Sip goes for first shot tomorrow!

Wow! Tomorrow Sippi gets her first immiticide shot. I called to find out when I needed to bring her in next week and found it is tomorrow! Good thing I called. Dr. Morrison doesn't want to wait. So she'll go in early in the morning and I'll pick her up late tomorrow evening. The serious stuff starts now.

Had friends in town and they have three dogs. Sippi definitely could feel the excitement. There was a lot of coming and going, in and out, dog craziness. Sip had to stay quiet. When I took her out she was sniffing the air and couldn't get to business. With the herd around here, there wasn't a lot of sleeping between the woofs, barks, and howls. Even the cats were meowing it up. I guess everyone had a good time. Looking forward to Sip having a home where she can be involved in her family.

We are down to prednisone every other day now. But Sip is still pretty ravenous. She is still taking doxycycline twice a day. It is good she has the appetite because it shows the doxy isn't bothering her tummy. Which, is getting bigger hahaha.

Peanut Butter

If anyone has ever had a dog on prednisone, they've probably noticed several things. The dogs usually feel pretty good, they are thirsty, and hungry. Well, Ms. Doodles knocked over some things to get to the peanut butter jar. It was about 3/4 full. She was pretty stuffed when she rolled over to have her fat little belly rubbed. Sippi isn't normally like that though. She usually only eats what she needs. Silly girl.

She had a good day though. Sippi went with me on a car ride and then got to stroll the yard while I went on poopoo patrol.

About a week to go before the first immiticide shot.

The lonely road

Coming back from a meeting in Mississippi Friday I made a detour to Sippi's road. I thought maybe I might find something that would give me a clue to why she was there. The road is about a mile long. It runs into railroad tracks and a few homes. It also runs into Highway 90 and there isn't anything there. Nothing looked too good so either she wandered away from one of the homes or was dumped there on the road.

She went with me to my brother's house today. We were spreading dirt for concrete prep. Sip waited in the truck as usual. She was just down in the basement barking. I think because I gave her a little snuggle time and then had to put her to bed.

Been having modem and cable trouble. So getting online has been a mixed bag.

Someone is spoiled

For a road dog, Sippi has gotten pretty quickly into the 'kept dog' syndrome. It is raining today and I realized that I had the windows partially down for her. Yippee. I went to take her for a quick walk and roll up the windows. She jumped right back into the car! I've been lifting her up every single day. First time she's ever put herself in there. Someone doesn't like getting wet (-;

What do I do with this dog??????

Wow, the prednisone has really turned Sippy into a pig. Before she just ate until she was full and now she cleans the bowl. She has a little fat belly now. And she highly enjoyed a good tummy rub tonight before going to bed.

What do I do with this dog? Any suggestions?

Call it quits?

Is anyone reading? Is anyone following? I'm thinking I need to give everyone's money back. I don't think that people are really paying that much attention to this. After all, what's one more staffordshire terrier in trouble? Right? Who's going to adopt this dog?

Sippi's Warning

All I can say is that if you hear her barking, you better get there. Or she is going to leave you a nice surprise! She's not kidding (-;

Sippi got me up this morning barking. That usually means, "I have to go out right now or I'm going to mess up my cage." Good girl she held it. Then I spent some time cleaning up the mess she'd made the day before. I'd forgotten what prednisone was like and it really makes them have to urinate. That is a problem. It's tough to get her out regularly. SHE REALLY NEEDS A PERMANENT HOME.

Tomorrow we go back to the usual routine. I'll load her up in the car and she'll go to work with me. She hangs out in the car and I walk her during the day. I don't think it is good for her to be left long hours by herself. The other two have each other and can roam the fenced yard.

She's been taking her pills like a good girl. It doesn't appear very many people are following the blog. I'm worried she is not going to get a home.

BC

Today was a great day in South Alabama. I tied Sippi up outside near where I was cleaning out my brother's truck. Wanted to make sure she got to enjoy a little bit of the day.

When she isn't with me, Sippi spends her time in the basement. A junky, moldy place, that I live in denial it actually exists. But it has served its purpose for other strays that have come this way. BC started coming around I'm not sure when. I found out about him one day when my Mother said, "Don't tell Daddy but . . ."

