Dolly

For those seeking advice on caring for incontinent pets and animals with kidney-related problems.
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Dianne
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Re: Dolly

Post by Dianne »

Woo Hoo!!! :wow: Lil' Dolly! :party: Carol, you really are wonderful with pets. :grouph:

Dianne
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Jean
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Re: Dolly

Post by Jean »

Hi Carol,
Dolly really is SO cute!!! She is lucky to have a knowledgeable mom like you.
I have 2 questions.
1. You said she is incontinent. She wears a diaper. You said you know she can empty her bladder because you did x-rays. So, does she empty all at once when she urinates or does she dribble. I wonder what the determinate is for deciding if a dog should be expressed? If it takes her hours to empty her bladder then the urine is still staying in the bladder for long periods of time. Sorry, I just wondered. Does she have deep pain response?
2. You adopted her from Best Friends. My goal in life is to work in their incontinent house. I have heard that if you adopt from BF you have to go down there in person? But, didn't I read somewhere that she was in LA? If you did fly to BF what was it like? I hear it is WONDERFUL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations, Jean
Christine
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Re: Dolly

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Does Dolly know Cricket's phone number???? Sounds like she got some coaching from him. She is just thriving in her new environment - she can just feel how happy she is making you.
That is just so cool!
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CarolC
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Re: Dolly

Post by CarolC »

She has a great personality.

Jean, the best I can explain it is, she empties her bladder many times a day. The act of bouncing around when she is moving from place to place is enough to empty her bladder. She wears a diaper when she is playing, and no diaper when she is sleeping. She sleeps in a playpen with a thick comforter that is changed daily. I do not think she has been tested for deep pain but I suspect she has it. She was actually found in California but went through a couple of fosters. The lady who was fostering her for Best Friends was living in Nevada, and Dolly flew here on Continental. I did not have to go anywhere, but there were emails and phone calls and a vet check and home visit (2 lovely local gals who work with BF).
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Jean
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Re: Dolly

Post by Jean »

So, was it your vet who suggested that you not express her? She can empty her bladder which is great but wouldn't it be less mess and more sanitary if you just expressed her. I mean you are an experienced expresser and its not like you would cause trauma or anything. I have been expressing Jaime since she was 6 weeks old (Sept 1998) and you have been expressing Katie for close to that long. Even if you expressed her only a few times a day it would be less mess and clean up.
Does she have such a tight spincter that you can't express her?
Sorry if I'm being pushy. I'm just trying to understand./Jean
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CarolC
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Re: Dolly

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So, was it your vet who suggested that you not express her?
No, there is simply nothing to express.
She can empty her bladder which is great but wouldn't it be less mess and more sanitary if you just expressed her.


The only way she would be able to be expressed is to have medication to tighten her sphincter so she would retain enough urine for there to be something to express. I would rather run a blanket through the laundry once a day than run medication through her kidneys every day for the rest of her life. I would rather give her pads than meds, it is more natural. She is sanitary as far as the house being clean, she wears a diaper to play.
I mean you are an experienced expresser and its not like you would cause trauma or anything. I have been expressing Jaime since she was 6 weeks old (Sept 1998) and you have been expressing Katie for close to that long. Even if you expressed her only a few times a day it would be less mess and clean up.
Assuming there was something in the bladder to express.
Does she have such a tight spincter that you can't express her?
Nope, she has such an empty bladder I can't express her. :wink:
Sorry if I'm being pushy. I'm just trying to understand./Jean
That's OK. She is simply different from Katie or Jaime. For her sake I am glad.
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Jean
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Re: Dolly

Post by Jean »

Sorry I didn't notice your response. I have gone back to the real world and am teaching Summer school.
What you said is great !!!!! If I didn't have to I wouldn't give any of mine meds either. It certainly isn't good for their kidneys or their liver. I could save a bundle on meds as well as daycare expenses if they would only leak and also empty their bladders.
Congratulations again on such a sweet little one. She is so cute and so lucky !!!!! /Jean
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GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily
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Re: Dolly

Post by GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily »

I love this little girl! CarolC, she was WAITING for you! Gadzooks, no happier life could she wish for! And you won't need that engine hoist any more ?? You know what they say about maternity clothes, the minute you give them away, you wish you hadn't! Hang on to the hoist, in case Katie & Dolly find a major playmate!
We need some more PICS! Love you Dolly!
Karen, Andy's ^i^ mom
Lethal White Aussies Rule!
INTERACTIVE RESCUE SITE!
http://www.s8.createphpbb.com/lethalwhiteauss/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LethalWhiteAussieRescue/
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CarolC
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Re: Dolly

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On Saturday someone took a bunch of pictures and said she would send them to me. I can hardly wait.

