Roxie Tendon Injury, 3 Columbus Trips to the Veterinary Medical Center, and some Vegan food!!!

Roxie: Abrasion on back of leg turned Tendon injury!

Initial injury after 1st set of staples... and Roxie getting all but one back out!

 A few months ago Roxie cut the back of her Left leg around her achilles tendon. I took her to have it stitched and examed to make sure it didn't cut any of the legiments and tendeons. They said it looked fine... They stapled it closed and sent her home... 3 different times because she kept tearing them out...

On her 2nd set of staples with no wrap and a cone to keep her away from the staples.... Problem...
She ended up breaking the very pretty pink cone and getting out the 3rd set of staples...

I'm Free!!!

But the last time they stapled her the Vet also wrapped her leg very tight and told me to leave it that way for 4 days. It was wrapped so tight that I took it off on the 2nd day because it was cutting into the back of her leg. It had also caused a very bad burn/rub injury on the front of her leg... but when I took the wrap off there was something else wrong... she would not put any presure on her leg and when she finally started walking on it again a day of 2 later her hock was all the way to the ground...

Kinda hard to see the wrapped leg... But it was wrapped at length and tight! In three layers...

This is me cutting it off....Because it was leaving abrasions

Front of foot after wrap removed.. This was caused by the wrap!

This is the front view of the damage the wrap caused!

When the wrap was removed the actual original cut is almost done healing... But there is now swelling in the tendon...

This picture is upside down... The bottom part is the muscle in the top of her leg.... and the is the other abrasion caused by the wrap... The one I could see above the wrap.. Just sawing away at her skin...

Took her back to the vet he said she needed surgery on the top part of her leg wear the muscle connects into the tendon... I took her to my Family vet and she said she thought the problem was lower in her leg were the staples had rubbed the tendon and caused the tendon to stretch and maybe rupture but not totally away from each other... So she sent me to a specialist at the Ohio State Animal Veterinary place... But the only appointment they could make me was Neurology.. and she thought there was some nerve damage as well so she said once I got in the door they would also have a Orthopedic surgent look at her....

Well on our first trip we went and seen neurology which said yes she had some nerve damage that may correct its self.... And he said he asked orthopedics... but come to find out he just asked an orthopedic student to look at her... So he came back and told us she need surgery.... The Neurology consult cost $250.00 even after they had told me on the phone that it was only going to be $125.00 for the consult!!! They decided to try to schedule for surgery with Dr. Au and said she would also exam her right before the surgery the next day. I asked a million questions, booked a hotel room, and then he went to mark down on Dr. Au's schedule but come to find out then they didn't have any room for her... and because they had an emergency come in they wouldn't be able to do it at all and Dr. Au's first surgical appointment available would be in 2 WEEKS! O but this needed fixed asap!!! what the heck was there issue?.. I was pissed considering I had drove 5 hours to get here and was promised I would be seen by both for full exams and they charged me double what they initially said... I left and drove home! Swearing...

Alot happened in the next two weeks and Dr. Au would be just as astonished and happy as we were...I had spoke with several Vets again in that 2 weeks. Our family vet for a check up and her vaccinations. Since we were taking her for surgery. Then I called Dr. Fallon.. ( He is our Chicken vet but he also does orthopedics) He said that if it isn't fully cut into and even if it is sometimes it can find itself and heal itself.... and I thought yeah I don't think so with Roxie because her hock was totally dropped... But I had hope...

Trip 2 to Ohio.... We go to see the very nice Orthopedics Specialist (Dr. Au) .. She checked her out and I told her how many consults I had had on her and that they all said something different.. and she looked at the chart and said the last orthopedic person was a student that looked at her... I had been lied to.. again ...so I was livid... considering I was told a specialist had looked at her on my first trip... Come to find out also... It wasn't as bad as we thought it was... Because over that 2 week wait she had started walking on her leg again... her hock had actually started to rise on its own and although she was shaky she was doing great!!! Dr. Au... Said she thought instead of it being tore, that it had just stretched because of the way it was wrapped and because of the staples... She said we would order a brace to support her tendon so it would not have further damage and see if she heals on her own. but there is a possibility that she would still need surgery to shorten them tendon. We  got the mold made and ordered her brace... $125.00 consult charge and $450.00 for a specially made orthopedic brace.... that should be in in 2 to 3 weeks. I was supposed to keep her in her kennel and not let her jump around or run outside... We did stay in Columbus at a dog friendly hotel that night...They pissed me off too... because I was promised a room with a fridge and Microwave.... Was it there .... Hell no and the manager said it would cost extra for that.... Well that not what the last guy said... err.... I hate bait and switch and Columbus was full of it...

at the hotel... Pibbie was excited to be an only dog for the night!

