Bastard of the Day

Today's prize goes to the bushy-white-haired bastard down the block. I was walking Rosco alone (my wife took Gracie to the horse stables to play with another insane puppy), and he squatted to do his thing. As I whipped out a grocery bag and started dutifully scooping it up, the old man came up to me and asked, "Did you get it all?"

Dog walkers recognize this as code for I don't trust you to pick up after your dog. As a responsible dog owner who has lived here for ten years, I don't deserve that. Bite me, you dumb, old bastard. Congratulations, you've just made yourself a new enemy for what remains of your rotten life. Next time, maybe I'll be the one squatting in your yard. Or on your porch.

Here's the kicker. This bastard's house is the eyesore of the block. The stucco is deteriorating by the minute. There is exposed wood on the front where the stucco is gone completely. The west wall has been covered in Tyvek sheeting for at least five years. And he's worried about a stray chunk of dog crap on his precious lawn? Fix up your damned house and then f*** yourself.

Labels: bastards, dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 2:11 PM 0 comments

 
Picking a Name
In the midst of our young dog's trials, we reconsidered the name she got at the shelter, Gracie. I lobbied vigorously for Underfoot, but my wife hated it. She came up with Wendy, but that was mainly because she was craving lunch at the time. I tossed out a bunch of ideas, and the only serious contender was Rosie. My wife didn't like it because it made her think of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie." I, on the other hand, thought of Bruce Springsteen's classic concert closer "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" and, to a lesser extent, "Oh Rosie" by Robert Earl Keen, Jr.

Alas, my wife could not shake "Whole Lotta Rosie" from her mind, and she insisted that our innocent little dog "is not that kind of girl." We decided to stick with Gracie, a name already well known among Chicago's veterinary community.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 1:18 PM 1 comments

 
Close Call for Gracie
Wednesday, I awoke to the phone ringing. My wife had been walking Gracie along Lawrence Avenue when the little girl darted out into the street and took a few licks from a green puddle of antifreeze.

Ethylene glycol, the primary ingredient in antifreeze, is horribly toxic to dogs (actually to all animals including humans). At first, the animal may appear to be drunk, but this passes after several hours. The next stage gets ugly. When the liver processes ethylene glycol, it creates substances that permanently damage the kidneys. Untreated, an animal will die within days. It only takes two ounces of ethylene glycol to kill a medium-sized dog. At 36 pounds, Gracie might be on the light side of medium.

Fortunately, Gracie ingested the antifreeze only a block away from a veterinary clinic called Animal House of Chicago. My wife walked her there and called me. First they made Gracie vomit, and then they made her swallow activated charcoal. The bill was only $135, but her treatment was just beginning.

Intravenous hydration was the next step. Since Animal House was closing at 2 PM, we had to transport Gracie to Chicago Emergency Veterinary Services on Clybourn Avenue, which is open overnight. The last time I was there was "the beginning of the end" for Teddy, so it brought back a lot of painful memories. Sometimes I still wonder whether it would have been more humane to let him go that awful night instead of trying in vain to prolong his life (he died a month later after great expense and I hope not too much suffering).

Gracie's prognosis was relatively good since she didn't drink much antifreeze and received treatment immediately. The vet ran tests to get a baseline on her kidneys, and then they began the IV. They retested her at 4 AM Thursday, and her kidneys were still fine. The emergency vet closed at 8 AM, so we had to pick her up first thing in the morning. In addition to the bill (another $609), they gave us a bag of IV fluid to take back to Animal House so they could hydrate her for the rest of the day. Gracie was surprisingly lively considering what she had been through.

The 15-minute car ride from the emergency vet to Animal House was like a scene from a horror movie. Gracie was in the car for less than a minute when she started gnawing at the dressing on her leg. By the time I said, "I'd better sit in back with her," she had torn out her catheter. Luckily for us, the furniture pad I use to keep the car clean when transporting my bike was still in place. As blood flowed from her leg, I struggled to hold her head to keep her from doing more damage. By the time we arrived at Animal House, there was blood on her front legs and chest, and the furniture pad was saturated.

We were the first ones in the door when Animal House opened. Gracie made quite an entrance, leaving bloody paw prints all over the lobby. They took her in back and inserted a new catheter. Then they put an "idiot collar" on so she couldn't bite her leg again. We left her there for more IV treatment and went home. Since I had to take the car in for service, we removed the blood-soaked furniture pad. Imagine what a mechanic would have thought if he'd seen that!

