Welco

Abby's All Grown Up! (Well, her teeth are...)

Today, Abby had her ulcers *hopefully* fixed...she went in to get her dental done, recommended by the emergency vet since she had ulcers in her teeny little mouth...I had to stumble out of bed an hour early this morning so that she was awake in time to get to the vet...luckily, my mom was willing to take her to get her teeth done before I had to leave for work, so I handed Abby over to mom and crawled back into bed (I don't really wake up until I've had my coffee anyways)...

I called mom once I was awake, asked how it went on the drop off, and she says all the ladies at the office just "ooh"d and "ahh"d over Abby, commenting on her cuteness, sweetness, and three-legged-ness (smile). She was to be ready at 5pm (mom said she'd do the pick up since I would be at work), but out of surgery by 2pm....so mom called me when she found out that Abby's surgery went okay...

Abby had 16 puppy teeth extracted, and 4 pre-molars removed...She still has all her grown-up teeth that she had before (they could still be coming in, as she's only 8.5 months old), minus the four pre-molars...but apparently the roots of the puppy teeth had wound their way around her grown up teeth in some places so bad that the vet was worried he would have to break the mandible (which I believe is her jaw bone)...And some of the teeth were so badly ruined and ulcerated that they had to be cut in half before being extracted!!! Geesh! Talk about if it weren't for bad luck...

When I got home, she came to the front of her play pen and jumped up, which is normal for her, but she looked a bit sedated (post-anesthesia, I would assume...). She had to have been hungry, as she wasn't allowed to eat after 10PM the night before the surgery...so once I was sitting down, I had a bottle of ham babyfood, and she ate RIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE!!! She is on a month of all mushy and liquid food dieting, as the vet is concerned about her poor mouth, which had ulcers on the roof of her mouth and on the back of her throat.

She sat in my lap the rest of the evening, sleeping off and on, surprisingly NOT curious about my hamburger (quite a relief, as she usually eats my food, ripping it out of my hands/mouth, eating more than I usually do if she is in my lap), She's now sleeping quite contentedly in her soft mesh crate, and I am just hoping that the painful puppy teeth were the cause of all her problems - maybe now she can have a healthier digestive system...

It's just amazing that despite everything this little girl has been through, she is still one of the SWEETEST dogs I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I just love her so much. <3

It's Been a (Mostly) Happy New Year :)

It's been a busy few months, and I am just now getting around to updating Abby's profile...She is doing exceptionally well, except for a mild scare this weekend, but I will get to that soon...

Abby's first Christmas was pleasant and quiet - the Christmas tree was right next to her play pen and so she sat in my lap as we opened and passed out presents...New Year's, she "helped" me play Uno (and I won most of the hands!!)...

(As a side note, as I type this, she is falling ASLEEP sitting up....just grabbed her an extra blankie and tucked her in....she fell asleep promptly [smile])...

This weekend, on Friday nite, I tucked her into bed just fine and normal (although late night), and went to bed like normal...about 3:30 am, I woke up, like I normally wake up mid-night occasionally, and checked on her out of habit. She was sleeping, but not really responding...

At a few minutes to 4:00am, I heard a THUD and sat up to check on Abby. I wearily opened her soft mesh crate and found her on her back, legs limp, and very unresponsive. Her soft crate, which takes up most of my desk, is large enough to have a small comfy dog bed and a puppy pitty pad, and I found Abby on her back, laying in her own waste...

Instantly awake, I scooped her up in a blanket and rushed to show her to my mom, who was fortunately awake at the odd hour. I told her what happened, and we woke my dad, who joined us in a half-awake, very-concerned stupor. Abby couldn't stand on her own, and her head was tilted at a very strange angle. Her eyes were open and she was looking at us, but it didn't look like she was really "seeing" us...His diagnosis was "I think she's dying"...

We discussed our options: take her to Emergency Vet, or wait the four hours until our regular vet opened...we decided that she was most likely dehydrated for whatever reason, and it would be better to take her to get subcutaneous fluids than to wait until the morning (our attempts at getting her to drink was unsuccessful as she spit up some water and goat's milk)...

So, my mom and I put on jackets, shoes, and grabbed our purses and caffeine sources and headed out to the closest emergency vet, calling on our way out the door - "We have a dog who we think needs subcutaneous fluids and we need her to see someone now..."

By the time we arrived at the emergency vet, Abby seemed a little bit more conscious, and she seemed to be actually seeing me...and by the time we were in the room awaiting examination, she was able to stand on her own...

The on-call vet discovered ulcers on Abby's gums from puppy teeth that haven't naturally fallen out...she also determined that Abby was indeed dehydrated, but couldn't determine why - although the assumption is that with ulcers on her gums, she was probably less likely to eat. The vet also suggested that perhaps Abby had a hypoglycemic episode...

They administered subcutaneous fluids and the treatment includes: a stomach protectant administered every 8 hours...this stuff smells like cherry and I've been able to put it in goat's milk, and Abby drinks most of her dosage...she is also on an antibiotic that I crush from pill form, squirt with warm water, and give in a small syringe twice a day...and also, of all things, Pepcid!

