Tummy, Sneezy, Gimpy Troubles

We had a little bit of a health scare with Layla last week.   It was a three-headed monster type day on Tuesday, with Layla's asthma and digestive problems both acting up, and also the addition of a third problem, favoring one of her front legs.  This all came only one day after Marge battled some sort of digestive upset that she quickly got over with the help of a bland diet.

I wasted no time and got her in to the vet Wednesday afternoon.   The limp really wasn't that bad and Layla was showing no hesitance jumping or moving around, but I figured that we had had a pretty good streak, having not gone to the vet since November, and that I may as well ease my mind and get her checked out.

The vet examined her leg and concluded that her range of motion was quite good and that although she probably has some arthritis, there really weren't any anti-inflammatories that he could prescribe.  I expected to walk away with Rimadyl or Metacam, just like I've gotten for Marge in the past, but apparently, they are not marketed for use in cats in the USA.

Over all, he didn't think her limp was very worrisome nor very severe.  He said it was likely either arthritis or perhaps some kind of soft-tissue injury that, if given time, would go away. He sent me home, told me to beef up her steroid dosage for two weeks, and check in with him then.  If the limp wasn't gone, then we'd pursue X-Rays and blood work.

We also weighed her (she dropped a bit to 7 pounds 10 ounces from 8 pounds 3 ounces), and checked her heart, which he said sounded good.

After only a couple of days on an increased dose, Layla's leg problem disappeared.  However, I absolutely hate that she is on steroids.  Her maintenance dose is quite low, and even this increased dose is low, too.  But, I've never really thought of steroids as a long term solution, and it scares me to think that she has been on them for a year now.

My vet is adamant that cats deal with Prednisone remarkably well and that her liver supplement, Denosyl, will protect her liver, but I am still uneasy about it.  I know many cats who take a long-term low dose of Pred, but I really wish I didn't have to.

Over all, she's doing really well considering she's 13 and has several chronic-type conditions.  Hope her relatively good luck continues.

Eight Pounder

This week, Layla's delicate immune system decided that it was jealous that it was Marge's turn for a vet visit.  In true dramatic fashion, Layla started hacking and coughing in what looked to be a pretty severe asthma attack.

In fact, she was so bad Saturday night that I considered bringing her to the emergency vet.

Alas, Marge's weekday appointment was switched to Layla's weekday appointment.  A couple of x-rays later, Layla does, indeed, have some asthmatic stuff going on in her lungs.

Thankfully, the vet did not seem overly concerned, and said that he was actually happy with the x-rays, since they showed a normal-sized heart (yippee!).  We will continue her low dose of Prednisone (which she is on for the intestinal issues) and perhaps increase if needed.  She still takes her liver protectant supplement, Denosyl, as well.

Oh, and the other tidbit of good news was the fact that little Layla, who was down to nearly 6 pounds earlier this year, is now a nice and lean 8 pounds, 3 ounces.

Not to worry, Marge wasn't spared a visit.  She got to go in that same afternoon (talk about an expensive day) for her wellness exam.  She checked out perfectly fine, except for a couple of back teeth that seem to accumulate tartar no matter what I do.  It may be time for a dental.

She was a trooper, too.. so much calmer than I ever recall her being at the vet's office.  She sure has come a long way.

The Whiskered One

I thought I'd post a quick update about my cat, Layla, who, as you know, has been battling some health issues for the past year.

Over all, she's doing quite well.  She is on 90 mg of Denosyl (a liver protectant supplement) every morning, and .35 cc of Prednisone every evening (a very small dose for keeping any inflammation she may have in her intestines to a minimum).

Lately, she has been turning up her food and even seemed to drop a bit of weight again.  I thought the worst, but when I offered her a can of food from PetCo as opposed to a smaller pet store in my area this evening, she wolfed it down.  Despite the fact that it's the exact same brand of food, there appears to be something different about the pet store cans.  I'll listen to what she's telling me and buy only PetCo cans from now on.  Maybe the ones from the pet store weren't stored properly (according to the expiration date, they have another two years before they expire...).

She's going to eventually need to go back to the vet for a recheck, but weighing her is the most important thing.  So, I'm probably going to bring her along when I pick up her dry prescription food (which she just kind of picks at nowadays) just to be weighed.  I'm not in a hurry to get her in for another exam, as she is stable and was really stressed out at the last couple of vet visits.

She spent some time in my room with me this weekend and pretty much purred continuously the entire time, despite me dressing her up in flowers.  I love little moments like this. :)

A Pound of News

We had some very big news on Friday, when Layla got taken to the vet for a re-weigh.

She weighed in at 7.1 lbs, up significantly from her last weight, 6.15 lbs.

This likely means that the Prednisone is working (reducing inflammation in her bowels and allowing her to absorb nutrients).  It also means that we hopefully don't have to think about endoscopy or biopsy right now.

The vet called the news "not good, but great."  He wants to see her back in a month and hopes she'll gain more.

She'll get another B12 shot at that point as well.  I administered two by myself in the past month.. it was scary, but I think I did a good job.

I nearly cried from relief and happiness when I saw her weight on the scale.  She's not quite 100% - still the occasional throw-up, sometimes a little uncomfortable after eating, and the occasional wobble - but she's much more filled out than she was and quite active.

I'm committed to not taking her for granted.  Unlike a dog, it's so easy to "forget" about a cat because they don't go on walks, or to training classes, etc.  I want to ensure that her golden years are as good as they possibly can be.

Give your cat a hug in honor of our big news!

Everything

I really should be asleep, since I have to wake up at 7 AM to get ready to run eight pigeons in the operant chambers at school, but I figured I could squeak out an update.

Saturday, we all caught a bit of a break and headed to the park for a while.  My sister and grandmother tagged along as well.  It was a new park that Marge had never been to.  She was so excited to get out and start walking, though.  We milled around for about a half hour.  There were people everywhere and whistles galore from the sports games that were taking place, and I'm proud to say that Marge wasn't fazed at all!

my sweet girl..