We called to check on Gracie late Thursday afternoon. They said she was doing well, but they wanted to give her another IV. Fortunately, they had a vet there overnight so we didn't have to transport her back to the emergency vet. We picked her up at 2 PM today and paid another $250. At that point, poor Gracie had spent more time at the vet than in our house since we adopted her. So far there are no signs of kidney damage, but they gave us some pills and asked us to come back Saturday for one more blood test (another $120).

Incredibly, she seems none the worse for wear; she was quite spirited on the half-mile walk home. Rosco greeted her with a wagging tail, but a few minutes later he growled at her to back off. It will take a while for those two to work things out, but right now we're just glad Gracie is still alive.

While I could fault my wife for not keeping a tight rein on Gracie (she'll definitely be more vigilant in the future), at least she did the right thing by getting the dog to a vet ASAP. I'm glad we could afford to spend that $1,120 -- there goes our economic stimulus check -- but I hope Gracie will be less expensive in the future!

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 9:12 PM 0 comments

 
Dear Self in 2005:
It looks like Jennifer started a meme, which makes her way cooler in Bloggerland than she probably thought she was.

Dear Self in 2005:

Don't stop exercising and start pigging out to mourn Teddy.

Lard-assedly,
Your Self in 2008

P.S. Watch that travel budget; you'll never sell enough books to cover it.

Her letter is thankful while mine is loaded with regret, but I'll leave the analysis to someone else.

Labels: Biking Illinois, dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 5:05 AM 0 comments

 
Our New Dog

We got her at the Anti-Cruelty Society on Monday. They named her Gracie, but we might change it. She's only eleven months old. I wanted a dog that was a few years older and a little less crazy, but she and Rosco got along well at their "meet & greet." Now that she is home, Rosco isn't quite so friendly. She won't leave him alone -- she's the obnoxious younger sibling that Rosco was when we got him nine years ago. I hope this wasn't a mistake.

Note: I've been trying to post this since Tuesday, but Blogger wouldn't upload my photos. I finally had to do it the old fashioned way -- I uploaded the photos to my Web site and coded the HTML for them.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 12:49 PM 1 comments

 
Lyrics of the Day
Today's lyrics come from Texas legend Jerry Jeff Walker:

He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs throughout the South
He spoke with tears of fifteen years how his dog and him traveled about
His dog up and died he up and died
After twenty years he still grieves

I thought of those words from "Mr. Bojangles" a lot after Teddy died and imagined myself grieving for a long time. Today is the first anniversary of his death. I'm feeling a little better, slowly but surely, to the point where thinking about him doesn't automatically bring up painful memories of his last days. But I'll still think of him in 20 years, assuming I'm still here. If not, maybe I'll be feeding him ham sandwiches in heaven.

As for Walker and his famous song, I found this tidbit written by Tom Gascoyne:

This Saturday I get to go to the Feather Falls Casino to see Jerry Jeff Walker. When I tell people this, most draw a blank and say "Who?" Then I tell them, "He wrote 'Mr. Bojangles.'" And they think of Sammy Davis Jr. and his smarmy version of that great song. But Walker is like Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings, only more grounded. You get the feeling he's really lived the things he sings about... As for "Mr. Bojangles," Walker's friend David Bromberg explained in a 1972 recording that Walker met Bojangles in a drunk tank in New Orleans while doing a little "field research."

Labels: dogs, lyrics

- posted by David Johnsen @ 1:21 AM 0 comments

 
Our Next Dog
No, we're not getting another dog just yet, although my wife has been bugging me a lot. Judging from how Rosco acts around other dogs, I don't think he minds be an "only dog" anyway. I think other dogs make him nervous, especially when it comes to food and bones. Now we can even pet him while he eats, something that made his lips curl when we had Teddy around.

I have come up with a name for our future new dog, though, and it's one that my dad would probably endorse: Underfoot.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 10:31 AM 0 comments

 
What's Wrong With Breed Bans?
Answer: This (hat tip to ASPCA). Many people don't know what a pit bull looks like, and lots of breeds look similar. Even my wife, an avid reader of Dog Fancy, went through more than a third of the photos on that Web page before she picked the American pit bull terrier. You have to really know your stuff to tell them apart. Do your neighbors or local police have that knowledge? If they do not, your perfectly harmless and legal pup could be taken away in a case of mistaken identity.