Wouldn't you know it, my little foster puppy has to take upset tummy meds like I used to!!!

Abby now stays in an Xpen at adoptions with a "mellow" crew - an FHO pup whose hip just got replaced about 3.5 weeks ago, a sweet young dog who was hit by a car and on 2 weeks' cage rest when we pulled him from the shelter, and our oldest TLC pup...

Abby just had another upset tummy spit up, but after cleaning up her bed and rearranging her bedclothes and tucking her in for the second time tonight, she is resting quite peacefully...

It's always something for this little bundle of love, but she is still a true testament of what rescue can do...every day I fall more and more in love with her - and my other dog, Riley, has accepted her just as much as I have. He shares me quite well :)

I guess it's time I turn in just like my babies have...it's been a (mostly) happy new year so far for little Abby girl!!

Abby's First Holiday Festivities!

It's been an insane set of weeks for Abby and me, with me finishing school for the semester and doggie adoptions being busier than ever...

Abby has been having an even weaker stomach than I have been used to...the last two nights she's had me up with spit ups and a messy bed...she still sleeps in a soft mesh crate on my desk at night, anchored by the wall on one side and my desk chair on the other. I have had to change out the blankees in it a few times this week, and the bed twice...poor girl!! She's been getting metronidazole as prescribed, but that's not enough to cut it...so today she had KPA - doggie pepto bismol! That seemed to help, so I will keep my fingers crossed.

About a week and a half ago, I put up our Christmas tree, so Abby is back to a smaller xpen during the day as the tree takes up a few feet that the larger xpen we designed occupied. But since she has it all to herself (we had to put down her roommate at 16 years old day after Thanksgiving due to debilitating health issues), it's really not a tremendous loss...

But I took pictures of her in front of the tree to commemorate her first Christmas!

But in spite of having a usually upset tummy, Abby has been running around with the big guys, and with me being home for at least a few hours every day now, she gets to be around me AND socialize with the other dogs. In fact, the other day when I was pup sitting, I found (or rather, heard) her outside with everyone else, barking at the neighbor in his backyard! Now, she is already picking up on some bad habits: whining until I pick her up, barking to get my attention, and specialty xpen so the others don't startle her. But now she's learning to "woof" with the rest of them!!

We will have to stop this. But other than that, she is doing great...She runs around with everyone, even plays with TOYS now (a concept completely foreign to her when we pulled her from the shelter almost five months ago)...And my mom just recently emailed me the impound photos from those fateful days when we saved her...

And I look at the beautiful, loving, albeit special needs dog she has become...

I can't wait for the hair around her neck to grow in super thick like it was...but every day I fall more and more in love with her and I am just soooo glad we decided to save this little girl!!

Merry Christmas, Abby Girl!!

Abby's First Thanksgiving!

Well, Abby's been on a bland diet, so she didn't get to enjoy all the trimmings we did at Thanksgiving Dinner, but she had a front row seat to all the preparations!! Traditionally, we thoroughly clean the house right before Thanksgiving, so that we are set for the rest of the year. Also, right after Thanksgiving we decorate the house for Christmas...so, Wednesday, since I was off from school, I proffered myself to my mom for cleaning assistance! And Abby was right there, at first whining in her play pen because she couldn't be RIGHT with me at all times. So, I grabbed the papoose sack, and carried her around as I dusted, cleaned windows, and the kitchen appliances. Of course, I had to be very careful about everything I used, making sure she wasn't downwind of anything (she sneezed as I dusted, but no other complaints...).

She was so content as I carried her around, creating a rhythmic cadence that comforted her, for she fell asleep and slept for most of the day. When I realized I couldn't windex the windows without making her uncomfortable (it's hard when having a dog attached to you makes you look like you're seven months along!), I put her back in the play pen. But by that time, my mom had gotten to the living room, and she was cleaning the floors right near Abby...but she still wanted to be near me, so I hastened through windexing the windows and put her back in her sack so that I could clean other things.

Thanksgiving Day, she was back in the sack in the morning, as I moved around, doing little things here and there, but mostly just reading. When it was getting time to eat, in her stroller she went, although I moved the stroller around the house with me as I moved around. As it got time to eat, the turkey smells infiltrating the house must've made her sleepy, because she slept through the whole meal! And during our game of Uno afterwards, and during an airing of "The Princess Bride" as we ate pie, quoting lines from the movie ahead of time...she decided to wake up right as I was curling into bed a little early, for I didn't get my post-Turkey meal-nap!

But that's okay, she is doing amazingly well. As I type this, she is pressed against the mesh on her soft crate, so she can sense me, I guess. The little girl seems to be afraid of the dark...if I shut off the light before she falls asleep, she whines...so I leave the light on till she falls asleep, staring at me....

