Hello Again

Back at the beginning of May er, end of April, when I told you all I was going to go play with my dog, I didn't really mean for a whole month. (Insert sheepish grin here.)

Tiptoeing through the tulips.

But I did need to take a break from all things digitized and spent much of the last month doing the job thing while also playing with my dog, digging in the garden, reconnecting with my husband and just generally enjoying life away from the computer.

My friend Kelly, of the former Roo's Doins (whom I have sadly let down and lost touch with) used to take a blogging vacation every year. I understand now why she did and how healthy it is to put down the keyboard and step away from the computer every once and awhile. (Well, at least as much a computer programmer can put down a keyboard and step away from the computer...)

In the middle of taking a blogging vacation, I actually got a real honest-to-goodness vocation vacation for the first time since September 2012. THAT was much needed and long overdue.

But I have missed you all and am happy to be back behind the keyboard. There is much to tell. So let me start with a summary and over the next few weeks, we'll expound on the details.

Bella's meds:

I mentioned some time back that we have Bella on a new cocktail of drugs for her fear and anxiety and her penchant for reacting aggressively towards me and Jan when life gets to be too much for her. She remains on the Soloxine (for hypothyroidism) and Fluoxetine (for aggression) and in January we added Gabapentin (for nerve pain and possible seizures.) This has proven to be absolutely life-changing for her and for us. And I will definitely share stories soon about that.

She is also on a drug called Amantidine which was prescribed for an injury she suffered in January to her foot but may also be contributing to her improved behavior. It is used for what is called "ramp-up pain" - the kind of pain where it's tolerable in the morning but by the afternoon and evening is just unbearable.

The goal is to be able to wean her off the Fluoxetine in time (she is already at a lower-than-usually-prescribed dose) and probably ease her off the Amantidine in the next few weeks.

Bella's leg/foot injury:

The left-front shoulder issue and the acute right front lameness that occurred in January have been largely resolved. Bella has been seeing an integrative vet for a couple of months now and we couldn't be more pleased with the whole practice and especially the results.

Bella sees a doctor who specializes in chiropractic treatment but has also been having weekly low-level laser treatments. A little over a week ago, Jan and I both remarked that we hadn't seen Bella limp from standing at all over the weekend. She still has the occasional skip in her step when she's been lying on the cold ground or has overdone it a bit but she is otherwise limp-free.

Bella has shown signs of a limp be it mild or severe since 2012 - it feels weird to see her not limp now.

We are stunned and grateful.

Bella's diet:

Back in 2012, Bella injured her left front shoulder. While we saw many different doctors trying to diagnosis and correct it, we were left with medication to help her manage the pain. Unfortunately, that medication was hard on her tummy and she was diagnosed with Colitis. A prescription diet was recommended but we continued to toggle between treating her limp and treating her tummy.

The last straw was when we called the vet who prescribed the medication and asked if we could try her on something else that was easier on her insides and he recommended another drug to help fight the problems she was facing due to the first. Enough was enough and we called in a holistic vet. We wanted to treat her injury once and for all and in a way that didn't create other issues.

Things didn't quite work out with that vet (too far away when Bella came up acutely lame in January) but she did put us on the path to home-cooking for Bella. We started cooking for her meals in January and, aside from what we now refer to as the "baby bird incident" (more on that in future installments), she has had a nearly perfect constitution ever since.

Geez, mom, is nothing private?

We have been easing her back into exercise after her extended crate-rest and she's been on a diet so now she's looking as good as she feels. And we don't even have to fight with her any more to get her to eat!

Bella's behavior:

The most significant change has been in Bella's behavior. Sometimes we wonder what happened to our scared-y dog? Last Tuesday Bella slept through a (distant) thunderstorm. Her happy ear is up more often than ever and her eyes and face are soft and relaxed. She just looks so much more comfortable in her own skin.

It's hard to even describe how the changes in her feel. She is calm but not sedated, she seeks out play as well as (occasional) cuddles and she is just generally more relaxed about life all around.

We still have work to do - Bella hasn't been around other dogs since we have had to retire her from her agility for reactive dogs class. But we're feeling much more confident that we can teach her better options for her reaction to other dogs now that she has finally found some peace.

And that's all the news that's fit to print today.

As I mentioned, I'll try to fill in some of the details about all this change over the next few weeks - from the spreadsheet I use to calculate Bella's calories and protein intake to my queasy reaction to watching Bella get "adjusted" by the chiropractor and all sorts of good things in between.

Thanks for not forgetting us. We've missed you and your pups and will be making the rounds as soon as possible to check on how you all are doing.

