Today, I took Owl for an evaluation of his reproductive status. We visited Dr Robert Hutchison of Northview Animal Clinic in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Dr Hutchison is an expert on canine and feline reproduction. He has many, many years of experience and has shared his knowledge with breeders in seminars all over the country. I figured it would be worth the 3.25 hours drive north for Owl to be assessed by this guy. 

The bad, but not surprising, news is that Owl has a fertility problem.  Dr Hutch said that normal canine sperm counts run about 10 million per pound of dog's body weight. Owl weighs 20 lbs so we would expect something like 200 million sperm. Owl's count was 42 million.

One would think that 42 million of anything would surely be enough!

But it gets worse. Of the 42 million sperm, 58% were immature. Dr Hutch explained that, like other glands in the body, the testes are 'used to' a certain level of production and that Owl was likely much more fertile when he was younger. So, in an effort to 'keep up the numbers' in the ejaculate, the testes are throwing out sperm that have not yet matured. 

This is the reason, I was told, that Owl was not able to settle either Taya or Tasha this spring.

Now for some good news:

1. Owl has sperm. I was half-afraid there wouldn't be anything in there. 

2. The motility of the sperm was good.

3. The morphology of the sperm was largely normal.

4. Ultrasound showed no masses or significant lesions in the testicles.

5. Ultrasound showed an enlarged prostate but the amount of enlargement is moderate and well within normal for a dog Owl's age. 

6. It was also clear that Owl does not have an infectious process going on; there was no blood or pus. Prostatitis is a leading cause of acquired infertility so this was very good to hear. 

I had shown Dr Hutch the semen evaluation from a different repro specialist done February, 2013. Unfortunately, the report was rather vague. I repeated what I'd been told and what I saw, which I had also relayed to Diane Webb in an email at that time.

Three months later, based on what I had seen and been told, Babe was bred to Owl. Babe did not conceive.  But she was six years old. We thought Babe had the problem.  :  (

Again, though, no prostatitis today, (if there ever was). Instead, Dr Hutch said it looks like we have a hormonal problem related to aging. I asked if these hormonal changes in Owl are normal. He slid me a look sideways for effect and said. "Oh yes. Very normal. Owl is something like a 60 year old man."  I am pretty sure the good doctor Hutch is in his 60s!

The rest of the good news:

7. Owl's libido is fine. 

8. He received an injection of testosterone with pre- and post- level blood tests and the results were good.

9. He is not obese and he doesn't smoke.  ; )

I had had to make a decision, before the ultrasound, blood tests, and medications, how far I am willing to go to try to obtain a litter from Owl.  Considering everything: his health, vitality, and energy level which are all truly extraordinary, his sound conformation, size, intelligence, eagerness to work at anything, his voice, coat quality, pedigree, I could go on and on...

I decided to do what seems reasonable. Not less. Not more. Dr Hutchison agreed with this. He said, "I am a logical, reasonable person, too. So let's do what is logical and reasonable and see what happens." I was able to connect with that statement.

Owl has been started on Megace 5 mg daily for 21 days, then 5 mg weekly. I was surprised by this. Megace is a progestin, a synthetic progesterone. Really? Megace? Yes. See Progesterone: a male hormone for more information. I learn something new every day!

He was also started on a male fertility supplement in capsule form called, um, Male Fertility Supplement, manufactured by Coast Science.  Doc said he began prescribing MFS after a conversation with a human urologist. Sub-title on the container is "The Male Prenatal." Well, I can hope so. Owl is to get one capsule of the powder on his food each day.

Dr Hutch wants to re-evaluate in eight weeks. So we will. Please hope with me for a positive outcome!

Tonight, Owl appears every bit as good as before the problem this week with vestibular disease. His high metabolism, large appetite, and energetic, even opportunistic self has, I am happy to report,  returned to full flight!

I am glad this turned out okay and thanks for this warning about elevators posted by Tamara Seibert on Facebook today.

I am reminded of Mary Trinkle who raised standard longhairs on Long Island years ago. There was a small elevator in her home for her husband Fred who was confined to a wheelchair. Mary lost a dog when the elevator door broke his neck.

Those of us who travel with dogs use elevators on occasion. Let this be a reminder to use them with good awareness!

  

I am so looking forward to my first litter in 4.5 years! Owl mated Taya last evening, on the 9th day of her cycle.  The mating took place just as nature intended, with no interference from me. Taya was willing and Owl was eager, and I was happy that it went so well. 

Later, though, I noticed that Owl looked a bit 'strange.' He was hunched a little and mildly hesitant to walk but it was subtle. He lifted his leg fine but wobbled just enough for me to  notice it. He retched a couple of times, then seemed better. At bed time at 0200, Nexus and Viljo went into their crates and I put Owl on the bed with me. He had a slightly vacant expression as if he wasn't feeling well, then he sighed, stretched out, and went to sleep. 

