It's been quite the week around here. Sheba's wounds got worse so back to the vet, Dr. M (not newbie Dr. S) we went. He put her on a quinolone drug which is indeed kicking the infection but she was pretty miserable for a few days before that and about all I could offer was constant attention and wiping up slobber from the drool caused by her swollen face. Shibas do not normally drool and many are a bit prissy about such things. Mine was offended by her own slobber and I can relate :)
As some of you may know, quinolones (Cipro, Levaquin, Baytril,
Dicural,... lots more) are being prescribed, dispensed more and more to
treat pets for the same reason their use is increasing in humans;
pathogen resistance to older drugs for infections.
Sheba's on
Baytril now and I'm glad as it's more likely to knock out just about
any infection she has than the amoxil she was on. However, it does
come with some potential side effects and the "psychological" ones
aren't going to be found on most of the vet reference websites.
Sheba
sometimes wants her very own quiet time but I watched her progress from that to going under my bed which isn't all that
unusual except that she usually turns her back to the room, like
turning her back on the world, and this time she huddled up against the
wall with her back to it and not doing better than dosing. She didn't
even want to come out and cuddle if I went in and closed the door so it's
just the 2 of us and THAT'S really unusual.
I've had a number of
gulf war vets describe this phenomenon from taking Cipro. It has a CNS
effect that can result in "dizziness, confusion, tremors, hallucinations,
depression, and an increased risk for people predisposed to seizures"
and some of these drugs can even cause self destructive behavior (like suicide attempts).
I'm not even going to discuss it with the vet as he'll think I'm nuts
but I can watch her and see the paranoia and depression in Sheba and
thought I'd pass along the info. She's past that stage now and seems to be feeling better, even a bit rompy a few times the last couple of days.
I had a UTI that persisted for
over 2 years and through several attempts to kill it with drugs. They
finally gave me Tequin (which is in this group of drugs but no longer
available for humans but gatifloxacin may still be available for
animals). It did kill off the UTI and I haven't had another one since
then which is rather incredible for me. But, big BUT, there were 2
days I couldn't crawl out of bed without puking and a couple of others
when I wanted to die but knew I wouldn't.
So, just a note to
always check out the drugs you're using in your household for yourself,
family, and critters; even those pharmacy handouts won't really cut it
and we don't even get those from vets. It sure would have been nice to have been warned by the vet but I've learned to look up both human and animal versions of medications to get the whole scoop, especially if I start seeing odd behavior.
As Sheba was getting worse and then better, Glenda (the stray I've taken in) was going into heat. Whenever Sheba would drop off to snooze, I'd run around like a crazy person trying to arrange things and secure the porch and kennel from the ever growing hoard of sniffing neighbor males. I've been working like mad with Glenda on training too the last few weeks and it's a good thing she's cooperative and a fast learner. She's not thrilled with a crate and we haven't completed crate training but it may just have to be a crash course tonight.
The video I posted of "suitors" is from this morning. This new boy is so interested he's taken up a guard post at the end of my driveway. Even though I've got a kennel within a kennel on my screened porch that's away from the steps and outer edges of the porch, I'm thinking that just may not be enough to keep this boy away from her because he's really interested now and she's not at the height of her attractiveness yet.
Glenda is the one who bit Sheba. I'm more convinced it was an accident with every passing day. Shibas can really hold a grudge. Sheba's still holding one against the vet and, although she's exercising caution around Glenda, she's not holding a grudge at all. I'm even more cautious but Glenda also seems truly repentant when she drops her head in submission as Sheba passes within her sight. Until I get Glenda fully and reliably trained, she's wearing a muzzle whenever near Sheba or the cats and is leashed to me or an anchor.
Personally, I love the old fashioned wire muzzles. When properly fitted, they're quite comfortable for the dog who can pant and drink with one on. All 3 of my previous dogs were muzzle trained and I often put them on before going into the vet's office where they'll encounter unknown animals. I regret a number of my own mistakes that resulted in this bite by Glenda of Sheba and the big one was not getting Glenda muzzle trained right off the bat even though she'd shown no inclination to biting at all prior to that.
We've worked back up to me allowing Glenda and Bryde to be on the porch together with no restraints. Bryde is the Choc Lab you see briefly in the video with Sheba. She was the first to "adopt" Glenda and is truly enjoying not being at the bottom of the totem pole for the first time in her life.
Yes, all their names have meanings. The dogs are Queen Sheba (obvious?) the Shiba Inu; Lady Bryde (pronounced the same as bride) for Saint Bridget because it was obvious from day one that she would be subject to the whims of the Queen so the least I could do was give her a strong name and, despite being a klutzy Lab, she is quite the Lady; and Ms. Glenda after the good witch of the north and "Ms" because she's had babies.
Well, I think tonight Glenda will be sleeping in a crate in my bedroom although I suspect Sheba and Bryde may opt for the quiet of their daytime beds tonight. Hm, I may join them for the night in the living room. And perhaps I can even get to writing some more relevant entries now that things are calmer. I've certainly amassed quite a bit of research in the last few days in between and betwixt everything else but it's tough to write coherently without some longer bits of uninterrupted time.