Afterwards, Marge accompanied us to PetCo, where I picked up cans of food for Layla. I was originally going to leave her in the car, but she seemed so relaxed that I didn't think a 5-minute trip inside of the store would bother her. She did much better on this visit, probably because of all of the company that was with us.  She was in close quarters with lots of dogs and did just fine.  This might become a regular activity for us, as PetCo is the only store that supplies Layla's food around here.

Monday was Layla's Gotcha Day.  She's now been living with us for 12 years.

We started Prednisone treatment for her over the weekend.  I simply could not justify spending $2K and putting Layla through anesthesia and tons of mental and physical stress without trying the less invasive option first.  She will be re-weighed next weekend to see if the steroids have had any effect.  So far, all I'm seeing is a hearty appetite and not much, if any, weight gain.

This, of course, is one of many things that is totally consuming me right now.  There are so many reasons why I should and shouldn't agree to biopsy.  Still hoping it doesn't come to that.. we have about another 8 or 9 days of steroid treatment before she is reevaluated at the vet.

Monday night, Marge came with me to teach the non-competitive agility class.  Not an uncommon occurrence.  However, she ran agility for FOUR people other than me.

We had a simple course set up with just low jumps, NADAC hoops, and tunnels, and wanted to give the students a feel for what it's like to run a competition level dog.  Marge did beautifully.. running for one male (the special needs boy who she befriended a few weeks ago - very, very proud of her) and three women.

I helped direct her around the course a bit (like calling out a "turn" to get Marge to switch leads - these students don't know about rear crosses or anything), but she worked pretty well for everyone and didn't seem terribly stressed by it.  She sure did like getting to sample other people's treats.

Tuesday night, we dropped into obedience class for the second week in a row.  We played more front games, which Marge thoroughly enjoyed.  We also worked a lot on heeling (not my strong suit).  My footwork goes to pot as soon as Marge gets added to the picture.  By myself, I am fine, but stick the leash in my hand and I don't know where my feet are!  I'm working on it.

The plan is still to do a UKC obedience trial in June.  I have the UKC paperwork all filled out to register her with her FIFTH organization, now I just need to part with the cash.

That's really the long and short of everything we've been up to this week.  I am so overwhelmed with school right now (took three tests this week, taking another Tuesday).  One of my classes is ending on March 22nd and I am leaving my internship on the 30th, so I'm hoping to get my life back in a couple of weeks!  Of course, I'm not expecting too long of a honeymoon, as we're already just about half way through the semester and finals are slowly approaching, never mind the grueling summer class schedule that I might put myself through.. AND the required Physical Therapy hours I need to do.. AND the GRE studying that I should have already started.. Junior year of college really isn't all that different from Junior year of high school.

Tummy Ache

half-winking for the camera.  she hates the flash...

We got Layla's bloodwork back on Thursday.  It showed an extremely low level of Vitamin B12, but not much else.

This means that Layla's problem lies in her intestines, not in any of her other abdominal organs.  The question now: what is the problem?

Both vets (my main vet and the specialist) keep saying it's pretty much either Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or Lymphoma.  However, the only way to distinguish between the two is through performing an endoscopy and taking a biopsy of her intestines.  The outward symptoms for each disease are very similar.

This would cost a hefty sum of money and will require anesthesia, as well as an overnight stay at the hospital.  Both vets think she can handle it, as long as we get her heart checked beforehand.

The other option is starting her on Prednisolone and waiting about a month to see if there are any changes.  If she has IBD, Pred will help tremendously.  My vet said she likely wouldn't be significantly worse after a month, even if the Pred does no good, since whatever she has is a "slow developing" kind of thing, but I really have trouble letting that much time go by with a "wait and see" approach.

Right now, Layla's getting B12 injections.  She got her first one yesterday, and I'll give her another next weekend.  We're going to wait about another week (after she has another injection) and then my vet and I will discuss what the next step is.  She may respond favorably to the B12 alone.

I've been really upset about the whole thing - my cat is pretty happy, eating like a champ and acting normal for the most part (except for being wobbly whenever she shakes her head - she's on antibiotics but unfortunately not responding as quickly as she did the last time she had an ear infection), but the thought of her having lymphoma is really hanging over my head.

Not looking for advice, just needed a place to write all of my thoughts down.. just think good thoughts for us over these next couple of weeks.  In the mean time, I'm going to try to not think about it so much.

Several Hundred Dollars Later...

I took this picture last night.

Layla posed this way by herself, perhaps as a

foreshadowing of today's expenses ($805!!!)..

Today was our big appointment at Garden State Veterinary Specialists with an Internal Medicine vet.

Thankfully, the process was a bit less painful than I had anticipated.  The hospital was empty when we arrived, so I didn't have to see any sick animals or distraught owners like I did last time.  I waited in the car until about 5 minutes before our appointment time, then whisked Layla inside.  We were only in the waiting room for about an additional 5 minutes.

The vet was very nice.. coincidentally, he was the vet who treated Layla the last time we took her out there, in 2006.  He seemed to have some recollection of her case (and I don't know if he was making it up, but he said he remembered my mom).

The consultation and testing probably took less than 45 minutes altogether.  They did an ultrasound and bloodwork.  The ultrasound came back clear; he said that all of her abdominal organs look good, but her colon was filled with tons of stool and gas.

He agreed with me that Layla has some sort of malabsorption problem.  He repeatedly said it could be due to a pancreatic deficiency.  The bloodwork will determine whether that is the case or not.  It would not be hard to manage, according to him.

If the bloodwork shows that her pancreas is fine, we're going to have to take the next step and think about endoscopy/biopsy of her intestine.  This is kind of scary, as I said that I really didn't want to put Layla under anesthesia.  He said that there was very little risk.. the only thing he would recommend before anesthesia is a chest X-Ray, because she does have what he called a "loud" heart murmur.  (I knew she had a heart murmur, but did/do not know the severity of it.) I guess we'll cross that bridge if/when we get there.