But what? She had been feeding a feral black cat in the carport. BC, or black cat, came and went, often gone for weeks. My Mother was taking bowls of dog kibble smothered in milk to him. I think the raccoons enjoyed it too. Somewhere along the way, I started to feed him as Mother wasn't able to do it anymore. Over the weeks and months, I could touch him, then pet him, then lift him up briefly.

He had big fat tom cat jowels. There was a scar or two on his ears. One day his face was swollen with a terrible bite. Long story short, I caught him and took him to the vet. An even shorter story wound up with BC moving into the basement. It turned out, that after $500 worth of treatment, he had FIV or feline aids and had to be quarantined. Hurray for me.

What I had once thought was a mean, untrustworthy cat turned into a sweet, purring, drooling, kneeding kitty. I found out that my Mother was going into the moldy, stacked up environment to take a nap on an old wicker couch. She and BC were having bonding time. Eventually, he moved into the main house and followed her around like a dog.

My called me one day saying something was wrong with BC. It was terrible. I came into the kitchen to find him splayed out. He was hassling and a bloody foam was coming out his nose. I scooped him up and headed to the vet. But he died on the way. They tried to intebate him when I got there but his lungs were too full of fluid. The vet said that often heartworms can do that to a cat. He was fine one minute and gone within forty-five. I read the symptoms and they matched BC pretty well. After all the years outside, he must have been harboring a worm.

I'm still pissed about losing that cat. He turned out to be such a good companion for my Mother. Some of his black hair is still on the cushions on that couch. The couch that Sippi likes to sit on.

Back in the basement

Sippi fund is up to $325!! Thanks y'all (-:

Back from my week of meetings and workshops, I picked up Sippi this morning from the vet's office. She came prancing out, wagged her tail to see me, but seemed more excited with the general scene than me. I mentioned to Dr. Dixon that I thought she liked being at the clinic. She said, "I think she LOVES being here." Apparently, Sippi likes watching everything that is going on and seeing the other dogs.

Sippi came home with doxycycline, prednisone, and carafate. She is to take the carafate before the doxy. The doxy is to kill the bacteria that live in the heartworms. The prednisone is to help the inflammation from the worms. She has stopped coughing up blood. Her coughing has never effected her attitude, moxie, or appetite. We are tentatively looking to the first week of April to start the shots.

Sadly for Sippi, is the problem for all heartworm positive dogs, she has to stay on leash walk only. This means no backyard time with Sandy or even wandering there by herself. She'll have to be stuck in the basement, with the radio, her peanut butter bones, and tearing up stuff. In fact, I'm not 100% sure she is glad to be back as the other two dogs are.

Traveling back

Leaving late today for home. So I should be able to pick up her majesty tomorrow and find out what our next steps are.

Fund up to $300

Hi All,

Still on the road for work. The Sippi fund is up to $300 and I should be able to update the graph on Friday. This should definitely cover her pre-treatment costs with hopefully some left over for the next step. I didn't speak to the vet today so I'm assuming that is good news. They would only call if there were a problem.

Lee

On the road . . .

I'm on the road and out of town. But I feel like Sippi is in good hands at the vet. She did some more coughing up blood after I dropped her off yesterday. So Dr. Bill did a CBC which was 35 and he'd rather it be 40. He has her on steriods and doxycycline. The doxy is part of the protocol for heartworm treatment anyway. He did say we wouldn't be doing immiticide just yet as it would be "a train wreck." Hopefully she can get through this spell. It hasn't bothered her though.

Charleston is lovely. Has a New Orleans feel. Off to work -

Lee

Going out of town this week for work, I boarded two dogs this morning because I have to leave so early tomorrow morning. I decided that would give me some extra time with Doodles this evening. But she was still coughing blood today and it had me a little worried. I took her in early. Pending what they do for her, pre-treatment in her condition could very well wipe out the existing fund. Anyone that has picked up a stray animal knows all the costs that stack up against them. This is why so many shelters have a hard time taking in more animals. Not only are they already full with healthy pets, their financial resources are stretched thin.

People complain about veterinary costs, but those doctors go through rigorous training. They don't just know one species or specialize in one body part, they know multiple species and have to work with patients that can't tell them what's wrong. They are also using a lot of techniques and medications that are used in people.

