A Note From Rowdy and Bette: The Summer of Love

We just wanted to pop in and let you know that yes, we ARE still alive and all is fine at The World Headquarters of 'The Long and Short of it All.'  We've appreciated all the notes and comments with concerns about our absence.
It's the Summer of Love, 2013.  Good Lord.  We've never experienced a doggie in heat in our entire lives, and hopefully, we'll never experience it again.  We'll spare you all the sordid details. but suffice to say that your busy new hostess 'Bette' most definitely did NOT like the little undergarments Dad tried to get her to wear.  She spun herself in circles trying to get it off until she nearly passed out.
All the neighborhood dogs are lining up on the sidewalk outside the fence, but Bette has both eyes set on our neighbor, 'Martini,' a tall handsome 11year-old chocolate smooth pharaoh hound-lab mix who lives next door.  And your host 'Rowdy' is simply beside himself over the rejection. 
We're waiting on Bette's spay until she's more fully grown.  It seems you don't want to spay or neuter too early, and definitely not too late -  it's a fine line - but we're going to wait until she's at least 12 months old or so for the procedure. 
We tend to think that many dogs are getting spayed and neutered too early these days - and sometimes with good reason, but please be sure and make an informed decision with your vet if you're in a similar predicament.  Here's an awesome recent study to investigate.... https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/130401s.aspx

All of this of course leads us to this new video by youtuber y cozican - featuring what many consider to be the hottest song of the summer.  Turn up the volume and have a great Monday!  You know you want it.

Obie The Obese Dachshund Gets A Tummy Tuck!

It's big news when a Dachshund is featured on CNN and we couldn't be prouder of 'Obie' the Obese Dachshund for losing all that weight.  Way to go Obie!  Keep up with him on his facebook page:  Biggest Loser, Doxie Edition.


Related:  All About Obie

The £1,500 Dachshund Stairlift

We gotta tell ya, we thought WE were living the dream with our $25 stool at the side of the couch that we use when Dad rarely lets us up there, but THIS really takes the cake.  A £1,500 stairlift just for Dachshunds?  Wow.  Thanks to our friend Mrs. Drummond for sending the link to The Daily Mail, here's an excerpt:

Climbing the stairs can often become a struggle as you get older – even when you have four legs. But it is no longer a problem for these three dachshunds after their owners bought them a £1,500 stairlift. Sheila and Harry Lee installed the lift after one of the dogs, six-year-old Pippa, had to undergo a £5,000 operation on her spine.
They had been concerned about Pippa and their other dachshunds – Millie, seven, and Heidi six – straining their low-slung bodies as they negotiated the stairs to their beds. ‘We saw an advertisement for the stairlift and thought “Why not?”,’ Mrs Lee, 57, of Ossett, West Yorkshire, said yesterday.

Read more and see more fun photos at The Daily Mail. 

IVDD Dachshund Walks Again After Nose Cell Transplant

Meet Jasper. He's an English Black and Tan that was suffering with a spinal injury and unable to use his back legs. His owners volunteered him for a trial at Cambridge University to see whether cells from a dog's nose can improve the nerve connections in its spine. Doctors found that the olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) support nerve fiber growth connecting the nose to the brain and can also regenerate nerve fibers in damaged spinal cords. After six months of walking on a treadmill, Jasper's owners say he now "whizzes around the house." Researchers hope that this might lead to advancement toward a cure for human spinal-cord injuries.
Read more, and see a longer, better video at BBC News.
 

Remember, if your Dachshund shows signs and symptoms of back issues, or goes completely down where they can't walk, there are options out there! Take your dog to your vet immediately, and listen to the good advice offered at Dodgerslist, your Dachshund disc disease/IVDD resource. There's always a link to them in the links column on your right. They have a very active discussion list, and are real pros when it comes to offering advice for IVDD Dachshunds and general Dachshund health.

 

Thanks to all the good folks who sent in links to this exciting news in the world of Dachshunds, who often fall prey to back issues or IVDD, intervertebral disc disease. We got so many dozens of emails on this that we can't even thank everyone personally.  But we're hoping to post some great pics we got of these News Hounds tomorrow.  Stay Tuned Dachshund Lovers.

