Week 30 - Broken puppy fixed?

Well, this week has been overwhelming, exhausting both physically and emotionally, and very expensive.

Kili finally went in for her cystoscope. The whole day turned into one thing after another. Where to start? How about with the early morning drive? The photo below was taken BEFORE Summit decided to attack Kili while I was driving down the highway in heavy traffic. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe she stepped on him. From now on, muzzles on in the truck.

Kili's heart murmur has still not resolved at almost 7 months old so I had her heart ultrasounded so we could figure out what was causing the murmur, and therefore whether she could be put under anesthetic and, on a more important note for her long term future, whether she can run agility. It was found that she has mild mitral valve dysplasia. She was given the go ahead for surgery and agility, but I do have to keep a close ear on the murmur every year to make sure it doesn't change. I am relieved that she is still allowed to run agility as that would have been a devastating diagnosis since I cannot afford a third dog and I bought her specifically for agility. The stairs up to the cardiologist are open backed. Kili had never seen backless stairs and I was really pleased with how well she handled them.

It was also great for her to meet so many new people.

Summit was not super impressed about having to wait around ALL day for his baby sister.

A great idea for training and food motivation for a food motivated hound that has to be fasted for surgery is the "Lickety Stick". It is a liquid treat. Kili wasn't allowed to have food but she was also being manipulated onto her back and side for ultrasounds. Those are things she does not enjoy and I try to make it all as good an experience as possible. Normally that means stuffing her face with kibble and treats. What to do? This worked out great! I highly recommend it for anyone with a hound needing to be fasted.

The Lickety Stick!

  Next she was put under for her cystoscope. On the scope they found that she has a persistent hymen. It's a piece of tissue in the vagina that should normally be broken down. If it doesn't break it can cause urine to pool after urination which can allow bacteria to grow and ascend up the urinary tract. That was broken down during the scoping. They also felt there was evidence that she might have an ectopic ureter. That's when a ureter (the tube carrying urine from the kidney to the bladder) opens in the wrong place. That is another factor that can cause urinary tract infections and also incontinence. It was recommended that she have surgery to determine if there was an ectopic ureter and to correct it if one was found. Fortunately they were unable to locate an ectopic ureter at surgery so they just took some samples for culture and closed her back up. She was not spayed at this surgery. I will not be spaying her until she is about 18 months old, but it sucks that she'll have to have another surgery. While she was under general anesthesia I also had a little nip tuck done on her vulva. She had "drapes" (or a hooded vulva) that may have contributed to urine retention. It wasn't severe and I have seen dogs with far worse conformation not have any problems, but considering all the issues she has had I felt it safest to fix it.

Waking up from surgery.

Morning after surgery at home.

 The first night was pretty tough. She'd had an epidural and wasn't able to walk outside to pee, so I had puppy pee pads set down under her in the crate. At a high fluid rate she had to pee every few hours all night. Fortunately by the morning she was able to walk gingerly out and even more gingerly squat to pee. By the morning after she was back to normal and trying to jump around (which she is absolutely not being allowed to do). I was very happy that even on arriving home from surgery and feeling very sorry for herself she was still very happy to accept food.

The toughest part about her recovery from surgery is that she has to wear her muzzle with a stool guard to stop her from licking (which she tries to do even with the muzzle). It means I cannot leave her with Kongs and food toys as I normally do. I feel sorry for her bored and alone.

All these shaved spots mean no conformation show in April as we had been planning. Next show will have to be in June. Here is Kili after just her abdominal ultrasound and cardiac ultrasound.

I hope that this nightmare is all over and Kili is fixed. She will have what I hope will be her last specialist appointment in a month for another ultrasound to re-evaluate her kidneys and bladder. Wish her luck because right now she's roughly a $7000 puppy!