The next morning she had taken over and was relaxing on her mound of blankets while we got ready to go home

She was having an awesome time.. and i hope she left the bed full of Pibble hair so they had to change and wash the whole Damn thing.. considering I was supposed to have a fridge and microwave and I didn't!!! A-holes!

Well over the next 3 weeks the vet and I talked a couple of times... And finally week 4 she got the brace.... But it was made wrong so she had to send it back... So another week and a half later (total weeks to get brace 5 1/2)  we started on our journey back to Ohio State... I had not let her outside at all but I didn't keep her in her kennel all day every day either...

19 miles outside of Columbus Ohio we pull over to use the rest room at a Dairy Queen that was right off the side of the road... I am sitting in the car waiting on John and My cars starts smoking really bad.. Someone yells your car in on fire... and what do you know... it was... It totally burnt... See my other post....

after all that fun... I did finally make it to get her brace.. About an hour after her appointment.. The vet was glad to see she was doing so well and said to make her wear her brace outside and work her way up in time don't just put it on her and leave...

Pibbie looks awesome ine pink so we had to get Pibble Pink!!!!  :)

And then we were on our way to Whole foods and then home...

7/18/2011
To tell you the truth unless we have her out side... She doesn't wear the brace at all....and when she does wear it I am afraid she will jump and hurt her self. but even without the brace she has been doing awesome and now the scar tissue is even shrinking and her tendon may still look a little bit bigger but you can't even really tell she hurt herself if it wasn't for the scars...She had the best temperament all the way through this... Never once did she snap or act irritated with the vets or with messing with her hurt leg.. She did wonderfully!

While we were there on our 3 trips we found a couple of nice places to get vegan food.. They were so yummy but can be a little pricey!

My Fave Place....

Patty Cakes bakery.... Every trip we made we had such scrumptious, lovely, awesome cupcakes and cookies!!! I love this place and if I lived near it I would be broke and weigh 500lbs... lol.... My fave Cup cake.... The lemon cupcake was so awesome and lemony and just one of the best cupcakes i have ever had!!! the flavor was rig ht on and I have yet to match it at home and I have tried several times!
But they also had great Everything cookies, Chocolate chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate chip cookies, Blueberry Crumb Muffins... I don't know what else we had but we had quite a few things!!!

Merry Me Blueberry Muffin

Everything Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate xo Cookies..I Think

Lovely Lemon.... Is very Lovely YUM!!!!

We also stopped by the Global Gallary Coffee shop and juice bar for half a vegan pizza.. It was pesto with pine nuts and daiya.. It was expensive but really yummy... I have craved that pizza ever since I had it....  (This place isn't all vegan but has vegan options)

Very small but very yummy....

We also tried some vegan muffins from Whole Foods My fave was the Orange Cranberry Muffin... But none of their muffins stand a chance next to Patty Cakes Bakery!

I think we are all glad that Pibbie's leg is doing awesome and that we don't have to make any more trips to Ohio any time soon!!!

1st Heartworm treatment Tab for our HW Positive Roxie

On our way to the Vet...again Monday Aug 23, 2010

 Yesterday I took Rox back to the vet and dropped her off for the day for her first HW Treatment Tab (intercepter). She had to stay for the day because the most reactive time is the first 3 to 8 hours after her tablet was given. In that time, as well as the next couple days there is a chancer just like after the Ivermectin shots that she can have an inflammatory reaction in her lungs to all the microfilaria (baby heartworms) dieing.  Since she has an inflammatory reaction to the adult HW's dieing she had a Deximethosone (Prednisone) shot and a Benedryle shot. Then she had for first HW tab. I called through put the day to check on her and she really did well all day. No coughing, no depression, no anythings. So we got to bring her home. The vet said it kills all the Microfaliaria (baby HWs) with in the first few hours and with in 48 hours all of the Mirofaliara break down and reabsorb into the system so the threat for a reaction should be over. But just to make sure there is no reaction in that time or past the first 48 hours... She is on Prednison pills for 7 days I think. But today she is doing really well and has not coughed or show any signs but a little bit of sleepiness and she hasn't ate very well. But I think if I give her a dose of Pepcid AC that her belly will feel better. But I have to wait for the Pred to get into her system before I give her her Pepcid.