Seriously, no more big dogs here. I'm going to sell that hoist thru the neighborhood newsletter and get back what I spent. Managed to push it out the door into the garage. :D
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CarolC
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Dolly and the caterpillar

Post by CarolC »

Click to enlarge  (photo credit Jennifer Hayes)
Click to enlarge (photo credit Jennifer Hayes)
Christine
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Re: Dolly and the caterpillar

Post by Christine »

Awwwww...what a sweet baby girl!! She looks so happy!
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Christine... and Bailey, playing at the Bridge
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Dianne
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Re: Dolly and the caterpillar

Post by Dianne »

She is such a precious little dolly! Was that a "yuck" from the caterpillar taste?
Christine
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Re: Dolly and the caterpillar

Post by Christine »

I JUST now saw the caterpillar ON HER TONGUE....I thought she was staring one down in the grass :hysterical:
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CarolC
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Re: Dolly and the caterpillar

Post by CarolC »

Yeah, you can see it a lot better if you click the photo to enlarge. She had it in her mouth, it must not have tasted very good, she dropped it and I scooped it up and put it through the fence where she couldn't get it. It wasn't until later that we realized Jennifer had caught it on camera, and at the time she took the picture she didn't realize. I love it! :lol:
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CarolC
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Bendy Kitty (or any human nurses) about the colon pocket?

Post by CarolC »

Bendy Kitty wrote:hey Carol, what you described about the stool being sideways happens to Mimosa. Mom expresses her twice a day, sometimes she goes on her own when mom holds her over the litter box, but usually she needs help.
Mom has noted over the years that the colon just behind the anus seems to be loosing tone - mom has gotten frighteningly good at feeling stool in the colon and higher up in the large intestine, she has learned to break it up with her fingers whihc really involves a lot of mushing of the kitty. Mimosa does NOT like this one bit, but mom says it is necessary. She wondered if part of Mimosa's problem was her stance from being a tripod. She is missing one hind leg (actually makes expressing her easier) so her hips are at an angle when she walks. The first thing mom does when she goes to express Mimosa is to straighten her tail stump, this seem to straighten out things inside and sometimes will result in a couple little poops falling out. Mom can feel the "colon pocket" next to the anus and feel how solid its contents are, if she needs to break them up or just push them along.
I moved this out of the other thread so it wouldn't be off topic. What I'd like to know is, have you (or anyone) ever managed to restore tone or shrink the size of the colon pocket (rectal vault) either in an adult animal or a growing one? My two dogs are different. They both have anal tone. Katie is able to exert herself to eliminate and I use the pinch technique to express her. Before I started expressing her bowel regularly, she was developing very large diameter stools, but I began expressing the bowel and as a result her colon/rectum are normal.

The lady who fostered Dolly before I adopted her had her on a bowel program, but the shelter and the person who originally had her after her injury did not (far as I know). Dolly went into foster paralyzed and I do not believe they had a bowel program, then she had the amputation and continued in foster and as far as I know, no bowel program. She will eliminate some stool if allowed plenty of exercise, by the mechanical function of bouncing around on her bottom plus using her muscles in her upper abdomen, but the first foster crated her a lot so she did not have a chance to take advantage of that method of emptying. The second foster let her have lots of exercise, was careful about her diet, and expressed her bowel, but I imagine by then she was already stretched. Katie is not stretched and Dolly is.

Katie can exert herself to eliminate, and so far I have not seen Dolly doing that. I can't tell if it is neurological or that she is just so stretched she does not move anything. A couple of times it seemed like maybe she managed to move something a little during expressing and I praised her, but I haven't been sure whether it was something she did or just that the lower area was emptied so the upper contents which had been crowded upward took advantage of the situation and moved down. Dolly tends to collect everything inside the exit. I do get Dolly fully empty and blissfully comfortable every night before bedtime with a combination of warm bubble bath and expressing, but during the day she has buildup. If I would soak and express her twice a day it would be better, but that would probably mean giving up part of her midday playtime and we aren't doing that. She is on a pretty low residue diet (Royal Canin) but also gets some variety so it isn't consistently low residue.

I am going to read about human bowel programs, to see if there is any kind of (not being funny) rectal rehabilitation that can be done, when I get organized and have a chance.
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