Dr Meyer here is my paycheck

    I woke up Tuesday everything I thought was normal. From Pearl not wanting to get out of bed with Gretchen ready to start her day. Got them both outside to go potty while I fixed their brunch in peace and quiet. Gretchen barked to let me know they were ready to come in. They each sat waiting for me to set their food bowls on the floor for them to eat. "OK, I said eat" and instantly they each started eating their food. I happened to glance over at Gretchen and she had blood coming out of her bum bum. OH,NOOOOOOOOOOOO I cried out. Here we go again. I grabbed the phone and called the vet got appointment for the next morning.
       Fast forward Wednesday morning off to the vet we go. I think I could just tell Forrest (my car) to drive to the vet... he surely knows the way by now.  When we pulled onto Port Sheldon Rd the girls start to barking, for they knew where they are going. You would think that they wouldn't like going to the vet after all the "ouchies " that have happen to them there but they do. That shows you that the vet's and the vet techs are awesome with the girls. I park Forrest and get out... open the back door to let the girls out. Diva Pearl jumps right out and Dr. Gretchen follows her in a heart beat. Up to the grass we walk... of course we have to stop to water it a little bit before we go in the hospital. They are waiting for us when we enter and the girls are asked to step up on the scale to get a accurate weight. Gretchen is still loosing  and Pearl is still gaining slowly.  We go in the exam room and the vet tech takes Gretchie to the back for her butt exam. She had her anal glands expressed while back there and Dr found that the blood / puss was coming from the left one.  Whew, a infected anal gland I can deal with. She is on antibiotics for two weeks. Plus now a bi-monthly visit to get the anal glands expressed. I joked that I will be signing over many of my future paychecks to the Drs' here.
   The Dr wanted to check Pearl's eye pressure while she was there. YEAH, the pressure is normal "8" in both eyes. Pearl was so patient during all this. The machine was not reading right and it took multiples tries and a phone call to the manufacturer to get it to work right. Vet said she just sat there not putting up any struggle. That is my Pearl for you. Glad that it is Pearl with the eye problem and not Gretchie. I would be a basket case trying to get all those drops in Gretchie eye.She fought me about just 2 drops a day could you imagine 8. I don't even want to think about it.
       I have decide not to take Pearl to the ophthalmologist. I have not been working a full 40 hrs so I only have so much money to put towards all these bills we been racking up at the vets. To just walk in to see the ophthalmologist is around $150.00.
I discuss my concerns with Dr Meyer and she feels that they can continue to treat Pearl at the hospital, since we caught it so early and that she is responding so well to treatment. We are going to start weaning Pearl off of some of her med's but she will be on some form of  med's the rest of her life..
   I am soooo grateful that my girls aren't afraid of going to the vet. That makes all of this so much easier on me. None of the dogs that have owned me have been afraid of the vets. For that I am truly .....LUCKY

Willing helper.

      Pearls was getting eye drops 8 times a day but now we are down to 6 times. I am back to work this week and can not get 2 of the times in. Pearl is being a real trooper about this all. She does not like one of the drops...poor baby. Yet, she lets me put them in her eyes without fighting me. Gretchen is next to us making sure I do it right.
      Dr Good called yesterday and wants Pearl to see a canine ophthalmologist. They need to know what kind of glaucoma she has to know what the life time treatment will be. Dr is setting up the appointment for me with one not to far away. 
     During all this Gretchen has been awesome and way too smart. She knows when I pick up the baggie with all Pearls eye drops in it ...that treats are forth coming. Pearls gets the drops put in her eyes but both dogs get a treat. Go figure. Gretchen is right there waiting for hers. She starts barking at me if she thinks she has been waiting a little to long for hers. She also makes sure the sisser didn't leave any crumbs behind from her treat. Such a good little helper she is.

