We are back!!!!

[doxielady5569128]

We finally got internet in our house so we can start being more active again.  Thanks to everyone who sent us emails and messages checking up on us.  We are loving our new house and have lots of "visitors" here.  We have a group of stray dogs that come by every few days.  I call them the "pack."  They have a clear leader in their group and its kind of fun to watch them.  Porky has limited outside time since we don't have a fenced in yard and there are so many strays.  To get his walks, we drive a mile to my grandma's house and then walk on the path for a hour or two.  It has been so cold, we haven't been able to do that much. 

Porky's allergies have kicked up already this year!  He was having an allergy flareup and we went to the vet to make sure it wasn't something more serious a week ago.  After finding out is wasn't pneumonia, we went ahead and got his distemper/parvo shot since it was due.  Then the following morning he woke up with hives all over his snout and swollen eyes.  Thinking it was just allergies I gave him a benadryl.  Then as soon as that wore off, the hives came back and his lips swelled to twice their normal size!!   :crazyeyes: So then it occurred to me that it was a delayed reaction from the shot.  After a midnight call to the vet, he told us to give Porky some more benadryl and a lukewarm bath.   By the next morning, Porky was fine again (minus the normal reverse sneezing).  So next year we have to get a steroid shot before that vaccine and try a different formulation.   

Tomorrow evening we are leaving for Nebraska to attend a funeral and won't be back until next week.  We promise to be more active after that!!  Porky and Bandit are looking forward to some playtime.   Also, Jade went to the bridge at 3 years old a few weeks ago.  It was a very hard decision for the family, but she could not be rehabbed and had some serious thyroid issues.  She attacked one of my mom's friends and had to be put down.  The lady is ok and has no scars on her arm, but is very scared of dogs now.  We immediately consulted 2 behaviorists and got some tests done on her thyroid.  Found out she had a very large imbalance of her thyroid hormones. Then we made the decision to put her down.  We miss her greatly, but I am confident we did the right thing for her.   She was such a sweet dog to family members, but if anyone new came, she was dangerous.   No matter how hard we tried and how hard we worked with her, nothing made a difference in her dangerous behavior.  She had begun to attack Bandit if he walked by her.  Bandit is much happier that he can live worry free in the house now.   

I'm sorry for missing so much here on the board and will try to be more active now.  :)

[papbouv]

Glad to hear you are back and porky is Ok sorry to hear of his reaction to the vaccines  if you are giiving them yearly you might check on having a titer done adult dogs seem to be covered for 3-5 years on vaccines. of course rabies shots can be given every 3 years now.Since some dogs can have very bad reactions to vaccines some vets will write a letter to even skip the rabies in some states.Good to have you back.

[Kathleen]

Glad to hear you are back and porky is Ok sorry to hear of his reaction to the vaccines  if you are giiving them yearly you might check on having a titer done adult dogs seem to be covered for 3-5 years on vaccines. of course rabies shots can be given every 3 years now.Since some dogs can have very bad reactions to vaccines some vets will write a letter to even skip the rabies in some states.Good to have you back.

That's exactly what I was going to say.  Once the dog has its puppy series and booster at one year, I never give them the regular shots more than every three years.  I also separate the rabies and 5 way by a few months if the dog has a history of reactions.  You are not required by law to give them anything other than rabies every three years, and if Porky has had his yearly, you might be better off skipping them for 3 years and then having  a titer check done to see if he still has antibodies.  If he does, keep skipping and testing every three years.

[Kelly]

Welcome back! There's a new baby at our house! Her name is Ms. Molly! More in e-mail later!

[papbouv]

I forgot I give Lepto every year just because where I live, with the Cement Yard where they make cement block,pipes other cement stuff. It is a huge area about 2 city blocks long and a city block wide we have all kinds of furry critters living over there.Rats,mice,Fox,Skunks,Owl's Possums, not sure about Racoons since on the other side of the Cement yard is a creek. I'm sure we have these critters in our back yard at night the way Buddy & Patches go sniff the yard in the mornings so thats why they get the Lepto shots other wise would be every three years. The Titers can cost more than the shots sometimes do not understand that.

[doxielady5569128]

Thanks everyone!!  Porky gets his rabies every 3 years.  The Lepto is what caused the reaction we think.  Last year we had just the distemper and parvo shot without the Lepto and Porky did fine.  This year, due to where we live now, the lepto was needed so it was included in his distemper/parvo vaccine.  We can't go without the lepto here as we have lots of stray dogs, deer, rabbits, foxes, mice, rats, possums, and who knows what else out there.  We discussed getting the rattlesnake shot as well, but decided against as our vet has never seen any dogs with bites in our neighborhood.   We will have to watch carefully for scorpions and the brown recluse and hobo spiders this summer though.  Yikes!!!   We have already seen one dead scorpion in our home, so I know they are going to be a problem in a few months.