No Such Thing as a Free Dog!

So, I had to take our Airedale to the vet today for a menagerie of different reasons. It was time for her yearly vaccinations, she needed her monthly shot which I have dubbed the "elixir of life" because without it her Addison's disease would do her in and of course they needed to take a urine sample.

Since January she has picked up a new illness and it is one that deal with strivate in her bladder. These are crystals if you will that can cause an irritation of the bladder lining and morph into a bladder infection. She has had (4)+ such infections on top of all her other medical issues, which has resulted in another round of visits to the vet.

Now, in case you aren't familiar with how we acquired Lexi, let me break it down for you. This is our "free" dog. The dog my husband and daughter rescued from the pound. The "Oh Mom it is a purebred Airedale puppy that was dumped at 6 months, we had to bring it home" dog! When the ink wasn't even dry on the adoption papers she starting costing money. There was the spay and neuter fee, she had to be transported to our vet to have all of her vaccinations and of course she tested positive for kennel cough, so that required a round of antibiotics...can't you see the picture unfolding?

Fast forward to today.....she tested positive for Addison's disease right around her (1) year birthday. This means her pituitary gland does not send the message to her adrenal glands to produce cortisol, which is essential for the conversion of protein and fat into glucose. Cortisol tells your body how to react to stress, which she cannot tolerate. In addition, she is unable to regulate anything that has to do with her endocrine system. Potassium levels, PH - acid levels you name it and it is impacted by this disease. This is why I often joke that this "free" dog is my "$500.00" dog as every visit to the vet seems to tally that final figure.

Exiting the vet the other day, I heard a woman say "that is a beautiful Airedale, you don't see many of them anymore". I turned to speak when I realized this was a friend of ours and tucked tightly into her arms was her "free" dog Peanut a rescued Pomeranian.

Our friend "J" found Peanut in the middle of a busy highway median while en route to drop her kids off at school. She stopped and picked him up, dropped him off at the vet and told our beloved Dr. Ben to "fix" him and she would be back to pay the bill later.

You should see Peanut, he is just a big ball of fur. He is the most sedate dog I have ever seen. In fact, his tongue stays protruded out on the left hand side of his mouth and for the most part he looks like he is in a semi catatonic state.

I asked "J" what brought her and Peanut to the vet today and she said "he has a bladder infection"....(really that must be going around). She asked me for our reason and I replied "the same." Then it happen we ventured to the question of what is wrong with our dogs.

I told "J" about the Addison's disease, which she takes a shot for once a month. I told her it caused urinary incontinence,which I give her a pill for twice a day. I said she cannot produce cortisol so she gets a pill for that once a day and now we have this strivate condition, which requires a pill three times a day to get her urine ph balance under control....(whew!! did you catch all of that?)

So "J" responded, I know what you mean. Peanut has an enlarged heart so he takes a lasix once a day. He has a dysfunction thyroid so he takes a pill for that once a day. He has a terrible old man smokers cough, so my husband gives him a pill twice a day for that and now he has a antibiotic resistant bladder infection and we have no idea what we are going to do for that condition.

We both started laughing when Dr. Ben peeped out of the examining room door. He said "Peanut you are up." He then looked at "J" and me and said "Oh, you two know each other I see." we said yes we are friends. He said I heard the chatting you are both no doubt talking about your "free" dogs and with a chuckle he disappeared.

I guess the old saying "there is no such thing as a free lunch applies here" in that there is obviously "no such thing as a free dog". I am sure upon reading this blog, my husband will be quick to say "not only is there no such thing as a free dog, but there is no such thing as a $2.00 fish either." Alas, that is an entirely different post one which I will have to share with you at a later time.