Stubborn Dog continued

      The train goes swiftly by so I am able to turn down the street that the vet is on ...what no excited barking ?...what is wrong here?....they always bark. We finally pull into Georgetown Animal Hospital parking lot. Whew.. we made it. 
        As it is raining buckets I get out of the car run around to the other side to get the girls out. Open the back door  Gretchen jumps right out like a good girl. Try as I might I couldn't get Pearl to budge, she was putting the brakes on big time. I shut the car door leaving her sitting in the back set while I took Gretchen by her lead and walked quickly up to the door. As we both enter the hospital we hear..."Where is Pearl"?  I say that I can't get Pearl out of the car. The male vet tech comes out from the back room laughing. The three of us go out into the pouring rain to get STUBBORN Pearl. She is a very easy going dog but like her sisser she has a stubborn streak. Ha Ha Pearl.. the vet tech is strong and knows how to pick up dogs who are stubborn.  He carries her to the door and sets her down in front of it. I open the door to let her in and she picks up that diva head of hers walks in like that was how it was suppose to be done. I think she just didn't want to get those diva paws wet.
     We are told to go to room one and that the Dr will be there shortly. We barely get in and settled when in the back door of the room opens and in steps Dr Meyer. She checks Pearl out finding that a few of the sutures have been torn out. So she will take Pearl in the back re-suture them. She also put some ointment on the sutures to help with the redness/bruising. Otherwise everything looked good. Whew. No charge for the visit it was considered post-op visit included in the surgery fee.
    It was so cute of Gretchen she likes Dr Meyer but is a little leery of her since her surgeries earlier this year. Yet, when Dr Meyer was on her her knees talking to Pearl, Gretchen proudly walked over and put a paw on each of the the Dr knees then put her nose real close to the Dr nose. Smelling her breathe which says I like you. She stood like that for quite awhile. Dr loved it that Gretchen trusts her again. Ahaaa, tender moment. Way to go Gretchie.  I think that Gretchen is glad that she is not the patient this time around she is there only as a moral support for her sisser. So it was OK to trust the Dr again.
  All is well with the coon hounds for now.

Picture Wednesday

Gretchie and her new puzzle.

      Got back just a little while ago from the vet visit this noon. The eye is looking good but pressure was up a little. Pearl is to continue on the 3 drops and the one pill.  Dr Good is going to consult with a ophthalmologist to see what the life time treatment should be.  Pearl still has her eyesight..Yeah. Plus we weighted Gretchen and she has lost 3 lbs, need a few more off . Way to go Gretchie.   
          I had ordered a wooden treat puzzle for Gretchen  from PSP and it had come in. We stopped on the way home to pick it up and get a treat from the checkout counter.  When we got home from running errands we had brunch. With Pearl inside napping after brunch I took Gretchie out on the deck with the puzzle. I showed her that there were little treats under the pegs and she very quickly nudge the pegs off of the puzzle to get the treats. Then I showed her that there were treats under the slider pieces. Her feet got to pawing at it until it moved and she got her reward of the treat. Oh..man is she smart she figured it out before I had time to sit down beside her to hold it steady. What I don't do for my girls.

 These are pictures are off of the web.

Do we know how to have fun or what?

         Pearls has not been able to take walks or visit Grandpaw because of opened wounds. So I have been trying to come up with things to spoil her with. What has she liked the best. A impromptu picnic on the deck we had this morning. What did I serve, you ask?? Why peanut butter on crackers and chicken broth. Yummo..... I had milk instead of the broth. I think this might just become a weekly warm weather tradition here.
        I am making some homemade "Frosty Treats" for tomorrows picnic. You take a 32 oz container of plain / vanilla yogurt and 1 small can of tuna fish packed in oil mix together. Freeze in little containers or ice cube trays. This is a messy treat so if you make these be sure to serve them to your 4 legged ones outside. Gretchen just loves these treats but wait what doesn't she love ...only raw carrots.

What is happening with the hounds today.

