Boxer Talk

Hi Paul, haven't been in contact for a while, just looking at your pics,
Rosie is a real beauty and I am so happy for you that she has joined
your family and what about Betty what lovely colouring. My babies are
great. Pixie is behaving a bit better but not much. Boris is just bril,
what more can I say. I will keep in touch.

Margaret.

Hit "new topic" instead of "post reply" Margaret?

You do that, keep in touch.

Yes my brothers dogs are both very dark and have gorgeous black faces. Like velvet.

Rosie just had a lump removed yesterday and was a bit out of sorts of course but she's home and looking good today. It was a pretty routine thing for the vet I guess but I stilled hated it. Leaving her there and worrying all the while she was away.

They'll get back to us with results on the removed tissue.

Hiya Pixie, Hey Boris!

Hi Paul, I think I am getting a bit paranoid but I have been reading up on
stomach torsion/bloat, this seems to be a very common illness among
boxers and I see that three of your beautiful dogs died from it, do you
get no notice of this illness, does it just suddently happen and is there
no time for going to Vet? My husband says that I am over reacting but
because we had such a bad time with Suzy (remember she had cushings
symdrome) I think that maybe I am getting paranoid.
Margaret.

Hi Margaret!

Yeah it's something that scares me a fair bit from time to time. I try not to think about it though.

It's not necessarily fatal, I've heard about many cases where dogs have been treated and recovered.

As far as I can work out it depends on several factors. The age of the dog obviously. Anything that might involve an operation is more risky with age.

I think the most important thing is how fast it sets in. It can be very rapid or it can be a very slow process. The slower the better the chance of catching it in time.

If it's just bloat and it's caught even better, as if it gets to torsion then the stomach needs untwisted so it doesn't crush the organs.

It can be hard to diagnose unless there's a torsion. Bloat can seem like a bit of a stomach upset. I think now I would likely recognise it far more easily.

With one of ours I'm pretty sure the dog would have been saved had the vet realised what it was initially. I still blame myself for that one very much. For not getting her there in time and then for accepting the vets opinion.

However I've taken dogs to the vets before scared to death it was that only (Thankfully.) for it to be nothing much at all.

It's difficult because last i knew there was no sound advice on how to prevent it or information on what causes it to occur.

Interestingly and I'm not sure how reliable this information is. I just looked up the condition in Wikipedia and it seems to give a far more unequivocal definition of the causes and prevention methods than I've ever seen previously. Maybe definitive info on it has progressed.

I think of all the factors they mentioned there the only one I would say could have contributed for sure in some of my dogs was stress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloat

Remember though even with the amount f times it's occurred to me that's in the space of 30 years.

I admit I am paranoid over my dogs, more and more as time goes on and another new dog arrives. Too many loses. However most of the time it is that, paranoia.

It's good to worry and good to be vigilant. To some extent. If you worry too much though, especially when your dogs are fine, how will you ever enjoy life or your time with them?

I mean hey we could be hit by a bus eh?

So chin up and don't worry too much

Speak to you later Margaret, hey Boris, hey Pixie!

Hi Paul, thanks for all that and the wikipedia link which was very
informative. Feeling a lot better and John has now also read all the
info so he knows that it is good to be conscious and alert to these things t
in case. How is Rosie? did you get her results yet? She will be just fine.
Thanks again Paul.
Margaret.

Hi again!

Yes just got Rosie's results a little while ago. She got a "grey area" result on the lump tested. You get three grades. good, grey area and bad.

In that grey area you get it split into an other few categories and hers looks positive.

So I guess what all that means is she is ok but she needs to be kept an eye on for any more lumps. So good news.

About that wikipedia link. It is interesting however I don't know where that info comes from so I don't know how accurate it is. I'll need to do some more digging. See if I can find out more.

Edit

Just reread that and I posted in a way that gave the wrong impression. The lump was cancerous but the grey area was whether they managed to get rid of it all when they removed it. It does look positive though and likely they got it all.