Rox and Me getting some cuddle time on the way to the vet.

After this tablet I have to wait for 5 months and then have her retested for HWs. Hopefully they will be gone. But there is a small window in the reproduction of the HWs that can not be killed by the shots or the pills. This is the reason she could still be HW postive even after this. Hopefully all the worms were mature at the time she got her shots. Fingers crossed. Will Update later.... 

Roxies Recovery 3- 7 days post Heart Worm Treatment

I have been keeping everything pretty updated on her recovery from Heartworm Treatment. Probably just to kinda try to let out the stress I am feeling. And maybe to let someone else out there know what it is like to deal with a dog during heartworm treatment and the scariness of the situation.

We are one week Post treatment and I am still worried and can't keep many of my thoughts straight. I get that way when I am stressed beyond boundaries which doesn't happen very often. Last time I remember being this stressed like this is when my husband was deployed to Iraq for 18 months and when some of our other furbabies have had surgery or a severe medical issue. So maybe 4 times in the last 5 or 6 years. So my thoughts are not all together at this moment. And I am actually sitting here waiting for one of our vets to call right now about Roxie cough.

So lets recap.

• Last Monday Morning Rox had her first shot. Did well throughout the night.
• Tuesday she had her 2nd shot. She also did well this night and the next day.
• Wed she stayed till 3pm and then we picked her up. She was happy to come home and almost at like her normal self. If you didn't know she had the treatment you would have just thought she was a little tired.
• Thursday she was tired. She laid on the couch all day and just spent time with us. She didn't run around all though she got kinda excited twice but we were able to calm her down w/o any coughing. That night I didn't sleep because I wanted to stay up and watch her all night. I stayed up till 6:30am and my husband was supposed to get up at 7:30 so I fell to sleep. Also I had finally realized that they didn't send any Pred home with her and although she wasn't showing any symptoms I was wanting that as a precaution to stop lung inflammation before it happened.
• Friday I called to ask why they didn't put her on Pred at home and asked if they could. They said "no" they don't generally do that with stage one heart warm disease. I told them she had coughed a little on Friday and even though I though she needed it they didn't so they dismissed my thoughts. errr. I hate it when people do that. She coughed 4 times that day. A dry hack once every so often like when she would drink or eat. Stayed up with her most this night too.
• Saturday she was coughing a little more. I was worried but I was trying to believe what they had told me and not worry about the light cough she did her. It was a dry hack still until later that evening and it was more like a productive sounding cough but nothing was being hacked up. She laid around more lethargic this day and by evening she was shivering on and off. She really didn't do much then sleep even though I would let her out of her kennel. She would just kinda plop down and sleep.
• Sunday morning. Johns first day back to work I am woke up by the neighbors dog making my dogs freakout because he got lose. She was shivering pretty good and I realised that sometimes you shiver from having a fever. So I take my poor spongebob thermometer and insert it were it needed to be inserted. And he temp was at 104.3F at 9:30am. I knew normally temp was 100-102F so I called out our E-vet and they told me I should bring her in. I decided to wait and see if it would go down. about an hour later it was at 103.9F than an hour after that it was at 104.9F. So I decided to run her into the E-vet. she still has a cough. I was afraid to take her in because she gets excited in the car. I didn't want to stir up any HW's to go to her lungs and cause an embolism. But I had no choice but to take her. We got to the vet her temp was back at 104.0F. She said it was probably do to lung inflammation or pain. Which I had already pretty much known. So she gave her a Dexamethasone (Pred) shot and a Torbugesic shot. She also sent her home with an Antibitoc called Doxycycline which I had also read about online. It is supposed to treat the bacteria that live with the Heartworms. It is in the newer protocol for HW treatment. Plus Prednisone for the next month. She also told me to give her some Pepcid AD for her tummy every twelve hours to see if we could get her to eat some. She also told me at stage one she was not having such a great reaction and should be watched closely. The inflammation isn't a good sign at all. If she can't breath because she has an embili the prognosis isn't good at all and most dogs will not make it. We would only have a few minutes to get her to the Vet.So now I am really worried. That thought keeps playing over and over again in my brain. I kinda figured that but she really made it clear. She gave her enough Tor to let her get some rest that evening. There was no coughing and when she woke up at 7pm she no longer had a fever. It was at 101.3. Her gums were nice and pink she had a great cap response and she just over all felt better and you could tell. But she still slept good for the rest of the night.
• Monday She did a little coughing. You could tell she felt so much better. Her temp was still in the normal range at 101.8F. She wanted to play with the other dogs and with us but I had to keep putting her back into her kennel to keep her calm. She was feeling really good and even ate about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of food. But you can tell she is coughing a little more.
• Tuesday the coughing kinda changes a little each day becoming more and more. Used to it would only be when she was excited. Now its almost every time she drinks and eats. She is feeling good today though and is protesting her kennel stay. She ate about 3/4 cup of food before her Pred pill this morning which is good. She will no longer listen when I say "In" and point at her kennel. I actually have to push her into it. She pircks up at any sound and really just wants to be a dog. But her coughing today is getting more frequent. Today make day 7. So we have three weeks worth of recovery to do from just the shots. This cough is nerve racking and I really want to speak with out vet. I really wish I would have pushed the 3 shot method more. So it would have been a slow kill for the HW. But everyone tells me she should be fine. Should be isn't necessarily is and every dog isn't alike. I just really want her recovery to go smooth past this point. She has been kenneled more for the last two days than the first few since she is feeling more active. But she sits there and cries, claws, whines, and digs at her bed trying to destroy it. She makes me feel awful. But I know it is for her own good. I am thinking about asking the vet for something to keep her calmer. Wish the vet would call me back.

