I'm a total dullard for not busting out the camera. Kim dropped by for a visit and brought Skelly's old pal, Sophie. They had a great time chasing each other around the house. Skelly's bark went up a few octaves with excitement.
While Kim was removing her curtain rods, I let the dogs in the back yard so they could play together. Fat chance.. the spoiled little punks were barking and jumping on the door dying to get back inside 2 minutes later and would not stop. Tsk tsk tsk!!!
In other news, Skeletor's cough seems to be a little more common lately. This could possibly be related to his running out of Viagra. He's due for the second and final round of heartworm injections in about a week!
I have requested that Dr. Chick write me a prescription for some Viagra. I figure that 6 weeks at 25mg per day should be good. This equates to 21 50mg tablets. I'm hoping that I can find a cheap source.
Aside from the coughing, Skeletor's been doing very well. His gums are pink, his tail's a waggin', his appetite is strong, and he's full of that signature spunk!
Two months from now, this whole heartworm fiasco will be a thing of the past. Guess who will be on a regular dose of heartworm preventative? Skeletor and every dog I ever own, that's who!!!
If your dog isn't on heartworm preventative, you may want to consider changing that ;)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Keep him calm? You've got to be kidding me!
As evidenced by his ridiculous amount of energy, Skeletor is doing fantastically after his first heartworm injection. I was instructed to keep him calm. At first I boxed up all his toys. He then made myself and the cats his toys. When Skelly gets bored, he makes it your problem! He's been nibbling on my elbows all day because I have been too busy to let him outside every 10 minutes.
The elbow nibbles are nothing compared to the claws in the back or shoulder when he decides to jump up to get my attention. Yowza! Cut those talons!
I'm a little behind on posting. Work has been (thankfully) very busy so far this year. Let me see...
So last week I ran out of dog food. As you may remember from an earlier post, Skelly refused to acknowledge most dog foods as being food at all. I (quite foolishly) thought that this pickiness may have been a symptom of his condition at the time. I thought perhaps he'd appreciate a little variety.
So I picked up a huge bag of the same exact food but the beef version this time as opposed to chicken, which he's chomped through a consecutive 65lbs of during the past few months.
Well... fat chance!
Skeletor would occasionally nibble out of desperation, but did not consider this beef-flavored atrocity to be food in the least. I weighed out my options... I could either A) add something to his food 3 times a day to make him eat it. B) Play tough love and let him starve to the point that he breaks down and eats it. or C) Return it to the store.
Now, I have never returned a bag of dog food to the store. If you had asked me, I would have doubted it to be possible. However much to my relief, petsmart took the bag back, no questions asked.
I exchanged it for the chicken variety and Skeletor is back to his normal eating habits. *whew!*
That's all we need is his anemia coming back just because he's got such distinguishing taste. Who'd a thunk that the dog who has come back from the brink of starvation would turn out to be the world's pickiest eater!?
At any rate, Skelly is doing very well. Coughing is rare but still occurs in the morning. He's definitely breaking the rules when he goes out in the back yard. He runs around the perimeter of the yard expending copious amounts of newfound energy.
I brought his toys back out and he sometimes entertains himself with those. Mostly he spends his days demanding to be either let in or let out.
He barks in the face of poor James whenever he wants to go out. He's a spoiled brat! There's no doubt. We'll have to really start working on those manners once he's out of the woods with these darn heartworms.
On a more somber note, I just filled up his pill organizer over in my compounding lab...
He's down to his last week of Viagra. After seeing what a difference it has made for him, I may have to seriously consider its purchase.
I think it would be wise to keep him on the Viagra for the next 6 weeks. Perhaps I can find a deal online.
Now if you'll excuse me... somebody wants out (again :)
The elbow nibbles are nothing compared to the claws in the back or shoulder when he decides to jump up to get my attention. Yowza! Cut those talons!
I'm a little behind on posting. Work has been (thankfully) very busy so far this year. Let me see...
So last week I ran out of dog food. As you may remember from an earlier post, Skelly refused to acknowledge most dog foods as being food at all. I (quite foolishly) thought that this pickiness may have been a symptom of his condition at the time. I thought perhaps he'd appreciate a little variety.
So I picked up a huge bag of the same exact food but the beef version this time as opposed to chicken, which he's chomped through a consecutive 65lbs of during the past few months.
Well... fat chance!
Skeletor would occasionally nibble out of desperation, but did not consider this beef-flavored atrocity to be food in the least. I weighed out my options... I could either A) add something to his food 3 times a day to make him eat it. B) Play tough love and let him starve to the point that he breaks down and eats it. or C) Return it to the store.
Now, I have never returned a bag of dog food to the store. If you had asked me, I would have doubted it to be possible. However much to my relief, petsmart took the bag back, no questions asked.
I exchanged it for the chicken variety and Skeletor is back to his normal eating habits. *whew!*
That's all we need is his anemia coming back just because he's got such distinguishing taste. Who'd a thunk that the dog who has come back from the brink of starvation would turn out to be the world's pickiest eater!?
At any rate, Skelly is doing very well. Coughing is rare but still occurs in the morning. He's definitely breaking the rules when he goes out in the back yard. He runs around the perimeter of the yard expending copious amounts of newfound energy.
I brought his toys back out and he sometimes entertains himself with those. Mostly he spends his days demanding to be either let in or let out.
He barks in the face of poor James whenever he wants to go out. He's a spoiled brat! There's no doubt. We'll have to really start working on those manners once he's out of the woods with these darn heartworms.
On a more somber note, I just filled up his pill organizer over in my compounding lab...
