Friday is finally here. So many things happened this week to make me truly happy to be me.

Today we had a large furry cat visit.  She had to have all her fur removed so that according to Vonnie she would look like a lion.

Better her than me.  Enough barked.  

 I hope that everyone enjoys the long weekend with their pack!

Along with my appreciation for my pack and my parents, I've started to be happy that I don't have some of the many problems that our visiting pets have.  Today, the problems with the pets were so complicated that I had trouble keeping everything straight.  Bea said after the first few cases, that she was lost.  I assured her that we were still at the clinic in Florida -- but it didn't seem to help her.  Sometimes I think Bea has no sense of humor at all.
Remember Luigi?  He was the police dog with the butt bump that put on a show for Vocal Vonnie.  His dad took him to a specialist to have a second look at the lump.  Turns out that his tests showed that the lump wasn't cancer, but in the process the specialist found a lump on his spleen, and he'll probably have to have it removed -- his spleen that is.  I don't know what a spleen it, but for Luigi's sake, I hope it's not too important.

Fanny the beagle, was in today as well.  My dad confirmed that Fanny had the Cushions disease a little while ago, but Fanny's mom didn't want to try any medicine.  Today Fanny wasn't feeling well; she was bringing up the kibbles and acting really sleepy.  The disease with the Cushions usually makes dogs extra hungry and thirsty, but not usually sick, so my dad knew something else was going on.  Black and white pictures showed that Fanny's spleen was big too.  By this point, Bea was certain that her spleen getting bigger.  We still don't know what a spleen is, but Bea's sure that hers got bigger because of Fanny.



Chloe the Min.Pin. was another pet my dad thought had the Cushion disease.  Even after she had two negative tests Chloe kept drinking all the water in sight.  Turns out, she has the sugar disease instead.  She has to stay insulated to keep her sugar normal.  As far as we can tell, her spleen is ok for now.

Dr. Brett came in at lunch to speak to all the helpers about one of the medicines.  I could tell from the pictures that he was talking about a medicine for itchy skin, because all the Westies were red and missing fur.  Dr. Brett had Sweet Sally laughing when he talked about a sign of food allergies called "Red ring around the rosy" which he stated while pointed to a dog's back end.
That made me think about Luigi all over again.  I hope a spleen is not part of Luigi's back end, I really think he'd miss that part.
At the end of the day, I was so hungry.  Mother was surprisingly happy to make me dinner, I think she enjoyed knowing that she could at least fix one problem today.

Once again I find myself wagging my tail to live the life I live.  I belong to a great pack, with the possible exception of Anna who is altogether too fond of my tail.  I have a super comfy den at home and a lively pet clinic to visit during the day.  I also have Bea, my trusty sidekick and all around chew toy. 

I find that some days I appreciate all that I have more than others.  Today was one of those days.  With the full moon we've been seeing more of the pets that have the twitching fits.  I think it's because it's a basic canine desire to howl at that beautiful full moon, but seeing as most of us don't get that chance the wild urges build up inside.  Some dogs can't handle all of the bottled up energy and instead have wild, twitching outbursts.  At least that's how I explain the dogs.  Why the people come in here acting all strange as well, I have no explanation for.

Mr. Tolunch  came in with his dog, Beamer, convinced that he'd had a stroke.  His wife, Mrs. Out - ToLunch met them at the clinic.  "We really have to find out what is wrong with Beamer"  Mrs.Out - Tolunch pleaded, "We've been to 3 different doctors and one specialist and no one can figure it out.  They all give me medicine for him, but I don't make him take it.  No one likes to take medicine.  Plus I have to hide it in food, and the only thing I feed him is chicken, because he's allergic to every kind of dog food.  That's why we thought he would stop breathing.  But this time he was just sleeping when it happened."  Mother looked at Beamer, the 14 yr. old Lhasa who was frantically panting but otherwise acting normal.  "He may need a neurologist to look at him as well" mother offered "they can run tests to look inside his brain and see if there's a problem inside".  "Why can't you just x-ray his head then?"  Beamer's mom asked.  Mother smiled and answered "All I would see on an x-ray of his head, is his skull, not his brain".  Mrs. O was speechless.