Our experience with pit bulls is mixed. The pit bull at the end of the block, Snowman, acts aggressively, and our dogs don't like him. His owner knows this, however, so he keeps Snowman behind a tall fence and doesn't walk him around other dogs. On the other hand, we have taken care of two young pit bulls found on the street for a couple days each. The only problem we had was when our dog -- sweet, docile Teddy -- attacked the first one. Teddy was fighting for a treat that the pit bull had dropped. After Teddy knocked her on her back, she bit his leg. At first I was mad at the pit bull, but clearly it was just a scared dog defending herself. We found a home for the second pit bull, and her owners love her; she's a good dog.

That is another big problem with breed bans. Pit bulls are not inherently aggressive and dangerous, nor are rottweilers (another breed often singled out). On the other hand, under the right (or should I say wrong?) circumstances, beloved breeds can be violent and unpredictable. Granted, a bichon frise isn't going to maul a six-year-old, but a poorly bred or trained German shepherd might. Even a labrador retriever will bite if you back it into a corner or taunt it.

Dog attacks are tragic, but the breed bans being considered in many states and local jurisdictions are not the answer. Responsible ownership, proper breeding, good training, and common sense behavior by people around dogs would go a long way toward solving aggressive dog problems.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 2:49 PM 0 comments

 
Do These People Know Anything About Dogs?
The maker of Greenies, a popular dog treat, is responding to pet choking deaths and consumer complaints with "plans to clarify feeding instructions and increase the print size on packaging, which included a small-print warning that gulping any item can be harmful and even fatal." This is a hoot:

"Greenies are safe if they are fed properly and chewed by the dog," said Joe Roetheli, founder and chief executive officer of [manufacturer] S&M NuTec. "We really want people to read the directions and follow them."

"Fed properly?" Does that mean "crushed to bits with a 10-pound sledge before feeding?" That might work. And "chewed by the dog?" Just how does one make a dog chew food before swallowing? Mastication isn't exactly their strong point. Our dog Teddy practically inhaled anything that would fit in his mouth. He used to eat a 1/4-pound hamburger patty in three gulps or less. Rosco is a little better, but that has nothing to do with our influence as owners. It's not like you can tell a dog to chew thirty-two times before swallowing. Well, you can tell a dog whatever you want, but don't expect it to obey. No Greenies for us, thank you.

And don't get me started on the company's name. "S&M NuTec" sounds like Space Age bondage gear.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:11 PM 1 comments

 
Bittersweet Christmas
Our dog Teddy was a part of our Christmas celebrations since he showed up in our backyard in 1998. In our family, the dogs go everywhere -- Mom & Dad's house, Grandma & Grandpa's house. One Christmas Eve there were nine dogs at my grandparents' house! I guess having a dearth of children and a multitude of dogs makes this seem perfectly reasonable to us, though some people think we're just nuts. Of course, Rosco, our other dog, has been part of the festivities since 1999, although he was unofficially banned from Grandma & Grandpa's a few years ago. It was bad enough that he barked vociferously at my grandmother when she donned a fur coat (my wife said he was jealous that she had caught so many animals to make it!), but when he lifted his leg on the kitchen wall, he became canis non grata. I guess it was just as well since Teddy was uncomfortable that night. He was getting older, and visiting my parents in the morning and grandparents in the evening was just too much for him. He was hiding in the closet and pawing at the front door to go home. So in recent years we have taken the dogs to see my parents but left them at home in the evening.

It would have been hard enough to celebrate Christmas without Teddy, who died this summer, but it was even harder celebrating with Maggie. Maggie is my parents' dog, a yellow lab mix. Since they got her a couple years before I moved out of the house, she's my dog, too. She is the one who made me a dog lover. I always liked dogs, but Maggie just has a way of getting into people's hearts. In April 1997 I took care of Maggie at my condo near Lake Michigan while my parents went on vacation. In the preceding weeks, I had been telling everybody that Maggie was going to be a babe magnet. With my pathetic dating history (if I were an ancient Greek, I would have been named Platonicus), my friends got a laugh out of that. Sure enough, the first day I walked Maggie on the lakefront, a woman stopped to pet her. Twenty-one months later, we were married. We even had a yellow lab statuette atop the wedding cake beside the traditional bride and groom.

