Merry Christmas, Doggies!

We decided to have a Christmas Tree at the last minute (purchased at 2am December 25th) so here are some family photos to share of the Holiday Season:

Leo is just too curious for his own good.

Rex, Bailey and Leo posing in front of the Christmas Tree.  Leo is showing off his bone. :)

Rex rescued the bone and is keeping a watchful eye on it... all the while sporting a festive Santa hat.

The whole family!  Ben in yellow, Brittany in front with Rex.  Leo is front and centre; Roz is beside Bailey with Lorne in back.

Happy New Year 2011!

Dog Fight!!! Poor Bailey...

Friday, August 27, 2010
We had been dog-sitting an acquaintance's dog since Sunday. For the most part, all 4 dogs got along but Rex and Bailey would growl and snarl at Gomez. Leo didn't mind playing but that game soon became Gomez being way to big and domineering so Leo would go under a table or chair for protection from the larger dog.

Gomez was said to be a lab, boxer mix but we see pit bull in him. He is just 9 months old and untrained. Still has his balls. I really wanted to bring him to the vet for neutering but instead he picked a fight with Bailey.

My husband had brought a bone of Gomez's into our back yard. Bailey, being his usual aggressive self toward a larger dog must have growled at him for the bone but this time Gomez wasn't playing, he thought he'd growl back man when he growled and bit and Bailey went down, he realized he could dominate him. We have not witnessed this behaviour until now. Gomez has appeared to be big and bullish but otherwise lovable as an animal.

This was all within the first 10 minutes of my morning. I heard some weird growling from inside and opened the door to see Gomez mauling Bailey. I yelled "HEY" instantly and Gomez stopped. He still straddled Bailey and just wagged his big tail. Bailey sheepishly got up and slouched away in the other direction behind a building. I didn't think it was Bailey. It didn't look like him but I didn't see where Bailey was. It was horrifying, I yelled, "Bailey, Bailey, Bailey..." and eventually he came around the side of the building toward me. Gomez lunged towards me as well. I kept calling for Bailey to come until he was inside and had to kick at Gomez to keep away. I then had to get Leo in who was confused at which command was meant for him. I eventually had them all separated from Gomez and that would be the end of that.

I was hysterical but managed to wash Bailey down in warm water. He was soaked from the dew on the grass as he was on his back being chewed to death! Blood poured from underneath his body and from his chest not to mention his head (ears and eyes). His eyes - I was so worried... there were bites on each one and as well as his ears. He escape with a bruised armpit but his neck took a bigger bruising and it was still bleeding when he was examined (hence the drain). I am so fortunate I stopped it in time to save his life.

My husband and I took Bailey to our veterinarian and he looked at his fairly quickly, giving him a shot for pain right away. He was left for the day in order to get fully examined. I picked him up at 4 p.m.

The run on the invoice:

* has multiple wounds on top of head and 2 on ventral neck - surgery required * puncture wounds exposing muscle; ventral neck wounds are still bleeding * placed penrose drain at ventral neck - please come back in 5 days for drain removal * sutured 3 puncture wounds on top of his head... * general anaesthetic induction

8.5 kg, Age: 9 Sex:M Br:Poodle

* drain placed at site * 2 blocks of surgery time * Elizabethan Collar must remain on at all times**

**A cone was not actually given but I think it is due to his injuries behind around his neck - and that would be uncomfortable or painful - however Day 2 and Bailey is starting to appear like the stitches are itching and has started to scratch more.

He has to take 1 anti-flammatory pill and 1 pain pill twice daily. Bailey has not eaten much; only once each have I been able to disguise his pills in cheese, margarine, ice cream... but usually I have to get it to the back of his throat with my fingers. He seems to be able to sniff would the medication and won't eat it. But he hasn't been eating much otherwise either.

Day 3
I notice there is a soft 'ball' of liquid/blood on Bailey's neck near the drain. He was excreting fluid the first day but I haven't noticed much since. I'm not sure the drain is still reaching the blood and pus and infection. He's been scratching so maybe he moved something. I am considering calling in the morning to ask. I don't know if I can or should wait till Thursday when the DVM is scheduled to take it out.

