Its strange how sometimes things will come in groups. A friend or someone on the mail list will ask a question about some obscure illness, and the next thing I know I have other people coming out of the woodwork asking or going through the same thing.
I like to take these clusters and refresh the blog to cover whatever topic happens to be "trending" and this month it seems to be kidney issues. While typically an "old dog" issue, I wanted everyone to know that kidney issues aren't solely a price of old age, and can be sort of a ticking time bomb that takes you by surprise.
Sometimes hereditary, sometimes caused by your pup eating something bad, or catching an illness, its good to know its signs so you can catch it early and start treatment. I know a good amount of you out there have adopted dogs from rescues and shelters and have absolutely NO IDEA of your beloved pup's lineage, so there's no way of knowing if kidney issues run in the family or not. Its also possible that a perfectly good lineage may throw out a kidney issue, so its very important to know what to look for.
Because of that, I want everyone to read up on kidney issues!
First off, start at Holly's House blog. Khady Lynn is young (3-years old) from a reputable breeder with no real history of kidney issues, and yet she's been at the hospital receiving kidney therapy to stop and hopefully reverse an as yet unknown cause to kidney malfunction. The symptoms were as benign as "lack of appetite" but her owner knew something was up and took her to the vet to find out what was going on.
I wanted to throw in there for all people that free feed their pups and have more than one dog, you may want to rethink that setup for this reason: Lack of appetite is generally a very tell-all symptom of something not being right. If you have more than one dog and leave food out all the time, you can never really gauge who is eating what, and how much. It may delay you noticing that one dog is off their feed.
I cannot say this enough times: If you think something is wrong, have it checked out. If your vet thinks you are over-protective and doesn't run the tests you want, insist on the tests or find another vet! You never want to be in the position of "I wish I had..." Better safe than sorry, better get it early than wait. You know your pups better than the vet and if something is wrong, YOU KNOW IT.
So, visit the kidney resource page.
Read one pup's journey through kidney failure
On the Kidney resource page, there is an excellent support group of people who are going through, have gone through, and know what its like caring for a pup in renal failure. I highly recommend them.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Help For A Good Friend
At Gimpydogs, we do our best to ensure that donations go to either a reputable rescue, or straight to a vet who is treating a gimpy in need. We check the source to make sure that it isn't a scam, and that a pup needs the treatment, and the owner is providing that pup with care. We typically don't ask for donations that go straight to a person... but this one is personal.
My friend Beth's pup Montana had a reoccurring benign tumor on his tail that required removal. In order to get the tumor, they had to amputate his beautiful tail. With help from some friends, she was able to afford the surgery, had the surgery performed on him about a week ago.
He seemed to be healing well from the amputation initially.
Things were progressing well, and he was acting normal. To help pay her friends back from the surgery, a raffle was started with some pretty cool prizes. She was relieved that Montana wouldn't suffer from the tumors any more, and things looked great for his future.
Montana took a turn for the worse, and although it just seemed like he was having some post surgery stomach issues (lack of appetite, some vomiting), things got progressively worse through the night and he was rushed to the Emergency Vet with a 106 degree temperature and listless.
It turns out that Montana had a perforated intestine, septicemia, and most likely wouldn't survive the surgery to repair the problem. Beth let Montana go.
Beth is now faced with the surgery costs, and the costs from the Emergency Vet, on top of losing her best friend in the world.
Some friends have started the Furry Friends Foundation on Facebook, the goal is to raise money for pups in need. They are trying to raise money to help pay for Montana's vet bills and are holding a raffle:
Raffle tickets are $5 each and give a chance to win any of the prizes. You can purchase tickets via Paypal to Val (vlorenz64@gmail.com). Please include your name, address, email, & phone number. None of the information will be shared and will only be used to notify you and send the prize(s) to you. Please share.
You can also just donate to Val, she is also a good friend of mine who I trust, and who helped pay for Montana's vet bills. All money above Montana's vet costs (nearly $2,000) will be put into a pool and used for another dog in need.
Thank you
Penny
Gimpy dogs
 |
| Montana |
My friend Beth's pup Montana had a reoccurring benign tumor on his tail that required removal. In order to get the tumor, they had to amputate his beautiful tail. With help from some friends, she was able to afford the surgery, had the surgery performed on him about a week ago.
He seemed to be healing well from the amputation initially.
Montana took a turn for the worse, and although it just seemed like he was having some post surgery stomach issues (lack of appetite, some vomiting), things got progressively worse through the night and he was rushed to the Emergency Vet with a 106 degree temperature and listless.
It turns out that Montana had a perforated intestine, septicemia, and most likely wouldn't survive the surgery to repair the problem. Beth let Montana go.
Beth is now faced with the surgery costs, and the costs from the Emergency Vet, on top of losing her best friend in the world.
Some friends have started the Furry Friends Foundation on Facebook, the goal is to raise money for pups in need. They are trying to raise money to help pay for Montana's vet bills and are holding a raffle:
 |
| click picture to enlarge |
Raffle tickets are $5 each and give a chance to win any of the prizes. You can purchase tickets via Paypal to Val (vlorenz64@gmail.com). Please include your name, address, email, & phone number. None of the information will be shared and will only be used to notify you and send the prize(s) to you. Please share.
You can also just donate to Val, she is also a good friend of mine who I trust, and who helped pay for Montana's vet bills. All money above Montana's vet costs (nearly $2,000) will be put into a pool and used for another dog in need.
Thank you
Penny
Gimpy dogs
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