Bulldogs World

Hi Everyone!

Wow! I don't know about you all, but the last week and a half have been unimaginably busy. So I apologize for not being able to update any sooner. I have lots to share, so I'll try not to be too long winded.

Overall, Matilda's vet visit was extremely informative. Loved Dr. Kevin, Carley his assistant, and everyone at Patton Vet. I am so thankful for Amy@ MidAtlantic Bulldog Rescue for recommending them.

For what she has been through, she was relatively healthy:

-they estimated her age at between 1 and 2 years, no more than 3. (They said it was hard to tell because of her teeth not being in the best of shape (not the worst either)

-She weighs in at a healthy 50 pounds, and they would like her to stay around there. They kept saying "She's so tiny" and I was panicing thinking "Is this a bad thing?" until they told me no, this is a good thing. They were extremely happy with the diet I have her on (no grain treats, one cup of Natural Balance sweet potato and venision 2x a day)

-She also handled the whole day like a pro. She met other dogs and was quite the ambassador. Dr. Kevin said she was not even remotely a problem while taking her to do bloodwork, and she was also good during shots.

Now the not so good part:

-Matilda had a pretty bad ear/skin infection. Dr. Kevin said this is probably what is causing the hair loss and the itching all the time.

-She also has a fractured tooth which needs to be extracted.

-While her bloodwork was good, her stool sample contained whipworm.

They are treating the ear infection by packing her ears with this stuff--it lasts two weeks. For the skin part they have her on Simplicef, which I give her a tablet and a half every day. For the itching,  we recieved Prednisolone, which I have been giving her at the recommended dosage (1 pill for three days (1/2 at every feeding), then a half a pill for three days(this is where we are now), and then half a pill every other day until they are gone)

We recieved some sort of deworming medication for the whipworm. They also gave me Vectra for her fleas and Sentinel for heartworm prevention

She recieved her DHLP, Lyme, Bordatella,  Rabies, and Dog Flu vaccinations.

Let's just say it was an expensive day...quite a bit more than the 170 that they quoted me (more like 428) But I know its all for the best, just a bit shocking.

We scheduled her spay for November 1st. This is combined with her follow up appointment for the infections the night before, then they will board her so she will be ready the next morning. During the spay, they are going to extract the tooth and do a tooth cleaning. They quoted me about 475-530 for all of this, which I've been told is a good price.

Okay, soooo after all that. My next big hurdle. My sister came to stay for the weekend which meant cleaning up the guest room. Let's just say upon opening the door to the room (which I honestly havent in like a month) I found Matilda's pee palace. All this time I thought she has been such a good girl, having only three accidents in the house. So I cleaned the room, with the wet carpet vac and all, but now I am concerned. To increase my concern, one of the side effects of the prednisone is increased urination, so she has had about 7-10 accidents since Friday. I am taking her out at 1 and half intervals (being that I had a long weekend), but sometimes that isn't even enough. Now she seemed to do okay when I went to work today, gone for about 6 hours. Frank beat me home by about 10 minutes, took her out. (she peed)Literally in the time I came home, put my stuff away, vaccumed quick (having company tonight) I put the vacuum away and there was a warm, fresh spot.

So I am definitely needing some advice here. What do I do? What are my best options? Crate? I am worried and frusterated.

Thank you all for  listening. I'm sorry it was so long. At the end of the day, with all this craziness, I still lurve my Matilda. Its moment like this that make it all worth it. (taken by Frank post pee clean up while snuggling on the couch all together)