Doggies!

July 2010
One of the top things I love about my mother-in-law is her same love of dogs.  Here's a happy picture of my 2 small dogs (Leo, a Shih-tzu, bottom left and Bailey, a poodle, bottom centre) with her 4 house dogs: Snoopy, a Shih-tzu, top left; Missy, top centre; Molly, the red Papillon, top right; Penny, a Shih-tzu bottom right.

Yes, I actually got them to pose like this - for the most-part. :)  Leo had to show his curiosity by looking away at the last minute...

This is at my parents place so Mom took this photo of me with my 2 small fur babies:

Bing

Bing

Normal eyes!

I picked Leo up at 6 p.m. and his eyes both look the same - normal!! Once I got in the car I realized there was no patch-work over his eyeball so it looked like it always had... I cried! I was so happy. He will be normal again! I took the cone off in the car and he sat on my lap all the way home. I kept it off all evening but put it on for when he went outside (it's dark too). By this weekend we'll start keeping it off longer (it was suggested at half an hour at a time) and continue giving the lubricating drops and that's it! Of course I made an appointment for all 3 of them to get their annual check-ups done, get their flea and heart worm pills and get a micro chip for Rex. Scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, May 5, 2010.

Stitches come out today!

I dropped Leo off around 9 a.m. The DVM looked at him and said he has healed a lot and will take out the 1 remaining stitch. :) I get to pick him up later today.

Friday - still healing

Friday, April 30th - I was way too busy to drop off Leo and my daughter to get her wisdom teeth out (all 4!). So my husband did both and had to pick Leo up later as they did not operate. I made an appointment on Monday - I simply drop him off between 8 and 9 a.m. He is managing to get out of the cone if it's not secured. What a nuisance it must be but I'm so glad he is healing. The wonders of modern medicine!!

Leo check-up at 9:15 a.m.

Today's appointment went much better - there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Although some stitching is coming out it is still covering the patch work so it is protected and doing it's job. I have to take Leo back in Friday to see how well it's holding up. If it's OK then they'll leave the stitching for 2-3 more days. If it's coming undone then they will operate and take out the remaining stitches on Friday. I cannot wait! Finally Leo will have his eye back. He still has to wear the cone but at least there is no odd-looking eye lid flap covering most of his eye. He seems fine with it but it looks sore and unhealed but thankfully nature is doing it's job and the eyeball is healing.

Leo check-up at 9 a.m.

Friday, April 23 - Leo goes to see Dr. Lavoie again. He is given more medication and different eye drops (something to sooth the eye).

3rd eye lid flap

By the time poor little Leo went under the knife more stitches were letting go so another approach had to be taken. After hearing a lot of veterinarian-technical talk, with "extend the graph" this and "central corneal" on the phone I wasn't sure what to expect. I showed up around 6 p.m. to pick Leo up and his right eye was completely covered over in white... But, bless his little soul, he is dancing around excited to see me. I am so happy to see him!

Basically Dr. Lavoie stitched the inner eye lid over his eye ball to protect it, keep it under cover. It has no irritants at all now. Leo opens his eye even wider - he cannot see through that lid but it's not sore either. He needed more stitching but now it can heal better. Perhaps this was a method of healing they wanted to avoid and the previous surgery was considered 85% successful but although his eye looks very peculiar it seems to be working!

"Dehiscence of flap at distal aspect of conjunctivial flap, 5% of corneal ulcer revealed will resuture after scarification of ventral flap."

He earned a larger Elizabethan collar which I trimmed a bit to allow him to eat on his own and chew bones. He managed to maneuver the other one enough that he was almost able to rub his eye. The e-collar must remain on at all times.

As you can see, the collar doesn't really bother him.  He is as curious of everything as he was before!

At least he still has his energy. After his first overnight stay after surgery he wasn't as peppy. He was a little groggy but definitely ready to be on the go again.

I have to take him back Friday at 9 a.m. for a check-up and the invoice indicates "suture removal is required in 14-30 days." I am looking forward to hugging my little buddy with no cone head.