Just before Thanksgiving, Maggie was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. The vet said she had two weeks to six months, that with some luck she'd be there to celebrate Christmas, but we'd better cherish every day after that. Needless to say, we've been visiting my parents more often than usual. Although she has been losing weight, Maggie is doing okay (my mom says that's because nobody told her she's sick). But having Christmas without Teddy and knowing that this would very likely be Maggie's last made it difficult to enjoy the holiday. My parents gave us a calendar with photos of the family dogs (Maggie, Molly, Teddy, Rosco, and Ellie) and a throw with a photo of Teddy stitched into it. Somehow we managed not to cry.

Maggie also made the trip to my grandparents' house, although in her old age she growls at the other dogs whenever they come near. After all the gifts were opened, my dad was in a sour mood so my parents abruptly left; I hardly got to say goodbye to Maggie. I hope I get to see her again. At least I spent several hours petting her while everyone was opening presents that night.

We do most of our gift-giving on Christmas Eve, and then we go to my aunt & uncle's house on Christmas Day without our dogs. There my mom told me she had been looking through old photos and found one of Maggie. Years ago (probably in 1999), I had run a race before going out to their house. I had received a finisher's medal (as opposed to a medal for a top placing -- I was never even close), and I put it on Maggie. I had forgotten all about that, but I knew what my mom was going to say next... the picture reminded her of the photo of Teddy I posted on my blog, the last picture I ever took of him.

After four months it still hurts. My wife sometimes worries that he wouldn't have wanted us to put him to sleep or that he could have lived a bit longer. I try to reassure her and remind her of his condition at the time, how he couldn't do the things he loved anymore, and how we had done all we could. I feel like sometimes I remember too much about his final month instead of all the happy years that came before. We still think about him every day, and maybe we always will.

Labels: Christmas, dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 10:49 PM 0 comments

 
Extending The "Silent Birth" Concept
Today I was thinking about $cientology, and it didn’t even involve mean thoughts about Tom Cruise. With the adorable Katie Holmes, who once vowed chastity until marriage, carrying his demon spawn (oops, so much for being nice), there has been a lot of talk about “silent birth,” a recommended practice for $cientologists (church officials “say silent birth is practiced at the discretion of the parents and their doctor”). The idea is that birth is a traumatic experience for the baby (not that it’s any picnic for the mom), and being quiet during the birthing process is supposed to make it a little less so.

So why in the world was I thinking about this? Well, today we gave our dog Rosco a bath, and he did not look pleased (I was thrilled because in less than fifteen minutes I saved $40 that my wife would have spent on a groomer). Since getting a bath is clearly a traumatic experience for Rosco, I wonder if we should do it quietly. Could reassuring words like “it’s okay…you’re a good boy” actually do terrible harm to his fragile psyche? And will it cost us thousands of dollars in $cientological “therapy” to repair the damage? I don’t know, but I’m going to trademark “silent bath” before Tom and Katie steal my idea.

Labels: dogs, religion

- posted by David Johnsen @ 9:51 PM 0 comments

 
Teddy Comes Home
Yesterday my wife went to the vet's office to pick up the modest tin that holds Teddy's "cremains" (I don't like that word--it reminds me of craisins). When she got home, we realized that we had never figured out where we were going to put him. She suggested the china cabinet in the dining room, but that just didn't seem right to me. Teddy didn't spend much time in that room, and we hardly do, either (which probably explains why Teddy didn't). In fact, that was his favorite place to go if he had an "accident." No, the dining room wasn't a good choice. I proposed the corner shelves in the living room, and she readily agreed. Then she asked if we were going to keep an item that occupied the top shelf. I said that regardless of whether we did, I wasn't going to put Teddy up there. If that New Madrid fault ever triggers a big earthquake, I would hate for Teddy to tumble from that height. It would be too weird cleaning up the ashes off the floor. I chose the second shelf instead, figuring that the lid would hold for a one-foot drop. Tonight I got the idea to add his collars to the shelf, but I'll have to ask my wife where she put them.

Rosco's reaction has been interesting to watch. He lays on Teddy's bed a lot, which he never did while Teddy was alive. Somehow I think he knows that his big brother is gone forever this time. It's hard to tell whether he is depressed or he is enjoying being the top dog. My wife is noticing that a lot of the traits she attributed to Teddy are actually dog traits. Rosco is acting more like Teddy did, and Teddy isn't there to push him out of the way. I also sense that Rosco is more attached to my wife than he was before. I always thought that when Rosco came to our house, Teddy told him, "The woman is mine" (she used to call him a "male chauvinist dog"). Rosco was always "my" dog, which made me feel a little guilty about Teddy being my favorite. Ah, but now we see Rosco's true colors...

