Surgery!!

Over this past weekend the swelling came back again. I don’t understand why it would completely go down and then come back within a really short time period.

Anyway, it came back. Surgery was scheduled for 7/16, but because the swelling came back we were worried that it was worse than we thought and I was worried about the infection travelling or something like that, so we moved it up to…TODAY!

I can’t believe I didn’t write sooner that we moved it up or that the swelling came back…what is WRONG with me???!!!???

Over the weekend we checked out his mouth again. I was worried that it may be more than just the tooth. Actually, I still kind of am worried about that. But I will try not to think about it too much. I was able to get a good look at the tooth though and it was a dark brown and even black at the gums, however, his gums did look good and I didn’t see any oozing or discharge.

But since the swelling did come back we moved the surgery up. Better to be safe than sorry.

We dropped Topaz off this morning at the vet…the funny thing is when I let him in from outside he ran right to the front door – he usually stops and waits at the computer room door, where his crate is. So he KNEW! LOL geez. Smart dog.

He, of course, was thrilled to be at the vet – read the sarcasm plz – and we had to help the vet people walk him back. I couldn’t bare to watch them drag him along the ground.

His surgery was sometime between 11:30 and 2:30. And it went perfectly, according to the vet…but that his roots were HUGE! We took the tooth home and yes, there will be a photo at the end.

They did a cleaning – it comes with the whole “dental package”, which is fine…definitely can’t hurt, but he really didn’t need it. The vet told us that the tech asked why they were doing a cleaning when he really didn’t need one…she said he needed an extraction, so YAY for raw meaty bones.

Chicken necks (RMB) = nature’s toothbrush. (and this is SO true, our 9 yr old Onyx girl has GREAT looking teeth and good breath too!)

Anyway, we spoke to the vet for a few minutes and then they brought out Topaz.

OMG…the poor boy was muzzled and smelly and looked srsly post ictal to me, but I know it was just him coming out of the anesthesia because he made it through WITH NO SEIZURES! yay! but when they brought him out…omg it was horrible. I felt so bad. I got his collar and leash on him and took the muzzle off and told my husband either you take him outside or I will.

So he gave me the keys and I took him to the car. I put him in the back and tried to calm him down a little. He did much better once he calmed a little bit.

We brought him home and gave him a little Arnica Montana, which is a homeopathic remedy that our friend from The Pet Beastro gave us, for swelling and bruising and to help bring him around after the surgery. I think it helped.

Anyways, my baby boy is home…he is my ♥ you know and I am breathing a sigh of relief.

Never a dull moment with this boy, let me tell you…but hopefully he’ll be feeling better soon and back to normal.

The Culprit!!

Resting peacefully after a rough day....thank God!

The Diet We're Following

Topaz is doing so much better. He's just about back to his crazy self. I missed my loveable nutty puppa!!

He's eating pretty good, still getting smaller meals and we're feeding 3-4 times a day. Mostly veggies too. We're going to add some meaty bones back in probably in a week or so.

We have a pretty good variety of things to give him. This weekend I'm going to make a batch of the veggie goop as well as a fruity one and probably a meaty one, or else just chop the meats up so they are ready to give when we decide to do so.

I looked online for the article that the lady who we buy our food from, I call her my mentor, sent me about pancreatitis. I found part of it at this site, but I could not find the entire thing.

So here is what we are trying to follow...please remember this is copyright Ian Billinghurst.

DIET FOR PANCREATITIS

When it is time to re-introduce food, your dog will be nice and hungry and ready to eat just about anything.  This is great because we want your dog to start a completely new diet.  The diet is designed initially to prevent reoccurrence of the problem and, ultimately, to not only prevent re-occurrence but to improve your dog's total health.

You must not feed . . .

Cooked food, grain, fatty meals, processed food, canned or dry dog or cat food.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE FEEDING

1. Lots of little meals - i.e., small meals several times a day.

2. Lots and lots of RAW vegetables - which must be CRUSHED, i.e., put through a juicer or a food processor.  Carrot, celery, cabbage, pumpkin, etc.