Please everyone Heartworm prevention is the key here. Mosquito's are every where and it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to give your dog HW's. A heart worm test is relatively inexpensive ( our was $26.50) and HW preventative (6 months around $40 or 12 months for $65.00 prices very depending on size of dog)are too. The south has a huge population of HW infected dogs and mosquito's. Normal count for HW load here is 8 to 10 per dog the southern states have a range of 50 to 80Worms per dog. Please even if a shelter said the dog has been tested have your dog retested in a couple months to make sure there really is no HWs. It can save your dogs life. Please have your dogs tested and put on prevention. HW treatment can be costly. Right now we are at (Test cost) 26.50+(x-rays and blod work)$250.00+ ( treatment cost included 2 Viles of Immiticide, exam, hospital stay, Pred Inj and Benadryl inj) $480.00+ (E-vet visit included emergency fee, exam, Pred inj, Tor inj, Doxy pills, Pred pills) $177.oo. So in total right now her treatment cost is at $933.50. I would give our babies the world. Finding money is an issue but I would do almost anything to keep them safe, happy, and healthy. Our financial situation isn't great. It isn't even good right now but the money is the least of my worries when my baby is sick. This could cost alot more than just money it could cost a dog her life. So please take that into consideration when you have a dog or cat. This is a very serious issue.

Roxies Recovery 2- A trip to the E-Vet

Well we had a little snag over the week end. Saturday evening Rox started shivering and feeling lethargic. Sunday morning I wake up to the neighbors dog was running through our back yard barking at our chickens and stirring up all the dog including Rox who isn't supposed to be stirred up and excited. So that pissed me off bright and early. So I went and caught the dog and returned it to its tie out next door. Came back and and made sure Rox wasn't coughing any more. She was laying in her kennel shivering and very nor herself. So I finally decided to take her temperature. It was 104.3F. Normal range for a dog was 100 to 102. I called the E-vet to see what they said. She told me to bring her in. But I decided to watch her and see if her temp came down. Every 30 minutes all morning I checked it. It came down to 103.9 than went way up to 104.9. So I finally decided when the bulk of the storms we were having left I would take her.



The E-vet was really nice. I have never met her before but she was really knowledgeable and actually set Rox up with everything that I originally wanted her to have as a precautionary measure. She agreed with me that the fever was probably inflammation in her lungs. So she gave her a Pred shot for the inflammation and a Tor shot just in case she was in pain. She also gave us a prescription for Pred and Doxy antibiotics. And told me to give her Pepcid AD for her belly to see if we could get her to eat some. It all went very well. Till we left.

