), a reaction to stress and anxiety, or some form of acid reflux.  Murray is definitely an allergy prone dog.  He always has ongoing skin allergies we work around, he's allergic to sulfur in shampoos and medications and now perhaps something else unknown.  Our vet also placed him on an acid reducer and other medications for a short time last year, after a bout with sickness, and an x-ray showed inflammation in his stomach.  He recovered well, but we have always suspected there is an issue with acid since he tends to vomit bile when his stomach is completely empty....  And, Murray IS a sensitive dog who can stress easily.  So, I have a triple threat!  Oiy Vey, he sounds like a hott mess!  LOL  My vet definitely thinks this gulping is digestion related based on the grass eating.  They have asked me to record the gulping when it happens...which is sure to show me being a nervous wreck instead of anything of value!  So far, thankfully we have not had another extended episode, so no recordings yet, just quick bouts.  I am discouraged reading online how none of the dogs with this same issue have been able to be diagnosed by a vet, so I assume it may be no different with my vet :(  I will link a couple videos I found online of dogs doing this gulping action.  While the dogs in the videos looks fairly calm, Murray, and many others I read about, panic a bit during these episodes.  I am uncertain what is causing the panic, but it certainly then panics me.  We have been using Pepcid to help with acid this week, and I have taken him off of the veggies I had been feeding as a mix into his dry food the past month.  My thoughts were that the veggies cause a lot of gas, and along with the gulping, I could hear his stomach churning last night, so veggies are out and a good grain free wet food is in.  We have also started him on some plain, fat free yogurt for some "good" bacteria.  I would LOVE any words of wisdom from anyone out there that may know something about this.  Also, I have eliminated "tracheal collapse" as a possibility right now, as he really does not exhibit any other symptoms for that.

A New Movie Bed!

We found a pretty cool dog bed on sale, and it just so happens we could use one for the room in our house we have decided to make into a "home movie room" (and we can't pass up a chance to treat them to something new).  It's an egg crate, thick cushion, inside a removable (and washable) fleece topped cover.  It's called The Canine Cushion....nothing too fancy, but definitely comfy!  Of course the boys need a  place to watch some flicks too, so...

here it is being tested out!