Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13 2004
We started weighing all the dogs yesterday, and will continue to do so once a month
The only way we can do this with the scales donated to us by Dr. Reeves is to weigh the human and then weigh the human holding the dog. We got through about half the dogs yesterday, and the crew is out there in the park (the Big Play Yard) continuing to weigh them today. One of our many vets suggested we do this once a month so that we will notice any significant weight change in any of the dogs. (It must have been Dr. Reeves, since he donated the scales to Straydog Inc.)
Rocky and Molly are not doing so well
Rocky
Rocky has had an intestinal upset for a few days now, and although this seems to be happening more and more lately to a some of the dogs (both Ol' Pup and Anthony are the most recent dogs to get very sick with this malady), Rocky's not getting over it. Juana took Rocky to see Dr. Morton yesterday at 4:30 p.m. The doctor prescribed several different medicines, and although Rocky has been sleeping well, he has no appetite. He will drink water, and we did manage to get him to eat a can of tuna fish this morning, hand feeding it to him. Later this morning Rocky once again had dark red (bloody) and very soft stools. We're hoping he'll recover just as Anthony and Old Pup did.
Molly
A caregiver noticed that the pupil of Molly's left eye looked cloudy yesterday, so Juana took Molly to Dr. Morton along with Rocky, and the news is not good: Molly is blind in the left eye and her right eye is showing deterioration also. We've made an appointment to see our eye specialist, Dr. Paulsen, in Arlington. The earliest we can get in is next Wednesday at three p.m.
Dr. Morton is sending Molly's blood sample to the lab to check for diabetes and other possibilities.
Pam B., who runs the Hematology Lab at a Dallas hospital, offers help with our donated microscope
Thanks so much, Pam. We'll probably take you up on your offer to show us how to use the microscope as soon as we can find the time and whenever it might be convenient for you to come out.
Email asking if we know any other remedies for arthritis
Bill/Erin,
I was reading about Happy's arthritis today and wondered if you could please post whatever medicines/therapies you end up using that help. I have a 10 year old Shepherd/Whippet mix (she looks like a little deer) who has severe arthritis, but doesn't do well on anti-inflammatories (like Rimadyl or Etogesic). So, I give her synthetic glucosamine (Cosequin) from Drs Foster and Smith, a product called "Arthroplex" which is a natural form of glucosamine (found in mussels), Duralactin, which is a milk derivative product from my vet, vitamins and then I give her PPAG for her incontinence. Right now she is stable, but never super, because she really needs the anti-inflammatories - but they just make her throw up. The vet's next idea was to do shots, but I'm not too keen on these - she does horrible at the vets in general, and I don't want to put her through more pain. I keep her on a thick foam bed when she sleeps, and if it's very cold, I wrap a heating pad (on the lowest setting) in a blanket and keep that under her. So, I'd love to hear any advice on this subject, and I'm sure others with arthritic dogs would also.
Thanks!
Michelle
You might check out John McDougall, MD's advice for humans with arthritis
Pat and I treated a dog with severe arthritis several years ago applying Dr. McDougall's recommendations for humans and the dog responded very well.