SheltieMommy
Forums Regular
I decided to start a blog to keep track of Lady's (the puppy mill rescue) progress. Mostly just so I can look back on things and realize how much progress she's making, but also, it would be great to interact with other people who have taken in a timid rescue.
Here is the link, if you'd like to stop by and say hello!
http://ladythesheltie.wordpress.com/
I just started it over the weekend, and the posts so far are just catching up on the whole story of how we got her, so it's not really current yet. I've got some pictures up there though! (One can never see too many sheltie pictures, right?)
Anyway, just to keep you all posted, she is doing well....still very timid, but starting to come out of her shell just a tiny bit. I keep reminding myself that something that looks little to me is really a much bigger deal to her. We've had her for about a month now, and if you remember my previous posts, she had been shaved in rescue, so I'm trying to get her pretty coat back! I've been giving her Vibrant Pets and Salmon Oil with her food, and I'm just now starting to notice her looking a bit more fluffy in places. Her sides are still just sporting some "peach fuzz" though. Because of the sparseness of her coat in places, her itching and her lethargy, I took her back to the vet to check her thyroid. Her T-4 came back at 2.3, so they didn't seem concerned about that. However, she did end up having hookworms, which I read later can cause those same symptoms, so I'm hoping that deworming will help. Other than that, the vet said we could do a complete blood panel to check for Cushings. We also need to do a urine test to check for a UTI, because she's still having a bit of an incontinence problem. If that comes back clear, we'll try either estrogen or that other med for leaky bladders...I forgot the name of it.
She has also had a cough since we brought her home. At first it sounds like a cat when they have a fur ball, and then she does a wet-sounding gag at the end, but never spits anything up. Of course she never does it in front of the vet! The vet thought it might be a collapsing trachea, and said once we get the other test results back, we'll look at the whole picture and figure out a plan of attack. But again, I was reading that the cough can be from worms too, so it's just hard to know which direction to go. The funny thing is, she only seems to cough when she's been scratching. She'll be fine, but then all of a sudden go into a scratching fit and then do the coughing thing. So....allergies, nerves? I dunno. Here's what I've tried so far for the itching--Vibrant Pets and Salmon Oil, Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, Benadryl (although not consistently), Fish and Sweet Potato kibble (also not consistently, so I guess I can't count that). My other thought was maybe the itching is just from her fur growing back in after being shaved?
Emotionally, she's still very shy, but her latest cute thing is how excited she gets when she knows I'm in the kitchen making her dinner! I'll open the door to her crate, and she walks in and out of it, and then she'll start walking around and around the table, stopping to look at me to see if it's ready yet. When I (finally!) bring her dish, she even wags her tail. It's so cute! Last night while I was cleaning up the kitchen, she came out of her crate and would come out into the living room just far enough for me to see her, and then when I looked up and told her "Good girl, Lady!", she would scurry back to her crate, and then do the whole thing all over again. I think she's trying to explore a little bit, but just has no idea what's going to be safe, and what is out there. I guess I'd be the same way after living in a closed-in area my whole life!
Well, that's the latest scoop here...Leave a comment on the blog if you stop by!!!! And mostly, thanks again for all the support here--everyone has been so helpful!
-Chris
Here is the link, if you'd like to stop by and say hello!
http://ladythesheltie.wordpress.com/
I just started it over the weekend, and the posts so far are just catching up on the whole story of how we got her, so it's not really current yet. I've got some pictures up there though! (One can never see too many sheltie pictures, right?)
Anyway, just to keep you all posted, she is doing well....still very timid, but starting to come out of her shell just a tiny bit. I keep reminding myself that something that looks little to me is really a much bigger deal to her. We've had her for about a month now, and if you remember my previous posts, she had been shaved in rescue, so I'm trying to get her pretty coat back! I've been giving her Vibrant Pets and Salmon Oil with her food, and I'm just now starting to notice her looking a bit more fluffy in places. Her sides are still just sporting some "peach fuzz" though. Because of the sparseness of her coat in places, her itching and her lethargy, I took her back to the vet to check her thyroid. Her T-4 came back at 2.3, so they didn't seem concerned about that. However, she did end up having hookworms, which I read later can cause those same symptoms, so I'm hoping that deworming will help. Other than that, the vet said we could do a complete blood panel to check for Cushings. We also need to do a urine test to check for a UTI, because she's still having a bit of an incontinence problem. If that comes back clear, we'll try either estrogen or that other med for leaky bladders...I forgot the name of it.
She has also had a cough since we brought her home. At first it sounds like a cat when they have a fur ball, and then she does a wet-sounding gag at the end, but never spits anything up. Of course she never does it in front of the vet! The vet thought it might be a collapsing trachea, and said once we get the other test results back, we'll look at the whole picture and figure out a plan of attack. But again, I was reading that the cough can be from worms too, so it's just hard to know which direction to go. The funny thing is, she only seems to cough when she's been scratching. She'll be fine, but then all of a sudden go into a scratching fit and then do the coughing thing. So....allergies, nerves? I dunno. Here's what I've tried so far for the itching--Vibrant Pets and Salmon Oil, Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, Benadryl (although not consistently), Fish and Sweet Potato kibble (also not consistently, so I guess I can't count that). My other thought was maybe the itching is just from her fur growing back in after being shaved?
Emotionally, she's still very shy, but her latest cute thing is how excited she gets when she knows I'm in the kitchen making her dinner! I'll open the door to her crate, and she walks in and out of it, and then she'll start walking around and around the table, stopping to look at me to see if it's ready yet. When I (finally!) bring her dish, she even wags her tail. It's so cute! Last night while I was cleaning up the kitchen, she came out of her crate and would come out into the living room just far enough for me to see her, and then when I looked up and told her "Good girl, Lady!", she would scurry back to her crate, and then do the whole thing all over again. I think she's trying to explore a little bit, but just has no idea what's going to be safe, and what is out there. I guess I'd be the same way after living in a closed-in area my whole life!
Well, that's the latest scoop here...Leave a comment on the blog if you stop by!!!! And mostly, thanks again for all the support here--everyone has been so helpful!
-Chris
The vet had dewormed her several times before that. Apparently it takes several doses to get the worms out of the lungs.