Whirlwind Wednesday

We've had a rough couple of days...

Between changing diets, adding supplements, and 'trying' to get Betty used to short amounts of time in her crate because dad has gone back to work, we've had a very turned upside down household...  :(

Mainly the girls have been affected. Although it's really upsetting to Gunther when his Stella doesn't feel well.

Stella and Betty are coping, thankfully we have warm, sunny weather to lift their spirits.

Let's see, where to begin....  Because of Betty's seizure disorder, she's takes medication called potassium bromide. Kibble or diets high in sodium are not good for dogs who are on that medication. So we started researching kibble with very low sodium and found that either low calorie or senior diets are low in sodium.  We tried Innova senior diet and found it to be too rich for Betty and it gave her major runs so we vetoed that. Since Stella and Gunther are already on Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato, we tried their low calorie diet and that has agreed with Betty's tummy. Since Stella is a bit chunky, we decided to put her on the lower calorie diet too. We also cook a little for all of them and give them a powdered supplement. Now, all of their snacks are lower sodium, like fruit, carrots, etc.

Last night about 7:00, Stella started acting uncomfortable like her tummy hurt and she looked visibly bloated. We thought she might have eaten too many snacks with the pet sitter earlier that day, so I took her for a walk to get things moving (if you know what i mean) and she had a small poo, but that was it. By 2 a.m. she wasn't any better and we were very worried about her. So we packed up everyone and whisked Stella off to the emergency vet. After an exam by the vet and some x-rays, it showed that Stella had a LOT of gas and stool still in her intestines. Our poor girl had eaten way too much fiber over the past couple days between her new low calorie food, her favorite fruit snacks and some squash and broccoli. Basically, Stella needed to poo or rip a good fart in a bad way! The vet said to give her an antacid and keep an eye on her to make she has a 'bowel movement'...

We walked out of the emergency vet to a grassy area since Betty was ripping her usual farts, we figured she had to go. But instead, Stella had one of the biggest poops of her life! I looked down at my baby girl,cheered and said "Yay, Stella! That's a $350.00 poo you got yourself there! You should be proud girlfriend!"  Her tummy is still kinda sore. I think she still has some residual gas, but otherwise she's on the mend and taking it easy the rest of the day.

Betty on the other hand isn't having any digestion issues

she just hates her crate because it means being away from all of us. Even if it's just for 10-15 minutes.

A couple days ago, while she was sleeping I thought I'd try out her crate training. I quietly carried her to her crate and laid her in it, closed the door and then ran to post office for no more than 10 minutes. When I returned she was wide awake and was pushed up against the back of her crate. She was so upset because she had gone potty in her crate. I felt so horrible and at fault because I didn't take her out to go potty first, or give her a Kong for her crate. It was only 10 minutes but I feel like it was a really bad experience for her. We tried again the next day with a treat filled Kong and having gone potty first. I think it was a much better experience, and I hope to keep it going. Although, I don't plan on going anywhere until we're sure Ms. Stella is feeling 100%

Shannon