Saturday, February 09, 2008

A kick in the gut - Dax's gut

Yesterday was Dax's appointment with Dr. Royal to try to find out why she's losing hair, cold and lethargic. The visit went pretty well - Dr. Barb fell under Daxie's magic spell and thinks Dax is the cutest thing ever, ever, ever. It could be that she says this to every client, but I've known Dr. Barb for about a billion years and she pretty much says what she's thinking.
What she thinks is that Dax is pretty much malnourished. How's that for a kick in the teeth for a dog-mom who does her darnedest to do right by her pups? Oh well. When you know better, you do better.
As a bit of an explanation - Dax has been on a prescription diet since she started developing UTIs and crystals at about 10 months old. As Dr. Barb explains it (and I love logical explanations), dogs are carnivores/scavengers. Scavengers can go a good long time with minimal nutrition, their systems are designed to take some ups and downs. But when you have a series of traumas to the system - it can collapse.
Apparently, the rat poison incident last May and the cracked tooth late in the year (which required surgery and anaesthesia) were enough to put Dax over the edge. So while her blood chemistry didn't show anything - it was just a matter of time.
Dax is on a whole new regimen - we'll see how it works. So far, not much. But it may be unreasonable to expect results in 12 hours.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor Dax! Here's hoping the new diet brings fast results. And allowable treats are still in her new diet. What's a Frenchie without their treats?! :-)

FrogDogz said...

Oooh! Poor baby!

D'you know what Tessa thinks? She thinks Dax needs a steak. A BIIIIG steak. Like, sharin' sized. Tessa volunteers to come supervise both the purchasing and cooking of said steak, as she is deeply concerned about Dax's well being.

She thinks that this is very noble, and that she, along with Dax, deserves steak for being so giving.

She also thinks Dax needs a big pile of kidneys, just because kidneys rock.

Hope said...

Dax and I thank you for your good wishes! She's enjoying the new diet tremendously - especially the yogurt in her breakfast.

Please let Tessa know that her acolyte, Dax, is preparing the guest room and anxiously awaiting the arrival of her mentor. She's currently fretting the merits of T-bone vs. Sirloin vs. Ribeye vs. ..... I've assured her that Tessa will make her preferences known when she arrives and that we'll do our utmost to live up to her expectations.

FrogDogz said...

A note from Tessa:

Dear Dax:

In preparation for my stay, please make sure to stock some 600 thread count Porthault linens. I don't like roughing it.

Also, can I just mention "Girlfriend, please"?

T Bone? Sirloin? Ribeye?

No, no and no.

You are a French Bulldog, the Queen of all Dog Breeds. For you, the King of All Steaks - the Porterhouse.

Voila -- http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1205049

Oh, and mom said to tell you she'll be in Chicago in late March, and would like to buy me something expensive at your store. I've told her I'd prefer Gucci, but she's being stubborn.

Hope said...

Dax says:
Dear Tessa -
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You see how much your mentoring will mean to me! I have so much to learn about being a proper Frenchie princess! Mom says we'll go to the butcher shop when you get here - you get to pick! Also, she did mention some Swarovski crystal collars in our store that might look very elegant on you!
Love, Dax