Later that afternoon, mother was reading the news aloud:
"ORLANDO, Fla. - WESH.com

Authorities said an Orange County man set his 1-year-old Lab out as trash earlier this week.

Dillinger’s owner put the canine in his crate, covered him with a blanket and placed him by the curb to be picked up with the rest of his garbage, officials said. 

"He had been hit by a car at least 30 days prior to that and never taken to a vet,” said Jessica Chapman, a volunteer at Pet Rescue by Judy. “So, I don't know if they just couldn't afford him anymore."

Dillinger was in terrible shape when he got to Pet Rescue by Judy, a nonprofit animal rescue located in Orlando. The dog had suffered a broken leg, as well as ear and skin infections.

The dog underwent more than four hours of surgery to fix his broken leg, which cost close to $3,000."

After hearing about Dillinger, I was glad to belong to my pack. 

Full moon or not, there's no understanding why some humans act the way they do. 

Mother says summer officially starts on Monday.  It already feels like summer around here.  The mornings are warm, the afternoons have the dark clouds and water falling in buckets from the sky and the visitors are becoming scarce. 
We had a few interesting visitors today -- a Beagle recovering from a sloshy red-syurp filled ear, a Sheltie getting over her skin rash and a Golden Retriever with a red syrup disease, mother called 'leukemia'.  That's the first time I'd heard of a dog getting that, I'd always thought the 'leukemia' was a cat thing.
Sweet Sally and Brawny Brandon filled their time making the place look spotless.  Brandon even got a new loud dirt sucking machine in his very favorite color, purple.   Sally's favorite color is purple too.  I have to take her bark for it, I find that so many colors look the same to me.
My favorite line of the day came from one of the pet parents; they said "My dog has the best personality -- I mean dog-onality, if that's what you call it".  I couldn't agree more -- doggone-nality, it's what make me one of a kind! 

It was a warm, sunny beautiful weekend.  At least that's what I could tell from inside the den. My parents were out the whole time enjoying themselves.  Of course, when they came back to the den they told me and Bea about everything we had missed.
Saturday night the whole gang from the clinic, except me and Bea of course, went to something called a 'baseball' game involving crabs.  I love balls and games so naturally I was interested in the whole story.  Turns out people gather to eat hot dogs and watch a group of humans play with a ball.  They don't even get to play with the ball themselves.  Now, I would have gone just for the hot dogs, but I don't understand why you would go just to watch someone else play.
Sometimes I carry a ball around the house, and I know that Bea wants to play with it, but I don't let her. Then she chases me, and I run, and then I act like I'm going to let her catch me, but it's just a trick.  After awhile she gets tired and goes to sleep under the bed.
I guess that's what happened with my folks because when they came home they were dog-tired and went to lie in their beds too.

I think they need to have a dog day at the ball park.  I have some good moves that I could show them!

Bad news for Lance; he didn't pass his red syrup tests.  It turned out that the testicle tumor was keeping his body from making more red syrup, so my parents were worried that even once the tumor came out, Lance's problems would continue.  Lance and his mom said a watery-eye-filled good-bye this morning, and Lance took the kind of nap that I've never seen a dog wake up from.

On a more tail-wagging note, one of my favorite visitors, Orchid the pug, came in to show off her new wheels.  And by new wheels I don't mean the big rolling machine her parents brought her in.  Orchid had been having back trouble for about a year.  Each visit she would have a harder and harder time getting around; her little pug legs would slip and slide out from under her.  Orchid even went to visit the special back doctor but her parents just couldn't make her have a cutting procedure.  So mother finally suggested the wheels. 
I had no idea that dogs could wear wheels just like the big rolling machines.  Orchid enjoyed every minute of her visit to our clinc showing off.  She ran through the place, bouncing off the walls and careening off the human's feet.  "Freedom" she said with every step "finally my back legs can keep up with my front legs again!" 
I was so happy for her.  I think I was happy -- part of me wanted Orchid to leave so I could try the wheels out for myself, but most of me was happy for her.  You just can't keep a good dog down!

My dad was super busy today.  The morning started off quietly with a girl black lab named Twinkie, having a procedure in the no-awake-dogs-allowed room.  She was an excellent guest and barely made a noise.
But the afternoon was as crazy as the morning was quiet.

