A Wordy Wednesday

Photo courtesy of Venusienne from Flicker

Handkerchiefs are associated with sorrow and pain, which I see a lot of in the Animal Doctor's world. Some go into fits of bawling and sobbing ( this is me) while others can handle their grief silently like this old woman who listened intently, tears rolling down her cheeks, as the Animal Doctor explained how he and the other vets had tried to revive her dog. Her husband was beside her, rubbing her shoulders while his other hand clutched at a rosary.

I also remember this guy whose Labrador suffered from heatstroke on the day of his wedding. Before leaving for his honeymoon abroad, he went to the clinic, sat by his dog's crib and murmured to it for several minutes. He tied a handkerchief around its paw, hoping that the dog would still be able to smell his scent on it and come out of coma. But the dog never made it.

I remember these images very well, perhaps because no words can accurately describe the bond between a human and his pet, and unless another person has tried it, no one would probably understand how loving an animal can be both so incredibly beautiful and painfully sad.

A special day

A Happy Second Birthday
to our two legged baby

M I G G Y

We will be on vacation in Iloilo City, my hometown, to celebrate Human Baby's birthday with my family. I'll be seeing my dogs too (they live in my Mom's house) who I haven't seen in two months. We will visit your blogs when we come back.

The Secretary needs some Talk-N-2

Hi every dog, cat and hooman. I am doing a quick post, first, to let you all know that I, Trudis, am pawfectly fine if you missed me on Monday. The Secretary did it again- fell asleep in the middle of my dictation- the nerve of that woman! Apparently, she had another hangover from watching Disney Cartoon Marathon last Sunday.

You are not taking this job seriously, are you???

And second, Benji, my real sister ( we have the same dog-mother) is sick. She was adopted by a client of the Animal Doctor's when we arrived here in Metro Manila. Like me, she has a habit of chewing things, hers are paint off the walls and rusty metals. Benji is very hardheaded and would not listen to her hooman. The Animal Doctor did some tests and found out she has ARF- I dont know if this has got to do with her bark but I can sense that she is very very sick. I am worried about my sister, please send good vibes to her, will you?

- A very worried Trudis

The Secretary's Note: The Animal Doctor diagnosed Benji with Acute Renal Failure( ARF) and the prognosis is not so good, like with most renal cases. The Clinic does not have a dialysis machine, so the Animal Doctor had Benji on slow but continuous IV drip and diuretics to flush out the toxins from her body. He is also giving her additional medications to prevent complications and fluid imbalance. I've never seen him in such a tough balancing act with other medical conditions. The good thing is, Benji's creatinine levels droped from 400 to 250 after three days, and her phosphorus and potassium levels are not that bad. However, her red blood cells might be falling. Fingers and paws crossed.

I am a good girl

Scarlet wasn't so chirpy when she woke up on Sunday morning so the Secretary decided to let her join our outdoor games.

See how huge Moy's mouth is? I was too busy sniffing something on the ground, but Scarlet looked like she'd care for a round of bitey face.


So I, Trudis, indulged her. See, how a good girl I am? I even had to play it her way.

Scarlet: Uhrmmm, grrr, ummmm.
Trudis: That not bitey face, girl.

We had fun with our Sunday playtime. Secretary gave us a bath after and we spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in our house. The Secretary found out what I was chomping on of late: dried leeches. Absolutely yummy. But the Secretary did not approve and continues to withhold my outdoor privileges. Boo-hoo.

Oh, in case you're wondering why our sister, Pussy O' Woosie isn't blogging, she's obsessively watching the neighbor's cat. Tsk, tsk.

The Secretary thinking out loud:

1. Scarlet's Mom and Dad visited her this weekend and I gathered that they are not yet ready bring home a special needs dog. I volunteered to temporarily care for Scarlet but I had to ask them to chip in money for her food and medicines. My will and desire to help this dog is so strong and gives me a lot of frustration. I haven't finished her makeshift stroller yet and I am thinking of just leaving it to an expert and shell out some more money :( But I know what the real question is ( one that I am possibly evading?). For how long can I take on the responsibility of caring for this dog? When can I accept the fact that some animals are bound to experience pain and unhappiness in their lives, just like humans do? That there is a point when you need to stop resisting and just accept reality?

2. I have a problem with Trudis. She's developed an appetite for stones, soil, leeches- basically anything she sees on the ground. I am confining her in her kennel until we figure out a way to curb her pica. On the other hand, this strengthens the Animal Doctor's theory that Trudis' liver problem was caused by something she'd ingested, as opposed to a viral infection or congenital abnormality. He already started Trudis on a medicine called Godex and expects her liver enzymes to reach normal levels in two weeks.

Update on Trudis

I, Trudis, get to post today because of the following reasons:

1. We had no post last Monday which is the day we doggies blog, because our Secretary fell asleep while taking dictations, can you believe that??? It turns out she had a nasty hangover from watching (non stop) four seasons of House, M.D during the weekend (none of us dogs have a pair of opposable thumbs so we cannot fire our Secretary); plus

3. I need to update my online buddies with the state of my health after my Wednesday trip to the emergency room that got some worried.

That fateful morning, I was woken up by my tummy making somersaults and weird noises. It took long for the new Assistant to open my house ( and you know that I don't poop inside my house, its just not ladylike) so there I was, shifting in my seat trying to hold it in until one considerate soul finally let me out. I can't even begin to describe the massive explosion that took place at the end of my bum, but my tummy felt better afterwards.

