Moving to Hawaii with Dogs - Emergencies

Cover via AmazonWe have a 4-legged house guest this weekend.  His human mommy and daddy are in the process of PCSing from Japan to Hawaii, so he and his furry brother were dropped off at the MWR Kennel in Halawa on their way to the Mainland for leave in transit.  The kennel requires an on-island emergency contact.  We've boarded our dogs there several times and never needed to use it, so I volunteered to be the emergency contact for my friend's dogs.  The dogs were in the kennel for less than a week (out of the month) when one of them (let's call him Lucky) needed emergency surgery for gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) or bloat/torsion.  (This is what eventually kills Marley in "Marley and Me".)   Fortunately, the prognosis for GDV is pretty good these days and Lucky (a yellow lab like Marley) is stretched out and snoring on the couch (our dogs are not allowed on the furniture but we're giving Lucky a bye since he's had a rough week).  In case you were wondering what happens if your dog has an emergency while you're PCSing to Hawaii, here's how it went for us.

If your dog is in quarantine, they have a vet clinic on site... it's rigged for routine checkups, administering the rest of the rabies vaccinations, etc.  I am pretty sure they can also handle minor illnesses and injuries on site, but I am not sure they can handle emergency surgeries because the vet is not always there.  (My dogs had to stay there for a month in 2006 when we moved here from Virginia.)  The quarantine section is close to but run separately from the MWR Kennel.  (Quarantine is run by the State of Hawaii Dept of Agriculture, the MWR Kennel is run by the Army's MWR program out of Schofield.)  If your pet is at the MWR Kennel, they will call the emergency on-island contact (this may be you if you're staying in a hotel without your dog) for anything not life threatening but still requiring medical attention.  (IE, minor injuries, illness, etc)   The closest full service vet clinic that is open to the general public is over in Pearl City.  (There are some smaller clinics, but the major one is VCA Pearl City, which also has 24 hr emergency services.  It is always VERY busy, but they are also very good and will take new patients, walk ins, and emergencies.  They also take treatment authorizations over the phone.  If you are over on the Windward side- ie MCAS Kaneohe Bay, then VCA Kaneohe also offers 24/7 emergency care.  I should point out that VCA tends to be more expensive than the smaller clinics, but if you don't have an established vet, they will take your pet and they are equipped to handle most emergencies.)

Unfortunately, I don't have my cell phone or internet access at work and my office phone number got messed up so I missed the initial call that one of the dogs was in trouble.  Furthermore, once a dog is bloating, you really have to get them into surgery ASAP.  So although I was able to respond an hour after the initial phone calls, the folks at the MWR Kennel already brought him over to VCA Pearl City.  (German Shepherds and other "deep chested" dogs are also susceptible to GDV so bloat scares the living daylights out of me.)  Since this happened on a Wednesday afternoon, he was held in the hospital for observation until Friday afternoon.  (This is when I picked him up...)   If I wasn't able to take Lucky in for the weekend, the vet would've kept him until Monday afternoon, since the post-op standard is close observation for 4 days and the kennel is not manned 24/7.  We're bringing Lucky back to the kennel on Monday since we both work full time.  (He's on 5 different meds for the next week and he'll be more closely monitored at the kennel.  Not to mention, his doggie brother is waiting for him there.)

If Lucky needed to go back to the vet to have a follow up (ie remove stitches), then it would be on me as the emergency contact to pick him up from the kennel and get him to the vet.  Doesn't really bother me- I love big dogs and he's pretty tame for a yellow lab.  (If I flaked out and the dog really needed to get to the vet, I have no doubt that the folks at the kennel would figure out a way to get him there, but the preference is to have the emergency contact take care of it.)

But what do you do if you're PCSing to Hawaii and don't know anyone willing to be an emergency contact for your pets?  Whatever you do, do NOT just throw some bogus contact on there.  Lucky's human dad is a college classmate of mine that I haven't seen since college, so it's not like we're super close although I think he's a nice guy and consider him a friend... the only way I knew he needed an emergency POC was by a Facebook status asking for help.   People are generally willing to help others, but won't know you need help unless you ask!  If you don't know someone, maybe one of your friends does.  If that doesn't work, ask your sponsor to find one for you.  If that doesn't work, then ask the senior enlisted advisor, command master chief, or top, whatever it's called for your service, and ask them for help.  Every unit has a crazy dog or cat person.  They'll know who it is.  Sometimes it's someone who loves animals but can't commit to having a pet full time.

And in case you were wondering, my dogs seem to enjoy going to the MWR Kennel.  For what it's worth, the people there never seem to remember who I am, but they remember my dogs.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Limited Choke Dog collars

A couple of weeks back, my dogs decided to escape the yard. They were apprehended by stranger kind enough to coax 150 pounds of fur into the back of their car and drop them off at the nearest vet.  They weren't wearing their collars or tags because I normally keep a choke chain on them.