Biopsy of the intestine would search for possible inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal lymphoma.  He said that both of these can be managed well.. that this type of lymphoma in cats is not "terrible" the way it is in people.

So, we don't have an answer right now, because everything is contingent upon the results of the bloodwork, which we will have within the week.  Over all, I think the news is pretty good, because he doesn't seem to think that she has anything that can't be treated or managed.  I'm glad that the ultrasound was good.. it's comforting to know she's not riddled with masses or anything like that.  It's frustrating to still not have a diagnosis, though, especially when it's obvious that Layla is not getting the nutrients that she needs.

Thank you so much for your continued thoughts for my little girl.  She sure is happy to be home (and not so happy to be sporting a new bald spot on her belly!).

Time For A Specialist

Layla went back to the vet (finally) on Friday night.  I stalled quite a few extra weeks because, in all honesty, she was happy and eating well, and I didn't want to stress her or her body out with another blood draw so quickly after the last one.

As it turns out, she lost more weight - about a pound since her previous vet visit 6 or 7 weeks ago.  She's down to 6.1 pounds.  Due to this, my vet opted to not take blood, and, he, instead, filled out the dreaded referral form for what is arguably my least favorite place in the entire world - Garden State Veterinary Specialists. No reason to draw blood now, he said, if they will repeat everything when she goes there.

I've been to GSVS once before and although I have no complaints about the way they cared for Layla through her battle with allergies, it's so depressing there.  I get way too emotional over seeing very sick animals (one of the main reasons I did not go through with being Pre-Vet in undergrad).  I might just have to strike up a deal with my mom, so that she sits in the waiting room until our name is called, so I can just whisk my way in quickly from the car.  I simply CANNOT deal with it.

Because she's eating well and still losing weight, there is obviously some sort of malabsorption issue going on.  She's producing a LOT of poop (much of which is formed, but quite soft), and therefore might not be retaining nutrients as well as she should be. It may be something as benign as an intolerance to the food she's on (all of these problems seem to have started right after the whole food switching debacle).  It could be Irritable Bowel Disorder (definitely not farfetched for a cat with a lifespan's worth of digestive issues).  It could also be something more serious, like gastrointestinal lymphoma.

My vet did say that IBD is consistent with her voracious appetite, gurgly stomach, and stool output.  He did, however, say that IBD and lymphoma present very similarly in the early stages.

I'm hopeful that what ever she has is something that can be fixed or managed, but the fact that the dreaded C word has come up twice in the past few months is a bit unsettling.

Either way, we're scheduled for an appointment with an Internal Medicine veterinarian on Saturday at 2 PM.

It may not even give us a definitive answer, as I am pretty set on NOT putting Layla through any invasive procedures.  X-Rays? Fine. Ultrasound? Fine.  Bloodwork with all sorts of fancy panels? Fine.  But I'm really not comfortable putting her under general anesthesia at her age (12-13).

I'm just trying to stay positive and take things as they come.  I hope that Saturday will be the end of our vet visits and worries for a while.

Year of the Cat

Layla snoopervising as I do some school work on my laptop.

Layla's been doing OK since the last time I posted about her.  She had a brief spell last week where she didn't want to eat very much, but her spirits remained high and her appetite has since improved tremendously.

Unfortunately, it does look like the ear infection which caused her stumbling last month has come back.  Her ears are horribly itchy and they seem to be hurting her, too.  Thankfully, she is not wobbling all over the place like she did last time, but she does seem to lose her balance a little bit when she shakes her head.

I have no doubt that it will be cleared up again with another round of antibiotics, but what is worrying me is the source of the infection: I, personally, think it's being caused by build-up in her ears as a result of a food allergy.  That would mean that the food she is eating is indirectly causing the infection.  I'm not sure if this is really possible, but it's my best guess, because nothing else has changed that would cause the infection.

Her current menu consists solely of Royal Canin Veterinary Duck & Green Pea kibble.  This is not my first choice at all; I would have preferred for her to eat EVO 95% Canned Duck exclusively, but her intolerance to wet food (likely an allergy to the thickeners) rendered that impossible after her nose blew up from it.  Royal Canin does not cause her digestive or respiratory problems as some other foods have, but it does seem to be making her ears awfully itchy.

My next step will be to call the vet on Monday and ask him what I should do.  One option could be re-trying one of the kibbles we sampled over the summer (perhaps Natural Balance); it's very possible that because she was eating so many different things at the time, not all of them were making her sick.  Another option might be taking Layla to a special nutritionist, who might have alternative feeding suggestions.  Or, maybe he'll simply opt to do another round of antibiotics before making any diet changes.

In the meantime, she's hanging in there, and certainly plenty fiesty - as evidenced by the demanding meows she bellowed up to me this morning, asking for her breakfast!  My most important goal of all for 2011 is to keep that happiness in her for a long, long time.

Blood, Brush, Beach

Thank you all for your kind words last night about Layla.  She and I enjoyed a nice slumber on the couch together, uninterrupted by anyone, until nearly 4 AM.  There's something very special about spending that kind of time with her... like she knows, at that point, that she is the sole recipient of my love and attention.   I believe we have a very special bond, and as much as I love Marge, it's nice to spend some time individually with my cat, too.

Much to my surprise, the bloodwork came back better than expected.  The ALT number has dropped to nearly normal, thanks to the help of Denosyl.  This likely means her liver is repairing itself after whatever damage it incurred.  It also means that the bleeding she experienced yesterday is not related.

Therefore, she will need to go for an additional blood test in a couple of weeks.  It's possible that the bleeding is caused by old veins with weak walls, just like a human would experience.  Or, she might have a blood clotting problem.

The vet said he was "happy" with the result from the ALT test, so I think it's definitely good news that Layla's liver is on the mend.  My hunch, now, is that the bleeding was caused by weak and fragile veins rather than a clotting problem, but we'll do the test to be sure.  He said to come back in two weeks, but I'll likely stretch it to three to give those poor bruised legs some time to heal.

