Health and Wellness

[Linda and "Toby"]

Let's share health or wellness issues here so we can easily find them, and refer back to them later.

[Lynn D.]

Beginning of March ear infestation.

Mid March Abscess requiring 2 surgeries. The total cost of which I could have paid for pet insurance for 5 years.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Lynn...what were the abscesses? Did I miss this post?

[Lynn D.]

Sorry, I just happened to see your post now. The vet is fairly sure that the abscess was caused by being poked with something short and thin. The timing strongly suggests that it happened while he was at doggy daycare, and that is the only time Echo was out of my sight. Then it swelled to the size of a small grapefruit. Poor Echo was miserable. The abscess poped on it's own leaving a opening big enough that a eraser could fit through. The pocket of infection went from the back of his leg to his knee. Swelling from his upper thigh to the hock.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

OMG...I am so sorry to hear this. I would find myself wondering what on earth he could have been poked with:( All is over and done and he's ok, right?

This issue with Izzy...the pathologist AND the surgeon say that this diagnosis is usually caused by blunt trauma. She is 6 months old...what kind of blunt trauma could have happened to her and in both elbows!!!. Like you, she is hardly ever out of my sight. Was she dropped when she was born? Who knows. I get the second round of biopsy reports this week. I am very curious to see what it says.

I am hoping after this is over with Izzy we will be on the positive path with no more issues!!! I think surgeries on our furry babies are hard on the human parents as well as the pups. We're the ones that have to nurse them back to health and make sure they don't hurt themselves (opening stitches, etc) in the process.

[Linda and "Toby"]

I think we finally figured out what made Toby so deathly ill last year - our "Lantana" bushes/groundcover in the backyard! Here's a photo of what it looks like. (Got this off the internet.) 

I just found out that they are SUPER POISONOUS for dogs (can even cause their liver to shut down). I had no idea. Anytime Toby has needed to throw up, I've seen him ravenously eating these mint-scented leaves. And since mint tea calms my stomach when I have an upset stomach or stomach ache, I didn't stop him from doing this. I'm almost positive now that THIS was the culprit that time when he couldn't stop throwing up (and throwing up and throwing up) and his intestines got all filled with pockets of gas and we had to do exploratory abdominal surgery to find an obstruction that didn't exist. I've got 16 of these bushes in my backyard. (groan) So for now, I've blocked off part of my yard so Toby can't get to them. I'll have to find something else to replace them with, darn it. 

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

A lump (that looks like bug bite) near Mochi's elbow. The doctor said it could be a early stage of histiocytoma or just a bug bite, need to keep eyes on it for a month.

[Linda and "Toby"]

Aw, poor Mochi! I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's just a bug bite!

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

turns out it was just a bug bite!! now there's a scab that's coming off soon!

 

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Yay Mochi:-)

[Linda and "Toby"]

Thank goodness! (whew)

[Donna & Sophie]

Oh my gosh, I didn't realize that lantana is bad for doodles.  I have them as ground cover on our slope in the back yard.  Guess I have some replanting to do. Thanks for the tip.

[Linda and "Toby"]

Your welcome. My mother in law mentioned it to me recently, so I asked my vet when Toby went in for shots this week. He said he treats a LOT of gastrointestinal emergencies involving dogs eating lantana. He said the side effects can be very serious - even life threatening because it can shut down their liver. It made Toby soooooo sick.