Well, what I didn't realize is that they are actually better off with their collars and tags even though I get more control with the choke chains.  Not to mention their collars are as old as they are and I wasn't too nuts about the selection for large dogs.  So, I made my own collars for my spoiled puppies.

But rather than make a collar that slips over their heads when I need to restrain them (for example, when strangers come to the door), I decided on a limited choke collar which give some control, but doesn't tighten enough to pose as much of a strangulation hazard as a choke chain.

I added an extra d-ring to hang their tags from.

Not bad for a first try, huh?


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Doggie Triage - The Cone of Shame

Unfortunately, even with my super resourceful doggie bandage and diligent foot washing, it turns out (after two rather expensive trips to the vet that included x-rays, cultures, lancing, wound cleaning, and anesthesia) that my poor fur baby had an abcess. (We were never able to find a definitive wound or insect bite.)  Here he is, the giant in the back of my car... (BTW, the car is parked in this picture.)

And on our 2nd trip to the vet... poor guy.  Look how swollen his paw is.  Turns out the cracks I thought I saw in his pads were due to swelling, not the actual wounds causing the swelling.  The vet also wanted his x-rays sent out to a specialist for another 2nd opinion.

Here's a close up of the paw, prior to the vet putting him under and lancing/digging out the abcess.  He was not putting any weight on his paw at this point.

So anyway, she took him back, shaved his toe down, put him under, and dug out the abcess.  So it looks much worse now (it's draining as it heals from the "inside out), and he is now wearing the "cone of shame."  I'm just glad he doesn't have a broken toe.  The first visit took 2 hours, and two dogs were carried in (one having seizures, the other poisoned by a toad) as emergencies, so I had to leave him for a couple of hours and pick him up.  He was still groggy and disoriented when we got home.  Poor baby.

The good news is that although he is still knocking into all sorts of furniture with the cone (the dog is big, the house is small, do the math) he is placing weight on the foot again.  Of course, this has to occur days prior to a family vacation to the Mainland, meaning the dog is now on meds with an open wound on his foot and more than likely will have to be medically boarded at the vet instead of at the MWR kennel (which is a MUCH better deal).  So not only are we whacked with the vet bill, we are looking at more expensive boarding costs AND losing the deposit we put down at the MWR Kennel.  I am hoping the results of his culture (from the abcess) are in before we leave (so his meds/antibiotics will be set) and the MWR Kennel will still take him with the wound on his paw and cone of shame.    That's five calendar days.  Joy of joys.  I am washing his foot out with Betadine twice a day, along with all of his meds.

But this is my fur baby and I wouldn't want to worry about his foot getting infected again while we're gone... and so at the risk of sounding like one of those crazy people who treat their animals better than they treat other people, no expense will be spared... at least not yet. 

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Doggie Paw Bandage

Now here's something I never expected to need around the house, but the dog started limping and favoring his left front leg on a Sunday morning. There was no apparent blood or swelling and he didn't whimper at all when I poked and prodded his leg. He did, however jerk his paw out of my hand when I tried to inspect his foot. As it turns out, he has two torn toe pads. Not sure how he did it, but it wasn't crusty or anything so I rinsed it out with some peroxide and water, then let it dry.

Meanwhile, I did a quick search on how to make a dog bootie. Most of them are geared toward folks with little doggies that live in extreme cold weather. All I needed was something to hold the gauze on. (After cleaning, I dressed his paw using a triple antibactirial ointment, a 4x4 inch dressing sponge, and wrapped the whole thing with 1 inch self stick gauze to hold it on without pulling out his fur. If the cut was oozing, I would've also needed to use some sort of gauze pad under the dressing sponge.)

Since my dog is pretty big (he's just under 90 pounds) and has some pretty big feet, I actually had to dip into some socks I stashed away for my daughter to grow into. So in this case, the sock I used is a Hanes Girl's small. Any appropriately sized sock would do, but the idea is to use something breatheable (ie cotton) and padded. The other thing is that the sock should fit snugly around the bandage to keep it in place, and also be long enough to cover at least 1-2 inches past the end of the main paw pad (the one that would be sort of like your palm). Reason being, to secure the sock onto the dog's foot, you should secure it in the space right behind that big paw pad. Use your thumbs to gently stretch the sock around the paw and try not to disturb the gauze dressing as much as possible, much in the way a woman puts on pantyhose. (IE Don't try to pull/drag the sock over the whole foot and dressing.)

Now, you can secure the sock in a couple of ways. I happen to have double-sided velcro, which in my opinion, is the easiest to adjust for the dog. You could also use regular velcro or even thread/weave a ribbon through the neck of the sock and make a drawstring to tie it to the paw. In a pinch, you could even use tape. But back to the double sided velcro. If you've never heard of it before, google it. This stuff is cool. They use it for reuseable cable ties and attaching things like soccer goal nets. I used it to attach toys to the stroller. I measured a piece long enough to go around the dog's foot at the aforementioned spot (right behind his main paw pad) and added a couple of inches for adjustability. Then, I hand stiched about a 2 inch section to the sock with the hook (hard) side down. This allows the velcro to hold the sock in place snugly around the leg, rather than slip out. The softer loop side won't hold the sock if it gets pulled.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Audrey and Ace in "Whose Biscuit is It, Anyway?"