Another perk of being a good customer (or just somebody who manages to need operations for every one of her dogs) is that I wasn't charged for the re-surgery. I received a 100% discount. Pretty good when it is worth $330... half of which accounts for blocks of surgery time. I love my veterinarian. I'm loyal and drive 15 km out of my way to see him.

2nd follow-up appointment for Leo

What I thought would be a "Yes, he's healing great; just keep his cone on for 2 more weeks"... turns out to me ending up leaving him there again! There is a stitch laying across his eye that can be removed and the vet wants to restitch a couple at the top.

Good news is that the flap is healing so that's why the stitch was coming out. Lorne came with me so Leo could have gone home but there was a possibility he'd be able to get operated on today. Unfortunately, that didn't work out so he is there overnight anyway, fasting from midnight on. He would have had to check-in by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow anyway... so sadly, he is boarding at Cedarbrae Veterinary Clinic tonight.

I am supposed to call at 2 p.m. tomorrow to see when he'll be ready to go home. He had better be coming home tomorrow night! I don't want him there much longer. They close at 7.

Follow-up appointment

Dr. Kim O'Reilly examined Leo first and was so pleased with what she saw she wanted Dr. Luc Lavoie to see his handy-work. They were both impressed with how Leo's eye has been healing the past 48 hours and so am I!

Dr. O'Reilly referred to Dr. Lavoie as the new king of corneal grafts. :) Just because this was his fourth such surgery doesn't mean he cannot do an excellent job!

Leo has to wear the e-collar for 3 more weeks and come back in just 1 week for another follow-up appointment.

This is after the first eye surgery:

Post-surgery

Brittany and I picked up Leo around 10 a.m. and he was excited to see us. He was wearing his Elizabethan collar and had the hair around his right eye shaved down. It was swollen and mostly shut but when he opened it I could see white where they patched it. The veterinarians had to use the white of his eye that contains blood vessels for healing to repair the cornea. It will grow over and be a permanent scar - and he will be able to see out around it - but through that patch he will not be able to see.

It is a little bizarre but amazing at the same time. It is healing on its own now and we're to have Leo wear the 'cone' as much as possible. He doesn't seem to mind it for the most part but is still getting used to it. He is less active than normal but his usual energy and joie de vivre is resuming.

Leo is resting overnight

Dr. O'Reilly called to say they finished surgery. There was no longer anything in his eye but something did pierce it and went all the way through his cornea to the end. So they repaired it and put on a flap.

He is unmonitored over night but he is on a narcotic so I hope he sleeps for most of it. I can get him after 10 a.m. I'm a little nervous for him.

Leo needs emergency surgery

I feel bad now that I didn't have him checked out sooner. He didn't just get a poke in the eye. He has something literally embedded in his cornea! Poor little guy.

Under the bright lights of the vet's office I could see how red it was. The vet explained that there are no blood vessels in the cornea, it's not made of much, so the outer blood vessels are trying to feed it to heal it.

I saw Dr. Kim O'Reilly for the first time in 11+ years although she called in Dr. Luc Lavoie - my main veterinarian at Cedarbrae Veterinarian Clinic to get confirmation. She could immediately see that something was in the eye. At first Dr. Lavoie thought it may be on the eye surface but unfortunately it is inside his eyeball. It sounds really awful. The cornea cannot grow back so they have to take a "flap" from another piece of his eye and transplant it there then let it heal/grown. He will have to wear a 'cone' (for lack of not remembering what she actually called it) and must wear it 24-7 otherwise he will rip out the surgery.

I was really upset as I couldn't believe my poor little Shih-Tzu had been suffering for days and would now have to go under the knife and general anesthetic. I thought I'd be done with my appointment within an hour but it was longer than that and I have to leave him there overnight. I pick him up tomorrow by noon.

Snoop 2003 - 2010

RIP Snoop - what a crazy dog but he was a kind soul.
Snoop was fatally hit by a car January 14, 2010.


Harley, Roz, Lorne and Brittany with Snoop in front who didn't want to miss being in the photo op, December 29, 2009.


Snoop would sing along with you if you asked him to. :)


Snoop was no longer singing. He wanted somebody to pick up the flashlight so he could chase its light. :)


Watching Deal or No Deal while Snoop chomps down some Milk Bones