My wife says she is ready to get another dog, but she admits that she would be looking for one like Teddy. I told her that means she isn't ready. Besides, I'm not going to be ready for a while.

UPDATE 09/11/2005 - Maybe Rosco reads my blog. He has been coming around me more today.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 11:38 PM 0 comments

 
A Champ Till The End
On a running e-mail list this week, we were discussing what we had done with our medals from races. One runner said that a former girlfriend put her medal around her teddy bear's neck. Then he wrote, "But, Dave, I'm guessing you don't have a lot of teddy bears in your bedroom."

I replied, "Not a lot, only one. I call our dog 'Teddy,' but his full name as given by my wife is 'Teddy Bear' because 'he's like a big, soft, cuddly teddy bear.'"

On Thursday night when I saw Teddy lying on the floor in the bedroom, I put my 1999 Chicago Marathon finisher's medal around his neck and took a few pictures. This is the last photo I ever took of that handsome guy:

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 9:03 PM 0 comments

 
Teddy Bear Johnsen 1991(?)-2005
Teddy's condition steadily worsened since the last update. He could barely stand, and he was losing his appetite. I consulted with one of his vets last night. He said that to reduce the clotting in Teddy's legs they would have to cut back on his prednisone. Of course, doing that would send his red blood cell count down. We would end up back where we started a month ago. We could hospitalize him and give him an IV that might reduce the clotting, but his chances would be 50% at best, and other clots could form later (potentially in more critical areas). He assured me that we could let him go with a clear conscience, knowing that we did all we could to help him.

Last night I fed him hamburger for dinner, followed by pizza topping a few hours later. He ate some of each but didn't finish. I petted him until my wife came home from work, and then I went to bed. This morning I found my wife in the living room with Teddy; she hadn't slept all night. We took him to the vet this morning ostensibly for his weekly blood test, but we knew he probably wasn't coming home. Another vet reassured us, and we decided it was time. We held and petted him as she searched for a vein. Once she injected the drug, he died almost instantly.

Even though we know we did the right thing, it still hurts even more than we expected. I have a lot of thoughts, but that's all I can write for now. Thanks for seven of the best years of our lives. We'll always love you, big guy.

Labels: dogs, life and death

- posted by David Johnsen @ 3:30 PM 2 comments

 
Another Teddy Update
For those following the saga of our dog Teddy's struggle with auto-immune disease, it has now been one month since he went into the hospital. Thanks to several transfusions back then and lots of pills since, he is somewhat stable, but he probably won't get any better. His red blood cell count seems likely to remain in the 20s at best, barely adequate and not far above where it was when he went into the hospital. He's still hanging in there, but he doesn't have much time left. One of his hind legs filled with fluid a couple of weeks ago. Today it looks like the other is filling, too, and he is walking with more difficulty.

There's never a "good" time for this, but I wish it wasn't happening while I'm trying to finish my manuscript (due one week from today). At least with my new laptop I've been able to spend more time downstairs with him. But every time I walk out the door to do a bike ride for my book, I fear that Teddy won't be alive when I get home.

We still have no idea what caused the illness. It just came on so suddenly. Sure he is older, but he went from wanting to walk to the park and back to barely making it to the end of the block practically overnight. Now he just does his business at the bottom of the stairs and waits for us to carry him back up. On the bright side, he doesn't seem to be in pain, and he still enjoys eating (he has been getting canned dog food and hamburgers). Yet we know every day is a gift at this point, and we are savoring every moment we have left with him on this earth. We have reached the point where we have done all we can do. If his condition worsens, we'll have to say goodbye.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 10:54 PM 1 comments

 
Odd Drug Requirement
We had to get our dog Teddy a very-low-dosage aspirin to help prevent blood clots. How low? St. Joseph Children's Aspirin has 81 mg per pill, but Teddy needs just 7 mg per day. Only one pharmacy in Chicago (the whole darn city of three million people!) can create these tiny doses, which they pack into capsules with lots of filler.