Just testing to see how this works.

Short clip taken of my daughter laughing at the dog, who is patiently waiting for her to drop her food so he can eat it.

Yep, it's official...

Roxy got her paw x-rayed and it turns out she has a hairline fracture... the vet tried splinting but ended up putting a cast on her. Not that Roxy cares, but it's neon pink and kind of cheery and cute, I guess. Poor baby.

Roxy is not thrilled. Since she loves to jump around, we have to crate her until her leg heals... 6-8 weeks. This also means moving her out to our dog-free zone, where she won't have to run up and down stairs in order to go potty... speaking of which, it's a good thing I don't have a job yet, because someone has to take the dog out. And since it's rainy, that means a plastic bag for the leg and one for the poop.

I have to think up a way to decorate that cone. Bright flower stickers or something. Haha, I should get some flatbacks and bling that thing out. :)

Houdini Breaks a Paw

We decided as a family, that this past weekend would be a "do nothing" weekend. The holidays are crazy when you have a baby, not to mention we do have a "blended" family, so between soccer season, school, and everything else, well, it's been crazy since October. :) I'm sure you can relate. So yesterday, my son and I were having fun setting up the XBox to play some Rock Band... suddenly, my fiancee opens the door, says, "The dogs are loose and going after the labs!" Mind you, my fur babies are wimpy goofballs- not vicious guard dogs. They were tearing after these two labs who walk past the house to go to the park everyday. Although they weren't going after the labs to bite or attack them, I'm sure it's intimidating to see 150 pounds of German Shepherd barreling down at you and your dogs. (Fortunately, we know the guy with the labs. He walks past the house everyday and sometimes we're out there.)

Anyway, earlier in the day, I washed both dogs and tied them out in the driveway to dry. Although I normally sit out in the driveway with them, when my son asked for some mom time, I decided it would be ok... after all, we would be in a room where we could see the dogs. We didn't even have the first song queued up before my fiancee stuck his head in with the announcement. By the time I ran out the door and down the driveway, my two furry nutcases managed to clothesline another neighbor's mailbox and toppled it... poor Roxy was crying and the guy with the labs was lifting a stack of bricks (which was holding up the mailbox) to free her paw. I felt so bad.

First of all, I should know better than to tie my dogs out. Dogs get injured while tied out all the time. Second, I know that despite my efforts to train them, they charge other dogs. I'm not worried that they'll maul other dogs, but they will run at other dogs, barking. Thank goodness it was the guy with the labs. It could've easily turned into a huge pack fight. Some of the other people on this street don't train their dogs at all, and we all have big dogs. (Sometimes I walk my dogs past their house and they will run up and bark too, but at least our dogs are more or less friendly dogs.)

Roxy is walking around on 3 paws today, whimpering whenever we make her go outside to potty. However, I haven't taken her to the vet yet because when she thinks we aren't looking, she will put that paw down. I'm sure it's hurt, don't get me wrong, but the dog loves attention. She just LOVES sitting in my lap when I apply ice packs to her foot. She is also using the paw when she sneaks up on the couch at night. (She actually lies in our bedroom until she thinks we're asleep, then moves to the couch.) So anyway, we're keeping an eye on her. There's some swelling in her "middle toes" but it's not too bad.

We ended up completely replacing the neighbor's mailbox. Fortunately, he was happy with that. The old one was there when they moved in, over 30 years ago. It really wasn't stable, either. The rebar was rusted through and there were shims which were obviously recently added below the stack of cement block. Quite frankly, it was a hazard. You'll see their front retaining wall is also collapsing. Everything around here is built on clay, and all the older retaining walls have that problem. I am sure the cement "footing" around the original base was added after the fact, after the ground shifted. So, I'm hoping the neighbor isn't too upset with the new mailbox. Maybe I'll make them some cookies or something. And some for the guy with the labs, too.

My Fur Babies

Since you can never really have too many puppy-on-the-beach pictures, here's a shot of my two fur babies running around on Dam Neck Beach in Virginia. They're only 4-5 months old in the picture. Ace (the white one) just turned 3. Roxy (the neurotic one) will celebrate her 3rd birthday next week. Both are German Shepherds. In fact, you can read Ace's pedigree here and Roxy's mom's pedigree here and her dad's here.

White German Shepherd puppies are just about the cutest widdle polar bears you'll ever see. And they make the bestest dogs EVER... unless you have allergies like my fiancee does. :( In fact, they are almost the WORST dog to have in the house with folks who have allergies. (Golden Retrievers are also "up there.") So these two are the first and only German Shepherds I'll ever have.