I went over to Jappy, but in the middle of biting his face, my tummy did a double sommersault and its contents ( or whatever was left of it) threatened to come out, this time from my mouth. I thought I would feel better after unloading my entire dinner the previous night, but suddenly I got woosy and dizzy. . . And of course you know the rest of the story.

The result of my blood test came out yesterday and indicated that my liver enzymes were three times the normal value for dogs. The Animal Doctor didn't think there was a direct correlation with this and my fainting episode. With my symptoms, he's thinking that I went into hypovolemic shock from the vomiting and pooping that I made that morning. Nevertheless, I am taking medicines for my liver. I feel perfectly fine now, except that, as a result of the incident, my outdoor playtime was drastically curtailed. Boo-hoo.

My original playmates actually let me play with them.

The Secretary's Note: One late night in 2001 , I found my spitz, Dexter lying motionless in our garden. His gums were black and when I lifted him up, water and blood gushed out of his rectum. There was blood in the garage a few minutes earlier when I came looking for him; and days before, I also saw droplets of blood in our porch which I thought came from an injured bird because the dogs looked fine. Dexter quickly recovered after our midnight trip to the vet, but the vet was unable to explain what caused the sudden onset of Dexter's symptoms. Frustrated, I did my own research and ended up with the term hypovolemic shock and acute hemorrhagic gastritis. The dogs had subsequent episodes of bloody poop after Dexter's incident which eventually resolved after I got them on probiotics. Years later, I discussed my experience with the Animal Doctor who validated my "findings". I would never advise anyone to play doctor for their dogs (marry a vet if you can), but having basic knowledge of animal diseases and symptoms that require immediate trip to the vet, you too can help save your dog's life.

Quite a Scare

At 6:15 this morning, while getting ready to leave for work, I saw Trudis and Jappy horsing around in our front yard.

At 6:30, I went out of the house and noticed that the dogs' poop were plenty than usual.

At 6:31, I opened and closed the gate of our yard, was about to turn my back and leave when Trudis began retching and eventually vomited undigested food. She was not herself. I could see that she was wobbling. I cried out for the Human Son's Nana, and asked her to check Trudis' gums and tongue. They were paper white! Nana carried Trudis and we ran to the Clinic which is just a few meters away. We left H.S sleeping all by himself in our house, good thing halfway to the Clinic, we saw the Animal Doctor ( he had earlier gone to the Clinic to check on his patients) walking back to the house. He took over from there so Nana was able to return to the house and watch poor H.S.

At 6:35, Trudis was given intravenous fluid, Atropine, Vitamin K, heart tonics and whatnots - I was in pure panic mode and drove the Animal Doctor nuts ( We had a bad argument last night and now I am forced to be nice to him :P ). He cannot confirm diagnosis yet. Trudis could have ingested something- but there are only leaves, worms, snails and leeches in our front yard. Could any of these be the culprit? The Animal Doctor also drew blood for examination so he will know what's going on inside Trudis' body.

At 6:45, Trudis' gum color turned pink again and she looked somewhat okay. The Animal Doctor convinced me to call for a taxi and so I wasnt late for work today.

My knees are still shaking though. I had similar incidents like this with my other dogs in the past. It seems like our minds are connected, and I am able to be there for them when they need me most.

I pray that there is nothing seriously wrong with Trudis.

Update on Scarlet II

Surprise! Are you??? Yes, its me, Scarlet doing a guest bloggie today. The Secretary told me that "I have tugged a few heartstrings with my story and that some online buddies want an update". Well, I am happy to report that I am doing much better after the Animal Doctor opened up my poorly tummy about a million seconds ago. I eat a lot ( like I did before I got my ouchie) but its alright because I make the Animal Doctor really happy with the pile of poopies presents I give him daily.

My wound is not all healed, the Secretary cleans it and applies ointment morning and evening. Right now I stay in their house down Mimosa Street ( they bring me to the Clinic when my real Mommi visits) where I saw three other dogs and one grumpy cat. One of the dogs, Trudis, always tries to play with me. I want to, so I try to get up and use my front legs to move my body around. Its like I'm swimming but on solid floor. I can do that now because my ouchie is almost gone. The Animal Doctor has been giving me some tablets and maybe those are good.

Several days ago, the Secretary and the new Assistant have been taking turns "walking" me. They hold me around my chest ( sometimes using a towel too) and I paddle with my front legs. Oh, its fun to chase Trudis and that boy dog Moy-Moy ( Shhh, one of these days I am going to show him who's boss). Here's a video of me "walking".

The Secretary's Note: We thank all our online buddies who have been so very thoughtful of Scarlet. Her owner cannot afford anymore diagnostic tests ( and neither can we), so the Animal Doctor decided to symptomatically treat Scarlet for Rickets and had already put her on Vitamin D supplementation. We noticed that she is not yelping in pain anymore whenever her hind legs are touched. When "walking" her, I also noticed that she is able to rest her left hind leg on the floor to absorb some of her weight. She is definitely improving and we are keeping our fingers crossed! :)

P.S. I've been to the hardware store twice rummaging through an assortment of PVC pipes...err, whatever you call it. Hopefully this weekend, I would be able to figure out a way to make Scarlet's homemade wheelies.