Who Doesn't Love A Hoagie!?!?!??!?!?

  

  The Boots is doing well, she's up to her tricks, though! Yesterday I came home from running errands, and had a hoagie that I brought back for lunch. Well, stupid me, I got up to do something real quick, and accidentally left the bag that my sandwich was in on the coffee table. Whenever I do this, I will suddenly have this alarm bell ringing in my head, blaring out "ALERT! ALERT! YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR FOOD IN PROXIMITY TO THE DOG!" and this sends me running from whatever I'd been doing! Sure enough, yesterday I came running back into the living room to find the little rugrat with a hoagie sandwich clamped firmly between her teeth! We had ourselves a little battle of the wills as we played tug of war with this sandwich, Boots growling, and me yelling "let -it-GO, BOOTSIE!"  I won in the end, and just as you'd imagine, Boots went under the table to pout for an hour or so!  

My lil Bootsie's Health Troubles

                    "THE BOOTSIE   FILES"  

 The first malady to befall little Bootsie was in 1998. She'd gone in for a dental cleaning, and while there, the vet felt a lump under her skin on her chest by her front leg. It turned out to be a mast cell tumor, which is a pretty aggressive cancer. We had her operated on to remove it, and thankfully, have not had any problem with tumors ever since.

Then about a year later, Boots wasn't feeling well...for three days she would hardly touch her food. The final straw came when I took her out in the backyard to "do her business". As I stood on the porch watching her, she looked up at me and fell over in a faint. Off we went to the emergency clinic. They did test after test, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. We finally brought Bootsie to an internal medicine vet, and after keeping her another week, diagnosed the problem as a defective spleen. (It's actually uncommon for a dog's spleen to just "go bad" for no apparent reason). Little Boots underwent a splenectomy, and got much better. 

 Boots has had seizures since she was a puppy, but they weren't bad enough  or frequent enough to medicate her for them. After the splenectomy, that changed! She began having seizures that were longer, more frequent, and more painful. Then they began to come in clusters. She was put on phenobarbitol to control the seizures. THIS caused her to gain about 4 pounds, which is ALOT on such a little dog! Look for yourself! Pretty chubby, eh!?       Bootsie developed arthritis, which was even worse with the extra weight. We put her on a strict low-fat prescription diet, which she is still on today.

Fast forward two years. I sat up all night with a sick little Boots...she was throwing up hourly. Took her back to the vet, where more tests were done. She was diagnosed with two different things: Hyperlipodemia, which is almost exclusive to schnauzers, and means that their is a high amount of fat in her blood because her body can't process fat very well. But the second diagnosis was the worst: Bootsie has liver disease. The vet believes it was brought on by the meds I have to give her to control seizures, so there's not a lot I can do about it. At the time of the diagnosis two years ago, they gave Bootsie one year life expectancy. Well, I'm sooooooo happy to say that she's a year past that now, and she's doing great!

 I've even managed to get her weight back down closer to where it should be, and her arthritis is much better. I give her milkthistle in her food every morning, as well as two other holistic supplements, and I also give her 200 iu's of Vitamin E every other day. If Boots gets into the garbage, it's almost a guarentee that she will wind up back in the vet clinic for an overnighter with a catheter and all that other un-fun stuff! It just kills me whenever I have to leave her there. I cry until she's home again, and I call the vet every two hours wanting updates! What a brave and courageous little dog Bootsie is. Next to her, I look like such a complete wuss!!

"Bootsie Meets Santa & The Evil Elf"

It was the holiday season, and our local newspaper was running an ad that said, "Get your pet's photo taken with Santa Paws at the Alderwood Mall".

On the appointed day, I arrived with Bootsie to the mall, and was dismayed to find myself in the back of a seemingly endless line. There were people from all walks of life with all variety of pets ahead of me. Boots and I stood in this line for a good 45 minutes.

Finally, we made it to the front. A small woman, dressed head to toe as an elf, came walking toward us, and I obediently handed Bootsie over to her as she requested. She stood there, this elf, holding my dog....perhaps holding her a bit too tight, and in the next instant, Bootsie had seen fit to pee all down the front of the elfs clothing. Now, the elf--a look of abject disgust clearly etched onto her elfish face, stood there holding Bootsie out at arms length, and did in fact carry her in this manner all the way over to Santa Paws. "Watch out," she warned him, "She's a pee-er."

Santa Paws, a bit on the overly confident side, took li'l Boots onto his lap, and Bootsie proceeded to "give him what for" and bit his gloved Santa hand. So unlike her!! Immediately filled with remorse, Bootsie struggled in Santa Paws lap, trying her darndest to reach up and give Santa Paws an "I'm sorry I chomped you" apology kiss on the cheek. Boots wiggled this way. Boots wiggled that way. She squirmed and squirmed, growing increasingly frustrated that Santa Paws was not accomodating her wish to apologize. While this "battle of the wills" was being waged, the photographer was frantically trying to grab Bootsie's attention w/ a squeaky toy. The elf stood off to the side, arms folded across her soaking wet chest, scowling and shaking her head in disapproval.