Last edit by Paul on Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:42 pm.

Hi, Paul so good that you spotted that lump and that Rosie is now well
again, as you said just to keep an eye out for any more lumps. We
are all great and my babies are fine. I am not as "paranoid" as I was
about the bloat issue and will just keep these things in perspective and
enjoy my wonderful babies

Give Rosie a big hug for me.

Margaret.

.

Thanks for the sentiments Margaret, it's appreciated!

Gave Rosie her hug. She got her stitches out yesterday and is very happy to be able to run around again. She was getting quite boisterous being kept on the lead all the time.

Speak to you soon!

Hello Paul,
Hows things? Thought I would send you a note, to let you know that we are still here. The boys are both currently flat out in front of the fire at the moment, and both are doing fine. They will reach the ages of 10 and 13 this year, hopefully, and how they have mellowed, especially Harvey. Buster faints sometimes when he jumps up to quickly, and the vet says there nothing he can do really as it is a heart defect he has, But he soldiers on and its not happening as often, thank god. Harvey has just slowed right down now, I think he has realised he is no longer a pup, but he has his moments, as you know. Nice to chat again Paul, and I have placed a link to the site on my webpage for you.
All the best
Phil

Hey there Phil!

Nice to hear from you and how well Harvey and Buster are doing. They do sound in good nick for their ages and I'm really pleased to hear that.

Things aren't too good here at the moment. Rosie's ok but going through a bad false pregnancy and more importantly another lump has shown up.

The vet just phoned to say it is a tumour and they will remove it tomorrow. Then send a sample to try and see how far advanced it is.

I worry about her even going in for an op at her age, she'll be 9 this year. She should be ok though.

We'll see I guess.

Thanks for the link Phil it's appreciated.

Hi Paul, so sorry to hear about Rosie's lump, you must be worried sick.
I find it hard to find words as I can only imagine what you must be going
through. We just have to keep positive. Keep us updated.

Margaret.

Hi Margaret!

It's great to see you. Rosie's ok I'll just be going to pick her up shortly. So other than waiting on the results of the sample. Everything is great.

I'm very relived.

Thanks for your concern Margaret it's appreciated.

Thank God Paul, that's great news what a relief. Poor Girl. Give her
a big hug from me.

Margaret.

Yes it is. I was really worried something might go wrong during her surgery. Probably that was very unlikely but I've been through a lot of dogs now and get easily panicked.

On the whole she seems far more bothered by her false pregnancy than her wound. Moving off to quiet places with her "baby" toy to hide. Although she did get painkilling injections as well as the sedatives or whatever they give for the surgery it's self so probably she'll feel it a bit more tomorrow.

The wound looks very big and nasty but apparently it was only a large incision to check out the surrounding area and make sure there wasn't anything missed.

The vet said not a lot was actually removed and even that wasn't deep. More like a shaving off the top. It was a little lump not like the one last year so that makes sense.

Like I say, she seems very good considering. She's had some chicken which she seemed very happy about. Not surprising really as she hadn't been eating her food for the past couple of days. Only thing she'd had the previous two days were two little helpings of roast lamb.

I'll try her with some small amount normal dog food and a little fish or chicken or something to help it down tomorrow.

She got her hugs Margaret!

That all sounds great and now the lump is gone which is bril. This
fanthom pregnancy sounds weird, one of the girls here in the Office
tells me that her dog had one, she (the dog)
brought her blanker to the bathroom
(which it seems was the warmest room in the house) and made a bed
for herself to have her baby. Poor doggie.

Keep us up to date on Rosie.

Margaret.

Yeah everything seems very good Margaret.

She's back more or less to her old self. She's eating well again too although that might be because I keep putting tuna in with her meal.

Despite the stitched up wound being rather large looking she doesn't seem bothered by it. Maybe it's the pain medicine.

She doesn't seem as bad in regards the false pregnancy either now. She's had them before but this one seemed to distress her more than usual so it's nice it seems to be passing.

