Penny's sore elbow

Curator called by today to ask how Penny's been going since she caught her paw in her collar recently.

It's kind of complicated...

She does have a very sore elbow, and we're wondering whether it's a long-term injury from that incident. On the other hand, last weekend she visited a house in the country where she climbed up some steep slippery stairs, because she insisted on sleeping upstairs with her humans.

So, not liking seeing her in discomfort, we arranged to visit the vet on Wednesday. (She's been so sore she won't put her front foot on the ground at all. Very worrying.)

And then, the night before the vet appointment, she threw up - twice. First time sort of okay, and she was still hungry, so we thought it was normal. (I'm sure I don't have to tell you how we knew she was hungry... But we managed to hurry her away before she ate the thrown-up meal once again.)

The second time, the 'product' looked really horrible. Human Number Two even reckoned it looked like dirt. I said, 'No, it can't be. Why would she be eating dirt?' We looked around the garden to check whether she'd dug up that nice old brisket bone she had buried a few days ago, and thought maybe that was it, but no bone fragments in the pile of you-know-what.

Mysterious.

When I went to the vet, he agreed that vomiting can produce something that might look like dirt. But since she seemed fine as far as her digestion goes, we decided to just concentrate on getting the sore elbow fixed up. (Back to the vet tomorrow to see whether the anti-inflammatories are doing the job.)

I'm a keen gardener. But I  wouldn't be so silly as to lay down a fine bed of delicious blood-and-bone and cover it with a delightful layer of highly enticing half-rotted compost, would I? Well, maybe, but I'd make super sure to do it in an inaccessible garden bed with a metre-high brick wall around it.

The latest theory about the sore elbow is that Someone has been digging in that bed. There are paw prints. Holes have appeared in the smooth layer of compost. Who could it be? If that Someone had managed to leap into the bed via a nearby upturned concrete pot, she might conceivably have injured her elbow as she leaped out.

Who knows?

But just in case, the garden bed now has a strategically placed garbage bin blocking access and it has a strong cover of wire mesh.

Now it just remains to get Penny well and active again. No walks allowed. No going down the back steps to the yard. Tedious trips down the sideway to reach the backyard without using the stairs.

It's a dog's life, that's for sure.

on the special diet again, sigh...

Penny had been well for the last couple of weeks, after her hospital visit for gastroenteritis, and I had even reintroduced some aspects of her normal diet.

But... last Friday she was to go to the vet to be sedated so he could look down her throat to check out her strange puffy breathing. He says he can hear 'congestion'.

So, no food after 10 pm. But in the morning she was desperate to go outside to eat grass. I took her on a street walk, but she was searching for grass. What could I do? She obviously felt ill, and there was no point in letting her be sedated if she was unwell. So out to the back yard to act like a sheep and mow the long grass.

My garden always has at least one patch of yummy grass, just in case!

She pooed out the strangest thing. (Apologies if you hate the next two photos, but I always look around on the Net when I'm worried about Penny, so I thought these photos might help someone else to understand their own dog.)

Wow! That sure didn't look good. And then she threw up white froth. (You can see some still hanging from her mouth.)

Off to the vet to explain that we didn't want the sedation and to ask for help. He gave her three injections:
anti-nausea (cerenia);
anti-inflammatory - just a little, I think- (dexadreson);
penicillin (benacillin) -in case there's an infection.

She's been good ever since, except for the worrying coughing/sneezing, which is on the back burner until she recovers from this set-back. But we're back to eating the Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal Low Fat diet. In looking for the link to add here, I notice the advice that this is a diet for management of a condition, not necessarily a long-term feeding product. (I must ask the vet about that.) It says to monitor your dog's weight. Penny has been losing weight over the last six weeks of illness, so I'll keep an eye on that.

But at least, as far as I know, it's a diet that gives her everything she needs in terms of nutrition. We're also finishing off the boiled rice and boiled chicken that I cooked up.

how I prevent my dog eating Bokashi compost

For many years I've buried our tastiest compost in the front garden, where Penny is not permitted to go (unless she's with a human). Tasty by her standards, you understand. Disgusting, by ours.

Amongst the many forms of composting that I use, the most frequent comes out of our Bokashi bin. Because this system is anaerobic and takes everything - dairy, meat, onions, for instance - I need to be sure it is completely out of Penny's reach until it has decomposed completely. (I never put chocolate in it, because I  think even when decomposed, chocolate might still be dangerous - but then again, there's never a skerrick of chocolate left over in our house.)

