I would say it's been a successful transition for our family, to add Bella to the mix.
Everyone loves her. I may have a super soft spot in my heart for this one.
She came with some issues, however.
On our first meet and greet day (January 16) she had just come from the vet to get her stitches removed after being spayed, got her nails clipped, and she came with a prescription for Prednisone.
She was an itchy dog. (Fits right in, right?)
Even after the Predinose was done, she was still itchy. Mostly her sides and her feet.
Then I noticed one day that she was pooping blood. And it was mucous-y (sorry, TMI!)
We waited a couple of days to see if it'd clear on its own.
It didn't.
I was worried about a blockage.
She wouldn't eat.
She wouldn't play.
Steve brought her to the vet the next day.
They X-rayed her - they told us it'd be a few hours because they would have to sedate her, x-ray, then wait for sedation to wear off and her to wake up.
BUT, because my Bella Girl is SO AMAZING, they called us back within 40 minutes. They told us that she "was so good and calm" that they didn't have to sedate her at all!
They told us 1 of 3 things could happen:
1. The x-ray shows nothing and we have no answers. Try to treat the symptoms.
2. The x-ray shows a blockage and we do surgery
3. The x-ray shows something, but we're not sure and we can either do exploratory surgery, or wait it out.
The x-ray didn't show a blockage (thankfully!) But it did show a lot of gas.
They told us to put her on a bland diet (either store-bought, or we could make our own). Steve started with a few cans of the store-bought kind.
It looked disgusting.
We gave that to her for about a week, then started to slowly introduce her regular kibble into it. She was very interested in the kibble and not so much her bland diet (duh). I made a mistake and likely gave her too much kibble mixed in.
After about 2 days of trying to reintroduce kibble, she was back at pooping blood, straining super hard, etc. You could just tell she wasn't feeling well again.
So back on the bland diet, but this time, I home-cooked it for her. BOILED ground beef (so I could drain the fat), low fat cottage cheese and rice.
I made a big batch and gave her about 1/2 cup a few times a day. She didn't LOVE it, but she tolerated it ok.
As she started to feel better, her appetite was starting to return.
Anytime I fed MR, she was RIGHT there, literally trying to get into his bowl.
So I tried again with a slow reintroduction.
I gave it to her twice before I had a realization.
She started to itch again.
Why it took me this long to think of possible allergies is beyond me. I'm allergic to almost everything (food + environmental), both my girls have food and environmental allergies as well. Allergies is "my thing."
So I immediately took to the web and read that chicken (the Blue Buffalo grain-free food we were buying) is one of the top things dogs can be allergic to.
She seemed to be doing ok on the boiled beef.
I read that a good alternative is duck protein.
So I bought a bag of "limited ingredient, duck+potato" that is poultry free.
It arrived yesterday.
And I realized that I had bought cat food. Ugh.
I sent Steve out and he bought a small bag.
So far so good. Not nearly as itchy as before. Have to assume allergens are still leaving her system.
We will try this duck food for a few days and report back on progress.
But, I'd say within the last week she seems to be doing better. More energy, more playfulness.
Still loose poop, but as of yesterday, no blood.
Steve just shakes his head at me. It just always seems that the dogs I bring home...always have some sort of issue. Hudson was the same way. Most expensive "free" dog I ever got!
The funniest thing Steve has said to me is "I think this dog waits all day for bedtime" because she sleeps a LOT and LOVES snuggling in bed.
It might be one of my favorite parts of the day, too.
Always between our heads
I find this picture hilarious. When they come in from outside, because it's so cold out, Bella literally runs inside as fast as she can and she made it so fast into MR's crate that when I sent him in there, I didn't notice she was already in there! I didn't leave them like this, because I'm not sure how well they would do if they were literally locked in there together for more than a few minutes. I feel like it'd be ok, but I'm not going to risk it!
Bella getting some love during "down time"
Steve said the funniest thing to me last night. "The rescue may have told us she's 3, but I really think she's closer to 12" LOL.
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