Just Forty-Eight Hours...

Sunday started well. I judged in the morning and had a great entry. I was particularly taken with a great dane bitch that I gave the breed too and I had a great Siberian entry. The quality was really nice which is reassuring. It was first thing in the morning and it was a chilly (and I mean chilly) morning and I had to control myself to keep from just burying my fingers in the dogs' ruffs. The samoyed in particular was just so tempting. The northern breeds were all full of beans like they could sense that colder weather was coming and they couldn't wait. Me, I could have waited at least until I had something warmer on lol

We got home and I got caught up in catching up on my paperwork. Realizing I was running late, I headed out to move dogs around. Lucy apparently felt like she was queen of the yard and jumped Jeannie. Now, Lucy may have felt like it but Jeannie is the queen and a tougher old girl is hard to find. So, it was off to the vet to get Lucy stitched up. She had a nice 1" gash right on her shoulder blade on her show side. She is going to the US in October to work on her American championship. Perfect. Well, it could have been much worse at least there was only one hole and it isn't serious, just funny looking.

So, we get home from the vet and start the evening routine and then ... Kaylee went into labour. First puppy was born at 10:50 and the last one at 4:50am, which means no sleep until at least 9am before you can give the all clear. Just before I head to bed Mom comes to let me know that Jeannie was standing on three feet. So, I go to check on Jeannie. Sure enough her front foot is huge and she won`t put it down at all. Careful examination reveals no holes that I can find so I`m wondering if she has broken her toe. I talk to the vet and decide to keep and eye on it for the day and see how she`s doing. There isn`t much you can do for a broken toe but keep her comfortable. I give her a dose of Metacam (pain killer) to help with the pain and then we both head to curl up on my bed.

Later that afternoon Dublin comes in from a run outside and he`s blinking a lot and keeping one eye somewhat closed. It`s very muddy outside so we figure that he has dust or something in his eye. A little Visine and hope it washes itself out. Alas, it doesn`t help and his eyes are both almost completely closed. You have to pry them open and what you see when you do is very scary. Off to the vets again.

His eyes are showing something called Horner`s syndrome, one pupil is smaller than the other and they are extremely irritated. A variety of things can cause Horner`s syndrome but most don`t fit his current age and health. Finally we settle on two possibilities. One, he hit his head very hard when he was outside (likely by running into something while going full tilt) or he has an inner ear infection. He gets a big dose of Metacam for his headache and some heavy duty antibiotics for the possible ear infection.

I sleep with two sick dogs on the bed and I`m beyond wiped. All in forty-eight hours.

Thankfully this morning Dublin is doing much better although he will stay on the antibiotics as a precautionary measure as we still don`t know for sure what happened. Jeannie`s foot remains very swollen but the swelling revealed a few small punctures and it is an abcess rather than a broken toe. We managed to get some of the pus drained out although it looks like she will need a stronger antibiotic to get the infection out. Lucy is very tired of being kept quiet and her wound is healing well. Kaylee and pups are doing well. I`m starting to recover too :)