At 0415, I was awakened by a noise. Owl had fallen out of bed. I heard him retch. I got up. Two minutes later, it looked for all the world like Owl was having a full blown seizure. On his side, arched, rigid, flailing. It went on, too long, before he settled. Oh God. I went out into the 15 degree night to start the car and put a crate in there. I put Owl into his crate in the bedroom while I dressed. I heard sounds like he was seizing again. Owl's crate was moving and shaking from his spastic movements inside. I carried him out to the car and headed for Medvet in Columbus, 90 minutes away. In the car, there were two more episodes, both of them brief, when it sounded like Owl was seizing again. Each time ended with a soft whine. I noted the times and kept thinking, praying, Oh Lord, PLEASE don't tell me I just bred Tayter to Owl on the same day I find out he has a seizure disorder. The ramifications of that scenario hit like a ton of bricks. 

Thankfully, what I was told three hours later was that Owl is having a bout with Vestibular Dis-ease. Vertigo. A problem with his balance. My dog is dizzy. Oh, you could have cut my relief with a knife. 

The vet was great but he wanted to consult a neurologist. He said he could tell me what the problem was but could not tell me why. Is the problem originating with the inner ear(s) as is most often the case? Or is it, worst case scenario, coming from the brain stem? He left me to think about what I wanted to do. Well, I just got a smart phone on Wednesday and, boy, is it smart! I consulted my phone for information on Canine Vestibular Disease. I learned that it is actually not uncommon, affects mostly older dogs but sometimes middle age dogs, too. (Owl and his O littermates will be 10 in June. The fact that they are all very healthy and active at nearly 10 is one of the reasons I decided to use Owl in the first place.) One vet had an article saying she basically adopts the wait and see plan; improvement is often complete all the way to baseline, and often within 72 hours. So I told the vet I was taking Owl home and he was fine with that. They hydrated him with some subcu fluid and an injection of anti-nausea med. They gave me the same medication, Maropitant, in pill form, to be given once a day for the next three days.

Before I left, I asked the vet why the symptoms mimicked seizures so closely. I said that I have seen seizures a number of times, in dogs and especially in humans. Earlier this year, in fact, we had a patient who seized repeatedly something like 20 times before we got him transferred to a medical unit. The vet said basically, the vertigo was making Owl nauseated which is why he was retching. When he fell on his side that first time at home, and flailed, it was because he could not find equilibrium. Owl literally could not tell up from down. He was arched and rigid because he was trying hard to right himself. He was moving and shaking the crate when, again, he was trying to find balance and couldn't. And some of the body tension likely came from finding himself in a frightening predicament.

Outside of the vet hospital, I put Owl on the grass to see if he had to pee and he sat there looking like a bobble dog in someone's car window. When we got home, Owl did walk - like he might walk if he'd been into the Vodka - and lifted his leg and peed. He ate some soft food (canned cat food!) that I fed him with a spoon. He didn't want anything to drink.

Tonight, Owl is walking better but moving sideways, like a fast-moving crab. He has a head tilt and a bit of a body wobble. No retching though, no falling or flailing, and he knows which way is up. 

Owl appears much more relaxed. 

Until I open the front door and he sees the cat on the porch.

Until he pulls toward the kennel building where Taya is.

: )

I like the Dog Food Advisor web site and have recommended it to a lot of people. Including co-workers and even folks looking at dog food in pet supply stores and Walmart. I also tell them that if the choices seem bewildering, a quick easy way to get some notion of quality is to look at the first two ingredients. If the first two ingredients - three is even better - are meat and/or meat meal from identified sources of meat, it is likely that they are looking at one of the better kibbles available there. There's more to it than that, of course, but it is a great place to start. Interestingly, the big chain pet supply store in town carries virtually none of the better foods. Thankfully, the little mom and pop shop does.

I had been having a lot of pain in my knees. It was an odd pain. On again, off again, mostly on after a lot of activity. I stopped running agility. For the most part, I stopped the daily one-milers with my dogs. Walking on the unstable gravel was painful. 

Knowing that my muscles were tight, I was pretty sure the pain was more related to muscle than to bone. I lost some weight. I tried stretching, which was nothing new, I'd been doing it for years. Then more stretching this summer, from a regimen I found on You Tube. The result was that I really hurt my left knee. Ouch, talk about painful! It even kept me from going to the Michigan field trials. 

Early this month, with a free coupon for a first visit to a chiropractor in town, I went, he twisted my leg around and told me that I should schedule an MRI. I mentioned this to my regular doctor who said forget the MRI, it's very expensive and I don't think you need one, call the fitness center and get in to see an exercise physiologist. So I went to the fitness center and saw the fitness guru who specializes in stretching. I have have had one session with him so far. Tam gave me a 15 minute totally painless stretching routine to do each day until the next time I see him. It is so easy you wouldn't believe it could be so effective. But the pain in my knee has been gone for more than two weeks! 