It started with an old man Chihuahua named Lance.  He hadn't been feeling well for a few days.  "He's just not himself and he won't eat.  That's just not like Lance" his mom worried.  It only took a few moments for my dad to find the problems;  "Lance has a mass in his belly the size of a baseball, and he's missing a testicle.  There's a good chance that the missing testicle has turned cancerous and is causing Lance's issues." 
Lance got settled in an upstairs apartment while Sweet Sally started fluids running into his arm and took his red syrup for some tests.
From there it was one sick patient after another.  One coughing dog whose air pipe kept collapsing.  Then there was the big scary police dog, Luigi, who came in to have dad look at a bump on his back end.  He was ever the professional and took the whole exam in stride.  Luigi even did a demonstration for Vocal Vonnie of some of his police dog skills.  I didn't get to see it, but I heard Vonnie scream and then my dad was rolling on the floor laughing.  He said he'd never seen Vonnie so scared, she almost lost her yellow liquid!
Just when we thought all the visitors had gone, Downy the cat came in.  Downy was really sick last year when he couldn't get his yellow marking liquid out.  He even had to have his boy parts turned into girl parts so that he could go, and spent the weekend at my den recovering.  Downy's mom was worried that it was happening all over again.   Turns out that Downy was fine but needed help from Auntie Biotics.  It was a happy ending to an otherwise crazy day.  Lance had to spend the night and is set up for mother to open his belly tomorrow.  Stay tuned and I'll let you know what she finds.

It was a quiet, steady happy day at our clinic today.  I was able to fully clean each of Bea's ears from start to finish without interruption.  The afternoon started as usual, with a leisurely stroll to mark all the required spots.  I was just settling down to enjoy my lunch time treats when a fabulous aroma reached my nose. 
It was the smell of beef, bones and saliva all mixed together.

The smell was coming from a Springer Spaniel puppy named Sarah.  She was holding an enormous bone in her mouth.  I asked her if I could taste her bone, but she refused to let it go.  I turned on the characteristic Ronnie charm; I gave her the tail wag, the downward dog, even the 'I'll show you my belly' trick but nothing worked, Sarah was very attached to her bone.

I didn't realize how attached to her bone she was until mother tried to get the bone too, and Sarah still wouldn't give it up.  Mother had to give Sarah some pokes and make her take a nap just to get that bone away from her.  I've heard the humans say "as stubborn as a dog with a bone" but I never understood where that came from until now.

Sarah went home as soon as she woke up from her nap.  Her parents didn't want the bone back.  I was really hoping mother would let me take a taste, but it ended up in the garbage bin.  Just one more thing I'll have to go looking for in there as soon as I get the chance!

 

Today I dedicate my blog to one of my canine comrades. His name is Jack.  He and I are nothing alike, but he finds himself in a tough situation, and we dogs like to stick together. The truth of it is that Jack does not even realize the trouble that he's in.
Jack lost a very important member of his pack earlier this year. Jack's dad died suddenly of a heart problem, that he had apparently been born with, but that no one knew about until after his death.  But Jack did not just lose his dad that day. Part of Jack's mom died that day too.  Of course, she still walked around and fed Jack, took him for walks and scratched his ears, but the warmth that had always fed the pack was gone. Water ran from his mom's eyes day in and day out, and Jack waited patiently for the mother he once knew to return. 
Recently, some of the joy that Jack remembered showed up in her voice. She was talking into the machine on her ear and speaking of 'moving' and 'starting over'. Jack breathed a sigh of relief that the dark days were coming to an end.
Today, our clinic received a notice: 
Trying to find a home for a Rottweiler named Jack. Due to a death in her family she is relocating out of Florida and the apartment will not accept dogs. Jack would be best suited in a home without children or other pets. He is very loyal, playful and would make an excellent guard dog.


Jack is 3yrs old and neutered. His vaccines are current and has no medical issues. Please view his picture and if you know any one who may be interested contact the owner ASAP as she will be leaving town shortly and if a home is not found will be forced to place him with the humane society.

Mother thought putting Jack's story on the blog might help him out.

My aunt Becky came from a 'rescue place' that had a great motto:  You can't change the world by rescuing one dog, but you can change the world for that dog.

If anyone knows where Jack might find a happy home, please contact my parents' clinic at 941-423-3503.

