Cushing LDDS Test

HC left us at the clinic early this morning as I had to undergo the Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test (LDDS) for Cushing's disease. In addition, both Jack and I will also have comprehensive blood test to check on our general well-being.

Needless to say, we were abit nervous about being left alone. At 8.45 a.m, I was sent to the 'slaughter table'. I struggled and tried to bite the doc and nurses but was sadly overpowered. A huge vial of blood was taken from my neck region :( . I also had an injection - which I think is called Colvasone. (HC : I remembered the vet said that with this injection, a normal dog will not produce cortisol. That's why blood samples are taken every 4th and 8th hour to check if the body produces cortisol)

At 12.45 p.m. and 4.45 p.m., I was again sent to 'slaughter table' for blood to be drawn. Resigned to my fate, I co-operated and let the humans do whatever they wanted. (HC : the doc said Joey was very co-operative on the next 2 rounds and simply lift up his head so that the vet could have easy access to his neck region. hahaha..)

HC picked us up right after my last blood sample was drawn. We were esctatic to see her.

The vet updated HC on our health status based on the comprehensive blood test:.

Jack - very healthy but dehydrated due to lack of water intake. However, he has very dirty ears. (HC : I went home to check on his ears, even shone a touch light into the ear. I see very little ear wax, and am perplexed why the vet said Jack's ears are dirty. Could he mistake Jack for Joey? mmmm.... )

Joey - that's me - very healthy but dehydrated due to lack of water intake. Ear infection and swollen eye - due to this incident! (HC : I was aware Joey has slight ear infection the night before, but as for the eye - I thought he had recovered.)

As for the LDDS test for Cushing's - vet said it will take about 10 days. *fingers crossed*

The financial damage for this day trip to the vet? Almost $700!!!

After a nerve wrecking day - HC bought us yummy lamb meal from a nearby doggie cafe.

I also have swollen, bruised neck from the countless needle poking.

These two pictures show my calcinosis cuties on my belly region. I have no such skin problem on the rest of my body.

Cushing's ??

For the last 1-2 years, I’ve had some skin problems on my belly area – pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. I’ve been to a few vets, and the advices were usually ‘stay away from grass area’, ‘food allergy’ and sent home with a course of antibiotics. As my skin does not itch, HC usually use natural remedies instead of relying on antibiotics.

Some natural remedies that she has tried included: marigold/yarrow rinse, nettle extract, licorice extract, homeopathy meds, neem cream etc.

To a certain extent, my skin does improved from these herbal remedies but I would still get bouts of pimply breakouts. :(

Yesterday – HC sent us to the vet for a check up and showed the vet my skin condition. The lady vet suspects that I could have Cushing’s Disease – due to the presence of calcinosis cutis and my age.

HC decided to make an appointment for me to undergo LDDS (Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression) test in 3 days time. It will be an 8-hour stay at the vet as I would have to have 1 injection plus 3 blood samples every 4 hour interval. Aarrggghhh….I think I might just die from the loss of blood!!!!

To make me feel better, Jack will come along as well for a blood profile work done – to see how healthy he is.

Please pray for me! I don’t want to have Cushing’s! I don’t want to have blood tests done!

(HC : I’ve read up on Cushing’s disease before, and I’ve never thought Joey might have it. Because besides calcinosis cutis, he does not display the classic symptoms of Cushing's. Ok, he does seem hungry all the time – but he has been like this since puppyhood, and most dogs are greedy, right? Haha..
In any case, it will set my mind at ease (but my pocket empty) to have the LDDS test done. I’ve already sort of decided to let him have homeopathy treatment instead of conventional ones if he does have Cushing’s. But again, it depends on the severity of his condition. But let’s hope it’s just a case of bacterial infection.)

On a happier note -
Old, grumpy Jack has some good news to share from the vet. From his physical examination – the vet exclaimed that she cannot believe he is more than 11 years old as he looks good. There are no signs of cataract and he has good dental health. Jack was diagnosed of having a slight heart murmur 2 years back. But during this examination, the vet said she cannot hear any heart murmur at all!

(HC : I don’t know if the heart supplements helped. But I am happy to hear that Jack does not / no longer has heart murmur.Yay!)

Doggy Couture

.. Doggy Couture "for nice dogs who like stuff".

After sulking for the longest time since HC bought Jack a new collar, she finally find the time to visit Juicy Couture and get me a nice leather collar.

I think green is the new "in" colour. Right?

Death

My human grandpa passed away almost 2 weeks ago. It took the entire family by surprise as he was perfectly healthy. He was only feeling slight unwell and tired the day before, and passed away while taking an afternoon nap the next day. Everyone was sad, but on the other hand they were glad that he passed away peacefully. Everyone in the funeral said that my human grandpa had led a good life, and a good death.

HC was kept busy the past week, and we were sent to the FAT FARM (a.k.a. Scuba’s home) for some love, tender and FOOD. HC claimed that our stomach were bloated when she fetched us home. We’re not telling what Scuba’s human fed us.