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As for our canine protagonist, Marge, she had some special time of her own today.  We originally set out on a wide, paved trail running through the woods, but had to turn back when we discovered we were essentially heading straight for a brush fire.

We surmised that something was burning (my island has been riddled with such fires lately, and my hunch is that someone's setting them) and actually saw blackened ground from a fire that rummaged through the area on Thursday, but had no idea that the fire was so close to us.  Once we got a real whiff of that smoky smell, we got a little more concerned and decided to turn around... and just at that point, we were met by a big ol' fire truck driving down the trail.

Talk about unsettling!

Marge actually responded remarkably well.  We moved into the bush to let the vehicle pass on the oh-so narrow road, and then high-tailed back to the car.  I wasn't up for any sort of fiery adventure.

Leaving turned out to be a smart choice, as there were TWO brush fires in the area, and a third not too far away.  Roads were closed, police were directing traffic, and fire trucks were speeding in every which direction.  Not a good day for a hike, for sure.

....So, we went to the beach, figuring that we likely wouldn't meet any firefighters there.  We enjoyed a 4-mile walk, and Marge, for the first time, got to walk on the boardwalk.  There were a fair amount of walkers, joggers and bikers out, and Marge did quite well.

On the way back, we let Marge loose on her 20' lead on the sand.  A zoomy fit commenced.

Roxanne, this picture is for you, since you like muscular canine rumps so much.

She did give my dad a nice set of growls and grumbles when we came home, but I guess you can't have a perfect day, can you? (Thankfully, they seemed to make amends afterwards with the aid of Milkbones.)

I promise I'll get to everyone's blogs soon.  I'm just beginning to feel better after all of the emotions from yesterday.

More Trouble (Good Thoughts Needed)

We had a vet appointment today to re-check Layla's ALT liver enzyme levels.  The appointment initially started out well, and my vet was happy with how Layla looked as well as my description of how she was doing (eating well, drinking well, peeing, pooping, etc.).

However, when it came time to actually draw blood, they encountered a problem.  Layla's always hard to draw blood from, but this time, she formed a hematoma instantly at the puncture site and started bleeding a lot.  I'm embarrassed to say that I had to leave the room because of how dizzy and light-headed I got at the sight of a huge pool of blood on the inside of Layla's thigh.

They were able to get the bleeding under control fairly quickly, but my vet was concerned.  He said that such a reaction was pretty much indicative of a worsening liver problem.  They got enough blood to run the ALT test, so he will call me tomorrow with the results.

I'm horribly nervous.  Once again, the big C word was mentioned, as well as hepatitis, cirrhosis, etc.  I am just NOT ready to deal with something so serious.

Layla's doing fine, outwardly.  She's acting pretty much normal; in fact, the only differences I see in her are an increased appetite and less vomiting than usual, which are both the opposite of what you'd see with a liver problem.

Yet, my vet seems very troubled by the diagnostic signs.  Her ALT was originally tested to be 134, and then increased to 181 on retest.  100 is considered the highest for normal.  I have read about some cats having values in the 1000's and not showing clinical signs, but my vet said he does not want to see that ALT number even slightly high.

I guess we will see what the test reveals and proceed from there.  I'm honestly not very optimistic - my gut feeling says that the value is going to be similar or the same, even after taking the Denosyl for 3 weeks. He mentioned ultrasound as a possibility, to see whether there are any masses on her liver.  I think I'd be alright with doing that - at least it's not invasive.  More blood testing would probably be an option, too, but that will be complicated if losing blood is going to be an issue.

This cat has had such a rough year.  Ever since that stupid food changed, we've been rolling downhill.   First it was the vomiting and lack of appetite from changing foods.  Then, it was the stumbling and falling over.  Now, something's wrong with her liver.  All I want is my little girl to be OK and live with me happily and comfortably for many years to come.  Is that too much to ask?

No More Wobbles

Thankfully, Layla the cat has fully recovered from her episode two weeks ago, when she suddenly began to fall and stumble.

She is currently taking Clindamycin, 1/2 tablet twice a day, to treat for a possible middle ear infection and her recurring urinary tract infection.  To ensure she keeps the antibiotic down (she was starting to throw it up), she gets 1/4 tablet of Pepcid with each dose. She is also getting Mometomax liquid in her ears once a day.

Her blood test was repeated, and the ALT liver enzyme, which was high on the first test, did not change.  So, my vet put her on a supplement called Denosyl (S-Adenosyl methionine, or S-AMe), which aids the liver as it repairs from any damage it might have incurred.  It also has possible brain/mood properties, which makes it useful for neurological functioning issues.  We will repeat the blood test sometime after Thanksgiving to see what the ALT number reads.

That's a lot of pills for such a little kitty, but she's managing very well.  Her spirits are extremely high - she's active, running up and down the stairs, taunting Marge, etc.  I think that her ears must feel a lot better, and she's not worried about falling down any more, so she can be herself.  She even got pretty feisty the other night when I took out a toy for her to play with.

Here she is giving me one of her signature "hugs" - she can't resist but to climb on me and outstretch her arms when I'm laying flat on my back on the couch.  It's one of my favorite things that she does.

Paws crossed that her health continues to improve.

More Pros Than Cons

First and most importantly, Layla is definitely doing better than she was a couple of days ago.  Sunday was probably her best day, except for the pile of hurled-up food that I found on the floor a few hours ago.  She is walking better, more active, and I haven't seen her stumble nearly as much.

Of course, an ear infection is the best scenario, but it would present problems, too - it would mean that we're back to square one on the issue of finding Layla a new food to eat.  I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Thanks again for your continued good thoughts - it's already 2 AM now, so I'll be visiting your blogs in the morning.

