Fiona Update...

Fiona is doing fantastic. We had another scare recently though. It started when we noticed Fiona acting differently; she was extra clingy, wanting to sit on our chest when we were in bed, she refused all food unless we hand fed it to her, refused water unless we brought the water bowl to her, and didn't want to really move around. We thought it might be her back acting up, so we performed our own mini exam on her (we learned a lot from watching the vets when she was having problems with her back) - flipping her hind paws over to make sure they'd rotate back, we watched her walk, we pressed on her spine... she passed all the tests.

After we decided we probably weren't qualified to diagnose her, we took her to the ER. They weren't able to determine what was wrong with her. But she wasn't getting any better, so we took her back to the ER, still nothing. Finally, we took her to the regular vet, who performed a blood sample on her and Xray, both came back normal. It was so frustrating not knowing what was going on with her. After a couple of days, I realized that they didn't perform a urine test, which should be standard with the bloodwork, so we took her back to the vet to request that this be done. Eureka! Urine sample came back positive for a bladder infection. She was given antibiotics and is finally back to normal. We went on a long walk today and she was thrilled. I was pretty exhausted by the time we reached out building, but Fiona wanted to keep going.... I had to carry her to our door because she wouldn't budge unless it was to go out again! She just loves being outside! Hopefully the weather will get a bit nicer so we can spend more time outside.

Anyway, I like our vet, but I can't believe they overlooked the urine sample. They gave her muscle relaxants, pain killers and steroids thinking that she may have just pulled a muscle. Her poor little liver... all those drugs that she didn't even need. We need to make friends with a Vet or we've decided either Aaron or I should become a Vet - the ROI would be worth it for how many times Fiona has to visit the Vet!!!

Fiona smelling the daffodils...

Another gorgeous day in Portland yesterday, so we took advantage of it by taking Fiona to Washington Park to let her rome around on the grass a bit there. She did fantastic and in fact didn't want to come home when we told her it was time to go. As soon as we got to the car though, she fell asleep. I think we were only out there for about 20 minutes...

She's a Diva

It's GORGEOUS in Portland today, so I thought I'd take Fiona to the park, but keep her on the leash. It was a bit heart-breaking because there were a couple of other Frenchies at the doggy park playing, and Fiona had to just sit there and watch them play... I could tell she definitely wanted in with them. Instead, I let her jog on the grass for a bit, which she loved. She loved it so much, she wouldn't walk home with me when I told her it was time to go. I had to carry her all the way home!! No joke. And even when we got to our building, she wouldn't walk in, so I had to carry her to our door! Ummm, when did she become such a diva?

We're at home now and she seems pretty exhausted, after only 10 min at the park, so it's probably a good thing I didn't let her run around with the other Frenchies. I'm not feeling so guilty that I kept her from her friends.

When Aaron gets home, I'll have him post some updated photos.

Frenchies and steamed cauliflower

Fiona likes steamed cauliflower!!! I'm going to try to make this her new snack. I knew I could get her to like vegetables!

Fiona is back...

We've been so bad about posting since Fiona started showing signs that she's defintely back to her old self.... sorry to those who have been trying to follow! It's only been about a month since Fiona had her surgery, which we sometimes forget. When she returned home, we swore that we wouldn't let her jump on the ottoman anymore or let her sleep on the bed, for fear that she would jump down in the middle of the night. A month after surgery, we've let her charm her way back to the bed and it seems impossible to keep her from jumping on the ottoman/green chair that we sit on every eveing. However, we have taught her to sit next to the bed if she wants up and when she wants down, she sits up in bed and looks at the door.

The green chair is another story. We sometimes forget that she doesn't understand when we tell her she can't jump on the ottoman because we don't want her to get hurt again, but we constantly find ourselves giving her that lecture... it's been quite a struggle! I'm guessing the only way to get her to not jump on and off the ottoman is to keep her off of it all together. I don't know if we're ready to have her sit by herself while we're in the comfy green chair yet. And in our defense, her doctor did say that it would probably be impossible to keep her off the ottoman since it's what she knows. Also, since the ottoman doesn't sit too high off the ground, it shouldn't cause any problems in the future as long as we keep the jumping on/off to a limit. So, when we are home, we let her sit with us, but when Fiona is home by herself, we flip the ottoman over and she lays on her nice new area rug (I bought a beautiful cream colored rug 1 week before Fiona's back issue - it wasn't really meant for her to play on).

Fiona has also lost her svelt figure since being home. When she was taking 4 types of meds 3 times a day, we were wrapping her pills in her favorite treats such as swiss cheese and turkey. She stopped her meds about two weeks ago, but we haven't gotten out of the habit of feeding her this stuff yet and her activity level has been limited. A combination of goodies and less exercise = Fiona the fatty! Luckily, we're able to increase the amount of time we can walk her by 5 minutes every week. So, she's up to 10 minute walks this week. Next week, we'll be able to walk her for 15 minutes. Eventually, we hope she'll be able to play at the park again. We swore that we wouldn't take her back to the doggy park because that is where she was the day we had to take her to the hospital, but we realize that just because she's had surgery, we can't keep her from the things that puppies love, like playing at the park with other dogs, or jumping on the chair to sit with you, or snuggling in bed at night. It wouldn't be fair to her... so we just have to get over being so scared that she's going to get hurt again that we keep her from doing anything. Plus she's a Frenchie, so she's bound to get into some sort of trouble again.

Goodies After Surgery

Fiona is going to have high expectations if we continue to spoil her...

Leah and Jamie came by yesterday to watch the US vs. Canada hockey gold medal game and they brought over treats for Fiona - it was very sweet of them. She got a stuffed horse, which she loves - she cannot be without it now, dragging it around in the kennel whenever she decides to change laying position and it's become her sleeping buddy. She also got a couple of squeaky toys, and her favorite... swiss cheese! Because Leah and Jamie were so good to her, Fiona got to come out to sit and visit with them for a bit. She couldn't jump on them like she normally does when they visit, but she was still excited to see them.

A good day

So, Irene and I bought a storage unit in our building, and today it was finally ours. We spent most of the morning pulling stuff out of the closet and from under the bed (or whatever nook and cranny we had stuff jammed into). Fiona spent the whole time watching us pile up the stuff in the living room. After taking a load down to the storage room I walked back into our place and Fiona was sitting up looking like she needed to go outside. I opened her gate, and for the past few days she has wobbled out, this time she shot right out. She went up to her leash and picked it up in her mouth. I have never seen her do this, so I was pretty surprised. She quickly went outside and did her business. Coming back inside Fiona had a spring in her step and was acting like she wanted to play. I quickly settled her down, but I was very happy that she was feeling so well to act like that. Today both of us noticed a huge improvement in her behavior and walking.

Another good sign is that Fiona is now starting to cry to get out of her cage. It is heartbreaking since we know she is getting board and wants to be around us, but she still has about 10 more days to go in the cage.