Two days ago, we went back to grandpa’s home for a family meal. And, I did something that sorta freaked my human aunt (HC’s sister) out…. heehee

(HC : While the humans gathered in the living room chatting and watching t.v., my sister saw Joey took his ball to my dead dad’s room. She saw Joey playing the ball, and after a while, he put the ball in front of him and laid down on the floor, looking expectedly. She said it is the same way Joey behaved when he wants us to throw the ball for him to fetch. She felt as though my dad’s spirit was in the room, and Joey was asking him to play fetch with him. *goosebumps*)

Happy Birthday

We had a joint birthday celebration last Sat - Auntie V (Scuba's mum), Uncle M (Tommy's dad), Tommy and myself.


Auntie V was holding me otherwise I would have jumped on the table and ate up the human's and dog's cake.

(sometime after this shot, I actually turned and nipped Tommy's face! HC said I was being overly food possessive.)

Auntie V was saying it's not fair that the humans' cake was so much smaller than the dogs! hahaha.

Close-up shot of Tommy's and my cake - made with love from Auntie V and Auntie Sam.
Tommy is 7 years and I'm 8 this year. We both love balls, so Auntie V added 4 balls for us.


This is one of my presents from Helios' mum. A conjoined twin dog!



I was actually rolling on the toy. Not sleeping :)

Charity Doggieshoot

A couple of weeks back, HC booked us a slot for Charity Doggieshoot organised by Helios' M.

Jack and I were excited yet anxious as we were in a strange place with lots of funny smell and hundreds of legs (HC : there were like 20 humans and 4-5 dogs actually!)

Here's me anxiously waiting for the shoot to begin.

(HC : Joey often lift up 1 leg when he is excited or very focus on something. A friend of mine said this is a pointing stance. )

Mirror Image.


Joey: I'm getting a bit worried on a high table, and lots of strange stuff and smell.
Look carefully, and you'll see a tiny eye bag on my left eye. Think it was due to the accident I had.

(HC : All of Joey's pic had him looking like a frightened dog. This is the less frighten look)

Jack pictures came out a lot nicer than mine :(

Handsome Jack *puke* (according to HC)

Bones

Alfie's mum bought bones for us during her trip to Australia some months back. It has been sitting in the fridge until HC finally remembered to let us have it.

See.. the bone is almost as long as my leg!














Jack is enjoying his too.

Thanks for your generosity, Auntie SK!

By the way, we loved the goat tendons too!

Happy Anniversary Willy

We went to Willy's 1st Anniversary to his new home and his brother's Fido's birthday 2 Saturdays ago.

It was quite a distance from the car park to the park, and I had to carry my own bag ***grumbles...***

Willy and us.

Jack and Willy wasn't very co-operative in photo taking.

We wanted to take more pics, esp of the birthday boy - Fido. But HC's camera battery went flat as usual. You can visit their blog here www.willythechihuahua.blogspot.com

Abused Dog - Updates

Day Two

I could open my eyes better now... but the bruising is starting to show.

Poor poor me..... :(

Abused Dog

Not only do I not have a new leash/collar set like Jack, I am also badly 'abused' at home!

Look at my swollen right eye! I could barely opened my right eye.
(This pic was taken about 12 hrs later, and it was not as bad as how I initially looked!)















HC had slammed her door on my right face!

(HC : Joey woke up on Tue morning with his right eye barely opening. I thought he had scratched himself at night, but after much monitoring - I realised that he wasn't itching at all. It took me half a day to remember that I had accidentally slammed my door on his right face on Mon night as he had followed me too closely.*sniggers*)

Great Singapore Sale

I hate the Great Singapore Sale!

Because of this stupid sale, Jack received this....

A very happy Jack..

And an unhappy me cos I've got nothing!

New Toy(s) for me

HC bought us toys recently. The orange ball was for me, and the corncob was "supposedly" for Jack.














I said "supposedly" because it didn't happen.. hiak hiak

















Poor Jack sulked at a corner cos he knew I wouldn't let him have any of the toys!

Recent pics during Search & Rescue Training

Here's some pictures taken during my search & rescue training.

I was made to pose beside this huge machine.




















Heroic pose















Did you notice my 'superman cape' beside me? Well, I'm only allowed to wear it when 'working'.




Here's me trying my best to sniff out the victim.














Erm.. HC said the victim is definitely not hidden in the drain. Rats, maybe.. but not human victims!


Maybe the victim is hidden underneath the rubble?














Yup! I got it. I am actually barking in the bottom pic.

The training session was usually between 10mins to 30mins. But each time, it really tires me out as I got to 'think' like mad.

(HC : Joey is very 'careful' during his search. He will try to find the best way to reach the victim before indication. In a way, this is good as it narrows down the area. But he takes longer to indicate - meaning more tiring for both of us. Esp me since I hate the sun! haha)

Lost another tooth

4 yrs ago, I had a surgery to remove my right largest pre-molar .

Recently, both Jack and I lost one of our front tooth.

HC thinks that Jack's lost was due to decay as his front had more tartar as it is not used to chewing bone (note : chewing bones help to lessen tartar.)

However, mine was lost due to too vigorous chewing! HC knew it was chipped instead of dropped off as part of my tooth is still embedded in the gum. However, she doesn't think surgery is required as it doesn't look swollen or infected.

