An update on Copper and Sophie

I feel like Copper and my dog Sophie don’t get much attention on this blog. The cats and big horses tend to hog the spotlight. 

Copper is doing great and continues to be such a good boy. He is the barn favorite and everyone that visits falls in love with him. He has the temperament of a Labrador retriever, which certainly helps!

A friend who is nervous of big horses loves Copper

He has an old shoulder injury that has slowly affected the rest of his body over the years.  He is pasture sound only but that doesn't slow really him down at all.  That being said, I have my vet and chiro check him regularly and no one really has any tips to improve his lameness.  They have assessed that he isn't in much pain, but his injuries have forced his body to just not work properly, if that makes any sense. He has been on previcox as well with no real improvement. 

This winter I met a new equine body worker that really helped Fred, so I thought I’d have her out to check Copper.  She did a complete check and was able to help him unlock some stiffness. I’m not sure what kind of magic she worked, but he was walking better after a 30 minute treatment. He had a lot of stiffness in his SI joint and his spine. He will need more treatments and some exercises to build up strength, but I feel confident that this therapy can help him move more comfortably over time!

Copper - chief cookie tester. These homemade gingerbread cookies passed his inspection.  :-)

And on to Sophie... this poor dog is only six and she has a host of medical issues. It is a bit of a heartbreaker situation for sure. She has seizures and is on two different meds to keep that at bay. The meds work so that is good. They do affect her energy level and to top that off, she has also been limping on her front leg for about a year. I’ve had her to the vet, the chiro and a dog physio. None have been able to pinpoint the issue. 

A chicken collar and tootsie roll toy: one of the many perks of having a friend that owns a pet store!

On a whim, I asked the equine body worker if she happened to work on dogs as well. She said that she did, so I added Sophie to the list for treatment. 

Sad face expert

She found some soreness in her hind end and treated it with massage and then cold laser. I’m never sure if some of these therapies work or not, but within 24 hrs, Sophie’s limp was almost gone. Now, this treatment will need to be repeated to help with the pain and I may need to do a xray or something to help identify what might be causing the pain.  An old injury? Hip displaysia?  Hard to say...

It is now 72hrs later and Sophie is still not limping and has more energy than I’ve seen in a few months. I’m hopeful that this type of therapy helps her longer term and I can get my dog back to a more normal state!  

Needless to say, whatever treatments this lady is using have been making visible differences in the horses and the dog, so I'll keep going down this road for now.  

Weekend wrap-up

This weekend extended into Monday, so I'm technically not late on writing about the weekend. And, hey, it's my blog, so I guess I can post this whenever I want.  lol

My weekend was one of those that I don't want to repeat too often.  I spent almost 4 hours helping a friend load her butthead of a horse (and another 2.5 hours today).  He isn't dangerous or afraid, just incredibly stubborn and difficult.  He doesn't give to pressure, but fights it.  Actually, in hindsight, that does make him dangerous...yikes.  Anyhoo, we have a system going with him so hopefully moving forward we can get him in in a reasonable time frame. I feel bad for my friend as she was hoping to show this summer, but (rightly so, imho) is nervous about getting him somewhere and then not being able to get him home.

Then, on Sunday, my yellow dog decided to give us a scare.  Labs are the worst for eating stuff they shouldn't - I'm sure most people know a story about a lab that ate something bad - and was either fine, or cost their owners thousands of dollars...Sophie stole my purse off the kitchen counter, rooted through it and ate and entire big package of tic tac gum.  Ugh.  Gum is bad for dogs due to the xylitol.  We found her 30 mins to an hour after she ate it and had started throwing up.  She was lethargic and had a really high heart rate.

Xylitol poisoning can cause blood glucose levels to spike and/or liver damage.  Not good.  We decided to take her to the vet to get checked out. We got lucky and found a new vet close by that was open on Sundays and didn't charge super high emergency fees.

They tested her blood right away and things were good.  They recommended keeping her overnight with IV fluids and monitoring.  I have to say this new clinic is great - the care and attention to details was simply amazing.  We got a call first thing this morning with an update. Her levels were fine this am as well and after one more test at noon, she would be ok to come home.

Heading home from the vet. Would totally eat more gum if she found it.

So, that was an expensive and stressful 24 hours. Luckily she seems to be fine and my emergency vet fund got a workout.

And since I stayed home today to deal with vet stuff, I was able to help my friend again with trailer loading.   After that fiasco sort of success, she rode Spencer for me and ponied Fred. And I took a picture.  Wow - am totally nailing this blogging stuff.  

Around and around.  Lots of trotting!  And it was a beautiful day!

Fred and Spencer were both great. Spencer was puffing a bit since he hasn't been worked in about 9 months.  Fred is a bit of a big slug - admittedly, it is a big red bus to get moving.  lol  

Oh, and the best weird news of the long weekend?  My doctor called with my x-ray results.  I did indeed fracture my fibula (outside leg bone) down near the ankle! F*** me!  It is showing as mostly healed now, but with a lot of swelling.  I have to see a sports medicine Dr next to see if there is anything else to be done with it, or if it will just take time.    I'm totally kicking myself for not getting an x-ray during the first week - damn you hindsight - but I trusted the ER doc that I saw and thought it was just a sprain.  Live and learn, folks. And trust your instincts if something doesn't feel right!