Now here is the odd thing--this pharmacy had to speak with our veterinarian for approval in order to make these capsules for us. I mean, we're talking about taking the world's most common over-the-counter medication and diluting it to a miniscule strength (practically homeopathic by human standards). For that, we pay a premium ($17 a bottle). Why on earth would they need to get permission to make this stuff? It's not like they would be preventing abuse or misuse since I could buy a much stronger dose without a prescription. I told my wife I was going to take them myself: "I could take two regular aspirin tablets every four hours, but I'd rather take one of these capsules every ten minutes instead!"

It's probably some sort of general law or policy of either the pharmacy or the FDA, but in this case it struck me as red tape, just a waste of time (in fact, they were unable to reach Teddy's vet for a while, so we had to wait an extra day to get the capsules).

Actually, there is one funny thing about Teddy's swollen leg. He has always had skinny, bony legs that looked too small to support his body. Now his swollen leg looks like the size his legs should be.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

 
Censorship That I Support
Months ago I wrote a blog entry unequivocally opposed to censorship. Well, perhaps I was wrong. Last night (actually in the wee hours of this morning), I found a case where censorship is not only justified, but preferred.

Around 2 AM we noticed that our dog Teddy's left hind leg was swollen. Since he contracted auto-immune disease a few weeks ago, we have been keeping a close eye on him. We called the animal hospital where he was treated, and they said we should bring him in just to be safe. That was how we found ourselves watching the Animal Planet cable channel in the hospital lounge at 4 AM. It was one of those shows with animal police who rescue abandoned kittens, abused dogs, etc. It was set in Miami, which the producers reminded us by showing brief glimpses of tanned, bikini-clad women between program segments (not that I'm complaining).

One of the dogs, named Kilo (since the police never found his owner, I assume they gave him that name), had a badly broken leg. He was a medium-sized, mixed breed that didn't look like either of our dogs but somehow reminded me of both. A neighbor said someone had run him over on purpose, but that was never verified. The animal police took Kilo to a vet who fixed his leg with a Rube Goldbergian brace. An older man adopted Kilo as he began his convalescence. When Kilo came in for a check-up, his leg looked better, but the vet noticed something disturbing--he was showing signs of neurological damage. In his time living on the street without proper care, he had contracted distemper. He had only a one-in-ten chance of recovering.

The vet came out to talk to us about Teddy's condition. She thought it was probably a blood clot, which is more common in dogs with auto-immune disease. She was uncertain whether he might have some sort of protein deficiency; the tests she ran showed low counts, but she didn't trust the machine because it sometimes gives bad readings. She recommended that we have it tested at our regular vet when we do his next blood test (by the way, Teddy's last red blood cell count was 31, a significant improvement). If the protein is a problem, it will require a few days of hospitalization. It sounds like something that may not be worth putting him through. We are concerned about where to draw the line between helping him get better versus merely keeping him alive for our own sake.

As she was talking to us, the TV program returned to Kilo for his next vet visit. This time he was in bad shape. He was shaking and clearly in pain. The vet told the owner, who had already grown quite attached to the little guy, that Kilo would have to be put down. As our vet talked about how to treat Teddy's blood clot, assuming it's just a clot, I watched the old guy give Kilo one last pat on the head goodbye and walk out of the room. Fade to black.

So that's one time when I would prefer censorship--the veterinary hospital should censor Animal Planet so people who are worried about their own pets only see the happy endings on TV. We don't need to see the alternative; it's already too real in our minds.

Labels: dogs, television

- posted by David Johnsen @ 10:09 PM 0 comments

 
Teddy Update
Teddy's red blood cell count appears to be stable around 20, so they let us take him home yesterday. Although he struggled a bit climbing the stairs to the front door, he is still able to jump up on our bed. He is mostly sleeping, but he did that before he got sick--after all, he is a dog, and an elderly one at that. For the most part, he's the same old Teddy. We are giving him half a dozen pills a day, some of which he'll have to take for the rest of his life. Tomorrow we'll go to his regular vet to get his blood tested again. If he's around 25, then we're on track for recovery. If not, we may have to increase his medication.

I have long resisted the Internet cliche of posting dog photos, but since Blogger recently incorporated images, here you go...

