Mama Monday

 

As you might remember, at the beginning of May,  Sunny and I visited Dr. Jeff. He is a nice, knowledgeable Behavioralist(and licensed Vet) and we spent quite awhile together(over two hours) discussing Sunny and her issues. I was very impressed as he looked at both the physical and behavioral aspects of things going on with Sunny.

 

Physical Issues  

After getting an extensive medical/behavioral history,  Dr Jeff took Sunny to an exam room and gave her a full  physical where he discovered a couple of physical reasons she may short tempered.  First up,  she had 2 broken teeth. This was a BIG surprise because, when she had been to the Vet, just a few weeks before, she said Sunny's teeth looked great. But, after some X-Rays, Sunny ended up at the Vet to get the two teeth pulled, and the rest cleaned.  

The next physical issue Dr. Jeff found, were Sunny's back knees. We knew she had luxating patellas, our vet in California took X-Rays and advised us to keep an eye on them. Dr. Jeff recommended an orthopedic consult and X-Rays, after that we determined the time had come to get those knees fixed. Unfortunately, the surgery has a 12 week total recover time.  Because they may be causing her pain, we decided to get on the schedule as soon as possible.  On July 21st, Sunny will have surgery done on both of her knees to correct the patellas(knee caps). This should guarantee our baby girl isn't in pain.

 

Behavioral Issues

After discussing Sunny's physical issues, we moved on to her behavioral issues. The thing Dr. Jeff noticed most of all about Sunny, as he observed her during the visit, is she couldn't relax. Granted, we were at a Vet's Office, but she was pacing and barking at every little noise. She gets the same way at home and, when really anxious, will "go after" Rosy or Jake(no blood was ever spilled). Obviously, this wasn't good for any pup involved. Dr. Jeff diagnosed Sunny with a Genetic Anxiety Disorder and has her on medication that seem to be doing the trick. The medication, along with behavior modifications(for pawrents and pup) seem to be working. Sunny is relaxed, smiling more and most importantly, we haven't had an altercation in the past few weeks.

 

 

  

Getting Sunny healed, both physically and behaviorally, will keep us home most of the Summer of 2022. Fortunately, this may be just the summer for staying home. You may have noticed the lack of Cece trips. CeCe has been having some technical issues and is in the "RV Hospital."  We had to cancel our May trip and we have our fingers crossed we can get in the two weekend trips we have scheduled for June and July, but right now it doesn't look good. But hey, with the price of gas skyrocketing, this may be a good thing! 

 

Although it looks to be a long Summer,  it will be well worth it. We can already see a change in Sunny's attitude and are we're looking forward to taking her on lots of pain free, relaxed trips next Summer. Plus, I think it will take the whole Summer just for the pups(and Ed and I) to explore the whole backyard!