3. Lean RAW minced meat - chicken, beef, kangaroo - RAW - and only in very small amounts.

4. Non fat yoghurt

5. Fruit - apples, pears, orange, banana, mango, etc.

6. Liver, egg, cottage cheese, sardines [in spring water] - in very small amounts.

7. Slippery elm bark powder

8. Enzyme tablets

9. Supplements including Multi-vitamin B, vitamin E, Flax seed oil, Cod liver oil, garlic, kelp, vitamin C and zinc.

The first water after an attack - should be little and often till satisfied

The first food fed after an attack should be 90 to 100 percent raw crushed vegetables.  To this is added an enzyme tablet -crushed and mixed through and left to stand for 10 to 15 minutes.  If this is refused, add a tiny amount of one or several of the foods from the WHAT YOU SHOULD BE FEEDING list - to make it more interesting.  That is, depending on what your dog likes, a tiny bit of minced meat or egg etc.  BUT ONLY A TINY BIT!  This is a small meal.  Maybe a quarter to an eighth the size of what he or she would normally eat.

Two to four hours later offer the same again.  Repeat this over the next several days.  You may gradually increase the size of these meals to about a third to a quarter of what he/she is used to eating, and reduce the frequency to two or three meals a day.  You may do this over a period of several weeks.  Gradually introduce the other elements of the diet such as the vitamins, the cod liver oil, slippery elm bark powder, the zinc, the kelp etc.

When all is going well, and usually after a blood test has confirmed that the pancreas is back to normal, you may start to introduce some raw meaty bones into the diet.  Chicken wings/necks, shank bones, large beef bones.

 So far we've got the digestive enzyme, I need to get the flax seed oil, we have vitamin E I think it is...and we're getting cod liver oil. We're also adding milk thistle to his diet for his liver. I am starting that next week.

It's kind of hard because my husband feeds him his breakfast meal. I take care of dinner, but it's the morning meal that gets his taurine and anything else we will add in. Although, maybe if he's not getting a bone meal for a while I'll put somethings in the dinner meal for him.

I don't know, it's a big change for us. We were kind of used to our little schedule and routines.

I think we're also going to have his vet draw blood for a 6 panel thyroid test and see if I or they can send it to Dr. Dodds to have it analyzed. I'm pretty sure that he'll end up on thyroid meds as well...since his test was low. Maybe that's the reason for the seizures...oh wouldn't that be wonderful if we found his trigger???

Anyways,...will keep updating here and will probably add pictures as I make the goops. LOL

No new seizures...just some thoughts..RAW Diet??

My husband and I volunteer on a regular basis at a local animal shelter. This weekend was the grand opening of the pet store that's located inside the shelter building. The pet store is called "The Pet Beastro" and they sell holistic, natural and raw pet foods and treats as well as some quality toys, collars, and beds. On Sunday I sat in on a talk about pet food nutrition. Now I know that since all of the pet food recalls last year and earlier this year, I for one, have been paying more attention to what is in the food I'm feeding our animals.

The dogs have been getting Canidae and the cats, unfortunately, are still getting a mixture of the crap that you buy at the grocery store. I have one cat, the little female, here that will NOT eat premium foods...however, we may just buy a bag of it...replace the junk in the feeder and not give her a choice BUT to eat the premium food. I think we're going to do that this week and see how it goes. I want to feed them all the best we can.

Ok, so this brings me to the little seminar/talk I sat through and the whole RAW diet thing.

It was really interesting...i mean what she was saying made sense and I really have to wonder if it would help Topaz. We're just about out of dry food, so we're due to buy some more. The 40lb bag of Canidae lasted us just about a month...a few days shy is how it will come out. But we free feed, so I don't know who's been eating what and if we fed at certain times, certain amounts I am sure that it probably would have lasted a little bit longer.

Anyway...so now we have to buy food this week. I am seriously considering giving raw a try. I never ever in my life thought I'd say that, but it doesn't seem as awful as it all sounds. I mean it's gross sounding to me and it will probably take me some time to get used to the whole fact that I am feeding my dogs raw meat, but I think we're going to give it a month and see how it goes.

I am worried about Topaz with his meds and the seizures and everything and unfortunately the internet is not the best place to get information about all of that because you do get such differing opinions and everything. I almost need to just stop reading the net, think about it, get my questions answered and go from there. I'd be better off.

And I do have a TON of questions: How to get a dog that gulps and doesn't chew to chew the bones? What about vitamin supplements? Do we need to go cold turkey and just jump into it? Will there be side effects to look for? What about Topaz and his medication, what effect will the food change have on him? How do I know how much 8 ounces is? Do I need a scale? What about veggies and fruits? Will this make them sick in the beginning?...and well, the list goes on and on!!

So... I will need to chat a bit with the Pet Beastro lady and see what she says. And well, we may be venturing into the scary world of RAW food. I don't know yet...I have a few days to figure it out.

Here are some links:
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet_specific.shtml
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

Here's a site that talks about what is in pet food:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/Processing.htm

The jury is still out on this one. I don't know what to think about it all.

Later...H