UPDATE 08/02/2005: So far, so good. Teddy's color is better, and he is acting more and more like his usual self. He's also enjoying the treats bestowed on him by his concerned fan club. The vet added antibiotics and a nutritional supplement (SAMe, B-complex, antioxidants), so now he's taking a dozen pills a day. Fortunately, thanks to Merkts cheese he is none the wiser.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 11:02 AM 0 comments

 
Crunch Time / Teddy
As some of you know, I am working on a book right now. My manuscript is due September 1, so I have five weeks to get it done. I should be able to finish, but I am a bit behind at the moment. I wanted to have all the riding done by August 1, but it looks like I'll still have at least half a dozen rides to do. I've been on the road most of the month working on it, so I've had little time for blogging. I may not get to blog much until September.

On top of that, our older dog, Teddy, is very sick. He has auto-immune disease (white blood cells attacking red blood cells), and he has been hospitalized since Monday. He is acutely anemic; his red blood cell count was 42 in April, but this week it is between 10 and 15. My wife called from the emergency vet Sunday night, and I abandoned a paid-for motel room (ouch) to drive home. From her description, I was afraid I wouldn't get to see him alive. Fortunately, by the time we went to visit at 3 AM, he had recovered somewhat after getting fluids and steroids (which suppress the immune system). They let us walk him outside a bit, and he was strong enough to tug at the leash when he wanted to sniff something.

The emergency vet closes at 8 AM, so we had to take him to his regular vet in the morning. They said he would need to be watched for at least 24 hours. Since they close at 7 PM, we would have to take him back to the emergency vet in the evening. Instead, they recommended that we take him to the same place we took our other dog, Rosco, for knee surgery in March. On the 45-minute drive up to Buffalo Grove, Teddy seemed okay. He sat up in the back seat, the wind blowing his floppy ears. We checked him in and came home. They performed many tests and gave us some good news: they couldn't find any underlying problem like cancer that was causing his condition. It's a mystery how he got auto-immune disease, but at least we know we are dealing with the primary illness rather than a symptom of something else.

The vet called at 2 AM yesterday and said Teddy would need a blood transfusion. With auto-immune disease, the risk is high that the white blood cells will immediately devour the new blood, but when his red blood cell count dropped to 10, there was no other option. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. By the time we went to visit him around noon, his count wasn't any better, and he was very weak. He walked in to see us, licked a little gravy off the food we brought for him, and laid down. We spent the next half-hour petting him, leaving a huge pile of hair on the floor. The nurse had to use a sling to hold up his back legs to walk him out. They called us as we were driving home and said they needed to do another transfusion, this time of two units.

As of this morning he is holding steady, which is good news. His first transfusion only boosted his red blood cell count for 8 hours, but it's been 18 hours since the second transfusion finished. They say his color and vital signs are better, and he isn't in any pain. Now all we can do is wait and hope that he can make enough of his own red blood cells to start improving.

The vet said Teddy was very agitated after we left yesterday, so we will probably stay away for a while. He's always had some separation anxiety--he doesn't misbehave like some dogs, but he gets nervous and upset. My wife doesn't want him to feel abandoned, but the vet and I agree that Teddy can't really afford to expend the extra energy to handle the stress of leaving us again. We'll have to wait until his condition changes dramatically. We're hoping for the better, of course, but we've been steeling ourselves in case he gets worse.

My wife calls Teddy our "child substitute." Although I don't like the term, I must admit that it is pretty accurate. We always knew a time like this would be tough for us, but it has been much harder than we imagined. The roller-coaster nature of Teddy's condition has made it especially difficult. I think it's like watching a basketball game that goes on for days. The score keeps changing and the lead goes back and forth, but it will all come down to the last few minutes of the game.

Hang in there, big guy!

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 11:44 AM 1 comments

 
Close Call For Rosco
Our dog Rosco (named for Dukes of Hazzard character Rosco P. Coltrane) recently had knee surgery, but he is recovering well. We have been walking him a bit further day by day. Recently we walked him across the Chicago River bridge for the first time since he injured his leg. As we were coming downhill from the bridge, we saw a runner followed by a bicyclist coming toward us on the sidewalk. Rosco doesn't like runners much, and he hates cyclists (along with roller-bladers, skateboarders, and delivery trucks). I pulled our dogs onto the grassy parkway to wait for the two men to pass, shortening Rosco's leash in the process (our other dog has little prey drive).

As they approached, we recognized the runner... it was Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who lives just a few blocks from us (he stirred controversy by refusing to relocate his family to the Governor's Mansion in Springfield, but he didn't want to disrupt his children's schooling). He was being followed by a state trooper on a bicycle. He said hello to us, and Rosco lunged toward him. Fortunately, I anticipated this. I pulled hard on his leash and thwarted the assassination attempt. Rosco tried again as the state trooper rode by us.

