Pink Pants

It's never a dull moment around here as Zoe is now officially in estrus, commonly known as "in heat".  I kept denying to myself that it wasn't too bad and I could live with her condition and within 2 days things got worse.  So, it was off to PetSmart to see if they had some "girl pants".

They have lots to choose from except try fitting them on a Bulldog; little butt, big chest and Zoe has no tail.  The pants have a hole in them where the tail goes and that helps them to stay in place, well forget that idea with her.

The pants have elastic that goes around the stomach and velcro on each side, so they are adjustable.  I chose LARGE as she now has blossomed to 50 pounds.

The first few days she wore them around the house like she was a princess.  Then she discovered that she didn't want to wear them over night and you could hear her "ripping" them off of herself when she pulled on the velcro tabs.

Thank goodness we are almost done with this mess I don't think  I can take another night of velcro rippng at 3AM.  Before she has this condition again it will be off to the vet to get spayed.

But, until then here's Zoe modelling her pink princess pants sitting in her new bed.

Update #3 - Ding Dong the Mites are Dead!

Zoe had an appointment at the Vet yesterday and there are no live mites!  There are some dead disfigured ones but none moving around.  So, we continue with the treatment as we have been doing and then she goes back for another skin test.  If she's clear of mites then we're done!

She's been so good about taking the nasty tasting Ivermectin and with the good news we got today we stopped at the Pet Store and bought some of her favorite bullie sticks to chew on.

Happy weekend everyone and pray that it stops raining so we can get our Tail Waggon bike trailer out and go for a ride.  We're tired of hangin' around the house.

Update #2

It's been 2 weeks since I've posted an update to Zoe's condition.  Zoe's symptoms have really improved AND we actually have a diagnosis of what was going on with her.   My vet is a gem; in actuality I go to a vet clinic that has two (2) vets and they confer with each other daily about their animal patients and confer with a specialist if needed.  Dr. Carter decided to contact a veterinary dermatologist about Zoe's problem with the meds she was taking; the fact that she has demodex mites and her allergy symptoms.  The vet specialist stated that it is quite common for dogs to have an allergic reaction to the dying mites on their skin and it is not necessarily a reaction to the Ivermectin itself.

We decided to take her off of all the medication for 10 days, but continue with the Benedryl if she was having any redness or swelling in her face.
I then began a new regimen of .5cc's of Ivermectin and 2 Benedryl, two times per day.  Our goal is to get rid of the mites with the Ivermectin and treat the mite allergery with the Benedryl; it seems to be working.  We'll see when she gets tested in 3 weeks.

I thought Zoe deserved a little bit of a treat after all of this medical trauma going on in her life.  So, we took a trip to PetSmart and she got to pick out a new "big girl" bed.

Allergic Reaction - Update #1

After 2 days of benadryl Zoe still had a reaction again last night...lots of face rubbing on her blanket and hives in her ears.  She just had 2 pills at 7PM so she wasn't scheduled to have any more until 3AM.  I waited to see if the redness and swelling subsided and it did.

She's such a sad little girl when she's not feeling well.   Although she still wants to go for her evening walk to explore all the spring things.
 
In the mean time while all this is going on she has developed an unsettled stomach and is eating very little, just some chicken and rice.  After consulting the vet again (I've been talking to her every day) I am giving her Pepsid AC twice a day.

Hopefully, all of this will subside in a few days and we can get back to our normal routine.
Besides obedience class started again this week and Zoe is raring to go!

Scary Allergic Reaction

Zoe has been taking Simplicef for a bacterial infection she had in the folds on her face for the past 11 days on top of the Ivermectin medication for her demodex mites. When I got home from work I noticed her eye lids looked a little puffy and her cheeks were pinker than normal. I didn't think anything of it. At 9PM my husband noticed that her eyes were getting puffier and the skin around her mouth was very red. In 1 hour's time, her eyes are almost totally swollen shut, her face is red all over and she's running around the house rubbing her face on anything she can to relieve the itching/swelling.  It was getting worse by the minute and I was worried that she could have a breathing problem; although she was not panting. I gave her a 25mg benadryl and called the emergency vet clinic. They advised me to give her another benadryl and wait 1/2 hour to see if there was any improvement...if not or if I thought she was having problems breathing to get her there asap.  In 1/2 hour at 11PM she had calmed down and was sleeping comfortably. I set my alarm to check her every 2 hrs, all seemed ok. At 3AM I gave her 2 more benadryl.

I took her to my regular vet this morning and she was still swollen and red but not as bad as last night and now had some hives on her body. The vet gave her a shot of epinephrine, and instructed me to administer benadryl every 6-8 hours for 2 days; at that time all the swelling and redness is gone and not give her any of the other medications; as obviously she had developed a reaction to them.

I just wanted to relate this story as I thought all was well and suddenly she developed an allergic reaction that could have been life threatening after 11 days of taking Simplicef and Ivermectin. Keep a box of benadryl in your medicine cabinet...you never know when you may need it in an emergency situation.

Eyes swollen shut, Muzzle red and inflamed

Oh No! More Snow!

Ok, so it's 10 days into Spring.  We had a few warm days and then today it happened at 3PM in the afternoon, 3 inches of heavy wet snow that stuck to all the trees:

Looking out my back door

 

 

 

But Zoe thinks it's fun to blaze a trail to find a place to do her business...scooping snow on top of her nose and making a snowy mustache.

We can not wait until we are tip toeing through tulips instead...and get ready 'cause we're going to dig out that skateboard as soon as the snow melts!

Road Trip to Cincinnati

It has just been such a busy couple of weeks with dental and doctor appointments for myself...not Zoe.  She's tolerated me not feeling well and finally getting my life back to normal and getting to go out for our usual evening walk in the rain or snow.

Welcome Spring!

We decided to take a trip to Cincinnati, OH to see my husband's favorite guitar player in concert and then the next day I convinced him to take me to see the Newport, KY Aquarium.  While Zoe stayed with her friends back home for the weekend.

There was a 5K run the morning of the Aquarium visit and ALL the roads leading to parking for the Aquarium were closed.  So, we had to make our way around the city numerous times down one way streets to find a place to park fairly close to our destination as it was pouring rain.  We did get to see the World Peace Bell, which is pretty cool.  The bell is just sitting under a plexiglass covering and isn't marked so you don't have a clue why it's there.

While making our way through the neighborhood we found this establishment and as you all know I just had to hang out of the car window and take a picture.     

Zoe had a great weekend with her doggie friends back home and I picked her up later in the evening.  She loves riding in the car, and usually lays down in the seat when we're on short trips; otherwise she's in the back of the van in her crate.

Zoe's obedience class starts up again next week so we'll be working on getting prepared...stay tuned.