Just A Li'l Pinch

Humans Devise New Dachshund Torture Procedure

Hold on to your cojones fellas, the humans have done it again.  They've developed a new way to neuter dogs that requires no surgery or anesthesia - no SNIPPING - just a local zinc injection called 'Zeuterin.'   Will it cause Neuticles to go out of business?  Will it revolutionize sterilization procedures?  Excerpt from The New York Daily News:

A new way to neuter dogs requires no surgery or anesthesia, but convincing veterinarians to embrace the new technology will take time.
“Change does not come naturally, and private veterinarians do not have a problem to solve right now,” said Sandeep Manchanda, executive team member of Ark Sciences, the Westchester-based company behind the compound.
The nonsurgical neutering consists of locally injecting a compound of zinc gluconate and arginine into the testicles. It works by killing sperm-producing cells, decreasing testosterone to between 41% and 52%. The testicles shrink some, but remain largely visible.
That’s the main reason why the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City was among the first to jump in.
“We want to have an option for people who otherwise wouldn’t get their dog neutered,” said LHS shelter director Irene Borngraeber.
So far, about 25 dogs have been “zeutered” at LHS — and 500 across the U.S. — including some that would not have been able to undergo traditional anesthesia due to health reasons.
Among them is Yofi, a puggle who was neutered at 6 months at LHS, after his owner went searching for a nonsurgical procedure. Despite a sore groin area that subsided the following morning, the process went great.
“To me, it’s less cruel than surgically neutering a dog and less invasive — and everything about it is much faster,” said Yofi’s owner Rachel Zelman, a Manhattan office assistant.
The permanent sterilization procedure can be done in less than 10 minutes and requires only a mild sedative. All zeutered dogs have a large green “Z” tattooed on their inner thigh.

Ouch.  Read more at The New York Daily News.

Obie The Overweight Dachshund on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael

Keep sharing the love Obie.

Keep up with this big busy guy on his facebook page. 

Obie The Overweight Dachshund On The Today Show

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We're sure you remember reading about Obie when we posted about him a few weeks ago, but the big guy is making it big with an appearance on The Today Show this week!  Thanks to our pals 'Oscar' and 'Hans' for sending in the video.  They write:

HEY Joey and Rowdy!

We were all excited and told our humans to set the DVR to tape OBIE the obese Dachshund, who was to appear on the Today show this morning! Unfortunately, his segment was bumped for a special statement by the President. We were VERY bummed, until we went to the Today Show website and found the video!  If WE ran the Today show, we would have just led off the show with this VIP!

We are really pulling for Obie. Oscar has struggled with his weight, too, (what doxie hasn't?)  although it's nothing like Obie's issues. Go Obie Go!

Stay long and awesome,
Oscar and Hans


Keep up with Obie on his facebook page.

Dachshund Public Service Announcement: Check Your Wiener

We interrupt our regular scheduled programming for this Dachshund public service announcement from freeSTDcheck.org.  Check Your Wiener!  Thanks to our Country Cousin 'Rudy' for writing in:

Hey City Boys,

Betcha don't have this one!!

In honor of one of my favorite shows, Renee from Mobwives posted this to one of her forums!!

Love,
Cousin Rudy

Yes, it's even on a billboard near you.  Well, we never.

Joey's Hardware

Click images to enlarge

We're always fascinated with the inner workings of a Dachshund, and have featured x-rays of Joey and our dear departed Maggie several times over the years.  We recently went to the vet to have a look at Joey's heart.  With all the medical conditions that he has, he also has had a heart murmur his entire life, and it has progressed to about a grade 3.  Heart murmurs are common in small dogs such as Dachshunds, and they worsen as the dogs get older, eventually leading to CHF, or congestive heart failure.  If Joey were to start showing signs of exercise intolerance or "coughing," it will be time to start him on some cardiac meds.  Thankfully, he's not showing any of these symptoms yet, but with the long-standing condition, it was prudent to have a look inside.
We were happy to find that things look pretty good.  You can see his heart in the above photo, center left, and it does not appear to be enlarged.  That's his lungs to the right of the heart, and there doesn't appear to be any fluid buildup, so that's positive as well. 
Our wonderful veterinarian and hero, Dr. Cohen at Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic, had a good laugh when he noticed all of Joey's "hardware."  If you look in the upper right, you can see all the surgical staples inside him from his previous bi-lateral adrenalectomy and spleenectomy, and it took a minute to realize what all the foreign bodies were!  Hopefully Joey won't have to go through any metal detectors any time soon.  You can see another staple in the belly-view photo below near one of his ribs.

