Our approximately 8 mos. old dog will be going to the vet on Monday, but I'm
hoping to get more info here on her possible problems so I can make the vet
appointment more productive.

OK, we got a six-week old female from the local pound last November. At the
time she seemed calm, friendly, and healthy, but we were warned that she
would develop kennel cough as her mother hadn't been vaccinated. Pup *did*
develop KC, but recovery was uneventful.

The only other health issue was her reproductive status - our pound will not
allow the adoption of any small animal until it is spayed or neutered. To
assure that these rules are followed, we had to fill out the adoption
paperwork and pay the fees on Friday, then the pup was taken to the vet (the
Humane Society chose the vet, some kind of sweetheart deal they had) on
Monday and we picked up puppy later that afternoon.

Everything was fine until recently. Dog grew larger than expected, is more
active than anticipated, and as smart as she wants to be. Now for the rub.

Jazzy has developed mild incontinence (first noticed as a once in a while
thing about a month ago) and a red rash around her genitals (first
discovered two days ago during grooming). The initial research I've done is
too vague for me to figure out what could be going on. The rash could be
from several different things, and the occasional urine leakage by other
things.

Does anyone here have an idea of what could be going on? Could she have two
separate health problems at once or could the two things be related? Are
there other symptoms I should look for? I've had various kinds of pets ever
since I've started living on my own, and I've noticed a pattern: I hate
going to the vet clueless, as then I seem to spend a lot more money (which
is in short supply). When the vet starts suggesting various tests, all of
which sounds like the sort of thing a responsible pet owner should have
done, I never know which tests to start with. I think the vet's know I hate
to be thought of as irresponsible or uncaring, so I usually end up telling
them how much I can spend at this time and let them do their worst until the
money is gone. The vets always seem to manage to spend just the right
amount of money before discovering the problem and then miraculously there
is just the right amount left from the initial total to fix the problem.

But if the problem is something I've encountered before, or are somewhat
familiar with, I'm much more comfortable telling the vet that I think this
type of test seems unnecessary for the type of medical issue at hand and get
the problem solved quicker and cheaper. Example: if my dog jumped off the
deck and landed funny and now limps, I find I really don't think a blood
test for potassium levels will help. I'd much rather go for the X-ray to
see if an Ace bandage or a leg surgery is needed.

So if anyone here can help, I'd appreciate it.

TIA

~~ Shelly ~~

In article ,
"~~ Shelly ~~" wrote:


The only other health issue was her reproductive status - our pound will not
allow the adoption of any small animal until it is spayed or neutered. To
assure that these rules are followed, we had to fill out the adoption
paperwork and pay the fees on Friday, then the pup was taken to the vet (the
Humane Society chose the vet, some kind of sweetheart deal they had) on
Monday and we picked up puppy later that afternoon.

You could have left out the "sweetheart deal" part and horror at
juvenile spay/neuter and be better received (ok, at least by me).

Everything was fine until recently. Dog grew larger than expected, is more
active than anticipated, and as smart as she wants to be.

This is always a risk with unknown heritage puppies. The shelter I work
has a HUGE sign in the nursery - "We don't know how big these puppies
will be........". I adopt adult shelter dogs and carefully selected
purebred puppies for this very reason - I want to know what I'm getting.
I hope you are taking steps to give this pup the activity and training
she needs.

Jazzy has developed mild incontinence (first noticed as a once in a while
thing about a month ago) and a red rash around her genitals (first
discovered two days ago during grooming). The initial research I've done is
too vague for me to figure out what could be going on. The rash could be
from several different things, and the occasional urine leakage by other
things.

It probably is the urine leakage, but they may both be related to the
same thing - yeast for instance.

The vets always seem to manage to spend just the right
amount of money before discovering the problem and then miraculously there
is just the right amount left from the initial total to fix the problem.

Yup - those money grubbing vets just hold out information they already
know, just to stick it to you and let your puppy suffer. Why not find a
vet that you actually trust and explain your concerns?

