Waiting

I am waiting to hear back from Lupe's vet. I got a voicemail from her (wouldn't you know the 5 minutes I am out of my office is when she called) saying that she was able to remove the growth from her lip without having to put her under. So what about the one on her nose? I called back but she was in an appointment. Now I'm waiting, again! She was brought into surgery later than I had expected but I'm glad its done. I just want to know what was done, what potentially wasn't done and when I can go get her! I'm not the most patient person sometimes...

If you sent good vibes our way, thank you! The support and reassurance I have gotten from friends and family are so appreciated! I just want to bring her home...she's probably pissed that she hasn't been able to sleep all day.

Good vibes and thoughts

My friend Jules had her reconstruction surgery yesterday and all went well. She had the tissue expanders replaced with full implants. She may be far away but I send her good vibes every day. Now its time to send her ones for a speedy recovery so she can tackle the next step in her treatment and fight. If anyone I know in the world can remain so strong and upbeat when faced with such adversity, its Jules! :)

Now I need good vibes and thoughts for my sweet girl, Lupe. I noticed the other day that she had super stinky breath and was really licking her lips. I finally got a look at her mouth last night and she has a growth (which I knew was there) on the side of her lip. It was much bigger than the last time I had looked at it and covered with dried blood and pus. Great, its infected! We went to the vet today and it needs to come off. Because of the location, she needs to be put under for the procedure. The procedure shouldn't take long, but putting a 12 1/2 year old dog under general anethesia is a higher risk than a dog half her age. She is on antibiotics for 2 weeks and if her blood work comes back normal, we are a go for surgery on Tuesday. Also, if she is okay while under the anethesia, they will try to remove the bump on her nose. You can see it in this picture...the one on her lip is the same size, if not bigger.


I am trying to hold it together and I do trust the vet and their technicians to monitor her closely and have her come through just fine...but its my Pooh Bear and I'm a nervous wreck. So, good thoughts, good vibes and little prayers for this sweet girl are appreciated. :)

Sterile Sample...

So, I took Lupe to the vet yesterday afternoon for a follow up visit from her UTI. She has finished the 3 weeks of antibiotics (will help from Greenies Pill Pockets...these are wonderful if you ever have to give animals medication) and they wanted to check to see if the antibiotics worked. I was told they needed a sterile sample, so I figured that they were going to catch urine in a sterile cup. Makes sense...

They took Lupe towards the back, I thought that odd, since the last time I went with the tech to walk her while the tech used a ladle to catch the urine. Lupe and the tech came back about 5 or 10 minutes later and she told me that they were unable to collect the sample. They used an ultrasound but her bladder was too small and they want to have to stick her and not get anything out. They had me make another appointment for next week to try again.

Wait a second, STICK HER?! With what and where?! I did some looking online this morning and it appears the best way to get a sterile urine sample is to insert a syringe through the abdominal wall and into the bladder! Ah, NO! Lupe is 12 years old, I am NOT having her stuck so that they can get urine to confirm the antibiotics work. She is not symptomatic so this is just not necessary in my mind. I called the vet this morning, explained I was not comfortable with this and cancelled the appointment. I told them that if she became symptomatic, that I would bring her back and we could discuss this option.

Seriously, they were going to stick her like this? No one explained this to me...how would I know what this entailed as I am not a doctor, vet or vet tech...nor do I work in a doctor's or vet's office. Lupe's vets' office is wonderful! I have never had anything like this happen before there and I will from now on double and triple check what they are doing to her before they do it. And if I don't understand it, I will ask them to explain to me in detail what a procedure involves. I am SO glad she didn't have enough urine in her bladder for them to do this yesterday! I would have been in tears!!!

Goopy-dog

So I think I should call Lupe, Goopy...she has an infection in both eyes and both ears! The poor thing has been scratching at her ears and shaking her head constantly. On top of that, the goop coming out of her eyes is gross. Took her to the vet on Tuesday so she's now officially on medication...3 weeks of ear drops and a week of eye ointment. Let me tell you, she does not like either of them. Her eyes are looking better, less goop coming out, but the ointment makes the hair around her eyes slimy.

My poor little girl...

Dog Fight!!!

Lupe got into a doggie fight on Friday with her BFF Nigel. They are okay and talking to each other again, but there was some blood drawn...and it was Lupe's.

She's okay, but has an infected paw at the nail. It looks like Nigel got possessive of his food (which was removed, but he didn't know that) and went after Lupe. Lupe must have tried to push him away and got her nail stuck on Nigel's id tag. Some bleeding but she seemed okay.

Saturday, a little tender, but still seemed okay. Sunday VERY tender and a little pus around the nail. So yesterday, I took her to the vet. She has a slight infection and will be on antibiotics (oral and topical) for the next 10 days. Poor little dog. But she got yogurt, doggie crack and a new goose squeaky toy from Nigel and Ryann. :)

Nigel is a sweet boy and Lupe and I love him so its not a huge deal. Fights happen between dogs and this was obviously an accident.

I had to take yesterday off as I really wasn't feeling good all weekend. A beautiful sunny day and both Lupe and I were too weak to move. Its just a house of infection between me and Lupe right now. LOL! I

Ms. Lupe

My wonderful Ms. Lupe has a REALLY bad UTI. Now for you and I we can tell that something is wrong and do something about it. Unfortunately for Ms. L, she has to wait until her mommy figures out that the 13 attempts at peeing while out for a walk is not a good thing. Nor are the drops of blood in her pee. This was Saturday.

So I called the vet and brought her in yesterday. $101 later, they informed me that she has blood, protein, crystals and bacteria in the urine sample I had to bring in. Ever try to get a urine sample from a dog? Quite interesting.

She is on antibiotics for 3 weeks. The vet told me to feed her yogurt so that the antibiotics don't kill her stomach. Luckily, she likes plain yogurt. Actually, she LOVES plain yogurt. Hopefully the antibiotics work, the infection clears up and we move on from this one. She does have the beginnings of a cataract in her right (good eye). The vet said not to worry about it yet because its just like having a spot on your glasses, you can see around it but its kind of annoying. He attributed this one to age and not genetics (like the one in her left eye).

I have a very lethargic, sore and pouty cockapoo on my hands. But she is very cuddly right now and that's wonderful when its cold outside. :)