Fatty Foxtail One-Ball-Wonder & Little Ms. Limpy Pants

[TheLost]

Ormg!!

Here is a quick rundown of my past few days..

Wednesday:
(calling the vet)
me: "Hi.. i need to make an appointment for my dog"
vet: "Sure.. whats the problem?"
me: "I think Kevin has a fox-tail between his toes. I cant see anything but He keeps licking it. Its all red and swollen"
vet: "Poor thing.. looks like our next appointment is Saturday. We're super busy up until then"
me: "Nothing sooner?"
vet: "No.. I wish we could get him in sooner.. but Saturday is the earliest"
me: "Blarg! ok.. see you then!"

Friday Morning:
(My wife calls me)
wife: "When i got home from running errands this morning Molly was limping a little bit"
Me: "oh no.. what happened?"
wife: "No idea.. but i called the vet and and she as an appointment in a few minutes"
Me: "Wait.. what? I called 2 days ago and they made me wait until Saturday for Kevin!!"
wife: "Yea.. well.. i guess they like me better"
Me: "What?"
Wife: "I also moved Kevin's appointment.. He is getting looked at right after Molly now"
Me: "They must have had some cancellations..."
wife: "You just need to be nicer.."

Long story short... I think the vet doesn't like me!!!


As for Molly (age 5)..
She has a very small tear in her CCL/ACL . Both vets agree it should heal on its own. She's on lock-down-bed-rest for the next two weeks.

As for Kevin(age 2)..
He did have a foxtail between his toes.. The vet was able to cut/dig it out without having to put him under (Note to vet: Don't come back into the room and show me the foxtail with my dogs blood all over your hands. ICK!).

We've been thinking about having Kevin neutered due to issues we are having with a neighbor dog. However, according to the Vet he needs to loose ~5lbs before he can be neutered. He has one 'retained testicle' and the vet says it will be safer to neuter him if he looses a little weight.

... Anyway.. My questions for the group:

#1.. assuming Molly's ACL does heal.. How freaked out should we be about future problems?
#2.. I'm totally justified in not wanting to send the vet receptionist a holiday card this year right?!?!

I'm not even going to ask the 'neuter Kevin or not' question..

 

[TyTysmom]

Hahhhhhhhh this totally sounds like me & my husband. The girls at the vets office love me, they don't have any problems with him, but for some reason I have much more pull, lol.

The ACL - Tyson had a small partial as well a few years back, he healed up fine but we did have to rest him ALOT. Very short walks, etc. We also added some tumeric as a supplement to help, and he still takes it to date (helps with his arthritis) -- I wouldn't be worried with future problems unless she's super active, like jumping off things, onto things, etc. If she is, then I would try to avoid that....

I would totally send a card, and add cookies or something - then YOU hand deliver them Haha

I know you didn't ask about the neuter, but Tyson also had one in, one out, so they had to cut into his abdomen to get the one - he did fine recovery wise but it was a much bigger procedure than the "usual" neuter. Just needed pain pills and rest longer....

 

[2BullyMama]

what a few days!

1 -- could be an issue down the road, depending on how active she normally is, might want to watch her with steps and jumping too much.

2 -- heck, no she doesn't get one! Does she not realize how gorgeous Kevin is and he has priority over all others!?

3 -- neuter.... I think it would be best to have it done.

 

[Manydogs]

[MENTION=3952]TheLost[/MENTION] Good to see you-but not with problems!!! Hope your Molly can heal after some rest. I had a 4 pound male poodle years ago-he was going to be "my big stud" turned out to have a retained testicle when mature. That's how my life goes.............my vet said he needed to be neutered(okay..) which I would have done-especially since he said it could possible become cancerous.

 

[oscarmayer]

With rest Molly should be fine as long as her activity is minimized so as not to have a repeat performance. Does Molly need to lose weight too? "Overweightness" is very hard on the joints. Keep the weight down for both of them and you/they will benefit greatly.
Lose weight? Yes
Neuter? Yes
Send card? Yes. Or you can do like we do and send an Edible Arrangement.

 

[TheLost]

Thanks for all the info!

To answer a few questions..
Molly is VERY active (think Jack Russel Terrier active). She is so active/hyperactive the vet has had to give us tranquilizers to help slow her down for the next few days so she can heal (or are the tranquilizers for us, i'm going to have to check the bottle).

Molly is not overweight... she is a very rib-cage showing 53lbs. (IMHO too skinny). She is a fussy eater and we practically have to shove food into her.

Kevin is going to get neutered.. We are going to spend the next few months getting his weight down and he'll get 'snipped' around the holidays. Merry X-mas Keven! His current weight is 77lb's and the vet said she wanted him to loose about 5lbs. I've argued with the Vet before about Kevins weight.. loosing 5lb's isn't going to hurt him... but he isn't what i would call over-weight.

Which leaves me with a HUGE problem...

Molly needs to take it easy for the next few months (she is normally a blur running around the house and yard)...
Kevin needs to be more active for the next few months (He is normally a speed-bump laying on the floor or patio)..

The majority of Kevin's exercises is fending off sneak attacks from Molly... 7pm - 9pm is a constant bulldog brawl at my house until Kevin passes out and sleeps until 10am.

Trying to keep one down.. and the other active is going to be a challenge .

 

[Manydogs]

[MENTION=3952]TheLost[/MENTION] Perhaps you should go for walks. This may help slow Mollly down some, help Kevin lose some weight....and you take the tranquilizers and don't worry-be Happy!

 

[Davidh]

Yep, you are going to have fun the next few weeks. It's never easy keeping on quiet, when they are very active. The vet may have to give you something to help with Molly. As far as Kevin, just reduce his food, and he will loose some weight. It may take a little while but it will happen.

 

[Izzy's Mom]

[MENTION=3952]TheLost[/MENTION] keep us posted. Izzy actually had a partial tear while playing with a Jack Russell! At first vet told me to let her rest and give some supplements. It did not heal so we opted for surgery.

Listen to your vet and MAKE her rest! When a big tear happens they will compensate with the other leg. Izzy ended up tearing the other knee 3 months after.... it was a nightmare.