Tiki has some 'issues' (sl2crmeg) updated

 Oh, geez, Meg. I'm so sorry, but I'm laughing. Are you sure we're not RELATED?!?!?!?

Tiki Boo has no idea what kind of fabulous home she's just happened to find. She has Aunt Callie closeby, for backup, even! Demodex is easy, honestly, compared with what you've dealt with, with Pirate. Lotsa baths, some good food, some herbs, and colostrum. I hope the rest of her functions come back good.

jennie_c_d

 Oh, geez, Meg. I'm so sorry, but I'm laughing. Are you sure we're not RELATED?!?!?!?

Jennie, there came a point today where I could either laugh, or cry. I am choosing laughing at this point :) :)

 It works, better. People think you're insane, but it beats the alternative. I hope that she'll be able to live a relatively normal life, with you and Pirate. Heart medications work for dogs, too, right?

Poor Tiki, but lucky Tiki to have found you as her home! My parents always joke that they want to come back in their next life as one of my dogs, and I think that goes for yours too.

Pirate probably told her when she arrived, "don't worry. this is a spa, you get all sorts of personal care, including a nutritionist, doctor, and personal assistant!"

Meg, the enlarged heart is exactly what my little foster girl had - it was pressing on her trachea, too.  And the fluid in the lungs.  Maggie's was bilateral enlargement.  I hope you've caught Tiki's problems soon enough that you can help her.

In honesty the DEEP ear infection is very likely the **best** news of all.  Why?  Because it could be the **cause** of the demodex!!!

It was with Mufferino!!  That's what kept his immune system so depressed that it let the demodex rage.  Sooooo if you get rid of the ear infection, you *may* be able to pretty easily get the skin under control (with some pampering)

Now the heart is also a stressor -- the heart & ear combined could pretty danged easily be the cause of the demodex.  In honesty, I like that a far sight better than Cushing's! (we already talked about this on the phone but you didn't say ear infection)

She's a senior - you knew that.  What'd Dr. J give you for the ear infection?  We can pow wow on the phone tonight but honestly, you just made me WAY happier for you than I was 10 minutes ago. 

She's white and a breed known for skin problems.  She's ... um ... mature (have I mentioned lately that being "mature" can most definitely have it's up-side??? trust me on this one -- when you're Tiki's and my age you really don't have to give a crap about how super your hair looks or if your nails are chipped -- just having somebuddy take you as you are and give you love and smile at you first thing in the morning?  It's a wonderful thing!  And having someone WANT to play with your hair and make your skin feel nice -- wow -- that rocks!!

Aunt Callie's gonna hafta zoom over to the coast or meetcha someplace.  Gotta see this girl and given that Billy's gonna wanna say Hi to Uncle Bry .... well heck ... and ... fairy dust ... gotta be fairy dust somewhere here ...

sl2crmeg

Yeah, she'll most likely be on medication for the rest of her life. I'll probably start taking her for acupuncture too, one 'Dad' gets over the shock of how much money I spent today.

They can live a LONG time with an enlarged heart and even a "collapsed" trachea (which this isn't yet apparently).  Socks had both in a serious big way and was good to go for almost seven years (that after we were told to just "give her a spot on your kitchen floor -- she won't make it more than a month";) -- she was 17 and woulda been proud to tell ya that she did NOT succumb to heart -nuffin.  She was pretty proud of how well she did.  Heart stuff is not bad to maintain -- Co-Q-10 is a good place to start, and acupuncture will help a bunch.  I can show you some trigger points to lessen the cough too.

Meg, sorry that little Tiki has health problems.  She'll be ok now that she has you to take care of her. :) Tell bf that if he wants a spot on the bed, he'll have to earn points by not saying a word about the cost involved. lol 

  BTW, you can pick 'em just fine.  The ones who need a special dog Mom know they need to catch your eye.  

Tiki had her first demodex bath tonight, and boy does that shampoo stink! Pirate looked a little put-out, but then he realized that I had Tiki IN THE TUB and he didn't want NUFFIN TO DO with what we were doing, LOL.

I'll update when I get the info on her heart -- hopefully tomorrow.

Quite a few of my puppy mill girls have heart issues. We've been using a medication called vetmedin - which has been amazing, even reducing the severity of the murmer. It's pricey though - but def. worth it if your vet thinks it's the right way to go. The lasix are pretty inexpensive (at cost) so hopefully that wont run you too high.

Heart problems are managable, at best. And like Callie said - they can live a long while with them. She's heartworm neg. right?

With her trechea - just feed her elevated, and use a harness for walks. I have a dog with severe trechea issues - would choke and just about kill himself (scared his foster mom to death!) until we did the xrays - now he's on soft food, small meals and elevated - and is doing GREAT.

She sounds a lot like some of my millers - and they are all doing great with the proper care. Just yell if you need anything!!

Blood and urine samples were normal, thank goodness.

The vet reviewed the ECG and Tiki seems to be in the early stages of heart disease. We're starting lasix and another drug (I'm not sure, I'll pick up both meds tomorrow). BF and I want her to be COMFORTABLE most of all - so we'll do the medicines and some herbals and see where we end up.

We hope Tiki is feeling better soon! I know Pirate can explain all about taking medicine. What good fortune she has you to care for her.