Snip-Snip

I brought Catcher to the vets today for his surgery. I must commend my vet office for being so caring and professional. I had taken the time prior to the appointment to address my concerns given Catcher's temperament. I was not sure how he would act with complete strangers, especially when put in a kennel with other dogs, and being under the influence of anesthesia. I had explained that I was not only concerned about making it pleasant for him, but I did not want to put any of them in harm's way. I asked that I be able to stay with him while they sedated him and that no one touch him or try to take him outside once he was awake.

They honored my request and even let me stay until the catheter was in place and he was asleep. Then they performed his surgery first and called me as soon as he was able to stand. I brought in a urine sample as well as had them run another chem profile. Below are the results and details from the surgery:

Weight: 43.2 pounds

Urinalysis:
All normal/negative
pH 6.0
SG 1.040

Chem Profile:
All within normal limits

Sedation:
Superbag 1.9cc SQ
Ket/Val (1.0 cc each)

Catcher was groggy but happy to be home. He came through surgery well and is on Rimadyl for a few days.

Pre-Surg Work-up

Catcher had his pre-surg exam today. Everything was within normal limits. We ran a Heartworm/Lyme/Ehrlichia/Anaplasmosis test, all came back Negative. I also had them draw blood for a CBC and Chem Profile.

Blood work results:

Everything was within normal limits except the following:
MCHC High - 38.1 (30.0-37.5)
CRE High - 1.5 (0.3-1.4)
GLOB Low - 2.2 (2.3-5.2)

Will run urinalysis and chem profile before surgery day of. Neuter is scheduled for 2/29/08.

Decisions to be Made

I have not taken the decision to neuter Catcher lightly. However, due to his temperament and the increasing issues he is having getting along with his brothers I feel it is necessary and the correct choice. He will never, and should never, be bred. While I feel it is important to keep dogs in tact for growth and development purposes he is now 18 months old and I think it is the appropriate time for him to have the surgery. He is scheduled for pre-op bloodwork and physical exam on February 9.

Thyroid

Catcher has been showing increased signs of fear leading to defensive behavior. He is very easily aroused when around his brothers and extremely defensive if approached by a stranger on the opposite side of a gate/fence. I have decided to run a thyroid panel on him just to rule that out as a cause.

I sent the blood off to Dr. Dodds in California. Here are the results:

T3 - 61 - ref range (45-150)
T4 - 2.11 - ref range (1.0-4.0)
Free T3 - 2.8 - ref range (1.7-5.3)
Free T4 - 0.90 - ref range (0.45-2.06)
T3 Autoantibodies - 1.4 - ref range (less than 2.0)
T4 Autoantibodies - 0.7 - ref range (less than 2.0)
Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies - 10 - Normal/Negative


Thyroid Levels are adequate though we recommend annual testing.

Here are some newer pics of Catcher. He was 10 months old in them.

~Casey~

Our First Class

Yesterday we had our first L2 class at the MSPCA. I was very nervous going into the class because Catch has developed some serious fears and bad behaviors lately. I arrived 40 minutes early to give myself enough time to look around and let him settle down. When I arrived the first thing I noticed was that I knew my instructor. She used to be an assistant at that other place, as well as work in the Daycare. So not only did I know her, and feel comfortable with her as an instructor, she knows me and knows that I'm not just some random person walking in off the street.

I brought Catcher into the classroom when it was empty and let him sniff around and get acclimated. All the time feeding him for good attention, if there was a noise, if someone came in or left, etc. I briefed the instructor on Catch's issues and we agreed to set a condo up. He did great in the condo, and by the end of class he was working beyond the condo and with the sheets pulled back a little.

We went very slow and if something was too much we backed up a step. She also positioned me at a door so I could have a quick escape if he needed a break. I was amazed at how calm he was in class. I really expected him to be stressed but I also think that my calming down seeing her helped dramatically to keep him calm.

He did let out a couple growls at the other dogs and the assistants, who seemed a bit hesitant, and I think he sensed their hesitancy and fed off of it. As soon as they walked by and dropped food into the condo he was fine with them walking by and talking to him. He even got to demo hand targeting because none of the other dogs had done it before, and he didn't let me down. He also engaged in the leave it exercise, in Flex he would just shut down and ignore the toy. This time he was actually picking the toy up, which isn't a desired response, but in my mind it's much better than ignoring the toy all together. To me, it showed that he was getting comfortable enough to play.

I'm glad that I went with this class, it's small 5 dogs total, and it's all stuff he learned in Flex. I think it helps that he's not being pressured to learn a lot of new behaviors, but instead is learning to do solid behaviors in a different place, with distractions.

I bought a head collar after class, and will spend the next couple weeks getting him acclimated to it very slowly. And I spent a while talking to the instructor and we agreed to take it very slow with him. We're going to keep working him in the condo and gradually pulling the sheets back, and letting him set the pace. But if he continues as he did today she thinks he'll do great, and so do I.

I'm so relieved that he was nowhere near as horrible as I thought he would be. I expected barking non-stop, lunging, etc. He let out a couple minor barks, and then mostly whined when he was bored.

Yay! Maybe there's hope for him yet!

I'm so very proud of my little boy. He has been going through some anxiety issues lately. He stresses when I'm not around and won't settle. If I bring him into my room so everyone else can have some peace, he doesn't settle and just paces back and forth. Well last night I brought him on the bed, and he stretched out on the covers and went to sleep for 2 hours! It was well past his bedtime when I woke him up and he went right into his crate without a fuss. I even left him alone on the bed for a minute and he never made a move to jump off and follow me. I'm very happy right now!

We start Level 2 classes in 1.5 weeks at the MSPCA. That ought to be fun!

Casey

Pics!

Here are some pics of Catcher growing up! They're not in any order.