Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Carl is growing
Here is an updated pic of our puppy, now 5 months old and almost as tall as Molly. He is looking more houndish in the face, his feet are still quite large and he is very, very active. He has flattened 1 iris bush, 2 hostas, and 1 peony bush so far this year. He LOVES to wrestle with Molly and run and be crazy. He has to stay in his large kennel when we are not outdoors to watch him as he can be pretty destructive with digging and rolling if he isn't being watched. He is very good about not whining or barking while there though, and we are outdoors a lot! He is a sweet boy and still sleeps indoors in his crate at night in Heather's room.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Liz's Great Escape
Dogs update
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Containment System
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Warning: Dog flea/tick treatment
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lyme's disease
Here is an informative article about dogs and lyme's disease. See the whole article here.
A snippet:
"A dog with symptoms of Lyme disease ideally should have a test to confirm or rule out Lyme disease. Since it is almost impossible to culture the Lyme spirochete, efforts have centered on detection of antibodies against the Osps. The problems encountered with this method are:
- In a Lyme endemic area, as many as 90% of the dogs will have antibodies against the Lyme spirochete. Most exposed dogs never get sick but almost all of them will develop antibodies and these antibodies persist for years. How do we tell the dogs that have active infection from those that have been exposed and are not sick from their exposure?
- Vaccine has been available for Lyme disease for a decade or more. How do we distinguish antibodies generated by the vaccine from those generated by natural infection?
- How do we distinguish antibodies generated by similar organisms (Leptospira, for example, or harmless other Borrelia species)?
The solution to these problems has come about only recently in the form of the C6 test. This is an immunological test for antibody against the C6 peptide, a unique section of the one of the Borrelia burgdorferi surface antigens. As the spirochete changes its configuration to escape the host's immune system, the C6 peptide remains constant and always detectable. Vaccine does not contain the C6 peptide so vaccinated dogs will not test positive. Dogs with other infections will not erroneously test positive. Further, this test is simple enough to be available as an in-house test kit (the IDEXX Snap-3 Dx test), which can be run in most veterinary hospitals with results in approximately 10 minutes.
This still does not address distinguishing active infection from exposure. Dogs will test C6 positive within to 3 to 5 weeks of infection. They stay positive for over a year.
Treatment and Its Goals
Which of these dogs get sick and which do not? Does the dog with joint pain, fever, and a positive C6 test need medication? This is where the news is particularly good.
Treatment of Lyme disease utilizes a 2 to 4 week course of doxycycline, a medication that is inexpensive and has limited side effects potential. Amoxicillin is another effective alternative, also inexpensive and with minimal side effects. If Lyme disease is a consideration, many veterinarians simply prescribe the medication. Obvious improvement is seen within 48 hours. Furthermore, most tick-borne infections capable of causing joint pain, fever, and signs similar to Lyme disease generally are all share responsive to doxycycline so a simple course of medication actually covers several types of infection.
Eradication of the Lyme spirochete is not a reasonable expectation with treatment; the organism is simply too good at hiding. The goal instead is to bring the patient into what is called a premunitive state. This is the state that 90% of infected dogs achieve when they get infected but never get ill: the organism is in their bodies latently but is not causing active infection."
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Carl comes home
Pics of our new pup we picked up today. He got a bath and food and lots and lots of snuggles, then some playtime with Molly (who is patiently putting up with him, lol) and then more snuggles. He didn't do too bad his first night in his crate and is learning already how he is allowed to behave. He is very sweet!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
New puppy!
"Liz" the lizzard update...
She is doing really well. We are thrilled that she has been so happy living with us. She is fat and glossy and happy! She shed her skin shortly after we got her and we noticed today that she is starting to shed again - so every 6 months or so I guess? She is so pretty and way more fun than I anticipated.
A true story... yesterday, Will fed her 2 crickets and one she ate right away and the other we couldn't find anywhere, just dissappeared! So she ran up to the little cricket cage that is inside her tank (I know, cruel to see your food and not be able to eat it - but they stay warm and live longer, and she would eat them all at once and die from engorgement!)... anyway, she tried to grab a couple through the clear wall of their cage and realized she couldn't SO, she ran up on a stick and looked up at Will and let out a "squeak"! I am serious!!! I had no idea they made noise, but she clearly knows where her food comes from and gets quite animated at feeding time. :-) He rewarded her with a couple more.
So cute - who knew?