Thursday, September 10, 2009

Dingle's birthday vet visit, potential heart murmur, camping, etc.

Tuesday was Dingle's birthday. We officially made it to 4 years old. I hope we have at least another 4 more birthdays for him... hopefully the worst health problems are over...

Dingle had a vet visit on his birthday... he got to see his buddies at the Downtown Animal Hospital on his special day. That was probably the highlight of his day (I'm surprised I didn't do presents... but he's got so many treats and toys already it would have been unnecessary)... he loves the staff there.

Dingle had a grooming appointment on Saturday and Monday night he was scratching his ear like crazy. I couldn't keep him away from it. His nails were just cut at the grooming appointment and so they were very sharp. Dingle made his ear bleed... a lot. I figured his ear was probably itchy from an ear infection. We had Surolan at home but I didn't want to just use it without checking with the vet. I thought I'd just end up taking him to the vet for an overall check up because he was supposed to go in for a dental next week and I wanted to ensure he was healthy for the anesthesia.

So we were able to make an appointment for 9pm Tuesday. We went in and the vet looked at his ear, which was full of dried blood... full... it was black everywhere. The vet said that it looked like ear wax build-up and seemed hesitant to believe it was blood. He took multiple q-tips and was just scooping out the dried blood and scabs. Dingle was yelping the whole time and it took me and the vet to try and hold him still. After the vet determined that it was dried blood Dingle shook his head and a big scab came out and hit me in the face. Ew. Dingle, you're lucky I love you... because that was disgusting.

Dingle has an ear infection and I was given the go-ahead to use the Surolan we had. I also asked him to check his temperature and listen to his heart. Temp was normal and the heart was perhaps normal - there's always been some question as to whether Dingle has a heart murmur. Some instances the vets say no, others say maybe grade 1. This appointment he said there may be a murmur, but its only heard when Dingle was spazzing out trying to get back into my arms.

After the check-up the vet saw my pet insurance form and said there was actually no charge for the appointment - since we were just there Saturday for the grooming and it was likely the grooming caused the infection (maybe water/shampoo got inside). I was thrilled. It was so nice for them to say no charge. The receptionist said it was Dingle's birthday present but then corrected herself and said that's more of a present to me.

Dingle was supposed to have a dental this coming Monday, but we had to push it back a week and a half while we allow his ear to heal.

Dingle had his first 'camping' (in a backyard) experience this past weekend. On Saturday night we went up to a friend's place and stayed in a tent. Did we sleep well? No... and not just because it felt like we were sleeping on rocks, but because Dingle and my boyfriend's 1 dog (we left the other home with a neighbour) would yip, growl and/or bark at every little noise during the night. It was pretty cool at night and so Dingle slept on a folded towel (for padding) wrapped in a fleese blanket. Then we moved him into our sleeping bag (we had 2 zipped together). I wish I got to take a picture of Dingle in front of the tent, but my boyfriend took it down early in the morning before I could.

Not only did Dingle have his first tent experience, but he had his first experience with being an outdoor dog. I don't know how they got me agree to it, but Dingle and my boyfriend's dog stayed chained up in our friend's backyard while we went out for a few hours. Their parents were there checking on him, but I was still so nervous. When we came back Dingle was fast asleep by the deck, in the shade.

A pic from this weekend's camping adventure:

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Thank-you Alcon / Dingle Will Be 4 Next Week!

So a while back I wrote to Alcon - a company who makes Tears Natural II eye drops. These are the drops that Dinglehopper is one, 2 times a day (along with prescription drops) to manage his KCS ("dry eye").

I was working my usual overnight shifts and had some spare time on my lunch (read: I was bored) and wanted to contact them to tell them how 1) a *dog* was using their eye drops and 2) we went through many eye drops, both store bought and prescriptions before we found this one which he tolerates well (he had allergies/sensitivies/reactions to many others).

The representative who wrote back was an animal lover and said she'd send some drops to us. I was certainly not expecting that.

We got 4 bottles - which saved me about $50 and should last us... I don't know, a year?

I took this picture to send to Alcon to express my thanks.

Even Dinglehopper looks happy!



Hm... what else is new - well my boyfriend went away to visit family for a few days leaving me with Dingle, his pug/beagle, his pug/bull dog, his iguana, his aquarium, etc. They've been keeping me busy... and boy oh boy does that pug/bulldog crap a lot.

Dingle's having a sleep over at the vet on Friday... he has a grooming appointment Saturday morning and its easiest for me to board him the night before with my work schedule/drop off times.

I need to speak to the vet about Dingle's teeth. I think he needs another dental. He had one a year ago... to the day. His back teeth look like hell... so much plaque, despite dental food, toys, treats, brushing his teeth. Last year they said at his next dental he might need 2 front teeth pulled... but when I asked why (this was almost a week later... he was being boarded while I was in Cuba) I never did get a response... it wasn't the vet who did the procedure though. I hope that's not necessary. I can't remember if last year after the dental his carcass mouth smell was gone or not. Ew, even I admit his breath is gross. But I still kiss him all the time. Mua ha ha. (Can we say Giardia?)

Oh, and Dingle's birthday is next Tuesday. Yay, he will be 4 years old.