We were visited today by a most peculiar dog.  His name was Oskar and he was a Schnauzer.
We'd seen him before, on account of the fact that he gets sick a lot, but this was the first time that he really opened up.  Most of his dialogue came from his body language; which was good because his bark had an accent that I was unfamiliar with.  "Uggh... not here again.  I would rather face the gestapo in mein homeland than come to dis place.  For years, I have been a double agent, living with my American family.  They have no idea what I am capable of.  My hatred is so strong for this hospital place."
Mother could sense that Oskar was not happy to be visiting. "He's had diarrhea for two days" Oskar's dad recounted, "he acts like he feels fine, but when we started to see blood we got worried.  The only thing he's eaten that's different is rabbit poop".
Rabbit poop, that marvelous lawn time snack clearly has an allure to dogs other than me and Bea. 
"It is verboten"  Oskar grumbled " but try as I might I cannot resist it". 
Perfectly well-behaved, Oskar endured the entire exam including the finger prodding up the back end with no reaction at all.  When mother was done looking him over she found that his only problem was his nuggets.  "We can get medicine to get his colon back on track.  I just wish we could get him not to hate us so much." mother added with a smile.   She tried rubbing his ears, stroking his chin, even the impossible-to-resist butt scratch, but Oskar did not react.   "You're attempts to seduce me will not work.  I am highly trained to resist such tactics" Oskar spoke wordlessly.
"He doesn't hate you, he's just all business"  Oskar's dad offered.
"I hate you with all that I am.  But you did not break me.  You can never break me" Oskar huffed and he walked out without a backward glance, or even the slightest tail wag.
Sometimes mother talks about traveling the world.  I think I'll just stay home. 

I've heard the humans say that things were 'going to the dogs' before, but today things were definitely going to the cats.  Billie the cat who was here earlier in the week has a younger brother named Bart.  Bart took his turn last night donating the yellow marking liquid.  Bart is not loved as much as Billie by Vocal Vonne and so he didn't get to have his run of the clinic.  Naturally, he was glad to leave once his donation was complete; so happy that he attached himself to his travel den and didn't want to let go.

We also had some baby cats visiting today.  Sweet Sally, Vocal Vonnie and Dancing Debbie could not get enough of them.  Sweet Sally did her kangaroo impression putting a kitten in each pocket.

Vonnie and Dancing Deb had to get some face time with the furry screamers as well.

Of course, when they wanted give the little furballs back they found themselves too attached, literally.

I have to admit I don't see what all the fuss is about.  I'm small and cute, but nobody swoons when I scream.  Actually, I can do everything a cat can do except purr and cough up hair balls.  Maybe it won't be so bad if the place 'goes to the cats', but I refuse to share my den with them;  a girl's got to have her limits!

Her name was Twinkie, but I called her Twitchie because she couldn't sit still.  Her tiny body was in constant movement; eyelids fluttering, body quivering, tail twitching.  She was a 4 year old Chihuahua and the mother of 3 very hungry puppies.  "She's such a great mom" Twinkie's dad boasted "she's never away from them and after 3 weeks the pups are doing great!".  "Too bad Twinkie's not" Vonnie whispered so that only mother, Bea and I could hear.  Bea took an instant interest in Twitchie, not so much because she liked Chihuahuas but more because the smell of milk and fresh puppy was irresistable to her.  "I don't miss it one bit" Bea mumbled, licking her lips, mesmerized by the helpless little pups. 
Twinkie's dad continued to give us the rest of the story, "She stopped eating yesterday, and just isn't acting right, like she can't get comfortable.  She's always moving."
"Unfortunately, this is really common in the tiny dogs when they have puppies" mother advised, "The mom's can't keep up with the milk demands of the puppies and they rob their own bodies of calcium to make milk.  But without calcium your body shuts down.  It's very serious...but also pretty easy to fix" she added. 
As Twinkie's stunned father tried to understand what could have gone wrong with his plan to breed his tiny little princess, mother and her helpers went to work. Red syrup tests confirmed what mother had thought, "Her calcium is down to 5, it should be at least at 8.  We'll start an iv and give her calcium slowly, and she should be alright.  She won't be able to feed the pups anymore, though." mother instructed.  "Well, if she's not going to do it, who is?" Twinkie's dad questioned.  "You can do it" Sweet Sally said encouragingly, "and you don't even need milk. I can give you a recipe for them".
So Twitchie stayed with us for the day.  After the first few hours, she became Twinkie again and fell fast asleep.  If I didn't know better, I'd have thought she enjoyed the time away from her brood.  "Enjoy it while you can" I heard Bea panting to her.
After seeing everything that these moms have to go through I'm sure that I don't want any puppies of my own.  My mom has always said that I'm too small anyway; plenty tough, just too small!