My former glorious teeth














Less 1 tooth... sob..

(HC : I guess this is part of aging process. ..sigh.. but luckily, their teeth are still generally clean and healthy for their age. )

My favourite game with humans

HC was asked numerous times by strangers how she taught me to play fetch. Alot of humans told her that their dog either ran away with the ball, or chase after it but didn't retrieve the ball back to the owner.

This article might help : The Peeing Post - Trick or Treat?

Of course it is important that we - the dog have an interest in the toy. If your dog doesn't like ball, try playing the fetch game with other types of toy.

There are also some that said their dogs only play fetch at home but not when they're outside - in fact the owners said their dogs go crazy at dog park and not listen to any commands! I think it got to do with the fact that the dog enjoys other dogs' company better than with their humans. Some humans don't mind the fact that their dog's best friend is "some other dog" and not them. Well... this article sums it all.

Anyway.. I love playing ball with humans so much that I like to train babies to throw ball for me. Here's the video from Helios' blog.

Happy 9th Adoption Anniversary

Time really flies. This is the 9th year since Jack came to live with HC.

Jack was a mean terror 9 years ago. He bit humans whenever things were not to his liking i.e. time for shower, training,being touched or when he's just unhappy that someone walked pass when he's asleep. Well, actually almost everything were not to his liking then.

HC remembered that during his first training class - he sat with his bum facing the trainer no matter how HC tried to push him to sit facing trainer. hahaha..

Now, he is so much better behaved. I guess it has to do with love, security, patience and training. He no longer has to worry about being abandoned... (HC added : when something is not to his liking nowadays - he just grumbled.. ALOT.. hahaha)


Happy 9th Anniversary, Jack. (7.5 yrs with me since I came later)














Jack is the not-as-handsome dog, on the left side.

An Old Photo

Auntie V sent HC an old photo she took of me when we last stayed over while HC went for an overseas trip.

Me, Scuba (bull terrier) and Pepper the cat was made to stay inside a chest.

I think Auntie V put me there cos I was being a busybody - following her everywhere while she was packing her room..... so she decided to put me in the chest. Of course, she had to put her own pets - Scuba and Pepper to fill up the empty chest.

HC asked Auntie V why Jack wasn't in the picture. The answer was, "Do you think anyone of us dared to carry Jack into the chest?"

Darn, I should have been as fierce as Jack - then I won't have to stay in the chest!

Search & Rescue Demo + Inhales Food

Today is a special day.

HC brought me to Parkway Parade for a pet event as the SCDF's search team were conducting a demo.

During the demo, which is a simplified version of our actual training, they placed 4 large boxes and hid a young kid in 1 of them. Luckily, I didn't disappoint HC - and were able to find the victim very quickly. Just a few barks and seconds - the demo ended.

After the demo, I was rewarded with humans'ICE CREAM! Woah - this is better than normal training as I usually only get ball as a reward.

We walked around abit, and just before HC decided to bring me home - she heard that there is a HUNGRIEST DOG CONTEST. She knew I would do very well as I am a very greedy dog who "inhales" food.

Before the start of contest - food was laid down about a metre away from us. See how much I was straining against the leash to try to get closer to the food? (HC: this is embarrassing - but the other dogs were calmly waiting! Others might think I starved Joey for days!)




















Look at how I "inhale" food?

















There were 4 other dogs participating - I was too busy to look at them , but I think I might be the smallest dog as I think I saw a mini schnauzer, german shephard, lab...

and needless to say, I won the contest paws down... hahahahaha...

(HC: big dogs were given 2 portions of food - but I seriously don't think I've see any dogs that eat as fast as Joey.. hahaha)

Busy with new toy

I am so busy with my new toy!

I tried to kill it so many times but aren't successsful!















Reason being that it was made for tough love and to be pulled apart into 3 pieces.

darn! please teach me how to kill it properly.

For you information, I had one exactly the same only it's dressed as a clown. It's so well stitched that it had maintained intact despite being with me for a couple of years. HC bought me a new one simply because it's starting to show signs of wear and tear due to age.

I can't believe how difficult it is to kill them! *shake head*

Hot hot day

It was a crazily hot few days recently.... too hot for me to go out to play.
So I tried to nap, but someone keep taking pictures of me.
I know, I know - it's tough to be this handsome!

Bull terrier wanna be

Many people have commented that my brother Jack look like a bull terrier...

and he decided to do weird things with his eye to achieve the bull-terrier-beady-eyes look.
















This is how a real bull terrier looked like (My friend Scuba)





































haha.. do you think Jack look like Scuba?


(HC : Jack had a small problem (literally) with his eyes recently. It's like he can barely opened them and he couldn't focus at all ! Luckily he recovered within 2 days...)

Robi - HC's New Best Friend

HC brought home her new best friend - Robi.

He's round, loud and plain looking....

Jack didn't like him - he kept shouting at Robi "WHo are you? what do you want? you're loud.. but I can be LOUDER!!!"

Me? Since he is HC's new best friend - I wagged my tail but looked a bit worried as he sure is noisy and runs around fast like a little mouse. Should I play catch with him?