The Heart of The Long and Short of it All

New Drug May Help Save Dogs With Spinal Cord Injuries

The University of California, San Francisco, has announced their work with an experimental drug which may benefit dogs with spinal cord injuries.  The drug has already proven effective in mice, and the next tier of the study will look at its effectiveness in previously injured dogs:

Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from an experimental drug being tested by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences — work that they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.
Funded through a three-year, $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, the drug to mitigate damage has already proven effective in mice at UCSF. Now the Texas team will test how it works in previously injured short-legged, long torso breeds of dog like dachshunds, beagles and corgis, who often suffer injuries when a disk in their back spontaneously ruptures, damaging the underlying spinal cord.
About 120 dogs a year that develop sudden onset hind limb paralysis after such injuries are brought to the Small Animal Hospital of Texas A&M University, where they receive surgical and medical treatment similar to that for human spinal cord injury. Now, researchers will test whether the new treatment works on some of these dogs, with their owners’ consent.

Read all about the study at UCSF.  It's great to see some therapies emerging for Dachshunds afflicted with IVDD. 

Remember, if your Dachshund shows signs and symptoms of back issues, or goes completely down where they can't walk, there are options out there! Take your dog to your vet immediately, and listen to the good advice offered at Dodgerslist, your Dachshund disc disease/IVDD resource. There's always a link to them in the links column on your right. They have a very active discussion list, and are real pros when it comes to offering advice for IVDD Dachshunds and general Dachshund health.

 

 

Naturally Occurring Spinal Cord Injuries in Dogs

• 2.3% of dogs admitted to veterinary teaching hospitals have naturally injured spinal cords
• 48% to 72% of all affected dogs are Dachshunds
• 1 in 5 Dachshunds are affected over their lifetime
• Other common breeds: Beagles, Corgis, Pekingese, and Shih Tzus

Caesarean Dachshund

Red smooth 'Delilah' gave birth to one pup, but had troubles with the second, so a C-Section was performed.  All are doing well.  Fascinating.  By youtuber Bicester Vets. 

Swimming Dachshund Finds Cure For His Arthritis

Meet handsome wirehaired 'Teddy,' who hails from Old Basing, a village in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire, UK.  At just 9-years-old, Teddy's arthritis was so bad that his humans were contemplating putting him down.  But hydrotherapy has given him his life back.  Excerpt from the Basingstoke Observer:

Mrs King, who has had Teddy since he was six-months old, first noticed his ill health in October last year and he was sent to the Mildmay Veterinary Centre for special aid.

Each week Teddy dons a canine life jacked and swims laps of the four-foot, deep heated pool.
According to nurse Chris Norris, the treatment helps ease pain by letting dogs exercise their muscles without stressing the joints.
Mrs King insists that the treatment is more than a gimmick. “People have thought that it is a gimmick,” she said. “But a dog can’t say it’s not going to work and I judge it on its results. It was breaking my heart when Teddy was ill. It was not the Teddy I knew.
"If he was suffering I would of taken the decision [to put him down] but now he is a different dog altogether.”

Sweet Maggie

Maggie, September 9th, 2011

Thanks so much for all the kind comments and emails for your Long and Short of it All hostess 'Maggie.'  She is still in the hospital dealing with her most recent bout of pancreatitis.  Dad and Joey have gone to visit her every 12 hours this weekend.   She seems to have declined a little while in the hospital, she wouldn't pee last night for us, and no longer sits up and acts excited when we come to visit.  She is on pain meds, anti-nauseants, and IV hydration.  She did poop this morning, it was firm, so that was good, and there was no blood in her stools or anything which happened last time she was in for pancreatitis. 