She's still on meds once a day now, and we don't know whether or not and when we can put her back on the meds that treat the pinched nerve...I can't believe we've had her four months already! Sometimes I think how difficult it will be to find the right furever home for this little pup, and that's fine with me. She's got a place here for as long as she would like, as she's already got a piece of my heart!

If It's Not One Thing...

Poor Abby, she's had a rough few days...she is still on the Metcam post-surgery, as it keeps the pinched nerve in check, according to the vet...but ever since she had a teensy bit of bacon on Friday, it's been a loooooong road of upset tummy...

I was up most of Friday night with her, and it had me worried. Then Saturday she messed herself twice at adoptions, and she's had about five baths in the last three days. Saturday and Sunday we gave her a bland, albeit healthy, diet...strictly turkey and rice. But she still wasn't feeling well.

So we took her in today, and she was perky at the vet's office, barking at all the bigger doggies. Although, truth be told, her bark was a bit subdued, and my guess is that was due to the fact that she'd been feeling pukey the last three days...

Met a lady in the office who was there putting down her 17-year-old Terrier. I watched in awe as my mom spoke softly with the lady, reassuring her that if the dog was ready, then she needed to be too. It was a humbling moment, and it inspires me...

The vet says that either the Metacam or the bacon or just her already-compromised-immune system led to her latest bout. She's now on two different antibiotics, and I am familiar with neither of them. But she takes them so well, she is so used to being handled now, it's truly remarkable.

We gave her a full bath today - now that her scabs are healed, she was due for a KetoChlor bath to help the remaining bald patches grow in some hair...and Johnson's baby shampoo for the rest of her body...And she even takes to the blow dryer! Of course, I point it away from her more frequently than toward her, but I had her dry in less than a minute. Granted, she's just under 3 pounds now, so she's tiny, but I had her dry in no time! And then I wrapped her in a light sweater, tucked her into bed, and she was asleep in two minutes...!

She lights up the second I come home...it's nice. She easily pulled herself to the front of her pen when I got home from work this afternoon, and she snuggled next to me the rest of the night as I (re)read "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer.

Little by little, she gets better...but it's always something with her! And she's so sweet that I am just glad that all her misfortunes haven't hardened her into the quintessential "bad" Chihuahua stereotype we've all heard about.

:-)

Abby's Own Play Pen (to share of course)

Since we are in rescue, we have a plethora of X-Pens around the house. X-Pens, for those who do not know, are metal exercise pens, and they fold accordian-style or open up to make pretty much any shape you would like. They come in 8 panels, and we use them not only at adoptions but at home as well, setting up safe play areas. We also use them when we introduce new dogs to the pack - new dog goes in the pen, with visual access to the dogs, going nose to nose until we know that everyone will be friendly.

With that said, Abby usually stays in either an X-Pen or the stroller while I am in class or at work. More often than not, she has been staying in the X-Pen as that has a pitty pad in it, and she can walk around if she so chooses (although she's a sleepy baby anymore with all the meds).

But with one teeny tiny paw on the one front leg, when she would lean up and rest the front leg on the wire, her teeny tiny toes would get splayed in the metal frame of the X-Pen...no bueno for the little chica! So my mom and I constructed a plan: if we were to build a play pen with a durable frame, soft siding, and easy overhead access, she would have a very safe, comfortable play pen....

It's scary when she and I brainstorm on an idea, because amazing work is always produced (smile). We designed a play pen with PVC pipe framing, poultry mesh siding, and voila! I had to redo the math several times as we kept changing the size of the pen...and of course, I hadn't logically figured out that each side would share a support with an adjacent side (it's a cube, without the solid fill)...

Then, we decided that it could be open in the back, so that it could attach to an X-Pen side or just fit snugly against the book case where it sits. Also, the pen itself would fit around a table we have in our living room, so that she would have a little doggie den...And we wanted to make the pen big enough for her to share with our oldest Chihuahua, Mr. Sweetie, who at 15 years old is onry, skiddish, and desirous of his own personal space...

Considering both dogs sleep throughout the day or engage in minimal movement, my mom and I surmised that these two would be okay with each other when placed in the pen together...

Thanks to my dad, I have a slightly more than basic understanding of the construction of PVC piping. I helped mom pick out the PVC, elbows (which of course had to be three-way Y elbows to join three joining PVC's to make a corner), the adhesive, and the mesh.

I got burned out by the end of the day that we picked all of this out, because it was Veteran's Day so I proffered myself to help mom run errands...but day after Veteran's Day, my mom was awake and working on the pen, but I had to go observe at an elementary school for my Urban Education class...

I was so stoked to get all handy and build, I figured I'd help her build after I got back from observation hours, but the day escaped me of course with other errands, and by the time I got home at lunch time, my mom had built an amazing Abby-proof playpen. To share with Mr. Sweetie, of course, and apparently their first afternoon together went well.

I put Abby in the pen this morning on my way to school, and I am so proud my mom constructed the engineerial piece of art! My dad has made two PVC piping monsters out of my mom and I, who could probably go in the backyard and fix all the inaccessible sprinkler piping!

I will post pictures as soon as I take them!