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It's strange, but I'm actually really happy to be done with trialing for a while.  I found this Fall season to be pretty tough, especially looking back at our exceptionally sunny Spring trials, in which we Q'd 8 out of 12 tries.  And, even the runs that were NQs, all except for one, were extremely fluid and connected.  The same, unfortunately, can't be said for the Fall trials, but I think we ended with more pros than cons.

Our first run on Saturday was Standard.  I really liked the course - I didn't have to lead out at all and the whole thing was really flowy.

We were on the start line again for a ridiculous amount of time - they had obstacles to fix and the EZ-Up tent near the stewards' table was blowing around a bit.  I decided after this run that I was no longer rushing in to the ring, even if the stewards told me to, and was not shy about bringing treats in to the little gated passageway in to the ring.  Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.



Given the rocky start, the run was really, really nice.  Marge went around one jump because she heard the hockey puck slamming against the side of the rink just beyond the trees, a few hundred feet away from us (perhaps some of you recall this post about that topic and how it's our nemesis at this park).  You can hear the same thud right after she finishes the Dog Walk.  But, I didn't go back to fix the jump - it would have broken her momentum.  She snapped back in to the agility game VERY quickly given that scary sound, and went on to do the teeter and the table perfectly - the two big things that we really needed to fix.

Our only other fault was Marge putting two paws on the teeter on the way to the blue tunnel after the A-Frame - it wouldn't have been a disqualifying fault, if not for the missed jump.  She did jump out of the ring after completing the course, but she came back in when I called her and thankfully didn't do it again for the rest of the weekend.

Nothing to really be unhappy about with this run.  It stinks, because a Q would have meant our OA title, but hey, I'll definitely take this.

Not too long after was our Jumpers run.  This was a pretty tricky course, with the tunnel entrances definitely being the hardest part.

She ran quite well again.  We had trouble at the first tunnel and got called for a refusal.  Then, I pulled her off the yellow single jump, so we had a runout and a backjump (wrong course - none are allowed in Jumpers).  But, we regained momentum quickly, her weave entrance was super, and the rest of the course was fine.  Definitely a course I wish I could "do over," because we would have Q'd if I didn't pull her off that darn jump.



Do you hear the sound of the swings in the background?  Somehow, it didn't bother her - thank goodness.  I guess she prefers the sound of swings of the sound of hockey!

So, the day was not a failure at all.  Given our last trial, with problems galore in both runs, this was definitely a huge step in the right direction.  I wanted her to be connected and engaged with me - and she was.

Sunday, our first run was Jumpers.  A really fun, flowy course, that lent itself nicely to rear crosses, our strength.



We qualified! It was definitely exhilarating to run this course.  She was totally on the ball.  We had a bobble at the blue tunnel (the entrance was right up against the face, an absolutely wicked angle), but didn't get called for a refusal.  It was nice to have a win attached to such a nice run, after the two "so close, yet so far" runs we had the day before.  A first place!

We went back to the practice jump after each of our runs - an activity recommended to us by our friend, fearful dog-savvy trainer, Stephen.  I really like this idea, as it really makes the whole agility thing a game, and kind of decreases the novelty of the ring, I think.

After a long wait, it was time for Open Standard - our last trial run of the year.  I didn't like the course at all - it was very, very tight, and I had watched the Excellent Standard dogs on a similar course run it, too.

It was not to be.  I thought that maybe we could squeeze out a nice run, but, I guess after a long weekend, Marge's brain was fried.  I think this is both good stress and bad - she held both of her contacts, did the teeter, and weaved like a superstar (all hard, mentally taxing obstacles), but had lots of control issues and some aimless running.

The table was erroneously left at 24", which was a big jump for my little girl, and definitely contributed to her table refusal.  She also didn't like the judge (he was one of those guys who gets up pretty close to you on the contact obstacles).  A lot of dogs gave him funny looks, to be honest.



The spectators also played a role.  After the table, she went to go visit some kids who were practically hanging over the ring gates, possibly with food in hand.

My friend Gloria went to go "yell" at them during the run, telling them how much time and money we spend to get our dogs to do well and have fun out here at shows.  Unfortunately, her efforts didn't seem to help much, as they and several other kids were absolutely causing havoc at the trial site, especially during the Novice Standard class (which I worked ring crew in - and yelled at the kids several times to get them to move off of the fence).  They were making noise, eating food very close to the rings, bouncing balls, running around, oh, you name it.  Then, there were the people with their untrained, unentered dogs walking around, who let their dogs approach and bark at the show dogs.   I will be bringing this up at our club's meeting, because it really adds unnecessary stressors on the exhibitors and their dogs and perhaps we need more intervention.  It's nice to attract new people, but they need to know their limitations. The spectators have NEVER been this bad.

I kind of snapped at one well-meaning guy, who admired my dog and didn't take my "She's shy" to mean that he should NOT put his grubby hands on her.  I moved in the way of his hand and told him, "No thank you!!!!" - he was taken aback, but after two days of trialing, neither Marge nor I really wanted to be bothered and I was afraid that she might tell him off in her own little MargeDog way when he reached for her.  I tried to further explain that I needed to be her little bodyguard in this big, scary world, but bobbled over my words and he left.  Whatever.  People need to get some dog sense and ASK before they approach a dog.

So, the weekend didn't end spectacularly, with a pretty crappy run coupled with the spectator stress.  But, the weekend was a decent success, I'd say - Marge was comfortable at the trial site and comfortable in the ring, for the most part, did well at a busy trial, and picked up her second OAJ leg.  She now needs one more in each class to finally say goodbye to Open and head for Excellent.  I'm unsure when our next trial will be (not 'til 2011, for sure), but more on that another time.  For now, we need a well-deserved break from even thinking about it.

Layla Update

Layla's a little bit better today.  She's not falling over as much, but she's still definitely unsteady on her feet. She's eating decently well and drinking a lot (seems like a bit more than usual).  She was active this morning, but is now curled up asleep next to me.

