Tess at the vet
Tess was nervous. Big pupils, sniffing everything. She was spayed at this vets, so was probably wondering if she was going to be staying.
The vet wanted to see her off lead as we talked. There was a huge Dogue de Bordeaux in a cage at floor level and Tess wanted to have a sniff but was told no.
Few seconds later, Tess looks at me and urinates on the floor. Very untypical.
As the kindly vet cleans up I notice Tess is over sniffing the Dogue, she's a scheming little dog. Or at least that's how I chose to interpret it. Could be she's just forgetting her house training as well as her recall. A few minutes later she pees on the floor again. Weird.
Full blood tests and after I've given the history, they want to muzzle her. I feel like I've blackened her name as she really doesn't bite in these circumstances, she bites in random situations - but I guess that's not a recommendation, either! And at the moment no ones actually safe.
The vet asked if I'd starved her that morning - so perhaps they might have chosen to keep her in? What to do? Xrays? Metabolism tests?
The vet's first thoughts were maybe a liver enzyme problem as sometimes that can mean toxins go into the brain. She hadn't heard of Fucosidosis so it was good I'd printed it all out and was able to tell them the test had to go off to the AHT. I'd printed the blog out too so she had the history to refer to.
Poor Tess, she looked so vulnerable getting the blood taken. She looked me in the eye the whole time. She's such a sweet dog (most of the time!) and she trusts me completely. So far I've never been on the other end of one of her turns.
This is going to be hard, but at least we've started.
I'm waiting on the blood test results. If nothing obvious it'll be neuro tests next.
Thanks for all your best wishes and kind thoughts.
I have already Twittered about Tess and Oscar's adventure last night. Tess had one of her absences again last night where she seemed to forget who we were. She was off chasing rabbits and husband Graham took Oscar along too to find her and bring her back.
I got what could have been a dirty phone call. It was Graham panting hard. "Man with bike...got Oscar... airfield."
I had no idea what he was talking about but went outside into our little lane to have a look.
Tess came running up the lane from the common at great speed, completely filthy.
I grabbed her and the next minute I saw Oscar coming off the airfield and running towards us - equally filthy carrying half a forest in his coat.
Turns out Oscar saw a man on a bike with a Staffie. Oscar chased the dog who was following the bike. Which meant Graham had to chase Oscar. Tess obviously found all this fascinating and she appeared from the bushes and was tagging along at the end of what probably looked like an episode of Benny Hill!
Apparently the bike rider refused to slow down when Graham called out to him and even speeded up. Maybe the Staffie wasn't his and he now thought everyone was after him?
Graham had been hoping to train for the marathon so this two mile chase may have spurred him on!
Just heard from the vets, the info about the Fucosidosis test was out of date. It's no longer a blood test, it's a swab and we have to wait for the kit to be sent from the AHT.
Still no news on the other blood test results.
But I bought a basket muzzle at the vets just in case,although I'm not sure when I might use it as it is so random when she has had a turn.
She looks like butter wouldn't melt. It's so hard to believe its come to this.
The vet wanted to see her off lead as we talked. There was a huge Dogue de Bordeaux in a cage at floor level and Tess wanted to have a sniff but was told no.
Few seconds later, Tess looks at me and urinates on the floor. Very untypical.
As the kindly vet cleans up I notice Tess is over sniffing the Dogue, she's a scheming little dog. Or at least that's how I chose to interpret it. Could be she's just forgetting her house training as well as her recall. A few minutes later she pees on the floor again. Weird.
Full blood tests and after I've given the history, they want to muzzle her. I feel like I've blackened her name as she really doesn't bite in these circumstances, she bites in random situations - but I guess that's not a recommendation, either! And at the moment no ones actually safe.
The vet asked if I'd starved her that morning - so perhaps they might have chosen to keep her in? What to do? Xrays? Metabolism tests?
The vet's first thoughts were maybe a liver enzyme problem as sometimes that can mean toxins go into the brain. She hadn't heard of Fucosidosis so it was good I'd printed it all out and was able to tell them the test had to go off to the AHT. I'd printed the blog out too so she had the history to refer to.
Poor Tess, she looked so vulnerable getting the blood taken. She looked me in the eye the whole time. She's such a sweet dog (most of the time!) and she trusts me completely. So far I've never been on the other end of one of her turns.
This is going to be hard, but at least we've started.
I'm waiting on the blood test results. If nothing obvious it'll be neuro tests next.
Thanks for all your best wishes and kind thoughts.
I have already Twittered about Tess and Oscar's adventure last night. Tess had one of her absences again last night where she seemed to forget who we were. She was off chasing rabbits and husband Graham took Oscar along too to find her and bring her back.
I got what could have been a dirty phone call. It was Graham panting hard. "Man with bike...got Oscar... airfield."
I had no idea what he was talking about but went outside into our little lane to have a look.
Tess came running up the lane from the common at great speed, completely filthy.
I grabbed her and the next minute I saw Oscar coming off the airfield and running towards us - equally filthy carrying half a forest in his coat.
Turns out Oscar saw a man on a bike with a Staffie. Oscar chased the dog who was following the bike. Which meant Graham had to chase Oscar. Tess obviously found all this fascinating and she appeared from the bushes and was tagging along at the end of what probably looked like an episode of Benny Hill!
Apparently the bike rider refused to slow down when Graham called out to him and even speeded up. Maybe the Staffie wasn't his and he now thought everyone was after him?
Graham had been hoping to train for the marathon so this two mile chase may have spurred him on!
Just heard from the vets, the info about the Fucosidosis test was out of date. It's no longer a blood test, it's a swab and we have to wait for the kit to be sent from the AHT.
Still no news on the other blood test results.
But I bought a basket muzzle at the vets just in case,although I'm not sure when I might use it as it is so random when she has had a turn.
She looks like butter wouldn't melt. It's so hard to believe its come to this.
Comments
Fred wore his when he was in situations when I knew a bite was likely, and also in situations where a bite would be a Big Problem, even if he'd never bitten in those circumstances and I felt he probably wouldn't bite.
I really hope Tess is okay.
Louise
Interesting that he thinks it could be liver related. Not sure if that's good or bad - I suppose it depends what's causing it. Fingers crossed for the test results hough.
Will be watching for news of results as they come in.
Thoughts are with you all
Don't feel bad about the whole muzzle thing. It is a sensible precaution and Tess won't really mind.
Are you using a basket muzzle? The reason I ask is becasue we found the ones that fit tighter over their mouths seem to work better because the dog seems to calm down more when the mouth is a bit restricted. Maybe it is due to pressure on the top of the nose. It apparently has a calming effect doesn't it? Like how the Canny Collar partly works.
Think of you all.
Jenny