Yeah, I Know...

I'm way behind. Its been mentioned more than once. The last several weeks have had a lot going on, some good, some not so good, and even though I've intended to update the blog several times, the motivation just hasn't kicked in. I've got a few individual posts in mind for some things that happened over the last month (not to mention a ton of photos to share), but this one will just be a (relatively) brief sum-up.

The vets still don't know what's causing the masses on Reyna's belly. Another one appeared in early November and we managed to get her to the vet school before it ruptured so they could take samples for biopsies and cultures. They admitted that they didn't give her enough pain meds to keep it from hurting when they took the samples, and it was obvious to me that she wasn't sufficiently drugged. The soreness unfortunately got her fixated on her belly and I had a lot of trouble keeping her from licking this time around. For whatever reason, she still has an open sore from the biopsy, when she should be completely healed by now.

The Derm vet is apparently still running things, so he and I have talked a few times since the biopsies. They didn't get any definitive answers from the biopsies or the cultures. They requested the slides of the samples taken during the surgery so they could do a comparison - nothing useful came from that. The last time I talked to the Derm vet, they were running a special stain on the samples to try and determine if she has a microbacterial infection. They can't find anything else, so that's their current guess. To add to the fun, if the stain comes back negative, it doesn't actually mean there aren't any microbacteria - it could just mean they took the sample from the wrong place. The vet put Reyna on two new antibiotics (microbacteria are apparently resistant to the various antibiotics she's already taken) to see if that clears up her belly. I picked up the new meds yesterday and gave her the first dose last night. I woke up this morning to discover that Reyna's face, head, and forelegs were swollen - one of the less-likely but still possible side effects of these particular antibiotics. I've been dosing her with Benadryl, but her head is still a bit puffy. At least she can open her eyes all the way now.

Kodiak earned his Junior Herding Dog title at the end of October. I have videos of both runs, and someday the woman who took pictures of his runs will get around to letting me have copies. I was really pleased with Kodiak - even though other things at the trial freaked him out, he was able to focus on the sheep and do his job.

Reyna had a nose work seminar this past weekend, and I took all of the pups. The last time I left Duncan home alone for two days, he was a basket case for several days after we returned. I think he was much happier traveling with us, despite the cramped truck and hanging in a crate all day.

The pups had their Santa Paws photos taken recently. Still debating going back for a re-try, since I only really liked one of the photos.

I started feeding all three pups a totally raw diet several weeks ago. They love it, and I'm thrilled to report that Reyna has gained back all the weight she lost this summer. Their coats feel wonderful and their teeth are gorgeous. I met a fellow who processes deer and he's hooked me up a few times with meat, bones and organs. In fact, I got an entire deer from him yesterday. He's also talking to other hunters for me to see if anyone would be willing to shoot a few deer for me. So far, I've gotten about 80lbs of meat from him. There's still about five weeks left in the season, so hopefully I'll get a lot more before its all over.

I recently started selling Mary Kay to bring in a little extra income, and shortly after that I got my first real job in two years. Its a contract position that's currently scheduled to end in May or June, but we'll see what happens when we get closer. The wonderful thing is that it actually pays real money. The bad thing is I have to figure out when to squeeze in all my dog activities...

I think that just about covers the highlights of the last several weeks. Photos and videos to come later.

Reyna's Raffle

The winners of the raffle prizes were drawn this afternoon by Reyna and Kodiak. They'll be notified via email and the prizes mailed out. Thanks so much to everyone who purchased tickets and made donations!

Reyna's Helping Paws

Some of you know about my financial circumstances, but for those of you who don't, I was laid off two years ago from a well-paying job. Since then, I've struggled to find regular work but have only managed to find part-time and temporary positions. We've been getting by, but Reyna's recent medical bills are beyond my current financial capabilities. To help with this, several folks have donated items for a raffle. Many thanks to Suzie Kalafian of Superior Dog Training, Claire Apple of Dog Training for Obedience and Herding with Claire Apple, J. Lee of Portraits by J. Lee, and several others.

Tickets are $5 each and give you a chance to win each item offered! Tickets can be purchased by sending money through PayPal to jhamlin@nc.rr.com. The more tickets you purchase, the more chances you have to win! The raffle runs through Wednesday, November 2, when Reyna (or a pack member) will select the winners.


Hand crafted by Bob Christensen. Bowl measures 10” diameter x 4 3/4" tall.

Custom towel with a whimsical Christmas dog design embroidered by Ellen Christensen.

Hand towel with welcome bird and bird house embroidered by Ellen Christensen.

Hand crafted by Bob Christensen. Beautiful custom pen comes complete with cross pen insert and takes cross pen refills.

9"x12" watercolor painted by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

7"x10" watercolor painted by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

Large short-sleeve t-shirt.

Large short-sleeve t-shirt.

8"x10" acrylic painting by a local artist.

7"x10" watercolor painted by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

7"x10" watercolor painted by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

9"x12" watercolor painted by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

8"x10" acrylic painting by a local artist.

Large Ruffwear K-9 Float Coat, donated by local artist and dog trainer, Claire Apple.

Gold and diamond heart pendant.

You could win a beautiful pet portrait by Portraits by Lee. Just send in a picture of your pet and receive a 10 x 8 painting!

Today's Vet School Visit

Lot's of info from today's visit, but not a lot of definitive answers (anyone surprised by this?). Let's start with the easy stuff...

The urine tests showed that her kidney's are working normally, with her UPC back down in the normal range.