Tam explained that I had always been stretching the same muscle groups - so actually over stretching them - and said that I needed to also stretch the antagonists of those muscles which I had not been doing. He said that the over-stretched muscles on the back side and the under-stretched muscles on the front side were putting relentless pressure on my knees and no wonder I was having knee pain! I am back to walking every day. A few days ago, I spent more than two hours tromping the woods trying to find a deer. No knee pain! I am posting this for the benefit of someone else who may be having a similar problem. 

Also to say that my doctor is smart and I am THANKFUL for her.

[Owl is ABS5 FC Alpine Owl von Dorndorf TD JE NA OAJ SchwhK SchwhKF Wa-T BHP-G LH, owned by Patricia Nance.]

Owl had an appointment today with Dr Mark McCloskey, canine reproduction specialist at the Canine Semen Bank of Columbus. The purpose of the visit was twofold. First, Owl, 8.5 years old, is our choice to father Babe's litter this spring.  Second, due to his outstanding individual qualities and his pedigree, I intend to have some of Owl's semen frozen and stored for the possibility of future use. So a good evaluation was the next step.

Taya is in heat so I took her with us. Her presence made collecting Owl very easy. Dr Mark was pleased with the quantity of semen until some blood, too, came with it. He said that Owl has some prostatitis going on and that we should treat the prostate before collecting semen for freezing. Microscopically, Owl's sperm appeared to be about 70% normal and functionally motile. Mark noted that this is quite adequate for natural mating but, ideally, he would like the number of normal sperm to be about 90% before processing for storage. He thinks obtaining this increase is very doable.

Owl will be on 250 mg of Cipro twice a day for 30 days. Then we will reevaluate. I will keep you posted.

I have been intending to write about a little item that I have found to be very useful.

Sometimes I trim the nails of dogs belonging to friends of mine. This includes Griffin and Gretel, owned by Jennifer Fry. It is inevitable that occasionally a nail will be cut a bit short and bleed. I have never found a styptic product that was of any real use in stopping a bleeding nail. This includes 'home remedies' such as flour and cornstarch. Often, all that stuff did was turn a little bit of a mess into a bigger mess.

A couple of years ago when I visited Jennifer and prepared to cut the dogs' nails, Jennifer handed me a small container of a styptic powder that I had not tried before. For that matter, it was a brand I had never seen before. I was skeptical but figured it might be better than nothing.

It was, paws down, the best thing I have ever found to stop nail bleeding. After everything else that I have tried, this powder seemed nearly miraculous. "Hey, THIS stuff works!" I marveled so much that Jennifer gave it to me and, when necessary, I have used it and appreciated it ever since.

It is 21st Century Styptic Powder and it comes in a 0.5 oz plastic jar. (Don't ask me why the link goes to a page that says "great taste, dog approved" because I don't know why!) I found that the easiest way to use it is if I cut a nail a bit too much (doesn't happen often), I moisten the tip of my little finger by touching it to my tongue and touch my finger to the powder in the container, which I open before I begin clipping, just in case. Then I use my little finger to dab the powder on the nail. One dab is usually enough though every  once in awhile it takes two. Voila! It works every time!

I was a bit concerned that if I ever run out of the stuff (though I'm nowhere close to it) I would not be able to find it again. Jennifer could not remember where she'd bought it.  So I went online and found, lo and behold, that 21st Century is "the exclusive pet wellness brand of PetSmart."

I also saw this powder touted on the Sick Dog Blog as "really effective in stopping the bleeding from a broken or over-clipped nail, along with minor cuts." That blog, too, mentions that, unlike cheaper products, the 21st Century powder does not clump due to moisture in the air and eventually morph into a rock. This is true.

It is nice to have something that works so well!

Some of you know that Marta has been living with Jennifer Fry in Columbus, Ohio since April 2011. In July 2012, two days after she turned 14, Marta had surgery to remove her spleen that had a large mass . Pathology proved it to be hemangiosarcoma.

Marta did very well for months after recuperation. She continued to dance around Jennifer's kitchen at meal time, obsess over her ball, remain on critter alert in Jennifer's backyard, keep her 'boyfriend' Griffin company, and keep her granddaughter Gretel in line.

Unfortunately, in December a lump came up on the back of her neck and biopsy confirmed malignancy. Since then, Marta has had a number of good days and, lately, some not so good.  Through them all, day in and day out, Jennifer has been giving her the best possible care, with the assistance of her friend and talented veterinarian Dr. Angie Callahan.

Yesterday, Christian Stock, who owns Marta's granddaughter Pie, took the time and made the effort to get some photos of Marta. Here is one example, and it is excellent. I love this picture! Thank you, Christian!

And heartfelt thank yous to Jennifer and Dr. Callahan for taking such wonderful care of Smart Mart. I know, Jennifer, that you love her, and Marta knows it, too.