We were all set to make the call to bring her to Garden State, but my mom had reservations about it - not that she didn't want to bring her, just that she thought that we should try treating the most benign possible cause first (an ear infection) before jumping to MRIs and neurological testing.  Going there is definitely an emotional strain (it's not even about the money) on all of us, including my cat. I told her I'd only wait if my vet said it was okay.  She called him, and he said it wouldn't be harmful to wait a week (I initially proposed just waiting the weekend).  So, Layla is on Clindamycin antibiotic pills and will get more blood drawn on Thursday  After that, we'll decide whether or not she needs to see a specialist.

There are lots of things it could be: a neurological disorder, vestibular disease, stroke, inner ear infection. My vet said to both my mom and I, "If she has a brain tumor, you're probably not going to operate." I'm not sure why he said that; I just know that that's the worst case scenario.  He said he did have a cat once who presented symptoms kind of like these and he simply had an ear infection.  Layla's ears are REALLY itchy and she does have some brown buildup inside of them, so maybe, maybe, it's something like that.

I really appreciate your good thoughts.  Keep them coming for my little girl.

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Tomorrow's the agility trial.  I went to the trial site today.  It was extremely cold (good for Marge!) and there weren't a lot of tents set up (also good for Marge!).  We'll see if those two things stay the same tomorrow.  I watched the judge, who will be the judge for our first class, Open Standard; Marge has only shown under a male judge once but she did OK with it, so I'm hoping tomorrow will be the same (BOTH judges are men).  The table wasn't automatic.. again, it's just the regular judge's count, which is very good for her, too.

There was a bit of noise around (the Parks Department emptying the big barrel garbage cans - NOT good), but I'm hoping that 8 AM on a Saturday won't be too bad.  Marge was VERY good today out on her walk in the field, able to do flatwork with me amidst people walking by in pretty close proximity.  She heard a couple of whistles being blown during soccer games and didn't react terribly, either. I just have to keep my spirits high and not stress out.  I admit, it's kind of hard to focus on agility with my cat not feeling well, but maybe I'll finally be able to relax and just welcome the trial as a place to have fun rather than as a place to get nervous.

Something Happened

Yesterday, around noon, I went to feed Layla before leaving to complete a school assignment with a friend. She jumped up on to the counter where her bowl is kept and I saw that she was stumbling and wobbling.  I thought that maybe she had just needed to regain her balance, but it kept occurring, even while she planted herself at the food bowl.

I had been with her the previous night until nearly 2 AM.  She was fine then; walked down the stairs, jumped up to eat her food, etc. This was very sudden. Alarmed, I cancelled my plans and took her to the vet.  He did bloodwork, which came back today.  It was clean, except for an elevated liver enzyme that the vet doesn't think is related.

He seems to think it's something neurological and wants me to take her to one of the big vet hospitals for tests and to see an internal medicine doctor.  I nearly cried at the thought of bringing her back there - I absolutely hate going to that place; I can't deny the care that they give the animals, but it's just the most heartbreaking environment ever (and this, my friends, is why I wussed out of vet school).  He mentioned the words "brain tumor" as a worst-case scenario.

She's better today; still unsteady, but not falling and stumbling as much.  She's definitely quieter than usual, content with just lying down rather than getting up and demanding food from us like she usually does.  She's eating, but I wouldn't say her appetite's great.  She's walking a bit better than yesterday, but something is definitely not right.  All so suddenly.

I'm scared and I'm upset.  This cat has just had it way too hard in her life. And she's still relatively young - only 12 or so.  It's unfair.  She's been my rock since the 4th freaking grade, since I was only 8 years old; I'd be lost without her.

Go Crazy

Something I have always wanted to do was to get a brand new squeaky toy for Marge, place it out in the yard without her knowing, and then watch her reaction to it.

I had myself a little fun this afternoon and did just that.. with a squirrel stuffy toy on a string (my makeshift flirt pole).  Can you say, INSANITY?

Marge is not particularly toy driven, but the sight of this thing wriggling across the yard erratically was enough to send her wild.  Here's a short clip of some of the action.

I've decided that she is never to see this toy outside of the yard and will only get to play with it one or two times a week on the string, in order to keep it novel and exciting.

I'm also going crazy for another reason: it appears that the EVO canned food is not working for Layla.  She has the beginnings of a sore on her nose and sounds just a bit stuffed up.  She's eaten about 10 million different things over the past month, but I can't really pinpoint it to anything else.

There is a thickener in the food called Carrageenan that, supposedly, is very commonly not tolerated in animals with allergies or sensitivities.  I also thought I read somewhere that it can lead to inflammation (hence the respiratory response).

I called the vet and he was shocked; there is literally nothing in EVO.  It is 95% Duck.  Something in that other 5% is causing Layla a problem.

I tried giving her d/d canned as a replacement while we get this sorted out, but she puked it up, even after having Pepcid.  So, d/d canned is totally out. That means that she had to eat the EVO again tonight, despite the possibility that it's causing an allergic reaction.  My vet is adamant that my cat does not stop eating.

It's very likely that Layla is not going to be able to eat wet food.  Our next try is going to be Royal Canin's Duck and Green Pea, Dry veterinary formula.  I'm not impressed with the ingredients at all, but the premium foods just are not working and this is the last limited ingredient duck-based food that I know of.

Just continue to cross your fingers that we find a food that works.

Useless Thumbs and Medical Drama

Forgive me for not getting around to everyone's blogs this week; I played catch-up earlier in the week, but, as you'll soon find out if you read this post, I've kind of had my hands full here.

We turn our attention back now to Layla, who has been in the midst of some bad tummy troubles thanks to an unwelcome change in the formula of Hill's Prescription Diet cat food.

The new d/d Dry formula never wound up working out; Layla was still vomiting and I didn't want things to get worse.  So, per my vet's advice, I switched her on to Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea, which was the food most comparable to Layla's original d/d Duck and Green Pea.  Things went okay for a few days, but the puking began again after some time passed.