Her hip x-rays showed that the implant looks just like it did two years ago, no sign of infection or other problems. They also showed that her left hip looks a lot worse than it did two years ago, but that's not a surprise, either. Its good to know that the implant is doing its job.

The sore that was on Reyna's belly two weeks ago appears to have healed up, although its a bit hard to tell since the latest mass ruptured fairly close to the last one. The vets are happy with the general improvement (smaller sores) but concerned that there was a new mass. The bacterial infection is completely cleared up, but Reyna is to finish the last week of her antibiotics. The Derm vet prescribed two topicals (one anti-fungal and one antibacterial) to keep the infection gone until she sees him on the 18th. They did a surface swab today and found eosinophilic inflammatory cells, which can be caused by parasitic infections, allergies, bug bites, foreign bodies or certain tumors. The Internal Med vet still thinks there's some underlying cause to these masses/sores, but the Derm vet has a different opinion. He seems to think that the healing incision has irritated Reyna and she's causing the sores by licking the thin skin. Of course, he's not explaining how she's creating the masses first, nor is he explaining what caused the initial mass/sore that resulted in the surgery that created the incision... We'll chat about all of that on the 18th. And about the fact that if Reyna were reacting to an irritation of some kind, we wouldn't be dealing with small sores (I'll have Dr. Lapham chat with the Derm vet to explain just how much damage Reyna tends to do with this sort of thing - the Derm vet will believe him more than me, I'm sure). So, no more info on the sores/masses for another two weeks.

As for the weight loss, it turns out Reyna has lost another two pounds in the last two weeks (she's down to 67lbs). The GI panel came back normal, which means she should be absorbing nutrients properly. I had a long chat with one of the nutritionists today, and she's putting together a potential food plan to try and get Reyna back up to at least 72lbs. She thinks Reyna probably isn't getting all of the vitamins and minerals she needs, but she realizes she's dealing with a dog with several food allergies and a sensitive stomach. She also thinks its possible that Reyna doesn't have enough pancreatic enzymes to properly digest everything, no matter what the test results show (those enzymes actually came back near the low end of normal). We tracked her weight over the last few months, and it shows that she started losing in June (could have been muscle mass since we weren't walking due to her stomach issues) with the significant loss starting around the appearance of the first mass. Reyna did gain weight after the surgery, and then lost again around the time the second mass showed up. The nutritionist and Internal Med vet both agree that whatever's messing with her belly has most likely had at least some impact on Reyna's weight. Hopefully we'll get the nutritionist's suggestions tomorrow and we can start trying them to see what (if anything) works.

I think that's everything from today...

September

A few photos that didn't make it into the blog last month...

Love It When I Catch The Action

Here We Go Again

The open sore on Reyna's belly that I've been monitoring for a few weeks had just about healed up. This weekend, though, I found that a new mass had formed near that sore. As of this morning, the mass has ruptured and is draining. Reyna goes back to the vet school Thursday for a follow-up with Internal Medicine, hip x-rays, the results of the GI panel and urine test, and possibly a consult with Nutrition. I'm not sure, but I think the IM vet may also have Derm do a consult for another smear test to see if the bacterial infection has cleared up so they can do a culture of the sores (Reyna was supposed to see Derm this week but they couldn't fit her in for another two weeks).

The Pack

Here's my pack, waiting ever-so-patiently for me to throw Reyna's ball. And yes, they stood like this all on their own, no coaching or encouragement from me.

And here's what the pack looks like after I throw the ball. Its a good thing Reyna's so tolerant of the boys.

Smartypants Jaildog

Reyna had to go to the vet school this morning to have blood drawn for a GI panel and a urine sample taken to check her kidneys. She trotted in, perfectly happy to be there, although she was a little disappointed that the receptionist and the lady in the waiting area weren't excited to see her. The tech was happy to see her, though, so she forgave the other folks. She went to the lab with the tech with no trouble at all, and I stayed in the waiting area hoping it wouldn't take too long.

After just a few minutes, I heard a commotion, looked behind me and saw a nose coming through the door behind the reception desk (turns out that was the door to the lab). My first thought was that I recognized that nose, and my second was that they'd done a great job of getting both samples so quickly. My third thought was the realization that there was no one on the other end of Reyna's leash.

Reyna ran past the stunned receptionists with the tech chasing her. The tech nearly trapped her in a corner and then I called her name. Reyna turned, blew past the tech and headed straight for me. I had to walk her back to the lab - she wouldn't go with the tech. The tech (and the receptionists) said they'd never had a dog manage to open that door before. It had a push-down handle, which Reyna certainly knows how to work (that's why I have to keep my storm door locked all the time), but it was one of those heavy wooden doors that take a fair effort to push open. I have to admit, I'm very impressed with Reyna's ability to execute a jail break from the vet school lab.

About ten minutes later, I heard another commotion, looked back and saw a nose poking through the door again. I was happy to see that the tech was holding Reyna's leash this time, although it was obvious that the tech had absolutely no control over her. Reyna had her leash in her mouth and she was determined to get to me as fast as possible. As our trainer (and others) can attest, when Reyna really wants to go somewhere, the person holding on to the leash doesn't have a lot of say in the matter. The tech told me that they were able to get both samples, although it took three people to hold her down to get the urine sample. I was a bit surprised, because the folks at our regular vet's office never have this kind of trouble with her. Apparently, Reyna is tired of being poked and prodded.

We should get the results of the GI panel sometime next week, and possibly this Friday for the kidney results.

So Fast, He's Just A Blur

Well, he's actually a blur because he was moving too fast for my camera's flash to catch him and it was just a bit too dim for the speed setting. But the pictures are still pretty neat, I think.