Jul 15, 2010
As many of you know from this post, we adopted another Pit Bull, Trouble after I saw him on Craigslist. When we had first acquired him he was in BAD shape. On one side of his body he had a big patch of fur missing and was all red and splotchy and on top of that his paws were just as worse, if not more.
They were HUGE because they were swollen and very bloody. So bloody in fact that he was leaving blood marks on our carpet and had a lot of difficulty walking on our gravel when he went outside to use the rest room because he was in so much pain.
In short, it broke my heart.
After doing a bit of research, I found out that he has eczema. We knew when we got him he had allergies, but I wasn’t aware of how bad these allergies were until I saw him. We continued the course of treatments of antibiotics and after a few weeks, his symptoms started to get better and I noticed a considerably difference in him.
Every now and again his symptoms start to flare up again, but they’re much more manageable and not as bad as when we first got him. This makes me happy because I could see how much pain he was in and how uncomfortable he was. I just wish there was a true fix, but I know there’s not and there won’t truly ever be one.
Jun 16, 2010
I am EXHAUSTED. Last night we bug bombed the house because I was tired of the flies in the house (they’re a nuisance in the summer) and so I had to wrangle 5 cats into the garage which is no easy feat. Particularly when we have a cat that is completely anti-social and will not let anyone get near her. After a few chases around the furniture, I was finally have to corner her under the recliner and pull her out by the scruff of the neck and put her in the cat carrier. She was not pleased AT all and I was bummed because I’d finally gotten to the point where she no longer ran when I came near and allowed me to pet and kiss her when she was laying on her bed. So yeah all that work and weeks of getting her to trust me went out the door in a single moment, lovely right?
Well after we got the cats into the garage and the ferret cage in there as well, the dogs were put into the back and we had to vacate the premises for 4 hours. We ended up going to Target to check out the FlipHD camera because I figured it’s about time I actually start utilizing iMovie on my Mac as that is one of the reasons I purchased it. After checking out the camera we picked up a copy of Alice in Wonderland in Blu Ray for $12.99 because we had a spiffy $10 off coupon thanks to Jenn. I also snagged a copy of Sims Ambitions because it was $10.00 off as well and now that I don’t have as much time to kill when playing the game and waiting for them to get home from work (yes, I know I can fast forward but still), I will actually play it now. I’m pretty stoked.
After that we went to Red Lobster because I was craving crab and then to WalMart as we still had some time to burn. Finally we headed home around 10 and got home about 10:30. We moved all the cats back into the house and left the ferrets in the garage because I needed to clean the cage today and figured it was just easier to leave them there then have to drag the cage back downstairs. Dogs came in and we crashed around 11, except I couldn’t sleep so I didn’t actually go to bed until about 1 and then was awoken ever so occasionally by Squishy who decided to jump on the bed and growl at Moki who was sleeping next to me.
My alarm went off at 5 and I got up and took the dogs on an hour+ walk, got home cleaned the ferret cage which took about 10-15 minutes and another 10-15 minutes to reassemble it and in less than 2 hours I have to work for four hours.
I pretty much just want to die. Someone do the honors?
May 14, 2010
So finally after several days, I was able to get a hold of Trouble’s old dermatologist and ask them to fax us his medical records so we’d have them on hand, should we decide to seek a dermatologist closer to us. The doctor finally called me back after several hours about whether or not we should continue his antibiotics (he’s running low) and where we should proceed from that point forward. He advised me that Trouble should stay on his antibiotics until all of the leisons had disappeared and he wanted to know if we needed a refill. I told him we’d wait to see what happened because he is doing much, much better so I didn’t necessarily think we need to get him more until we see what happens.
After reviewing his records he has atopic dermatitis (in other words ezcema), which is the second most common allergy in domestic dogs (fleas are first). It can be triggered by several things which includes food, house dust mites, pollen, moulds, and mildew just to name a few. Since he’s moved out here, he’s been doing much better and we’ve seen significant improvement. He came to us in pretty bad shape. His feet were really swollen, so swollen that he had blood blisters and ended up leaving blood stains on our carpet. In addition, half of his body had lost hair due to the itching and he had red splotches and bumps on his stomach, chin, legs and pee wee.