This is Rox at the E-Vet

We leave and about 10 minutes down the road she starts drooling. and its not a regular drooling it is a slimy there is no end soaking the seat tipe of drooling. So I called and ask and they said with one of the meds that is normal. So I keep coming home and she keep getting worse and worse. Her gums are pink but getting a little white and I keep stopping the car to check on her. I was totally freaked out thinking she might be passing away. The vet said if she would have an embolism that I really wouldn't have enough time to make it back to the vet. So I wasn't sure what to do. I decided maybe it was just the meds and the heat so I decided to rush home to take her out of the heat and let her rest. By the time I got home she was falling over and kinda whining and falling asleep. I come inside and she walks right into her kennel and goes to sleep. As soon as she laid down and went to sleep her breeding was normal again. She wasn't breathing in the short panting motions. Her gums got pink and her Cap reflex was back to normal. So I finally calm down a little sit down and look up the Pain Med (Tor) which I figures could probably make her sleepy. I found that it can be a sedative for a dog. So I called the E-Vet just to make sure and she said she had given her a little extra to knock her out for the evening. So she would have time to rest. So after all my freaking out I guess I did make the right decision to bring her home. She rested till around 7pm when John got home and she wanted to see him so we let her out for a few minutes to visit. Her Temp was back to normal at 101.3 and only went up to 101.8 right before we went to bed. But she slept well all night. She was very comfortable all evening and night and that was nice.



Today she is doing good. She has been sleeping and being good most of the day. Not because she wants to like yesterday when she had a fever. But because she is locked in her kennel or sleeping beside me on the couch because she isn't aloud to do anything else. She still isn't eating and her only peed once today. That worries me a little. But hopefully after her tummy meds kick in her belly will feel much better. I am really glad I took her yesterday. She is doing better today. The vet said her lungs and chest sounded good and she doesn't have a fever today so I am sure she is doing alot better.



So now it is just wait and see now. Its still going to be a very long three weeks till the next vet appointment for her HW prevention pills to start. They will keep her the whole day while the Mircro HW's are killed. Then another month of worry. But I am praying that everything will go smooth now. Ii will write another update later.



Please Prey for our Roxie.

Heart worm Positive

Two words you never want to hear together. Unfortunately Friday I was given the news that our Roxie has Heart worm disease.

When we had her transported up here she was given a clean bill of health. She was suppose to be tested for heart worms and my paperwork said she was negative. I thought about having her rechecked but everyone thought it would be redundant so I didn't.

Fast forward 8 months... I got a weird feeling last week that all the dogs needed tested. It bugged me till I had it done Friday. I was dreading the results but really thought everyone would come out clean. I knew when I seen our vet come from her office that it was bad news. She took me to a patient room and asked a couple question. She knew she had come from South Carolina and that it had been at the end of last year. She asked if I was sure they had done a test because the worms had already started producing babies. Which means she has had them for at least 7 to 9 months. The chance of her getting heartworm here would be really low considering the stage they are at. She came her in the winter so that lowers the chances even more.

She told me blood work and chest x-rays needed done before her treatment would start. She told me that the "medication" used for the treatment was in short supply and to call the Vet Hospital immedietly to see if they had the meds to treat her. They did. So I asked our vet to do the blood work and x-rays even though the other vet wasn't going to do them. I feel safer knowing how her blood work looks for kidney and liver function and X-rays for heart enlargment. The blood work came back pretty good. Her glucose was really low, her liver and kidneys are looking good right now. They will take the brunt of the meds because they cycle the meds out of the system. The white blood cell count is really high at 16.6. There were no Bands indicating that she has had heartworms for a while. If it was a new infection should would still have bands in her counts. Her Neutrophils and Eosinophils are also high. But as an over all look she said it looked pretty good. Her chest X-ray showed a small enlargement to the right side of her heart and one of the arteries was enlarged. Both from the extra work to get around the heart worms.

This is extremely hard for our family to deal with and I am sure she can feel our sadness right now.

But our family vet keeps assuring me that this has been caught early and she is a great candidate for the treatment. She has good liver and kidney function, she is only 2 years old, she shows minimal damage to her heart, she has no outwards signs or symptoms, and she said that she wouldn't at this point even consider her even a stage one. Which all sounds good on paper and even spoken but to think about the method used to kill the heart worms and what can happen after the heart worms die is really truly terrifying.

My heart is broken and the only thing that will make it whole again is our Roxie coming home safe and sound to recover and become a healthy strong dog once again. She will be going through something that is painful, scary, and something that could have been prevented. She is an awesome dog and I can't stand the thought of her going through this. But this is the only thing that can save her life. So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.