Your puppy may have a UTI, may have a structural issue with her bladder,
or urethra, and possibly due to early spay, but you need to trust your
vet to address this. Urinary incontinence, while a PITA, is usually a
fairly easy fix, either surgically and/or with medication. My 23 month
old dog's medication runs me $23 for a 2 month supply. Not a very big
deal.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"~~ Shelly ~~" wrote in message
...
Jazzy has developed mild incontinence (first noticed as a once in a while
thing about a month ago) and a red rash around her genitals (first
discovered two days ago during grooming).
........any incontinence needs to be investigated promptly. The rash is
probably from leaking - like diaper rash. When you take your dog out the
morning of the vet appt, get a first pee urine sample and stick it in the
fridge if you're not going to be at the vet within half an hour. You need
to get a urinalysis done to rule out UTI. If you have time and your vet
appt is not until later in the day, drop off urine first thing in the AM so
they have the results at time of appt. I used to go to a vet who left a
cooler outside his door so people could drop off samples on the way to work.
You might call before you go to see if they'll do this.

Everything was fine until recently. Dog grew larger than expected, is more
active than anticipated, and as smart as she wants to be.

.......Of course she's active - she's 8 months old. Of course she's trying
out busting the rules - she's 8 months old. Train every day for at least 10
minutes (not when she's hungry, full, exhausted or needing exercise badly)
Get a reliable sit, work on Come. Practice having her hold still while you
groom as it helps to have a dog be able to do that when you go to the vet.
The time you invest now will reward you for as long as your companion is
with you and it costs nothing.

Could she have two
separate health problems at once or could the two things be related?
.......yes and yes

Are there other symptoms I should look for?
..........Just note if there's anything else going on that has changed in the
month since the incontinence started. Next time go to the vet as soon as
you notice something like this. If it's a bladder infection, they're
painful. If it's spay incontinence there's drugs to control it.

When the vet starts suggesting various tests, all of
which sounds like the sort of thing a responsible pet owner should have
done, I never know which tests to start with.

..........You need to improve communication with your vet. Ask what the
possible diagnoses are. Discuss each one and tests needed. Most often vets
start with the most obvious, then if no results work down the list. Take a
notebook with you and write down the responses. Get a couple of reliable
vet sites to read like www.vetinfo.com At the very least in this situation
you have to rule out a UTI.

if my dog jumped off the
deck and landed funny and now limps, I find I really don't think a blood
test for potassium levels will help. I'd much rather go for the X-ray to
see if an Ace bandage or a leg surgery is needed.

................I always welcome blood tests. Even if there is no relevance
for this particular situation, they'll give you a baseline of values
throughout the dog's life, which at some point may save his life. If your
dog needed surgery they'd have to do them anyway. It also may be the the
dog was more prone to injury because of background things going on (such as
thyroid), in which case an Ace bandage is a bandaid, not addressing the real
problem.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

Sounds like a UTI. I'm just wondering why you didn't take her to the vets a
month ago when you first noticed it. Now it's a month later and the
infection could have easily messed her up internally. This is not something
you mess with it's painful as hell

Celeste


"~~ Shelly ~~" wrote in message
...
Our approximately 8 mos. old dog will be going to the vet on Monday, but
I'm hoping to get more info here on her possible problems so I can make
the vet appointment more productive.

OK, we got a six-week old female from the local pound last November. At
the time she seemed calm, friendly, and healthy, but we were warned that
she would develop kennel cough as her mother hadn't been vaccinated. Pup
*did* develop KC, but recovery was uneventful.

The only other health issue was her reproductive status - our pound will
not allow the adoption of any small animal until it is spayed or neutered.
To assure that these rules are followed, we had to fill out the adoption
paperwork and pay the fees on Friday, then the pup was taken to the vet
(the Humane Society chose the vet, some kind of sweetheart deal they had)
on Monday and we picked up puppy later that afternoon.

Everything was fine until recently. Dog grew larger than expected, is
more active than anticipated, and as smart as she wants to be. Now for
the rub.

Jazzy has developed mild incontinence (first noticed as a once in a while
thing about a month ago) and a red rash around her genitals (first
discovered two days ago during grooming). The initial research I've done
is too vague for me to figure out what could be going on. The rash could
be from several different things, and the occasional urine leakage by
other things.

Does anyone here have an idea of what could be going on? Could she have
two separate health problems at once or could the two things be related?
Are there other symptoms I should look for? I've had various kinds of
pets ever since I've started living on my own, and I've noticed a pattern:
I hate going to the vet clueless, as then I seem to spend a lot more money
(which is in short supply). When the vet starts suggesting various tests,
all of which sounds like the sort of thing a responsible pet owner should
have done, I never know which tests to start with. I think the vet's know
I hate to be thought of as irresponsible or uncaring, so I usually end up
telling them how much I can spend at this time and let them do their worst
until the money is gone. The vets always seem to manage to spend just the
right amount of money before discovering the problem and then miraculously
there is just the right amount left from the initial total to fix the
problem.