I then added in d/d Duck and Green Pea CANNED food. The ingredients in this food haven't changed and aren't supposed to change, so I thought that perhaps 1 or 2 small meals of canned food every day would help Layla out in the digestive department.

It, too, seemed to help for a bit, maybe 5 or 6 days.  Then, the throwing up began again.

Yesterday, it got to the point where she had vomited on back-to-back days.  Her stool didn't look normal, and I found some sort of bloody-mucous-like-substance in her litter box (still not sure if it was vomit or stool, as gross as that is).  To top things off, she stopped eating.  She vomited twice in the presence of the d/d Canned food, as if merely smelling it was enough to send her delicate system out of whack.

We went to the vet today, where the plan WAS to get blood work done on her (we need to rule out things like hyperthyroid and kidney disease).  Well, she was having none of that.  Two technicians were holding her, trying to draw blood, and I was petting her..

..and she nailed me.  HARD.  On both hands.  On my left hand, I've go two punctures at the base of my thumb, and on my right hand, the nail is partially crushed and it's just a bloody and painful mess.

Definitely the most painful animal bite I've ever experienced.  I don't blame her, she was scared and angry and freaked out.. but OUCH.

I got all light headed from the pain, the blood, etc and had to leave the room and drink some water.  A few minutes later, the vet came out and said that there was NO way they could draw blood from her.  Wrapped up in a towel and restrained by three people was simply not enough to keep her still.  My guess is that he didn't want to sedate her because she hadn't eaten anything.

They did manage to give her subcutaneous fluids, which was a good thing.  They also gave her a shot of something (honestly can't remember what) to stop the nausea, and sent me home with pills to give her for a week to see if the nausea/vomiting clears up.  They also want a urine sample (which Layla is not being cooperative about, as she absolutely doesn't want to pee in an empty box).

The vet basically told me that she needs to eat SOMETHING, no matter what that something may be and even if it meant feeding her crummy foods. Turns out that Layla actually is extremely hungry despite her refusal of food (she ate treats heartily this afternoon), so I picked her up a can of EVO 95% Duck and she ate a few spoonfuls of it in a hurry.  I'm glad for this, because I really wasn't too keen on opening up a can of grocery store cat food. I will give her more in the morning, once I make sure that she doesn't have a skin reaction to the food (as she did back in June with the Wellness CORE).

She's acting pretty much normal now, probably because the anti-nausea drugs are working.  I can't know for sure yet whether or not she can eat the EVO long-term, since the medication might be blocking a digestive reaction, but I have no problem feeding her this food (or ANY food) exclusively, as long as she holds it down and it keeps her healthy.  I'll take anything at this point.

Te vet and I are going to touch base tomorrow to figure out where we're going from here.  I would really like to get bloodwork done on her, for starters.  Though I'm hoping this is all due to allergies, there is a possibility that other things are going on and making things worse.

How terribly frustrating.  My cat's got to suffer through yet another dietary dilemma, and me?.. well, quite frankly, my thumbs hurt.

Dear Hill's

Dear Hill's,

For the past five-ish years, the fuzzy creature in the photo above has enjoyed your hypoallergenic Prescription Diet d/d Duck & Green Pea formula.  This special food practically saved this cat's life, after skin, respiratory, and digestive allergic reactions rendered many other foods absolutely useless. While others told me that I could find a better food to put Layla on, I stuck to your food, because I don't believe in fixing things that aren't broken.

I wish, Hill's, that you would have followed that same line of thought, instead of adding Ground Yellow Peas and Chicken Liver Flavor to the old d/d formula.

After contacting your company, you informed me that the Chicken Liver Flavor comes from hydrolyzed chicken liver - the same ingredient found in your popular z/d Ultra formula.   It won't cause allergic reactions in an animal allergic to chicken, because the animal's body does not recognize it as chicken. The problem, Hill's, is that Layla's delicate stomach cannot tolerate z/d what so ever.  It's no surprise, then, that this new d/d formula might be causing issues.

Yesterday, Hill's, Layla threw up three times.  Forgive me for being graphic, but each of those times, it was the new lightly-colored d/d kibble that was present in her vomit.  While I am keeping my fingers crossed that this upset stomach was just a one-day thing, I am not optimistic that that is the case, since we have been down this unfortunate road of formula changes before.

I have a few days' worth left of the old d/d kibble, which I am currently mixing in with the new formula, and have my vet's office frantically trying to locate another old formula bag, to give me more time to get Layla's diet in order.

I wish I knew the reason, Hill's, that you were so inspired to fix what wasn't broken.  I assume it'd be an unsatisfactory reason, such as to boost sales, or attract more customers.  I stuck by your company as a loyal customer for years, and always expressed my gratitude that you continued to manufacture the d/d line of food, even when z/d became more popular.  Now, I must admit that I feel betrayed.  Now, I must wait, stuck in limbo, to see what is going to happen to my cat's diet.  To see if I'm going to have to change her food altogether to find something that she can digest, and risk an allergic reaction.

I know so many people who are so happy with your Prescription Diet offerings.  Why, oh why, would you tamper with things?

%$@^#!!!!

It's so frustrating that after a recent month-long stint in the dreaded cone collar to heal a hideous nose sore, Layla is faced with yet another predicament.  Can't this poor cat get a break?  She's held her food down today so far, but yesterday's three hurls were pretty alarming.

Tuesday Training 37

Rally and Manners
Here's Marge hanging out in the car before we went in to class.

I was completely determined on Sunday at Rally to keep Marge from barking at our Golden Retriever classmate.  So, we waited waaaay back away from the door as he came in, to prevent Marge from being right in the line of Golden-happiness fire.  It worked!  We enjoyed a very peaceful class and I rewarded Marge every time she showed interest in him (she even snuck in a few sniffs).  Marge gave a lip curl to one of our other classmates, but it was my fault for putting her in the situation, any way.  She "redeemed" herself later on, by sneaking away from me when she was offleash to go over to him and play bow.  Silly girl.

