Thank goodness it’s Friday! It’s been a crazy week, and I’m actually grateful to have two days off without agility. Hopefully I’ll be able to recover going into the Thanksgiving holiday, which I’m sure will amp up the stress again.
First, the good news. Ticket is in the home stretch. Next Tuesday she gets her 8 week xrays to assess bone healing. If everything looks good, then crate FREEDOM! And we’ll get to start reacquainting her with agility. We will both be happy that day. I also filled out January entries for her today–so excited to run my crazy blue girl again!
I xrayed Mardi on Monday, and her stomach was still full, so I decided to go ahead and open her up. Glad I did. Her stomach was FILLED with kohlrabi, a nasty vegetable that Ryan grew in our garden. They are very large, and she ate two of them. I think she could have passed a little, but not this huge volume. I got all of that out of her stomach, and also went into her intestine in two places to remove a couple of large pieces. I couldn’t advanced them forward, and I was afraid they would cause an obstruction, so I went ahead and took them out as well.
We are now 4 days post-surgery and Mardi is doing great. She’s eating well, and acting much more like herself. It will be a couple of days before I breathe a final sigh of relief, but I’m very happy with how she’s doing. Even if she does look like Franken-sheltie.
As far as Trip and her vague maybe-physical-maybe-mental problem, bloodwork was normal (again). I did a dental cleaning on her on Wednesday, to evaluate her broken tooth, and check for any other problems. The broken tooth was borderline as far as what treatment is warranted, and I’m undecided on what I want to do with it. Since the dentist was out of town and unable to consult, I just left it alone for now. She DID have a bad upper molar–gum recession and pain around this tooth. I pulled that one. I certainly hope that is the cause of all of her problems, but I have no way of knowing. Xrays of spine, hips, and knees, all looked good. She’s still on an agility break, and I’ll start doing some different stuff with her next week or the week after. We shall see how it goes.
Here is some video of Ticket working on more rehab exercises…
I am up to my ears in sick and/or wacked out dogs. Seriously, Ticket is the least of my worries at this point. She has a diagnosis, an appropriate treatment (surgery), and is on the mend. OH SO CLOSE to freedom from crate rest. No, my problems are two of my others, Trip and Mardi.
Trip has been “off” the last two weekends at shows. So far, I’ve really been unable to find an obvious physical cause. She’s been massaged twice, with only minor/typical problems found. She’s been adjusted. My friend Michelle looked at her and felt like she was painful in her neck/back, but couldn’t find anything via massage to pinpoint something specific. She’s been on pain meds. She is fine in standard, and *not fine* in JWW. Anything from running slowly, to alternating between slow and normal, to walking through the weaves and trotting. Very vague, and I haven’t been able to determine if it’s physical, mental, or a combination of both. Will be doing more medical workup this week, along with a dental cleaning. She does appear to have a new chipped tooth–not sure how significant it is yet, but will find out.
Problem #2, and the more immediate one, is Mardi. Mardi ate two large kohlrabi plants on Wednesday night. Think, really big turnip. Vomited and attempted to vomit several times Wednesday night. Xrays showed a full stomach. Gave her an anti-nausea injection and subcutaenous fluids, didn’t feed her. Next day, xrays still show a full stomach (36 hours after any meal). Vomiting stopped, some plant material was passing in her stool, so decided to wait and see. That was Friday. She’s been “ok” this weekend, but not great. She’s not improving, and she’s not worsening. No more vomiting, though I think I may have caught her drooling once. Appetite is poor–she eats a little, but very slowly. Her belly has stayed relaxed and non-painful the entire time, and she’s a little depressed, but not acting terribly different then normal.
The question remains, to cut, or not to cut. I’ll take another xrays tomorrow, and see what her GI tract looks like. If her stomach is still full, but she appears to still be passing it, do I wait and see, or go in? She’s definitely not acting like herself, but she’s not *that bad*. Ugh, decisions are much harder when it’s your own pet.
OK, I’m done venting for now 🙂
Another rehab session closer to FREEDOM for Ticket. More underwater treadmill this week, continued walks, cavaletti, etc. I also added a balance disc–having put her rear feet on it and standing,and also doing the same with her front feet. Really just continuing to ask more from her.
I can see that’s she very close to normal. She’s trying to run, jump, spin–not things she’s allowed to do, but she’s sure trying. On the mental front, I’ve shaped her to “play dead” and “bow,” and I’m now working on walking backwords. That’s one she actually knows in other contexts (targetting with her feet). She’s actually a lot of fun to shape, since she tries so hard to *get it*.
Ticket (and Rugby and Rush) will be 2 years old on Saturday. Hard to believe it’s been that long already. We’ll be having a party at the agility trial this weekend, since we’re always looking for an excuse to celebrate. I wish I could give Ticket her freedom for her birthday, but not quite yet.