But if the problem is something I've encountered before, or are somewhat
familiar with, I'm much more comfortable telling the vet that I think this
type of test seems unnecessary for the type of medical issue at hand and
get the problem solved quicker and cheaper. Example: if my dog jumped
off the deck and landed funny and now limps, I find I really don't think a
blood test for potassium levels will help. I'd much rather go for the
X-ray to see if an Ace bandage or a leg surgery is needed.

So if anyone here can help, I'd appreciate it.

TIA

~~ Shelly ~~

OK, I get it. I've not handled this well, and since I'm supposed to be an
adult I could explain my thoughts endlessly and still not make a difference
in this NG. But please understand that I've tried to do the best by this
dog, and I hope that her condition can be fixed. I had not previously
considered myself to be an uncaring or neglectful person, but I now see that
I was probably wrong.

I'm taking Jazzy to the one vet that has always done right by our family,
the only reason I'd stopped using her was for personal reasons not relating
to our family pets. It's obvious now that I need to be a grown-up and do
the right thing by Jazzy.

At this point, I only have two other statements to make:
1) A month ago, when I first started noticing the occasional spot on the
carpet that could have been caused by the pup; there were other things going
on that could *also* account for the wet spots - things that had nothing to
do with Jazzy. I easily decided that the wet spots on the carpet were from
some other source and if I'm wrong, I'll do whatever I can to make sure that
Jazzy never has to go through this again.

2) I now know that I failed Jazzy in other ways. We got the pup because my
then-18-year-old daughter saw her in the pound and just *had* to have her.
I didn't want another dog, but allowed myself to acquiesce anyway. This
daughter was pretty much treating our home as a crash pad. When she wasn't
at work, she was hanging out until all hours with friends. No matter how
much she promised, I knew she wouldn't be there for this puppy, yet I still
allowed it. I hated having DD angry at me, I already felt that I wasn't as
good a parent as I could be and I couldn't stand her being disappointed in
me. So to placate an 18 year old young lady, I brought a puppy I didn't
want into the home. Do *not* assume that because I wasn't initially
on-board with getting a puppy, I'd ignore or mistreat her. That is not the
case. I'm a firm believer in personal responsibility. For example, if I
agree to take on the responsibility for a pet, my initial objections become
irrelevant. Once the commitment is made, it is made fully.

Jazzy is a great dog. She is bright (I've often realized that she has
trained me more than I have trained her). Jazzy loves to be around her
people, she'll follow us anywhere just to be with us. She gets along with
our cats, our ferrets, other dogs, and has never once bothered the livestock
in the fields near our home. I'm thinking that after I get her in good
health, work with her every day, and walk her every day; then I need to
search for a better home for Jazzy.

The only other thing I would like to mention is that Jazzy has never given
any indication of distress. She eats and drinks normally, is active and
wants to play constantly, and loves walks and car trips. She is a gorgeous
dog and I never saw any sign of distress or pain in her. So later today I
may find that I've done wrong, but I swear I never purposely neglected or
ignored her, I just didn't realize that there was a problem until very
recently.

~~ Shelly ~~

In article ,
"~~ Shelly ~~" wrote:


The only other thing I would like to mention is that Jazzy has never given
any indication of distress. She eats and drinks normally, is active and
wants to play constantly, and loves walks and car trips.

I attributed a flooded crate to over excitement and too much delay
whenever I arrived home, for quite some time. With a puppy, it's not an
unusual assumption (coupled with me changing to coming in immediately
stopped it). It wasn't until my puppy started leaking while asleep that
I figured something was amiss. He was about 9 months old then, and we
headed off to the vet. He has been taking Proin every day since then
(over a year now) and it controls it completely. He too was active,
playful, no distress.

Yes, your initial post sounded bitter about vets and that isn't a great
way to start off. Hopefully your vet will get to the source of this
trouble easily and you'll be on your way to a healthy dog. Your
commitment to training will be a big boost as well, and you may discover
that she is definitely your dog, and rehoming isn't even a hint of an
idea.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com