A Teaparty With Dorothy

As mentioned previously, Dorothy's spaying went well.  She never once bothered her stitches, and she was pretty much back to normal by the next afternoon.  The only glitch was that she got a urinary tract infection, and had to take a week's worth of antibiotics, which seemed to work.

However, after being off the antibiotics for about five days, the UTI returned, so Dorothy was given two weeks worth of antibiotics this time to really flush the infection out.  A few days into this second round of antibiotics, the vet called and requested that I bring in a sample of Dorothy's urine so that they could do a urinalysis and be sure.  This turned out to be easier said than done.  To be blunt, Dorothy is a low squatter when she urinates; there is only about a half inch between Dorothy and the ground, so when I tried to sneak a wee tupperware under her golden shower, so to speak, she would immediately jump up and give me a look that screamed BAD TOUCH!!  And:  ARE YOU INSANE?!!

I was only able to get a teaspoonful, and when I checked with the vet tech to see if this would do, she said that it would not, and I should perhaps try a little plate.

So the next day I rummaged around and found a china saucer that was hand-glazed by my great uncle Willard's mother.  I apologized in my head to this woman for what I was about to do to her pretty light-blue iridescent saucer.  We went outside, and while Sean distracted Dorothy by standing in front of her, I was having a little tea-party down by Dorothy's nethers.  I slipped the saucer in the 1/2-inch space, collected quite a specimen before Dorothy was on to me, transferred the saucer contents into the wee tupperware, and then did a little Urrgh dance with a side-step of Gross!  Don't worry, Martha!  I made sure to wash my hands after this particular outing.

The sample was dropped off and tested and proclaimed unspectacular.  Dorothy had her last day of antibiotics on Sunday, so I am very much hoping that the UTI (or whatever it is) does not rear its ugly head.

I've been giving Dorothy probiotics and yogurt to counter some of the negative effects of the antibiotics. And now that the antibiotics are through, I've started giving her an herbal concoction recommended by Dorothy's breeder, called Harmonize Bladder.  I will be very pleased if Dorothy's bladder is harmonized, and might even add a little harmony myself in the form of a jaunty celebratory tune.

Dorothy's other health issue is that she has developed a nasty looking growth on her leg, which by all accounts seems to be a histiocytoma.  These nasty things are common in certain types of dogs (especially boxers and bulldogs) and appear when the dog is under two years of age.  They are supposed to disappear on their own accord; I just have to make sure Dorothy doesn't bother it.  It's about the size of a nickel and protrudes a lot:  it's nasty and I'm ready for it to Be Gone!

Dorothy would like her histio-whatever to disappear before it is the size of this tennis ball: