Isis Update... by Momma

Yep, that's my sweet Isis girl... asleep in a basket :) We had been noticing her slowing down over the past several months. (she has congestive heart failure) and lately she had been having some IBS problems. But then a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating or drinking. I wouldn't force her to eat, but I knew water was vital so I'd squirt water onto her tongue many times a day.

As you can see in her photo, she can't "not eat" for very long! Besides which, that is usually the sign that they are ready to "go home". We wanted to give her every chance though... and took her to our fabulous vets - Dundee Animal Hospital. We assumed we would be given the worst news....

But our Isis girl, she is stubborn with a capital S! She always has been, and it has certainly come in handy during her illness :) After Xrays of her heart and blood tests to test her organs, (as she is on some fairly strong meds) it appears she was dehydrated. She did start this on the hottest, most humid day of the year... poor thing! (even in the a/c)

The doctor gave her some fluids under the skin - which is tricky with heart patients... so she gave her 1/2 the normal amount. Also some meds for her upset tummy - which actually works on the brain, not the stomach.. cool. And help for her IBS.

The next day she was feeling better... not totally, but eating and drinking! After a few more days I called the doctor back and told her she felt a bit better, but still had problems with the IBS even on the meds. After a 15 minute phone consult, she had me just zip into the hospital real quick to see one of the techs for another dose of fluids, and some more stuff for the IBS. (probiotics) She also decided to go ahead and cut her digoxin in half. That med is the only one that she is on that would cause the IBS.

Boy did we see a difference within a day! Now our sweet Isis girl is behaving like she was 6 months ago! Full of piss and vinegar, trying to playfully beat up her favorite "sister" Athena :) This is certainly a dog with 9 lives!

Update on Dog Food Issues

I thought I'd give you all an update on the "dog food issue" as Mom calls it. Well, first Mom tried Iams as that's what our friends use.

But Athena still had problems outside, and my tummy was upset in the mornings. Mom fixed that with some Pepcid AC, but still - I didn't want to eat something that upset my tummy! Momma thinks it was the corn in the Iams that caused us problems.

Her friends also recommended Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach so she tried that. I LOVE this stuff and my tummy is all better now! Athena is still in the process of switching over but is doing well.

Isis was still having some issues. Mom had tried to switch her over from what she had been eating to our new food so she could just buy one type of food. But it didn't work well for her.

Last weekend our friends Nixie and Gremlin came over with their Mommy Dayna. Isis snuck into their room and snarfed down their kibble!! Momma thought she was going to have to deal with messes - ugh! But surprisingly there were none!!

So... on Monday Momma went out and bought some of that food for Isis and is in the process of switching her over to that. She's eating just regular people rice and chicken breast right now.

The new food is Nature's Variety Prairie Kibble. She's trying out the chicken and brown rice flavor. Momma even found a Nature's Variety coupon for buy a bag, get a bag free! Nature's Variety "Try it" Coupon

Momma is really hoping to have most of this all set by the time she leaves to visit her friend Daphne in New Hampshire at the beginning of June!

Isis - 2 years Since Accident!

Last weekend (last weekend in April) marked the 2 year anniversary of Isis' accident. Back then, her dogtor thought she would be lucky to have a couple more months left, but here 2 years later she's still with us and enjoying life!

Bob and Mom have noticed that she's now starting to slow down a little, and that makes them a little sad. They're really hoping that she'll stick around for a couple of more years, but realize that may not be the case.

But they are SO happy that they have had these 2 extra GREAT years with her! I have to tell you, Isis has gotten very spoiled in these 2 years. I wonder if she knew what she was doing? LOL!

I'm really glad to have my sister around to play with too! She and I still love to play stalk....



And she loves to pummel me - we call it "battle dog".

And I love to share my treats with her!



And there's just nothing better than relaxing on the bed with your sis! Even if Mom IS trying to change the sheets!

STOP Feeding Your Dogs Canidae!!!!!!!!!!

Mom notice that a lot of people find our blog by searching for Canidae dog food coupon. I'm here to tell you to NOT buy Canidae dog food...there is a big problem with it... and it's making us sick.

Mom put us whippets on Canidae all life stages dry kibble after the pet food scare a couple of years ago. We liked it and it was made in the US from all US ingredients. Mom thought she could rest easy.

About a week after Mom got the latest bag of Canidae, Athena got diarrhea. Mom thought well, it's spring and she's eating grass, nothing new. A dose of Kayopectate and some chicken & rice and she'll get over it.

She did NOT! She was doing alright on chicken and rice, but every time Mom tried to get her back on kibble, she'd get sick again. Tried again, this time up to 25 kibbles per meal, but last night got sick again. Something is not right!

Now Pandora and myself (Cleo) are on the Canidae as well, but our tummies are not as sensitive as Athena's. Both Pan and myself did get a touch of diarrhea, but were fine after a couple of days... although we still aren't 100%.. more like 90%.

So Mom took Athena to the vet... no parasites, no illness.... try adding metamucil for more fiber and she gave her some medicine to help her poor intestines.

Mom got on the phone with her friend Daphne and Daphne started searching on google.... turns out there has been a MAJOR recent problem with Canidae . http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/canidae.html

There are many comments on here about dogs showing the very same symptoms that Athena is showing... starts to get better on chicken and rice... but as soon as the food is re-introduced, no matter HOW slowly.. they get sick again. Mom is switching all of us Whippets from Canidae to ANYthing else!

Oh, I forgot to mention... Isis and Squirt never were on Canidae, and they are NOT sick!

Free Shipping on Dog Toys, Treats and more!

OK I hope Mom read this email she got from PetSmart.com
We've been inside all winter and we need new toys!! Some chewies would be nice too!

Mom got an email from PetSmart letting her know about the Free Shipping offer they have. If she spends $40 before taxes and enters in the code FS40 in the promotional code field, then her shipping is free! Of course, dog food, litter and other heavy items are not included in the offer, but hey - everything else is!

The offer is good till February 9th but I hope she doesn't wait that long! Thank goodness we live in the lower 48 states cause that's only where the offer is good.

Sigh... back to dreaming about bunny rabbits in summer grass......