No harm was done, but we were a little embarrassed. As we continued down the street, we realized what could have happened. If Rosco had bitten the Governor, the state trooper might have drawn his gun, and Rosco's $2,700 knee surgery would have been for naught. We further imagined that a veterinarian would perform an autopsy and tell us, "His knee was healing perfectly... until he got shot."

By the way, this weekend Blagojevich will become the first governor to run in the River to River Relay, an 80-mile race across southern Illinois contested by eight-person teams.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:33 PM 7 comments

 
Eek! And A Torn ACL
Today I had to run an errand and the weather was nice, so I wiped the dust off my old Cannondale hybrid bike. It was the first bike I bought when I rediscovered cycling in 2000, but I have a bunch of other bikes now so I haven't ridden it in a couple of years. Although I have installed clipless pedals (which require shoes with special cleats) on my other bikes, my Cannondale still has trusty old toe clips. I have a pair of cleatless cycling shoes that I use with that bike. After a little digging in my basement clothes pile, I found the shoes and slipped them on. Hey! There was something in the heel of my left shoe, and it felt too big to be merely a stone. I yanked it off and emptied it onto the floor. At first I thought the culprit was an old, dry hairball from one of the cats. Then I got a closer look. It was a shriveled mouse! That freaked me out. We've had mice in the house before, but I never found one in my shoe. When I told my wife about it, she recalled that Fred Astaire said he used to hang his shoes so that mice wouldn't get into them. I wish she had told me that before!

My errand was a trip to the veterinarian's office to pick up x-rays of one of our dogs. He has been hopping around without using his left hind leg lately. The x-rays show that he has a torn ACL (knee ligament). Ouch. The vet referred us to another vet to do the surgery, which will cost $1600-$2700. Double ouch! I said he could just walk around on three legs for the rest of his life, but my wife didn't think that was funny. Just the same, I will ask out of curiosity at tomorrow morning's consultation if it would be cheaper to amputate it instead.

Updated 03/17/05: The vet said it would cost about $2500 to amputate, "But we only do that if there's cancer." And she gave me a dirty look when I asked. Oh well, I guess we'll get the knee fixed. He's probably under anesthesia as I write this.

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 8:21 PM 0 comments

 
What A Relief!
I'm so happy right now. I just got off the phone with my wife, and she said she found a home for the pit bull puppy we've been taking care of for the past two days. My wife is a soft touch, so any time another police officer finds a dog (this one was being attacked by several other dogs in a West Side alley), we end up getting stuck with it. She was a cute little thing with a wiggly, chocolate-colored body and a pink nose. She also peed every time I reached down to pet her... then she wagged her tail in it! Since she wasn't house trained, at night we kept her in a room in the basement with plastic flooring. She didn't like that. First she howled with displeasure, then she started gnawing the pine door frame. My wife is taking horseback riding lessons, so today she took the puppy along to the stable. She gave her to a woman working there whose sons wanted a dog. Our two older dogs are probably even happier than I am. That puppy had too much energy for them!

Speaking of puppies, this was in today's Chicago Tribune:

Dog Wiggles Paw Free to Shoot Florida Man

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver's trigger.

Jerry Allen Bradford, 37, was charged with felony animal cruelty, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. He was being treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to his wrist.

Bradford said he decided to shoot the 3-month-old shepherd-mix dogs in the head because he couldn't find them a home, according to the sheriff's office.

On Monday, Bradford was holding two puppies -- one in his arms and another in his left hand -- when the dog in his hand wiggled and put its paw on the trigger of the .38-caliber revolver. The gun then discharged, the sheriff's report said.

Deputies found three of the puppies in a shallow grave outside Bradford's home, said sheriff's Sgt. Ted Roy. The other four appeared to be in good health and were taken by Escambia County Animal Control, which planned to make them available for adoption.

I guess I have mixed feelings here. First, to that "heroic" puppy, way to go! On the other hand, it's sad that he shot three other pups. Why didn't he take them to a shelter in the first place? The shelter might have euthanized them, but that would have been more humane than shooting them. And how the heck could anyone look a puppy in the eye and pull the trigger?

Labels: dogs

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:49 PM 0 comments