Another Health Related Update

I've stopped the eye drops because they seemed to do the trick and cleared up my eyes nicely. I don't get the goo much anymore and my eyes don't look so swollen. No news on whether I'll need surgery to correct anything just yet, but I'll keep my paws crossed for no surgery.

Dr. Surette put me on some new kibble...it's specially formulated for dogs like me who have problems breaking down purine. So it's got less protein, but more fat! It kind of smells like those cheesy fish crackers and I love them. The problem is, with the new kibble, I always feel hungry. Even when Mama and Papa mix the new kibble with the old kibble, I feel like I need to eat twice a day at least. Mama says that I'm starting to lose my figure, my midsection is starting to get thick because of the new fatty kibble. I think they just need to get off their lazy bums and walk me more!

Sometimes they don't notice when I'm hungry so I lick the bottom of my empty dish very loudly to get their attention. If that doesn't work, then I quietly grumble in their direction. If they look at me, I look at my bowl, and then look at them, and then look at my bowl. Lather, rinse, repeat. I stop when they finally feed me. You'd think that with the more food I eat, the more poo I'd make, but it's always quality over quantity and the quality of the food is so good, that the quantity of poo is a lot less!!

Urine Analysis Update

So here's the 411 on my pee pee: I have a bladder infection; the pH of my urine is 5 (that's too acidic!) and it should be around 6.5; also they found blood (!) which means that there are also other proteins present, and they found squamous cells - I think that means that there are traces of bladder lining too. But the most troubling stuff they found were uric acid crystals!! Okay maybe this doesn't mean much to you, but the condition is apparently rare in dogs.

Dr. Surette thinks that it's because I have trouble breaking down purines, and this causes the buildup of uric acid, which then crystallizes and can result in bladder stones. They will know for sure if there are bladder stones only by doing an ultrasound (which costs around $500).

So what to do now? I am going to get a new diet, one that is prescribed by the doctors and antibiotics to get rid of the bladder infection.

And my eyes are looking much clearer, the cloudiness has gone away and there is much less goo than before. I'll have to continue with the drops for another week just to see if everything is good. If my eyes get worse without the drops, I'll have to see an opthamologist for sure. I hope I don't need to do that. My goodness, I seem to have problems at both ends of my body!!

I am a Sick Little Puppy

Especially in my eyes. They're red and a bit dry and sore when I blink. Mama kind of freaked out when she saw some yellow mucus discharge from my eyes and took me to the vets. Normally the discharge is white, and normally I don't get a lot of it, but this time around I've got lots of stringy yellow discharge. I hope you weren't eating anything while you just read that!

Anyway, Dr. Surette at the Downtown Animal Hospital told Mama and I that it looks like an eye infection that appears to be caused by some stray eyelashes that are growing from the inside of my eyelid. These stray eyelashes are rubbing my eyeball and causing the discomfort. If it's left untreated, I can get ulcers in my cornea - ew! So he gave me some antibacterial eye drops to clear up the infection. If it gets worse we might need to see a specialist - a veterinary opthamologist! And then do some surgery to correct the eyelid....that sounds pretty $$$$. I hope my insurance covers most of it, otherwise, Mama and Papa might need to get second jobs!

I also have been bad and peeing in the house during the night. I can't seem to hold my bladder for more than 4 hours during the night, so I keep waking up Mama or Papa so they can take me out. Dr. Surette thinks I might have a bladder infection, but won't really know until they do a urine analysis. Which means that Mama has to collect my morning pee in a little dish and transfer it to a little jar and take that to the vets. It's a bit of a messy job, but someone's gotta do it. I know she loves me, so it's okay. I hope it's nothing worse than a bladder infection. I hope it's not a kidney malfunction, or stones, or worse!

The technicians at the vets took some of my blood to find out if there's anything bad in it. It was quite an adventure when they tried taking blood from my neck. Mama panicked quietly because my tongue turned very blue, but she kept saying that I was so brave when they were fishing around inside my neck with a needle. They didn't find the vein and had to try my paw instead. That was more successful. I got two cookies out of that. I think Mama should have gotten something too for being so brave and keeping me company.

I'll keep you posted on my health issues. It kind of sucks that this is all happening now. Mama and Papa are off to Japan in a few weeks, and I don't want to be a bother to Uncle Brian and his family when I stay with them. I hope I get better soon.

The Second Last Long Weekend of Summer

Wow that's a long title! But sadly this upcoming weekend will be the second last long one of the summer. And then it'll be winter time soon, snow, ice, cold, eggnog...

I'm going to visit with Uncle Mel and his family this weekend. I can't wait! I've already packed everything I need: my stuffed bear, tennis balls, Kong, cookies, and peanut butter. It'll be so nice to get away from Mama and Papa for a few days - not that I don't love them, it's just sometimes we all need a vacation from the routine.

So I saw Dr. Vihos today and we did the tear test again. I scored a 25!! Much better than last time's score of 18. I don't need those eye drops anymore. I also met a Pug/Jack Russell puppy today. He was only 10 weeks old and so full of energy! I hope he got as many liver snacks as I did.

Have a good long weekend!

Vote for Aiko!

Please vote for me for the "Dog of the Month" at dogcentral.msn.com. Click the "Select a Breed" button on the bottom of the page and look for "Bulldog". My picture is kind of hard to find, but please take the time to look for me! Click on my picture and vote for me! I hope I win, I'd love to be featured!!

So I went to the vets today and saw Dr. Vihos (she's on the tv show Animal Housecalls on the CP24 channel sometimes). My left eye looks funny, it's all red and kind of goopy. Dr. Vihos used this little paper strip test called Schirmer's Tear Test to see if my eyes were producing enough tears. My right eye produces enough tears, but the left one is not as wet. Dr. Vihos thinks that I might have an infection and gave Mama some eye drops for me. At least it's not cherry eye, which is what Mama thought it was in the first place!! I have to go back to see Dr. Vihos in ten days to see if the eye has cleared up. I hope it does, I don't like this goopy stuff that comes out of my eye.