Sip walked right on into the vet's office and wanted to say hello to a large yellow lab. He was as equally excited to say hi to her too. She wags her tail for all the techs and tries to be a good girl, doing what they tell her. To anthropomorphize her, I think she likes watching everything that goes on there. Hopefully, Dr. Bill will call tomorrow while I'm in my meeting (-;

Sunday a good day

Sip had a good day today. She got to hang out in the house with me while the other dogs were outside and the cats were put away. Then she went for a car ride and later today she got to roam the yard with my big dog Sandy. She likes him and will go with enthusiasm to the gate to play in the yard with him. I think it is too much for her though. She is still having bits of blood come up with her cough.

I say these are good things for her day. Otherwise, she spends a lot of time to herself in the basement. I have a radio playing but it isn't the same. I knew she'd always been a yard dog when I first brought her inside. She was scared of the TV, tucking her tail and always glancing sideways at it. She needs the quiet time but she also needs her own home.

Sip needs a home where she can come inside with the whole family, all the time.

Not the first time

Brief note - Sippi has been coughing the past few days and hacked up a nice lump of blood this morning. That has me worried but this evening she seems to be breathing better. So perhaps a worm died and it is working its way out of her system.

Now ... it is not the first time I've picked up a wayward animal. My last venture had me prying up cast iron storm drain lids to climb down inside after a kitten. My big dog Sandy and I heard it one night. We then spent the next four days tracking the little bugger. It was a tiny, fluffy, yellow tabby kitten. I was pretty outrageous - covered head to toe, gloves, hat, and a long straw I stuck into the cage. That kitten could be dangerous you know. With the straw I started to scratch the kitten's back and it purred ferociously. OC (orange cat) was a Santa surprise to three little girls.

My friend Marcy and I found three puppies at a boat ramp up the delta. One had a horrible wound on it's paw. It was severed all the way across save for a tendon holding it on. We spent a Saturday afternoon going from vet to vet until we found one that was available. The injured pup was put down right away. The other two got into a shelter and we worked to get them on TV. Before their big reveal we learned they had parvo. That was all she wrote.

But the one I keep thinking back to is Honeysuckle. She was half mean and half ugly, afraid of men except for my Dad, and barked incessantly at night at who knows what - shadows, bugs? My friend and I were on the way back from school and there she was on the side of the road. A bunch of trash was strewn along the woods and we found a package of balony that we used to coax her. I don't recall the conversation but somehow when we got to Susan's house, suddenly she couldn't take her. Honey was in really bad shape. She had two forms of mange, a malformed leg probably due to malnutrition, and we learned most of her internal organs were up in her thoracic cavity requiring surgery. She made it through all of it and including heartworms later in life.

So I kept thinking of Honeysuckle as I took Sippi to the vet. I thought that perhaps there would be something too bad to overcome that would be the definitive reason to let her go. But she wasn't aggressive with me and her food nor did she have any health problems that were insermountable.

The more I knew her the more she trusted me. She propped her head in my lap as I read a book. She looked up at me and I could see, "thanks."

Finding another home

I chickened out and Sippi went home to my basement. She was riding around with me during the day while I was at work. I didn't think it was good for her to spend really long hours by herself, isolated, in a crate.

So I started looking for a home or at least a foster one. Craig's list, petfinder classifieds, freecycle, no-kill shelters, rescue groups, friends of friends, and email lists pretty much came back with the same thing: no room, no money, no response, here's another contact to try. In fact, I'm now on a listserv for a group out of Utah that asks for my help. I didn't ask to be on the list but they want me to help Haiti animals.

If someone was interested, they didn't understand heartworms, didn't have a vet, or were scam artists. Crazy right, scam artists in the pet adoption business. I even stood outside of a weekly pet adoption event a couple of times. People were interested but ultimately decided on something else.

The bottom line and the revelation, Sip was like thousands of other dogs. Not the greatest and not the worst. She was just another sick dog, not good with cats, that was left to fend for herself. Thousands of better dogs than she never make it out of shelters every year. Thousands of really good dogs, beautiful, young and healthy, never find good homes. So here was Sip, average among thousands.

You ever feel average? Wish someone would pick you up?