Now looking at him, his paws are no longer swollen, in fact his front paws have healed completely and his back paws are on their way. His chin no longer has the redness it had before and his stomach and pee wee are slowly healing and looking more and more like a dog should. In addition, the hair that he lost is growing back and he just seems much, much happier. Now the only problem we currently have is the meds he’s on. While they’re obviously helping, I really want to look into holistic approaches because a, it’ll be more cost effective, and b, in the long run it’ll be healthier for him. I plan on doing a little more research this weekend and next week regarding his condition and possibly scheduling an appointment with a holistic vet (assuming I find one I like).
I’m really happy to finally know what has been ailing him and that there are methods other then the four different medications we have him on to help him get better. He’s only been with us for a week and we’ve fallen in love with home so we’re going to try and do our best to ensure that his quality of life is better then he has been.
May 9, 2010
We had a few set backs with Trouble when we got him, but it wasn’t because he’s a bad dog, rather Diesel wasn’t quite ready to accept him into the pack. She was very tense around him and just wasn’t sure what to do. Part of the problem is she is not used to a dog that doesn’t take her shit (she’s a bully) so that’s why she was so leery around him. We took them out to the field to run and play and that really seemed to work in their bonding. Now they’re fine and have a great time with each other and they’re just fun to be around. 
The only real issue we have with Trouble is that he wasn’t raised with cats so he doesn’t know that he shouldn’t go after them. When we took Moki and him to the vet on Saturday he snapped at her and we had to run back and get the training collar so he’d stop being so fixated. That worked and he calmed down and we have used it today to train him not to go after the cats. He’s picking up on it well and I think he’ll be fine once he’s here awhile longer but other than that he’s a really good dog.
On a brighter note when we first brought him home his paws were really bad. They were so swollen and it just looked to us painful to walk on. We’ve been giving him his meds daily and we think that his previous owners thought they were being successful when they were putting the pills in his food, which wasn’t really the case. We’ve been using peanut butter and treats to coax him to eating his pills and as a result we think it’s really helped in improving his paws and his skin. When we took him to the vet on Saturday she said he’s pretty young and she believes that his allergies could be because of the food he’s eating. The only way to find out is by changing out his food and seeing if it does any good for him. Hopefully it is food allergies because it really sucks having to give him so many meds, plus our vet thinks he needs to go on steroids to help with the inflammation on his paws, so that’s yet more meds to have to administrator. I feel so bad for him. Poor dog.
Anyway, it’s time to announce the winner of TBQ’s first ever giveaway! I assigned everyone numbers and used Random.org to randomly pick numbers. The number assignments were based on the comments posted. So for instance the first individual who entered was assigned the number one and for each entry after that two, three, and so on and so forth. Therefore after running the randomizer the results were as follows:
And the winner is…
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May 5, 2010
For those who I speak to on daily basis or those who post on Ecstasy, they all know that I’ve been working with our dogs regarding their behavior after watching several episodes of Dog Whisperer. While we’ve made a ton of progress, it also seems like we’ve hit a plateau– at least were Diesel is concerned. I think part of the problem is that she didn’t grow up with a mom, so the typical corrections that work with Benji, don’t work with her because she never had a mother to correct her in that manner. I’m still working with her and am currently looking for rollerblades to tire her out because her high amount of energy is also part of the problem. I’m not looking for anything overly expensive because I only plan to use them to exercise the dogs, but so far I haven’t had much luck looking for blades that suit my needs. If anyone has suggestions, websites, companies, etc, please comment and let me know!