Peace.

Post title shamelessly stolen from the amazing Mr. Neil Diamond. "Hello Again"

Bella had something to say (video)

I was trying to write tonight's post.

Bella had other plans.

Bella won.

What would you have done?

"Life is short. Play with your dog."

Wordless Wednesday 131 - So kissable

Another week, another vet visit

So, one full week on the Doxycycline and Bella is limping worse than when she started it. Guess it's not ticks that have her limping.

As easy as it would have been to manage if it were a tick-borne disease, this is actually very, very good news to us. Especially since we think we have found something that gives Bella some relief AND identified what we think she's doing to her right side.

Let's start at the beginning.

Or at least with Bella's visit to the chiropractor last Wednesday.

We had selected this veterinarian based on recommendations from friends. When your dog is afraid of people, finding vets who know how and have the patience to work with her can be challenging. Especially when that visit will be as "hands on" as a chiropractic one. To be honest, I wasn't sure some of the hands on modalities would even be feasible with Bella since both require her to be at least moderately relaxed to provide any benefit.

So we turned to our friends and our trainers and one name kept coming up again and again: Dr. Rogers at Integrative Animal Health. The doctor roster at the clinic reads like a Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine alumni who's who so we were very confident that the doctors there were every bit as good as the doctors we have been working with. Learning that the two practices routinely refer patients back and forth as required was just more gravy.

But what about the scared-y dog factor?

Bella has never been a fan of the vets' office. Basically having people she doesn't know touch her in any way is always cause for her concern. But the last two times we went to the vets, we left her there for the whole day.

I haven't talked about it much because it's kind of low on her list of issues but Bella does have some separation anxiety. Surprise! Okay probably not a surprise. But leaving her at the hospital the last couple of times we took her there pretty much did her in. By the time she figured out we were going BACK to another clinic on Wednesday morning, she wasn't having any of it.

Pacing, panting, whining and climbing, Bella was hoping against hope that she could make this whole thing not happen.

But happen it did.

We got her into an exam room, did the whole terribly long and boring speil of what happened when and how all over again to the technician and then again when Dr. Rogers came in to see us.

Then Dr. Rogers wanted to 'do an adjustment'.

She wants to do a what???

Bella was lying on a mat in the exam room and Dr. Rogers sat down behind her and started just gently scratching Bella's bottom. You know that spot on top of the tail dogs love to have scritched so much? Yeah, that spot.

I thought my heart was going to shatter into a billion pieces as my poor dog shook from head to toe at the gentle touch of a stranger.

We've never pushed Bella into accepting being touched by strangers because she had so many other fears and issues to work through but I wonder now if we have done her a disservice? We will have to see if the good doctor can ultimately change her mind about strangers touching her.

As Dr. Rogers examined Bella she was making gentle adjustments to her muscles and structure. And she found things. Things no x-rays or ultrasounds or MRIs had been able to find.

First, was that Bella's right-side lameness likely stemmed from an injury in her right foot, not her shoulder. Jan had been saying that all along but the focus, and perhaps rightly so until ruled out, remained on her neck and shoulder.

Next Dr. Rogers found some issues in Bella's left shoulder which we pretty much expected. But traveling on, she also found potential issues in Bella's back and hips.

But as she examined and tweaked our little girl, Bella's panic subsided. 

You could almost see her pain release as Dr. Rogers found spot after spot that needed adjustment. Bella's panting eased, her face softened, the shaking stopped. She still wasn't what anyone would call relaxed but for our crazy kid, the change was night and day.

As Dr. Rogers was working on Bella's hips though, Bella's agitation began to increase again and Dr. Rogers stopped, recognizing that Bella "was done" for the day.

We finished the visit with instructions on how to give Bella Adequan injections at home. (Jan gives the shot. Leslie manages the dog. Leslie does not do shots. Leslie could barely stomach the chiropractic adjustments.)

We see Dr. Rogers again on Thursday and I have a lot of questions to ask. I think I was just so happy to have a plan that didn't involve surgery and more medications that make Bella sick that I didn't ask for as much detail as I normally do.

Jan and I have also made some observations over the weekend that we'd like to bring up with the doctor. Until then, Bella is enjoying be free of crate rest and this lovely spring weather. Hopefully now that we've got her on a rehabilitative and healing path and we'll be able to get her pain in check soon.

Thank you for all your kind words and support.

Black & White Sunday: Mom is such a slacker

And so another week has passed and mom hasn't posted anything - again. Good thing she had this pretty picture of me just hanging out there waiting to be shared to remind you all I still exist. Geesh, mom, get with it, will ya?