Where do you buy heartworm medicine, and tick and flea medicine, for your dog?

I'm just trying to find the best deal, as both seem to be pricey, especially if you get them from your vet. Any thoughts? Read More......

The ongoing saga of Sasha's mysterious illness, or not

As I'd written before, Sasha has had a loose stool since the day I got her. After a few weeks, the vet diagnosed her with coccidia, we did two rounds of treatments, and she got a clean bill of health last week. But still, something wasn't quite right. She was taking frequent breaks when we would go on our walks (laying down on the sidewalk, mid walk, for a minute), something she did when I first got her, but something that stopped once I started treating her coccidia. It's back.

Then this week, her stool turned from soft to gloppy. Not a good sign, so I put her back on the ID dog good the vet prescribed (basically, a bland mix of rice and meat, I believe), and I started giving her pumpkin and non-fat plain yoghurt. At the same time, the day of the glop, she didn't want to eat any more of her kibble as a "treat" - she always would before. I called a family member/friend who is a vet on Monday, but never got a call back.

Today, her stool is still soft, though better than that first day, and this time there was a small bit of blood. I called my vet this time, and left a message. Still waiting for a call, and will call back again soon. Sasha, in the meantime, is acting remarkably normal. She's taking the kibble treats again (though I cut her off, just to be safe), and she doesn't lay down as often on our walks. Her appetite is great, she drinks, and is otherwise "normal."

I've done my own research, and there are simply too many possibilities, ranging from giardia, to more coccidia, to an irritated bowl from too much play, to "something surprised her," to all sorts of worse scenarios. The thing is, she doesn't have out and out diarrhea, and I've noticed that what she does have tends to come and go in phases. Her poop is never perfect, but it does get better and worse. All of which is making me highly suspicious that this might be giardia (but again, wouldn't she then have out and out diarrhea?). Read More......

Loose stool

Never thought I'd ever be writing a blog post about this, but apparently, in puppies, it's quite common. And it sure is common with Sasha.

From day one, she was having issues. I figured it was the change in environment and change in food. But things never got better. I took the vet shortly after I got her, and the vet said her stool checked out fine. Still, there were signs of a problem. When we'd go for walks, she'd lay down on the sidewalk every once in a while, and fall asleep. The vet told me "puppies sleep a lot," so I didn't worry about it. Well, when I took her to a different vet for her next set of vaccinations, I was told she had coccidia, a parasite. She was also a bit dehydrated. The vet put her on some medication that looked and smelled like egg nog (Sasha LOVED it), and gave her a water injection under her skin to rehydrate her (that went over well). And immediately, Sasha was spunkier. No more naps on the sidewalk.

Then, a week ago, the sidewalk naps came back. So did the loose stool. Her stool was never perfect. It was usually okay in the morning, but as the day wore on, it got worse. I called the vet last week, they said to bring her in, they tested the stool, and the coccidia was gone. The vet admitted that her behavior, as I was describing it, was odd - especially the part where Sasha started nesting last week just around the same time. She was building a little nest, that she'd sleep in, between her cage and the litter box, back in a corner. So the vet said to watch her.

Anyway, yesterday we were back to diarrhea, not full blown, but still. Also, she didn't lose her appetite, but was less excited about food than usual (she refusing her kibble as a "treat" - normally, she'd wolf it down). So I switched her back to the special food the vet prescribed (it's basically a mash of chicken and rice), and I put her on a teaspoon of pure canned pumpkin per meal (it's supposed to firm up the stool). I plan to call the vet again today, but so far her stool is more firm, though far from perfect, and her appetite is stronger (she took the kibble "treat" no problem).

From what I've read, and this is what makes things difficult, anything could be the problem. She could have a cold or flu, she could have a parasite, she could be eating too much, it could be the food itself that she's not used to, she could be upset about something, she could simply be playing and exercising too much. An insane number of possibilities, ranging from "your dog is fine" to "your dog is pretty sick."

So, I'm calling a family friend who's a vet to ask his advice. Ah, parenthood. Read More......

A belated welcome to the blog

I meant to start this blog a little over a month ago, when I first got Sasha. But little did I know that every waking (and sleeping) minute of every day and night would be spent caring for what I thought was a Yorkie-Bichon puppy, but in fact was a human infant in fur.

No one warned me about how difficult it is to take care of a puppy those first few weeks. No one. I don't care how many "warnings" the shelters and others give you about "whether you're really ready for the responsibility of having a dog." No one really tells you how bad it is. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still glad I got a dog. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having some serious doubts about what I did to myself, and my life, by getting a puppy. You simply are not prepared for being woken up twice, or five times, a night to take the pup out, then she wakes you up every day two hours before your normal wake up time, when her day - and now your day - begins. And that's just the lack of sleep.

It's amazing how quickly your psyche can get worn down by going without enough sleep for a good two to three weeks. It's the puppy version of waterboarding. She actually made me cry. And I really don't cry.

Fortunately, now that we're in our fifth week of Sasha, things are better. The crate training, which was truly one of the worst experiences of my life, is finally getting better. Don't get me wrong, she still hates the crate - well, to be precise, she hates the crate in the kitchen that I put her in when I go out. She loves the crate in the bedroom that she sleeps in at night. But the first few weeks, watching her scream and claw at the crate, and then crap and pee all over the place, was unbearable. So was the smell. There are only so many times you can give a dog a bath (she hates those too), and in fact, the vet said to only bathe her once a month. Well, you let your dog roll in her crap for a few hours and see what you do after she gets out (I find myself constantly apologizing to strangers that I really do bathe my dog).

Then there was the coccidia. It seems my pup came with a parasite. I didn't know it at first, and though that her frequent bouts of instant-sleep were just a puppy thing (the vet told me it was). For example, there was the time we were walking around the block and about 3/4 of the way through, Sasha had had enough, and promptly fell asleep in our neighbor's driveway.



Or the time that she visited my sister's work, and was all happy and peppy, and then suddenly was down for a nap, and that was it.



Several readers told me that she looked sick. And once her poop started getting a bit too soft, I asked another vet what was up, and bam, we had coccidia. Fortunately, it's treatable, though it took a good two weeks. And as she got better, Sasha got more energetic, and no longer needed her mid-step naps. That was, until a week ago when the insta-naps came back. So again to the vet, where she now got a clean bill of health on the coccidia, but the vet agreed that something appeared to be up. Sasha has been more tired than usual, and she started nesting two days ago. Instead of napping on her bed, which she always does, she started sleeping on the floor between her crate and the litter box (I plan on litter training her soon).



The vet said that old dogs that are dying do this, as do young dogs going into heat. But Sasha is just short of 4 months old, so she's not going into heat. Since she's eating okay, and drinking, and is gaining weight, doesn't have a fever, and otherwise appears healthy, except for her slight lethargy, the vet said to simply watch her.

This a long-winded way of explaining why the Sasha blog didn't start a month ago, as I had planned. I've only now begun to steal back some of my free time. So AMERICAblog Pets is born. I did, however, populate the blog with photos from the past month, and dated the posts to reflect when the photos were taken - so you can get a sense of how growth over the past 5 weeks.

The new blog won't just be about Sasha. I'm hoping Joe will find the time to give us Petey updates (his adorable cocker), and Chris can update us on Nasdaq and Sushi (his Parisian cats). I'd also like to post photos and stories of your pets, so send me pictures and your stories about your pets here: ablogphotos@gmail.com

Oh, it seems someone is now awake. So I'm off to be fooled again by her making her "I need to go out" signals, when in fact she doesn't have to go at all, bur rather simply wants to play outside.

Read More......