I saw this medication warning while scrolling through FB this week, and I wanted to be sure you saw it too. It’s called 5-fluorouracil is deadly for dogs and cats. It is often used for human dermatology cases, including certain forms of skin cancer.
While Clover and Tori may or may not ever compete in various dog sports, we are working on earning some Trick Dog titles. In 2017, when I considered Clover’s debut into agility competitions, I did the paperwork for her PAL listing through the AKC. Tori didn’t have an official dog name yet, so I just did hers recently so that we could apply for their Novice Trick Dog Titles. Alas, we hit a snag on choosing Tori’s “registered” name. Somebody bought some of the words I wanted to use in Tori’s registered name so that no one else can use them for like 5 years. Really. So weird. Usually kennel names are more original than that.
As we started testing the theory that Tori could, in fact, now ride in the car without getting sick, we took her to her first-ever agility class in early July 2018. After years of only doing agility at home with the equipment we have here and what I can teach her on my own (after years and years of classes, even though I’ve never competed), Tori walked out and nailed it. It was the sweetest, funniest thing to see. Don’t miss this short video.
We’re not quite ready to declare total victory on Tori’s car-sickness issues, but she has gone for 3 whole trips to town and back without throwing up in July. Maybe she is *finally outgrowing her car troubles. Maybe we finally found the right combination, dosages, and timing of meds. Maybe she loved going to agility class (for the first time) so much that it has helped her realize that the car can take her fun places. As a joke now, Tom likes to use his “Tori voice” to say, “Car travel is my passion!” which makes me giggle after 3 years of car struggles with our sweet girl.
Remember I said back in March that we did NOT think a new dog supplement was causing Clover’s weird dog blood work problems? Perhaps premature. We tested Clover’s blood again last week, nearly a month after one blood test showed improvement. The news? Her dog blood work update results look WAY off again. That puts us back to looking at a supplement as the issue since I went ahead and put her back on it when her values started to improve. Drat!
April 13, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of Champion of My Heart. No kidding. Our first blog post went live a decade ago. I’d been mulling the idea for a while, and on a bit of a whim, I tossed up the blog in a single day. So much has changed over the years. Thanks to those who’ve been along for the ride the entire time. Welcome to those who’ve joined us recently. Look how far we’ve come!! Let us know if there are new ideas or resources you’d like us to create.
We received an early morning call from Clover’s veterinarian with her latest blood work results. It’s good news.
Jana Rade is a dog blogger and moderator of a Dog Health Issues Group on Facebook with more than 10,000 members. She has written quick-reference guide that I highly recommend. Here is my book review Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog: How to Tell if Your Dog Is Sick and What to Do Next .
A couple of my veterinary pals actively work on 2 new pet food resources I want you to know about. The first is called Petfoodology (a blog written by board-certified veterinary nutritionists). The second is an online pet nutrition calculator created by the Pet Nutrition Alliance.
Earlier this week, I attended my second Purina Better with Pets Summit. I’ve been invited all 4 years, but the first year I couldn’t go because Lilly was so sick, and last year, I didn’t go because we had just unexpectedly adopted Tori, and I didn’t want to leave Tom home alone with 2 border collie puppies and a geriatric Ginko.