We also had one really huge moment.. Marge was in a down-stay across the room while I was helping to clean up the Rally equipment with the rest of the class.  One of the handlers' significant others (a man) walks in to the room, and Marge begins to growl and her hackles raise.  But, she did not budge.  She was obviously threatened by the situation and may have felt even more restrained by the fact that she was in a stay, so I quickly went over to her, fed treats, and released her.  She had no problem after that.  Despite the growl, I think she handled herself very well, and I think I handled the situation correctly, too.

The Rally itself was very good - her best so far in the class.  She is doing pretty well with being offleash.  We've learned a lot of new signs, and nothing's stopped her so far.  We'll be back in the APDT Rally ring on August 14, in hopes of accumulating some points in the 1B class and debuting in the 2A class (which is off leash).

Training, But Not Marge
We began our second session of the Pet Agility class this week, which I am assisting in.  Because we've got a full house of dogs (seven) of different sizes, we split the room in two.  I had three big dogs that I was working with - a Gordon Setter, the fearful Mix from last time (who has absolutely blossomed), and a reactive Shepherd Mix.

It's a lot of fun teaching people new skills and showing them ways to bond with their dog.  Marge stayed home this time, because I didn't think the excitement of a brand new class of dogs (new to both her AND me) would be a very good thing.

We did have one incident where the Shepherd Mix suddenly broke from his handler and went off to the other side of the room, which really scared the hell out of a poor Dachshund, but thankfully a scuffle was avoided.  His owner was really upset, but I told her that I'd been down the reactivity road before.  I'm going to help her out and teach her some clicker/conditioning games so that we can curb this behavior using positive methods.  He seems to have a bit of a chase drive, and doesn't have much tolerance for rudeness from other dogs. But he is also very in-tune to his mommy, and has a superb recall. Honestly, he's a bit like Marge (I say that a lot, don't I?).

The dogs got to practice recalling over 8" jumps and running alongside their handlers.  They also learned  how to go through a short tunnel and picked their legs up through my agility ladder.

Back on the Field
We finally had agility tonight.  Marge was just as happy as I was to get back out there.  The time off was really good for her - she was definitely a bit worn out from agility after our last trial (Marisa even said the same tonight).

Nice little course.  Very flowy (probably what we needed to get back in to it)...

• Started with Marge on my left, pushed out to 2 and then ran down the line to 5.
• Front cross 5-6, ran ran ran to the tunnel.
• Up and over the A-Frame just fine.  Hit her contact BEAUTIFULLY (and didn't creep too much, either)
• No problem out to the double, and hit her weave entrances each time.  She did weave a little bit slowly, though, and popped out once when I got too far ahead.  Weaves are something we'll work on during our next private lesson.  My hunch is that Marge is not liking having to switch back from 24" weaves at trials to 22" weaves while practicing.
• No other problems what so ever on course.  Lots of pulling.  The 18 tunnel wasn't bad at all.. she only missed it once when I changed direction before she committed.

She was a little speed ball tonight.  Didn't sniff, didn't wander off or make up her own course.  I think it helped a lot that there were only two other people there (her PWD friend, and Spirit, a Golden who I walk a couple of days a week, who Marge is mostly tolerant of). I got to run Spirit, too, and we did really well together.  She's such a neat dog!  

And I will now end this post with a picture of my dear cat checking out a foot-long zucchini that we grew in our backyard.  It was tasty, and we've got more of them on the way.  Notice she is sans cone - finally, the nose has healed!

The Weekend (And Summer) Ahead

We battle fireworks year-round here, but nothing compares to July 4th.  Since it falls on a Sunday this year, I have a feeling we're going to have an unpleasantly extended holiday weekend over which we'll have to deal with the blasts.  Unfortunately, it usually doesn't stop there.  The month of July was absolutely awful last year, and unless something major happens, I don't think that will change very much.

Marge's walks have definitely decreased in frequency and duration.  Not only does she not want to be outside because of the heat, the threat of fireworks scares me indoors all through the late afternoon, evening, and night.  We walk in the morning, or sometimes around noon.  Occasionally, we'll sneak in a walk at night, but only if it seems really quiet (usually rainy nights work well - no one wants to shoot fireworks off in the rain) and never on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, since they seem to be the most frequent nights for fireworks. Unfortunately, though, our ritual of walking regularly at night has stopped indefinitely, until at least September or October.  It stinks, because Marge really does enjoy walking at night.

To compensate for the decreased activity, Marge is eating less, and many of her meals are dispensed from her Kibble Nibble.  I've tried to find other mentally stimulating food dispensers and toys, but so far, this one takes the cake as being her favorite.

It's too hot to train (even indoors), so practice for Rally has pretty much come to a halt - no pun intended.  I did set up two jumps in my yard and grabbed a piece of cheese, but Marge seemed pretty lackluster doing agility, too.

In terms of the weekend specifically, Marge's meals will be cut drastically to make way for the many treats that she'll get as a part of counterconditioning her to feel a bit better about fireworks.  In some ways, the predictability of these fireworks is good.. maybe, just maybe, I can make a small dent in her fears by pairing fireworks with yummy food all weekend.

Her supplement, L-Theanine, will likely be increased a bit.

We'll hunker down in the basement, too, where Marge can enjoy her soft crate and I can turn up the volume on the television to drown out the blasts.

Hopefully, we won't be having any company this year - last year, we had quite a large crowd in celebration of my grandmother's birthday, but that event seems to be moved to a restaurant this year.   I just have to keep my fingers crossed that no one winds up here afterwards (the restaurant we're likely going to is up the block from my house)...

Ah, well, we'll make the best of it.  Hope you all have a happy, safe 4th, and remember to keep your pets contained and on-leash, especially if they are noise-phobic like mine is.

(P.S. - I haven't updated on my cat, Layla, in a while.  Her nose is healing, slowly but surely.  It looks pretty good today. I'm anticipating another week or so of cone-time before she can go back to being a normal kitty again. Keep your fingers crossed!)