Such sadness today at the clinic.  It makes me long for my carefree time at the camp when my only concern was how to make the big dogs trip over each other.
The first sad story was about a old lady American Bulldog, named Burley.  Her sister Bessie came to the clinic a few years ago and died from a disease where her body ate her own red syrup.  I admit that the red syrup smells tasty, but I'd just as soon my body didn't eat itself!  So there was already a somber mood when Burley's mom came in.  "Burley's been vomiting for the past 5 days, she can't seem to keep anything down.  The strange thing is that her belly looks bigger, and according to Sally, Burley weighs more now than she did at her visit three weeks ago."  Mother adopted a 'that's curious' head-tilt and I knew she was concerned; especially when Burley didn't even try to lift her head when she walked in.  Burley just lay on her side like a she'd swallowed balloon.  One feel of the old lady's belly and mother had Burley on the black and white humming table.  A few more minutes and mother was delivering the news to Burley's mom:  "She's got a mass in her belly and a mass in her chest.  It looks like cancer.  We can try to get biopsies, but her prognosis does not look good."  "We decided after Bessie that we wouldn't put another dog through a lot of treatment just for our sake" Burley's mom said as the water started to fall from her eyes.  "We just want to keep her comfortable".  So Burley got some fluid for under her skin and some pills to help her stomach feel better.  It was all Burley could do to heave her big belly up to walk out the door.
The second sad story was a Jack Russell terrier pup named Miss.  She had the sad look from the moment she was carried in; a look like at any minute the kibbles were coming up.  Sure enough, ten minutes after she arrived they did, all over the visiting room.  "She's been doing that for 2 days" Miss' mom said "we only adopted her 3 days ago.  I know we've changed her food, but she seems sicker than that".  Patient Pam had a hunch and started a test for the Parvo.  Sure enough, her hunch was right.  "Miss has parvo" said mother as she broke the news to Miss' family.  "She'll have to be in the hospital for a few days.  There's nothing we can give her to attack the virus, but if we keep her hydrated and give her medicine for nausea and to fight off bacteria, she should pull through."  The family seemed to take the news well.  "After all, we did say we were going to rescue her, right?" Miss' dad offered.  Since it was late in the day, Miss had to go off to the overnight clinic. 

I was sure glad to leave the clinic tonight, I'll definitely be dreaming about being back at camp.  Ahhh, the good ole days. 

It's good to be back at my clinic again.  Being away gives you a fresh look at things. No longer do I worry about what the humans might be planning.  I think that's in part due to the fact that all I saw today was cats.  It does help me to rest easy knowing that my precious dog parts are not anyone's target, but I am troubled by the sheer number of feline visitors I've seen.

Grumbles, the cat has been staying for awhile.  She frowned so much that her face got stuck that way.  Sweet Sally says that she's my Aunt, on account of the fact that she belongs to my dad's mom.  "So, if Becky and Tara are Dr. Smith's sisters, then that means Grumbles is your sister, right Dr. G?" Sally questioned teasingly.  "No way" my dad answered, "I will never admit to being related to that evil cat!".  Admittedly, Grumbles was the angriest cat to have stayed at my clinic.  Sure we have the screamers and the criers, but they only stay for a few loud minutes and then they're gone.  Grumbles had been at the clinic for a whole week.  She had a whole condo to herself,  it was bigger than the apartment Bea and I shared, and she still yowled and growled and hissed whenever anyone by.  The humans take one look at her and say, "She's so beautiful", to which my mother always replies "Beauty is way more than skin deep!".  Not everyone can have the combination of good looks and inner sweetness like I do.