In regards to the dogs, we’re also looking at dog backpacks to put on Diesel to tire her out more easily as well. We figure if she has to lug something heavy during her walk, the result will be her tiring much more quickly then she is. Benji does quite well on walks and is actually a pretty good dog, but Diesel’s excitement often feeds his, which then builds her’s and the cycle goes on and on. I am hoping that eventually we’ll be able to drain a lot of her energy and get her into the calm submissive state she needs to be in.
It’ll be interesting to see how the dogs react to our newest (hopefully temporarily) addition, Trouble. Today, while I was mindless surfing Craigslist before work, I stumbled on an ad that said “Free Pitbull”. Most know that I’m a sucker for Pit Bulls. There is something about their breed that touches my heart. I honestly clicked on the ad just to see what it said and was quite sadden to read:
I have a 1 1/2 year old male pitbull. His name is Trouble, and he’s a very good dog. Very friendly with everyone, and he loves to just lounge around all day. He loves other dogs too! He’s used to being inside all day, so he wouldn’t do to well sitting in a back yard all the time.He’s also neutered.We recently moved into an apartment and we hate to give him up, but we have no option.
The only thing is that he does have allergies. We’ve taken him to a dermatologist recently and got allergy shots for him. He has to have his shots once a week and be given two pills orally per day. He sometimes gets blood blisters on his back/legs and his paws get red & swollen sometimes too. He’s a very high maintenance dog but it’s well worth it!
Free to good home only & to someone that can take care of him very well with his skin conditions. NO DOG FIGHTING.Will also inculde the rest of his shots, pills, and dog food.
Need him gone ASAP, i will probably have to take him to the humane socioty by tomorrow if no one can take him, which i really do not want to have to do. 
While Arizona is a very pet friendly state and has more pro Pit Bull people than other parts of the country, a Pit Bull being put in a shelter that requires special meds is pretty much a death sentence. This is especially true give the economy and the fact that not many people want to dedicate more resources for the care of a dog. I immediately e-mailed the ad to Robby and suggested that perhaps we should take him, even if just on temporarily basis. I expected him to tell me that we shouldn’t and was surprised when he responded saying, “Make the call, I can pick him up after work.” I e-mailed the owner and advised them of our situation and what we intended and she seemed okay and very sure that we would fall in love with him. Right now I’m still waiting to hear from Robby and I guess when we come home we’ll take it from there. I just hope that we’re able to find him a good home with a family that will give him the care he deserves and if not, then I guess he’s ours, which we’re perfectly fine with, either way.
We really should have invested in a ranch. 
May 3, 2010
For those who post on Ecstasy, they are aware that nearly 9 months ago, Robby and I lost our beloved Yoshi. It was a very difficult time for Robby and I and our marriage took a substantial blow. Robby wanted to get another kitten straight a way to fill the hole in his heart, but I couldn’t bare the thought of finding one so soon. As a result we continued on with our remaining pets, always keeping Yoshi in our hearts.
Recently, well over the past few (probably about 2 months or so) months, Robby has expressed interest in another kitten, particularly a gray one. I had wanted him to wait until July, given that life at that point would change a bit for all of us, but he was pretty insistent. We scoured Craigslist trying to find the “right” kitty (so to speak) but after each attempt we always left empty handed. Finally this weekend, I stumbled on a Craigslist ad with a gray kitten, which we couldn’t really see (her head was turned), however giving her coloring and the fur on her body I just knew she was the one. Even more fitting she resided in the same city and therefore was a mere ten minutes (if that) away.
We were told that she was 8 weeks old, however given her size we believe she is only 6 weeks. She’s a sweetheart, however she is quite shy and skittish and only wants to be held when it suits her. She enjoys sleeping on Daddy’s chest or nibbling on Mommy’s hair while she sleeps. She will never truly replace Yoshi in our hearts, but she will help in allowing us to overcome the sadness that had engulfed our lives after his lost. I’m quite anxious to see what she grows into and whether she’ll always have that shy, cuddlish personality. In any event, we wanted to introduce you to our newest addition and our last (well animal wise that is), Moki. Blog readers meet Moki. Moki, meet the world.
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