StinkyPup Kennel » Decker

7 mile runs

stinkypup — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:40:51 +0000

We’ve been taking out the sled on 7 mile runs across the bumpy tundra. The sled is better on my body than the 4 wheeler, but there’s a nasty 90 degree turn I take almost immediately out of the yard. The turn is difficult to negotiate and today a almost went for a drag.

Team “A” is Chevy (lead), Ahab & Shrek (point), Spike & Luke (team), Snow and Moe (wheel). Team “B” is Nikki & Roo (in lead– once they learned how to “haw” out of the yard), Phanty & Zeus (point or team), Capella & Daniel (team), Bruno & Simba (point or team, and even once in lead!!).

Chester usually runs free with Team “B,” however today he had difficulty keeping up. He’d run run run run up to the front of the team and then slow down; and then run run run run run run run as fast as he could up to the front, and then Nikki and Roo were like, dude, get out of the way. I let him ride in the sled for a bit; he enjoys being captain.

Decker is still with us. Her nose is bleeding as I type this. I gave her an ACE which worked very quickly, so she’s somewhat sedate, but is snorting a lot.

Snow arrives!

Greg — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:14:19 +0000

We don’t know whether it will stay, but the weather forecast is for days to stay below freezing, and nights well below freezing. We got an inch or so Monday morning, then another 3 inches Tuesday night. That’s almost enough to take the team out on dog sleds! But for now, we’re still using our ATV, and going around the neighborhood. PS: Decker is still with us, and has not had further nosebleeds. She is snuffling and wheezing a fair amount, but is in good spirits, eating well, and spunky.

Weather transitions

Greg — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:40:22 +0000

Decker is still with us. She’s had a few nosebleeds, but we’re treating her with a new herbal remedy, yunnan baiyao, which is rumored to support clotting. A mixture of pain meds depending on how she’s doing day to day, ranging from metacam to traumadol to ace (no, we don’t mix them!).

Meanwhile, weather was heading for winter, but took a turn back towards summer these past few days. From highs in the 30s and lows in the teens, we then had a few days of highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s. In other words, the water in the dog bowls isn’t frozen today, but it was just a few days ago.

I’m sure winter will be here soon. But it’s unknown how long it will take until decent snow arrives.

Blood everywhere

stinkypup — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:53:39 +0000

I came home Monday (Sept. 26) to find Decker in a puddle of blood from her own nose. There was a lot of blood and she must have been bleeding for a while. Every time she breathed she sprayed blood all over the walls, the floor, herself. From paw to elbow, she was covered in blood. I called the vet and tracked Greg down. Greg picked up ACE (a tranquilizer) from the vet and Yunnan Baiyao from a holistic doctor. ACE was to calm her down, although I should have taken some to calm me down, and the Yunnan Baiyao is a Chinese herb used for clotting. By the time Greg got home she had stopped bleeding.

Decker is still alive today (two days later). She finally cleaned the blood from her paws, but she hasn’t eaten or drank anything. I tried giving her a camel-back of fluid, but she yelped when I stuck the needle into her so I didn’t proceed. Greg tried giving her water with a turkey baster, but she didn’t like that very much either.

One of the vets said as the tumor progresses, she’ll either bleed out or stop eating. I guess she’s doing both. Her gums are very pale. I know it’s time, but just don’t want to do it.

Cat Scan for a Dog

stinkypup — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:16:38 +0000

Last night at around 4:00pm I headed out toward the expensive side of town to meet the doc who was going to perform Decker’s cat scan. While I settled the bill, the vet techs inserted a catheter into Decker’s arm. We caravaned to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for a 5:30pm appointment. Unlike when humans get such a procedure, there was little paperwork for me to sign, and best of all– no lines or waiting!

I brought Decker into the CT room and the doc gave her a sedative. Decker fought the sedative, but eventually she felt woozy and relaxed.

: Doc JB and FMH Tech prepare Decker for CT

: Sedative in Action

The procedure was quick. The doc intubated Decker and hooked up some kind of breathing machine. Once everything was set, we left the room and the FMH techs took pictures. After they took the CT scan, I took some pictures of my own.

: Decker ready to go

Like humans, contrast if given before the scan. Unlike humans, dogs can’t tell the doc when they are having an allergic reaction. Thankfully Doc JB was alert and noticed Decker’s red gums, bloodshot eyes, and swelling eyelids and snout. Decker was having an allergic reaction to the contrast!