Billie was our other outspoken visitor today.  He's one of our regulars.  He comes several times a year for the humans to collect the yellow marking liquid.  Sometimes my parents will take the stuff directly from a cats' belly, but for Billie they always wait for him to provide it.  It must be more useful that way.

Billie knows just want the humans want too, but he makes them wait for it.  He gets them to give him treats, lots of attention and even free roam of the place over the lunch time kibble break!  Bille really knows how to work it.  Mother says Billie gets special treatment because his kidneys stopped working awhile ago, but "he's not even half way through his nine lives yet" she always adds with a smile.  Billie got carried away today using Vonnie's leg as a scratching post, and he didn't even get into trouble. Vonnie said "Good job Billie, you need to get mean, 'cause it's only the mean cats that live forever.  The good ones always die young!" 
I really hope that's not true, otherwise Grumbles will never ever take that final trip across the bridge!!!!

Camp was great!   A much needed break from the humans.  Bea and I got to hang out with our dog friends everyday.  We had our own den; and by den I don't mean a little apartment like we have at our clinic. 

We had a full two room den with a door leading to a covered outdoor play room.  We also had a giant grass space to play in.  Bea was scared at the beginning, but I fit right in immediately.   All of the dogs there were the big kind, but I'm big on the inside and I told them as much.  The big yellow lab named George became my close friend and after that I didn't have trouble with anybody else.  We spent our days lounging in the cool den with trips to stretch our legs outside several times a day.  Of course, I made my special bed in Lady Laura's lap.  I know she'll be so sad now that I'm gone.  These three weeks went by really fast, almost as if it was only three days.

I was thrilled to see my mom again.  I was even more thrilled to prove Bea wrong who was convinced that we would never see her again.  Bea is sort of a worrier that way.  I knew mother couldn't live without me -- I mean really, who could?

I'm having trouble sleeping these days.  I find that I have to keep one eye open.  Each visitor to our clinic gets my normal outspoken greeting, but I've slipped more than once to bark out to Dancing Debbie or Sweet and Sassy Sally as their walking by.  I don't know what these humans have planned.  Vocal Vonnie smiles at me and I can't help but wonder if she's scoping my soft silky coat, coveting my anal sac essence or plotting some other as yet unrevealed poaching of my valuables. 
Bea's not worried, and Bea worries about everything.  Of course, she doesn't have all the goods that I do, so maybe if I were her, I wouldn't be worried either.
I decided by the end of the day that I would make a statement.  When the roaring floor machine came by I turned the Ronnie anger on, and chased that mechanical beast away.


I hope the humans get the message and find another target for their plans.

Last week mother and Vonnie were busy removing the sweet smelling anal glands. This week the focus is on removing something equally as valuable - fur coats!  First it was my gal pal Charlie.  Vonnie said that was to keep the dirty girl clean.  Today, Misty was the target.  Misty is one of our pet visitors that has the Cushions disease.  She had it so bad that one of her legs stopped working temporarily on account of her red syrup got too sticky and made something called a 'clot'; at least that's what mother said.  Mother also said the Cushions was making Misty's skin and fur all dull and flaky.  Her coat looked kind of like the breakfast kibbles that my girl Anna eats, but for some reason when I looked at Misty, I was not the least bit hungry.

Well, Vonnie is always going on about when she lived in the new York City  how she used to help groom dogs all the time.  So mother had her remove all of Misty's hair.  "It'll help the shampoo to work better" mother reasoned. 

Vonnie spend a couple of days in dog time removing all of Misty's hair.  To hear Misty tell it, it felt like weeks. Misty was really cool about it though, and kept wagging her little nub tail through the whole thing.  Her parents call her a "Havanese" but mother says she must have some poodle in there somewhere because "She's just the coolest dog". Of course, I am naturally excluded from all such comparisons. 

I barely recognized her when she was done.

Her transformation was way more dramatic than Bea's.  For awhile there I thought another dog had come for a visit, and I barked "Who are you? Whoooo are youuuuu?" a few times.  Then I saw the little nub wagging and I realized that the humans had just taken her coat. Flaky or not, it just doesn't seem right to take another dogs outerwear that way.

Being the adorable, center of attention that I am I don't know why they don't try to take my coat.  Except that maybe they know I wouldn't give it up without a fight.  They're smart to not want any part of this!