He's down to his last week of Viagra. After seeing what a difference it has made for him, I may have to seriously consider its purchase.
I think it would be wise to keep him on the Viagra for the next 6 weeks. Perhaps I can find a deal online.
Now if you'll excuse me... somebody wants out (again :)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I caved
Skeletor is a bit sore and slow moving but he is home, eating, and living it up in the comfort of my bed.
I've been thinking about how I'm going to keep him from getting excited for 2 months. The time when he's the most excited is in the morning before I let him out of his crate. Perhaps I'll move his crate into my bedroom. Hmmm...
Injections today!
Update: I dropped him off this morning. The injections are actually happening! I'm sure that he'll have no problems whatsoever. He has been doing very well since starting on the Viagra.
We have about 1 1/2 weeks left at his current dosage. If anybody has some samples of Viagra they can send my way, please shoot me an email: Skeletor [at] fuelmm.com.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Complications... But not bad ones
My plan was to take skelly in Thursday, but Dr Chick was not working that day.
I dropped our boy off bright and early this morning. I received a call from the vet. Dr chick said that skeletons heart and lungs sounded better. We went over skeletor's dosages and such to make sure we were on the same page. I explained to him that we were fortunate enough that a friend of skelly had mailed us some Viagra. (thank you!)
He agreed with me that his cough was much better! He still coughs in the morning but not nearly as frequent or persistent as before.
A while later I got another call. Turns out they are out of immiticide! I'll have to bring him in next week :)
His blood work looks great! Go skelly!
I dropped our boy off bright and early this morning. I received a call from the vet. Dr chick said that skeletons heart and lungs sounded better. We went over skeletor's dosages and such to make sure we were on the same page. I explained to him that we were fortunate enough that a friend of skelly had mailed us some Viagra. (thank you!)
He agreed with me that his cough was much better! He still coughs in the morning but not nearly as frequent or persistent as before.
A while later I got another call. Turns out they are out of immiticide! I'll have to bring him in next week :)
His blood work looks great! Go skelly!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Skeletor unvacuuming my office
This silly hound seems to be in high spirits. I had just vacuumed my office yesterday. Guess what I get to do tomorrow?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Coughing less, destroying more... thanks Viagra!
A few weeks ago, one of Skelly's wonderful friends was nice enough to send some samples of the ever-elusive Viagra that he was prescribed. I was going to wait and consult with the doc on when the administration would be most beneficial. Skelly's cough was getting a bit worse, and then he was being a real scaredy dog. I started to think he was getting sick(er) again. I decided to halve the pills and give him 25mg with his evening meds.
Since I started giving him Viagra, I have noticed a marked improvement in the frequency and severity of his coughing! The Viagra helps with his pulmonary hypertension, which may be tied into his dry cough. In any case, I'm pretty excited about his improvement. He's got enough Viagra to last him a few weeks at this rate of consumption. I may have to look into getting some more if it helps him out this much. I just wish it wasn't so flippin' expensive!
It looks like the thing he was scared of was a motorized toy robot arm that was sitting on the coffee table. Since Ian took that to his bedroom, Skelly has not been acting so terrified.
Skeletor has been full of vigor this past week. While I'm not a huge fan of cleaning up his wake of destruction, I am glad to see him feeling good enough to focus on being bad :)
This week is the big day!! Skeletor's first Immiticide injection! The first of 2 doses he'll need to kill the adult heartworms. The 2 injections will be given a month apart. This means we've got 2 months of very little excitement in store for this little Tasmanian devil. It's going to be interesting to say the least.
We will have to keep him calm and collected. If his heart rate goes up (which it does on a rather constant basis) it could cause a dead or dying adult heartworm to shift and cause a blockage in his heart. Needless to say, that could be very bad for Skelly.
The doc did say that they can prescribe a sedative if need be. I'm also under the impression that the injection itself will cause a drop in energy levels.
This is the moment we've been preparing him for since day one! Thanks again to all of you for your help. He's come a long way and we wish him the best of luck in being rid of these pesky parasites once and for all!
Go Skelly!
Since I started giving him Viagra, I have noticed a marked improvement in the frequency and severity of his coughing! The Viagra helps with his pulmonary hypertension, which may be tied into his dry cough. In any case, I'm pretty excited about his improvement. He's got enough Viagra to last him a few weeks at this rate of consumption. I may have to look into getting some more if it helps him out this much. I just wish it wasn't so flippin' expensive!
It looks like the thing he was scared of was a motorized toy robot arm that was sitting on the coffee table. Since Ian took that to his bedroom, Skelly has not been acting so terrified.
Skeletor has been full of vigor this past week. While I'm not a huge fan of cleaning up his wake of destruction, I am glad to see him feeling good enough to focus on being bad :)
Sophie left her little pink dog bed here, which Skeletor has been using as a toy box. As it turns out, pink isn't his color, so he decided to rip out half the stuffing. Tsk tsk!
This week is the big day!! Skeletor's first Immiticide injection! The first of 2 doses he'll need to kill the adult heartworms. The 2 injections will be given a month apart. This means we've got 2 months of very little excitement in store for this little Tasmanian devil. It's going to be interesting to say the least.
We will have to keep him calm and collected. If his heart rate goes up (which it does on a rather constant basis) it could cause a dead or dying adult heartworm to shift and cause a blockage in his heart. Needless to say, that could be very bad for Skelly.
The doc did say that they can prescribe a sedative if need be. I'm also under the impression that the injection itself will cause a drop in energy levels.
This is the moment we've been preparing him for since day one! Thanks again to all of you for your help. He's come a long way and we wish him the best of luck in being rid of these pesky parasites once and for all!
Go Skelly!
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