She's not been out much since her op because the stitches are on her lower back and it seems to be constantly raining. Just out in the garden so when people came by earlier she was bouncing about like a 2 year old with pent up energy.

Hi Paul haven't been in touch would you believe we have had terrible
snow here and could not get out for a few days we live in the Wicklow
mountains so we get it quite bad. Anyway that is great news about Rosie
it sounds as if she is well on the road to a full recovery. I wonder did the
fanthom pregnancy have anything to do with the lump? My two are
great, Pixie loved the snow and I have some wonderful photos on my
phone of her, Boris was not so impressed. If you want to e mail me your
mobile phone number I can let you see them, I am not very good at
putting photos up on the website. My e mail address is
------------.
Margaret.

Last edit by Paul on Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:12 pm.

Well I would believe it yes. It seems that absolutely everywhere else has been inundated with snow except here in my part of Scotland. Well, we had some but nothing worth mentioning.

I hope it was a fun time with lots of supplies and necessities, electricity etc to keep you happy. In which case it might even be fun.

I guess as long as Pixie enjoyed it that's all that really matters right? She is in charge at your place right?

I'm not long back in from taking Rosie back to the vets. She got her stitches out and the test results on what was removed showed is was some different type of tumour to what that had supposed which is supposedly better. So that's all good.

Something I didn't post about before was that a couple of days after her op the lump from the time before changed into three smaller lumps. I have no idea what is going on there but it was a bit of a worry. I suppose there could be some connection to the false pregnancy, hormones or something? I have no idea though.

In any case the advice was to just keep an eye on those for any change in their size.

They seem pleased with her and all the worry has been on humans as she seems the same as ever and quite content.

I removed your email from the post in case you get spammed from it or something Margaret but I'll get to you about that.

Hey Boris! Hello Pixie!

Morning Paul, how is Rosie now? It could possibly all be a hormonial
thing with her and hopefully this will be the end of it. Things good
here Pixie and Boris say Hi, they are very well. Just give Rosie a big
hug from me.

Margaret.

Hi Margaret, sorry I didn't post in a while.

Yes she's very good now. It was a little more complex than would be ideal. I never posted about it at the time but three Fridays ago when she got her stitches out. The next day the wound reopened.

Looked very much like something from a horror film. So she was off to the vets again. This time she got staples put in and more antibiotics.

So the latest was last Monday when she went back again to get the staples out. So they're out and her scar is starting to look pretty good. She's not getting the exercise she would like. Not until i think it's safe. The area with the wound is a very stretchy bit of her skin.

So things are very good. She seems happy and to be over the false pregnancy too.

Hi Paul, wondering is all well with Rosie haven't heard in a while.
Margaret.

Rosie's great thanks Margaret!

She had another lump tested and that turned out tobe fine. It's a big lump but apparently nothing to worry about.

So things are very good.

Everything ok with Boris and Pixie?

That's great news thank God. Just realising that Suzy dead four years in August can't believe that and that means that Boris must be about six and a half, he still looks like a very beautiful puppy.

They are great Pixie has now made a fine art out of "robbing Boris' Pigs ears" while he is busy "killing them" the pigs ears I mean , she is as clever and gets the better of him all the time. It is so frustrating because when I give them a treat she eats her's real fast so she can rob his he has to "kill" his first
and she nips in under his nose and robs it and then he goes around looking for it.

Anyway they are great.

Margaret.

Last edit by Paul on Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:59 am.

I know it's hard to believe how fast time flies. It's over two years since Jason died which I find incredible.

I dunno Margaret I suspect if Boris was all that bothered he'd make sure he eat a bit faster or just showed her who's boss here and there.

A few pictures from last night -

http://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/126793/1/24-03-09?h=eb158b

She is absolutely beautiful and what a fine dog. She looks very healthy
indeed. They really never lose their puppiness which is great. I will
really have to learn how to upload photos and send you some of "the
babies". Talk very soon.

Margaret.