Sick pup

Friday night we noticed Harlow seemed a little off.  Typically she's about as bright as a pup can be, active, constantly following us or into something, but suddenly her wattage seemed a little dim.  She took treats from us, but didn't seem that interested in eating them.  Our first thought was that maybe the treats had gone stale.

Saturday morning she was still off, not interested in any food or treat and she vomited a few times.  I don't usually worry too much, having dogs all my life means I've seen my share of tummy aches, but I also had to weigh in that it was Saturday, the vet was only open a half day, and if this did progress to something a little worse, our only recourse would be the emergency vet.  We made the decision to take her in.

She loves everyone at the vet and watches for them.

After taking a look at her, the vet decided it might not be a bad idea to take a few x-rays.  Harlow has a history of making bad decisions and tasting everything to see if its edible.  The vet was worried that she might have a foreign object causing her issues.  To our relief, her x-rays came back clear. 

As an added bonus, since her hips were clearly visible in the x-rays, I asked the vet what she thought.  Harlow loves to lay "froggy" style, and we've been told that means her hips were shot.  The vet said the opposite and said Harlow had wonderful hips!

They kept Harlow for the day, giving her barium and waiting to see if her stomach cleared itself.  I was able to pick her up at 7pm.  She's on a strict diet of bland food, rice and ground beef.  Monty is also benefiting from her diet - how can you feed that to one and not the other one?  He gets his mixed with a little kibble.

Hi dere, people friends.  I'z feeling better.

She is feeling better, and her happiness has returned.  We've been letting her rest as much as possible.  Monty has taken her place as ranch dog, temporarily.  He tends to like to nibble on the ponies and challenge my "no dogs in the corral" rule.

Dis hay is mine - go get your own.

I did try to do a more "artistic" photo shoot with the pups.  Monty is a little hard to take portraits of.  He's in love with the reflections from the camera lens and is easily distracted.

Monty is such a beautiful red color - and so serious in his photos!

...but, Harlow is always ready to pose for a photo or two.

Sam Update

We still don't have any news on Sam.  Dr. Kerne isn't ready to come straight out and say he has lymphoma yet.  She wants to run one more test - we will know the results either tomorrow or Wednesday.  She is hoping that Sam is having an issue with a salivary gland.  You can see the spot on his neck where she needle biopsied the suspicious lump.

I'm still happy!

 To make matters worse, Monty, in a super-charged burst of puppy energy raced past Sam this morning and pulled a toy out of Sam's mouth which in turn pulled out one of Sam's teeth.  Sam had to get one stitch to close the hole left behind.

I didn't mean it....

Two more days till we find out anything - please keep paws crossed!

Sibling Rivalry

Sam goes back to the vet tomorrow for a final diagnosis - everybody please keep fingers crossed!

I'm keeping paws crossed for my big brother, Sam!

I'll admit, we decided to spoil the boys a bit and got them these MONster size rawhide chewies!

Nom Nom Nom

While Sam is managing to stay happy with his, Monty is another story...



Sigh....
(Please disregard the jumble in the background - Mom is doing "spring" cleaning!)

It's not that Monty didn't get one.  We could give Monty steak and Sam a dirty old sock and Monty would still think that Sam had gotten something better!


I've got nothing but this old, dry chewie...

Monty will now spend his whole day in his secret lair plotting on how to get Sam's away from him!

Hey!  How did you find me in here?

Please keep paws crossed for Sam.  We are going to need it tomorrow!

Chez PooPee

Both Monty and Sam have picked up a stomach bug that has left them with the runs, and in Monty's case, one bout of vomiting. Originally it began with Monty over the weekend, and we assumed he had picked up something in the yard. After all, if it isn't nailed down he will try to eat it. Monty seemed to be fine by Sunday evening.

Yesterday, however, Sam started having issues. If you all remember, Sam has had a couple of episodes that has required him to stay at the vet for several days. We would desperately like to avoid that, especially since we are not sure Dr. Kerne has forgiven us for staging a daring jailbreak and busting him out the last time! Neither boy has a temperature, and the runs have been thankfully controllable with a few extra outside trips. We've also been picking our brains trying to think of what they might have gotten into. We've have thoroughly washed their dishes, and remain convinced that they found something in the yard.

As you can see, the boys barely have any strength to remain upright.


We've switched the boys over to the standard bland diet - lean ground beef and rice. This time we are also trying something new. I've heard so much about giving a few spoonfuls of pumpkin, that we picked up a can and have properly dosed the boys. Sam is in absolute doggy heaven - he is getting a variety of people food, which is his goal in life. We weren't sure Monty would eat the pumpkin, but found out he absolutely loves it!

It's the rice he is suspicious of!


Dinner is served! Even though Monty is better, he is also getting the bland diet, although his is mixed with kibble.


Keep your paws crossed that Sam will be fine and we will be able to avoid a stay at the vet. For now, we are glad he still has his appetite!

Sam has returned!

Sam came home last night and is feeling quite a bit better. The vet thinks he may have eaten something fuzzy and poisonous - he threw up a little fur, a little bone, and someting just a tad scaley. I think a neighbors cat might have left his lunch in our yard and Sam finished it off, being the good host that he is. The Vet gave him an emetic which turned up the evidence, and once he came clean (so to speak), he felt much better. So, after three days of chasing him around the house with a rug shampooer (I appreciate the seventies as much as anyone, but tie-dyed rugs are out of the question) things are finally back to mormal. Well, not according to Sam; he's on special food, medicine, and a strict no-treat diet which he is protesting every chance he gets.

(Editor's Note: All, Aaron decided to update Sam's blog this time...)

This is Aaron - I like to think the boy ate a snake that ate a mouse that had eaten a Gila Monster.

Editor's Note: I think he is grumpy about the carpets...

Sam has been reunited with his ball:


Bliss...


A dog and his ball:


The medicine has kicked in:


Is that the cookie jar?

Sam Update

Sam is still at the vet. He came through the night fine. He was x-rayed at 8am this morning. Our vet, a wonderful lady who has been our vet for over twenty years, is keeping him through the day to monitor him. Hopefully, our boy will be home this evening.

It probably sounds like I'm worrying over something that is very minor, but Sam's a cancer survivor and on maintenance medicine to keep him going. Every little thing is a major worry for me and Aaron.

Thank you everyone for keeeping Sam in your thoughts. I will keep posting updates.

Sammy Update...

Sam is going to have to spend the night at the vet. They have taken x-rays, given him medicine, and want to watch him overnight. Tomorrow morning they will take more x-rays. I need to wait until 10am to call to find out how he is. I don't know how Aaron and I will get by for the next 13 or so hours until then. We already miss him terribly - we want our boy back home!

Here is a photo taken with my cell phone cam at the vet's:

Sam is not feeling well...

I've been up with Sam most of the night. He definately is not feeling well - very upset in his stomach. I think my poor boy is going to have to go to the vet this morning...