And then suddenly, Bootsie paused briefly in her struggles to turn and give the photographer (who was apparently annoying her) her best "mad dog" face, and in that instant the flash of the flash bulb illuminated a Kodak moment. With the flash came the sound of cheers and applauds from every person in that huge line and other curious onlookers. I tell you, I didn't know wether to laugh or to cry!

About a week later, I got a letter in the mail from Santa Paws' photographer. It said that the roll of film which had the pic of Bootsie on it had been defective, and they expressed their sincerest apologies.

(If you ask me & Bootsie, though, we think it's the handiwork of one miffed little elf!)

This is a true story. Just wanted to share it w/you all, and I hope you enjoyed reading it, as I always enjoy recalling this memory!
 

(Oh yes, Bootsie still has a penchant to pee in this inappropriate way, should the mood strike her! Whenever anyone comes over to our house, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is usually, "Don't greet the dog. Don't touch the dog. In fact, please do not even look at the dog." She gets too excited if they greet her w/ any enthusiasm matching her own! (Think, "Oh Boy-Oh Boy-Oh Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........Uh-Oh.")!
Sometimes she will roll over onto her back. Some people say this is what a dog does to display it's submissiveness....I, however, think that Bootsie just wants a comfortable position in which to gaze up and get a good view of our visitor! And should she get all revved up and happy in this position.....well...need I say more!?
Lol, bath time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

Seizures

                                            

                                                        First....a note from Paula~Bootsie's owner/best friend, about something that Bootsie and I have grown all too familiar with: seizures in dogs.   You may have a dog who seizes, or know someone who does. We just want to tell you that you are not alone in this. My little Bootsie has seizures, too. She's 13 years old, and she has had seizures since she was a baby. For the first 4 years or so, I wasn't aware what they were. They seemed to occur about every three months or so. Whenever 3 months would go by, I'd start to think, "Oh dear, she's due..."   Initially our vet did not find it necessary to begin medicating, but in time, that would change.
When Bootsie has a seizure, she will leap to her paws and make a mad dash for whereever I am, her little legs collapsing beneath her the whole way, as she will lose control of them. Once I am at her side, she will lay there and shiver uncontrollably as if she's freezing. This lasted about a minute or so, then ended. About five years ago, however, the seizures grew worse both in strength and in duration. In addition to the violent shivering, her little leg would contort quite painfully, and her mouth would open in a grimace of pain, sometimes she'd whimper. The seizures would last about three minutes. It was at this point that we began medicating.

I give Bootsie Phenobarbitol to control seizures. Another option is Potassium Bromide. There are pros and cons to both. (I will try to go into this in depth in a future entry, or at least provide  some links that cover this issue).

Now, this is what you should do when your dog begins seizing:

* Go to your dog and sit beside him/her. I know it's real scary to watch these seizures when they are happening, but it's very important that you try to remain calm, as your dog will need this. Talk her through the seizure, using a calm, reassuring, and soft voice. Try to remember that your dog cannot control what is happening. It is my opinion that the seizures scare and confuse the dog, so they really need your support. Tell her it will be ok, say a quiet prayer out loud, and keep reassuring her much as a mother would try to soothe a crying baby.

* Try to keep some throw pillows in the room you spend the most time in. When your dog begins to sieze, place some of these pillows around each side of her. This can help prevent her from hurting herself should she knock into furniture, etc.

* If possible, have someone dim the lights, and turn down any background noise. It will help her to focus more on your voice if you can do this.
* Make sure that you sit down with your family and educate them about what seizures are. Also share with them the steps that should be taken should a seizure occur in their presence. By doing this, everyone will be prepared, and the chaos will be further reduced.
* Keep a clock in the room you spend the most time in, and make sure it's readily visible from a variety of locations within that room. Try to make a note of the time that the seizure begins so that you can record its duration. Seizures seem so awfully long when they are occuring.
If possible buy an inexpensive stopwatch (most major sporting goods stores carry them for less than $10). These are really helpful to use in timing the length of a seizure.

* Keep a journal of your dog's seizure activity. You can use any small notebook. In this you want to record the following information:

+ The day/date
+ Location where seizure occurs
+ The actual time the seizure occurs (7:00 PM, for example)
+ How long the seizure lasts
+ A description of the seizure (try to include as much detail as possible)

I would also include:

+ Circumstances prior to the seizure (for example, was your dog sleeping? Was there any arguing going on in the house? etc.)

+ Record information about how your dog acts after a seizure. Again, be as specific as you can.

I keep one of these journals for Bootsie, and it's been an invaluable tool. I bring it with me when Bootsie goes to the vet,and this way all the information is right there.You can also use it to write down any questions that you don't want to forget to ask when you see the vet. One more thing that may help is to write down the vet's office telephone number as well as the number to the nearest 24-hr emergency vet clinic inside the front cover. Underneath this, you may want to write down your vets instructions regarding what type of seizure would dicatate an immediate trip to the vets office.

Something else I'd like to mention: sometimes dogs know when a seizure is about to happen well in advance. Try to pay attention to any variances in your dog's behaviour. Bootsie knows about 3 days before a seizure strikes. She will stick to me like glue! Anywhere that I am, she has to be right there with me, and physically touching me. Your dog might do something similar.   I hope this helps!