A terrible night

My initial thoughts had been to let Sippi go when I first found her simply so she wasn't suffering on the side of the road. Now, money and time later, I brought her to my house. I have an extra large crate that was used with my big dog when he was still a very big puppy. So that became Sippi's new abode.

I kept vascillating what to do. I put out some feelers with rescue groups that might could take her. No luck. I waited several days while a volunteer for one local group tried to reach someone that could help. Nothing came through. In fact, I feel pretty positive they didn't contact her back.

It was a Wednesday night. The sun had already set and the rural road was dark as I drove home. I put in a call to the vet with whom I'd already spoken and was aware of the situation. The tech on the phone informed me that she was having a really busy night so she wasn't sure if the vet would call back.

As I was driving, teary eyed but resigned to suck it up and do it, a little dog came bounding along side the road. There was a car behind me and one coming toward me. I started to put my foot on the break. The little pup hopped playfully right into the road, in front of my car, and there was nothing I could do. My left front tire bumped right over him. I was horrified. I had to turn around and find the owner.

The little guy had gotten out of his pen and followed someone across the road. No one knew he was loose. He was on his way back home. I wondered about the karma of the situation. I was worried my phone would ring while I talked to the family. It didn't. The vet didn't call the next day either. I chickened out.

First Step in Treatment

Talked with Dr. Morrison today and the first thing we are going to do is give Sip a little extra care for her cough before starting the immiticide (shot to kill the heart worms). This will probably include a steriod and antibiotic. We'll start this next week when I have to go out of town and she is boarding anyway.

More on her history later . . .

Sippi's new home

The next day, after discussions with her potential new owner, I picked up the brown blob and delivered her. She climbed into the back of the woman's car and looked scared. But she had gone from the road, to the car, to the vet's office, to the car, and then another car in about 24 hours. I was informed, upon inquiring, that things had not gone well after her first night. She had lunged at a way-ward indoor outdoor cat, climbed up onto the dining room table, and left a rather large bowel movement in the middle of the floor. The next day I trudged off to pick her back up.

After more discussion it turns out things had gotten better, she would be staying, and I borrowed a crate to help with her training. Over the course of three weeks it became clear that the woman wasn't the proper home. The lady was having her own health problems and couldn't afford Sip's care despite additional vet appointments I tried to support. A visit to the spay and neuter clinic was turned down.

The final straw occurred when Sippi attacked a young stray kitten in the woman's backyard. This was followed later in the day, when a jubilant dog, jumped through an antique glass window of the woman's 1890s era house to greet her at the car. This I didn't learn until weeks later.

Sippi moved into my basement.

The first vet visit

A woman I called said she would take the brown blob from the side of the road. That was the only type of dog she ever wanted. The discarded, sick, and fore lorn that would be grateful and happy the rest of their lives with her. A vet clinic was in a perfect location on the way to my office. I had been a little teary eyed thinking I would have to let this poor creature go. But there was hope. I dropped her off with the instructions to tell me what was wrong and if the woman changed her mind, I would pay to have the animal humanely euthanized. "What is her name?" the tech asked me. Found in Mississippi and sippin' from a drainage ditch, the name sealed her fate. As anyone knows, once you name them, well, you see Sippi is still around.

The vet returned my call late that day with the news. Sippi had internal and external bugs. I'd seen the fleas mass on her side when I'd used a spare jacket to lift her into my car. She had a terribly swollen wound on the side of her face that the vet was unsure if it would abscess or not. This needed immediate attention. It was definite the dog had puppies in the past and needed to be spayed. She weighed around 37 pounds. And, she had heart worms. A pretty good case the vet said.

The next day, after a bath and $225 worth of treatment, I picked up Sippi on the way to a better life. I thought.

So . . . it was a sunny morning back in September 2009 that I traveled down Pecan Road, a swamp diversion, on the way to a meeting. As I dodged the pot holes I noticed a brown blob curled in the weeds by the drainage ditch. On the way back, it was standing in the middle of the road as someone in a truck threw biscuits out of the window to it.

I stopped. I helped the flea infested, emaciated, worm filled, wound infected, coughing blob into the back of my new SUV. Five months, fifteen pounds, and $700 later it is still being lifted up into my car. Her name is Sippi.