: Swollen Eye

: Swollen Eye and Snout

: Bright Red Gums

: Super Swollen Snout

Doc JB gave Decker a dose of Benadryl, which recduced the swelling in time. She also showed me Decker’s CT scan results and the diagnosis is not good. Decker’s tumor is too massive for an operation. It’s taken over the entire left side of her head. I’ll have to talk to Doc M to see if chemo is a viable option, however, I really don’t want to put Decker through chemo if it’s going to cause her any more misery. Right now she appears to be happy; the nose bleeds have stopped, but she still makes gurgling sounds when she’s asleep and sometimes when she’s awake.

Decker’s Endoscopy

stinkypup — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:54:00 +0000

Decker went to vet on the expensive side of town on Friday. Hopefully I can get some of the pretty pictures of her endoscopy. Yes, there is an ulcer at the back of her throat, but it doesn’t look like it’s from a tumor coming through the soft palate. Her left nostril is completely occluded due to something that looks like a cyst in her nose.

The vet took biopsies of the ulcer and cyst-like thing. Decker has an appt. for a cat scan on Wed.

I learned that blue eyed white snouted dogs, like Decker, often have “skin flaps”– little flaps of skin that stick out on the gums. This is indicative of what vets call “wheezer syndrome,” meaning the dog has a small trachea and thus reduced air flow.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

stinkypup — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:31:26 +0000

Squamous Cell Carcinoma is most likely what Decker has in her nose. She had a vet appointment today where she had a couple of teeth pulled and they flushed her left nostril. Mucous came out, then blood. I’m trying to get an appointment with another vet in town who has an endoscope. It’s possible that she can have the cancer surgically removed– but I won’t know until I get in with the other vet.

Decker update

stinkypup — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:04:09 +0000

Thanks to all who have given me some ideas about what could be Decker’s illness and possible treatments. Thurs. evening I gave her ivermectin and she appeared to have more blood than usual. Then, on Friday and Saturday, there wasn’t any blood and she wasn’t snorting. I was psyched that the ivermectin worked. Sigh. Today she had a bloody nose again. Have a doc appointment for her on Tuesday. She’s not snorting tonight– which I supposed it good.

Decker

stinkypup — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:35:24 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I heard Decker snorting at night, right before her bedtime :)
Then I noticed some blood in her nose, and then some bloody/pus-bloody mucus from the same nostril (left). I asked the vet on what she thought it could be. The possibilities are endless, and the vet gave me a swab/slide kit.

Everytime there was a great bloody snot or she shook her head and there was blood, I wasn’t able to get a sample because I didn’t have the slides handy. Finally I got an itty bitty sample and brought it in for analysis. The vet said there was a lot of bacteria, and a lot of rods. Since I took plant bio in college, I’m not familiar with rods, but I know they have something to do with bacteria and blood cells (I think). She told me again the possibilities for what is wrong are endless. That it could be nasal cancer, which is difficult to detect. It could be a foreign body or foxtail (which is very possible because we have tons of foxtail). It could be an infection, or even mites.

She told me to put her on Cephalexin (I already started a couple of days ago), and try Ivermectin for mites.

Decker’s bloody noses are getting worse. I’m hoping the antibiotics and Ivermectin help, but I’m a little worried.

Slam dancing with a tree

stinkypup — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:59:42 +0000

On the way home from our evening walkies we had a moose encounter. Frankie, Nutok, Storm, Neptune, Decker, Magic and Duchess were all free. Attached to me was Bruno, Chester, Chez, and Stubby.

Storm ran off to chase the moose, as did Frankie and Nutok. The dogs attached to me decided to run after them too, and got all tangled in a tree. They’re very strong when they want to be, so the started pulling very hard and slamming me into a tree. Soon the leashes were totally tangled. I saw that Chester was attempting to eat his leash to get free (he’s very talented) and pulled him toward me. As I got one dog toward me, another would lunge forward. Chester eventually ate his leash and ran free. After he was gone, I slammed into the tree couple of more times and then managed to untangle everyone.

After I got home, I unleashed Stubby, Bruno, and Chez, and corralled Neptune, Duchess, Magic and Decker into the yard. I went back to look for the missing dogs. I found Storm where the commotion happened. She was barking at a Momma moose and her baby. They were so big and cute and hairy! Storm came to me and I leashed her. Frankie, Chester, and Nutok soon came running along and I ran with them to our house.

When I opened the gate to let the delinquents in, Stubby decided to attack Storm and as I was breaking up the fight Bruno ran out. He ran up and down the street and I pounced him and caught him.

Once everyone was inside, I counted everyone. They were all there and all safe.

Ah, spring time in AK is moose season! I should have known a moose was hanging around because Chester jumped the fence this morning.