      Pearl's eye is still swollen but looking better each day. She tolerates two of the eye drops but the third one she doesn't like. How she knows when I have that one out to put in her eye is beyond me. She doesn't fight me like her sister Gretchen did but still turns her head away from me and put up a little bit of resistant when I go to put the drop in her eye. I don't have to call her into the kitchen to get her med's anymore.  I just pop open a can of dog food. In about a half a minute she is beside me waiting to get her med's that have been mixed in with can food. That shows me that she is smart in her own way. If it is in her best interest she will figure out how to do something.
    She has been enjoying laying out on the deck sometimes in the sunshine... sometimes in the shade. I am going to look into getting another waterproof cushie for the deck. I had brought this one originally for Sheena Marie to use in her old age but no she didn't want anything to do with it. It wasn't until two years later when Pearl joined the family and claimed it that everybody started wanting to use it. They're just like human kids when one has it they all want it.
    There was a big fire downtown this morning which was close enough that we could hear all the sirens from the firetrucks that were responding to it. So there was a lot of howling and baying coming from the girls while standing on the back deck. Glad it was late morning when it happen which was good cause my neighbors wouldn't of appreciated all the "hound sound"early in the morning.
    The girls helped me with planting my Mothers Day flowers in the deck pots and in the ground yesterday. So I am so looking forward to getting a good ground soaking rain this evening.
    My friend Lynn helps my dogs buy and send me a Mothers Day card each year. Isn't that cute. For me it is the little things in life that bring me the great pleasure. So I get a kick out of it.
    Hope all you fur and feathers moms had a great Mothers Day too.

Update on the eye

    When we got to the vets office the vet tech took Pearl to the back surgery and removed her sutures then came back up front to tell me everything about the incision site is looking very good.  Then Dr Good took a pressure reading of the eye and it has reduce quite a bit but has a ways to go.  They told me that Pearl held very still while they took a reading. As far as the Dr Good can tell Pearl still has sight in that eye. Dr Good was very happy with the progress that Pearl has made so far. We are not out of the woods yet but getting close. She is being so so good about all of this. I am so glad that the Doctors had ordered this instrument ( sample picture) when they did otherwise I would of had to take her to the ER for dogs. We're talking big $$$$$$$$ if that had happened. I take her back on this coming Friday to get another eye pressure reading. Until then we are doing  #1 eye drop 4 times a day, then wait a hour after that dosage to give #2 eye drop after eye drop #1 on the 1 & 3 time, then eye drop #3 after #1 on the 2 & 4th dosage. She gets the antibiotics and pain med and pill to help with pressure during her morning meal. Confused as me. . ....Whew... That is why I have made a chart. She is liking the treat of can food to take her med's with. I am not hearing Gretchen complaining about getting some of the can food either.... What we don't do for our pets. When I adopt... I adopt for life!!!!!
       P.S. Will finish posting about her surgery in the next couple of days. I got side tracked with the eye problem.
Thanks for all the emails and comments of support and prayers. Pearl and Me.

Prayers need again for Pearl

   This morning Pearl's left eyeball was twice the normal size. Called the vet. Pearls regular vet was booked solid but the other vet had a opening 45 minutes from my phone call. Told the girls to hurry and go potty were hitting the road fast. Drove to the vet's. Got right in ... the vet thought it was a eye injury cause Pearl had dug a hole next to the rose brush and she was afraid she might of scratch her eyeball.  She took Pearl in the back and measured the pressure in her eye with a new instrument they had just got in the day before. Great timing Pearls the first one to use it. Then did some tinting of the eyeball and examined the eye and decided that she has glaucoma real bad. We left with eye drops and pain med's ..drove to the pharmacy where Dr  had call in prescriptions (human ones) for two more drops and a pill. The pharmacy only had the drops . They called around to another pharmacy to see if they had the pills we needed. They found some and offer to pick them up for me and drop them off in my mail box after closing their pharmacy so I would have them tonight to give to her. The pharmacist said that the going price was $70.90 but the other pharmacy was going to let me have them for the old price of $25.00  cause they brought them under the old pricing. Couldn't ask for a nicer pharmacy's. AWESOME . He also ordered the other drops which I can pick up in the morning after 10. I will have to make a chart for all these med's ...one med 3 times a day ...one med twice a day...one med once a day ,etc... 
     When I got home from work tonight the pills were in the mailbox.  Couldn't ask for better people. Tonight it looks like the swelling has gone down some. She is in good spirits and ate her dinner and is taking the eye drops in stride. It is the pills that I have to hide in food sometime two different times... the little bugger eats the food and spites out the pill LOL We have a post -op appointment on Saturday to get her sutures out which is good cause I have to have her eye pressure checked in 48 hrs. So please keep us in your prayers. I feel so sorry for her... all these health problems for such a sweet dog.
   Tears : .....(    It is a good thing I am on vacation next week so I can take on the role of Pearl's nurse.