For seven years, then, the front garden has been enriched by Bokashi compost but not the back yard. But our back garden is the main fruit and vegie growing spot, so I've devised a system to keep Penny out of danger.

First, I obtained - legally! - a bakery delivery tray.

I measure the area of the tray and dig a hole in the ground to match, about 10 centimetres (4 inches) deep. This is less depth than I'm supposed to, but I have a disk problem in my back, and that's all I can dig.

I collect the dug out soil in bins, or even an old cardboard box.

Most important step! Close the gate so Penny can't come out to see what I'm doing...

...because now I'm about to spread out the dee-li-cious compost. (In a Bokashi system, the ingredients get pickled, rather than actually breaking down into soil at this stage.) 

I aim to keep the 'stuff' towards the centre of the hole, in case Penny later digs around the edges.

Then cover it all by replacing the previously removed soil.

And this is the point where I learned my lesson many years ago, because Penny moseyed outside and dug up the compost, which I didn't learn about until she started vomiting.

So, now I cover it with the bakery tray and put a heavy paver on top.

And who's that in the distance having a look at what I was doing? Yep, Penny! Another household member came out to hang out the washing, and Penny appeared.

So now I'll keep an eye on the spot and make sure there's no disturbance around the edges.

Here's a photo of the last place I successfully buried the Bokashi. I've made a fence around the area to be quite, quite sure it's out of Penny's reach until plants have covered it completely.

orange dog vomit

There are a few photos of dog vomit in this blog, so don't read on if you think it will upset you. However, I'm posting it because when Penny threw up in the park yesterday, we couldn't find good information on the internet, and I hope this post will be helpful to others.

It seemed like a good idea to have a walk before breakfast yesterday, so when we set out, Penny had an empty stomach. That may have something to do with what happened.

As we walked, I took a photo of the lovely, typical wattle. All three of us were happy. In retrospect, examining this photo, I'm wondering what Penny was doing. Eating something? Grazing on grass?

Anyway, a few minutes later, she threw up a handful of grass in yellow froth, as she occasionally does. It was yellow, which is not really clear in the following photo.

We weren't too concerned, because it was likely Penny was just using the grass to settle a bit of a tummy upset.

But a few paces further on, she threw up orange froth, with a small blob of blood in it.

She seemed fine, but we slowed  down the pace of the walk and made our way back to the car.

Penny was her usual self as far as we could see, during the rest of the day, but we fed her only tiny meals of boiled rice and chicken - we gave her a little handful about four times over the course of the day.

This morning, however, we began to think we should get her checked out at the vet. So off we went.
He believes Penny might have ruptured a little blood vessel in her stomach when she vomited the first time and that's why she threw up the orange froth.

We're continuing the rice and chicken diet, but today we have introduced some of her normal treats (for instance, when I was bathing her this afternoon).

She seems fine. Time will tell, of course. It's reassuring to have visited  our vet, though.

And when I look at what Penny was doing while we were admiring the beautiful yellow wattle, I think she was already eating grass.

a dog eats grass after vomiting

Penny was in luck today - she had three walks. The last one was an impromptu stroll down the overgrown laneway running between two local streets. I've asked the council if they would refrain from spraying poisons there and, wonderfully, they don't. They mow it four times a year. We wouldn't be happy to walk there in snake season, but this early in a still-cool spring, it feels safe.

I was struck by the beauty of dandelion seedheads and crouched to take some photos while Penny wandered further along the lane. Silly me. Penny never goes far away unless there's food involved. Well, she would call it food. We're more inclined to refer to her favorite snacks as disgusting rubbish.

So, I'm busy enjoying the beauty of nature:

Then I notice Penny, also, is busy enjoying something.

Oh, yes. Some delicious mouldy bread.

I race down, we have a brief tug of war, after which Penny graciously (not!) surrenders the rest of the bread and we move on.

Of course, Penny throws up. Thank goodness for that. The bread was disgusting.

Why do our neighbours think it's a good idea to toss discarded bread into the lane?

And then Penny starts eating grass. Definitely after she'd thrown up.

I've previously seen her eat grass before throwing up, but this is the first time I can definitely say it was post-vomiting and that she didn't subsequently throw up again.

She seems okay now (about five hours later) after a small meal, mainly cooked rice. Here's hoping her own system has dealt with the revolting snack.