As far as her lab values go, her liver is messed up pretty bad, and when she is discharged the good veterinarian wants to start her on a neutraceutical with SAM-e in it, says he has seen good results.  Another liver value is pointing to a blockage somewhere, possibly in the gallbladder, so she will also be started on ursodiol for that (Joey is also on ursodiol for his "gallbladder sludge").  And finally, since her pancreatitis has become chronic, we're going to try an antibiotic for 6 weeks that they give humans with chronic pancreatitis.  There are no guarantees that it will do anything, you really can't treat pancreatitis, but we will try. 

The plan was to bring her home on Monday morning, which would be 72 hours in the hospital.  We were to trial her with a few bites of food today, and if she was eating well Monday morning, then she could come home.  She wouldn't eat any of her food this morning though, so she probably won't be home tomorrow.

We're hoping and praying that she turns around quickly.

A Note From Joey and Maggie

Maggie, September 9th, 2011

Your Long and Short of it All hostess 'Maggie' is in the hospital again, took her in yesterday morning.  Her appetite has been decreasing for several months, she often won't eat a meal, or will eat just half a meal; she is fed twice a day.  The last few weeks have been worse, she will skip a meal, and then hardly eat any of the next meal, but then sometimes she would eat a whole meal.  She didn't eat anything at all Wednesday or Thursday - her raw meat, tried plain raw turkey from the grocery store which she likes, tried cooking it, and that seemed to help, and then added some cooked fat free eggs, and she would like that, but only maybe 5 or 6 very small bites - and chewing it instead of gulping it.  Even tried kibble and canned dog food - she wouldn't touch it.

With her Cushing's disease, you would think that maybe she is being overdosed on her meds, which would cause her to not be hungry, but she was also drinking lots of water the last week like a Cushing's dog would do, and even had a few accidents in the house because of it, which is totally not like her. 

So took her in for an ACTH stimulation test to see where her levels are for Cushing's, and also a blood panel.  It turns out that her pancreatitis is back, which Cushing's predisposes her to.  This is bad news because now it seems that her pancreas is becoming a chronic issue. Her diet hasn't varied at all, she gets her low-fat raw food, and low-fat snacks, that's all. 

Not sure how long she'll be in the hospital - her amylase and lipase values are very high, and the vet usually keeps pancreatitis cases in for 4 days with no food, just IV hydration, to let the pancreas rest and hopefully get better.  She was drinking water at home this week though, so maybe she can come home early since she was doing that, and continue her on the no-food for a few more days and then look at her amylase and lipase values again.  Will know more by tomorrow probably.

Her pancreas simply must get better.  Damn Cushing's Disease.

Joey's Big Checkup

We had no update yesterday because it was time for your Long and Short of it All host 'Joey' to have his 6-month checkup at the Veterinary Referral Center.  Regular readers will recall the tough times Joey had last fall.  Almost a year ago, on August 17th, 2010, Joey underwent a risky surgery to have both of his adrenal glands removed.  He had a tumor in each gland that was giving him Cushing's disease, and one of the tumors was so large that it was growing into his vena cava, and would have blocked it completely in about 3 months, and Joey would have passed. 
Although he had about a 60% chance of making it through this risky surgery, he sailed through.  They also removed his spleen, as they saw a nodule on there which could burst over time.  It was the surgical complications which almost did Joey in - a blood clot lodged in one of his lungs the day after surgery, and the second day after surgery, he developed severe pancreatitis as a result of the procedures.  Either of these events could have taken Joey over the bridge.
Every day was touch-n-go for him, but we continued to treat the blood clot, and he wasn't allowed to eat for almost a week because of the pancreatitis.  He started to eat a little again after a week, but the pancreatitis was just too much, and he was fasted for another week, and started on Parenteral Nutrition.  At this point, he simply had to eat and to be able to keep it down, or it would have been all over for him. 
But thanks to all the prayers and support he received from readers here, and from top-notch medical care in the ICU for 2 weeks, he's still with us today.  Dad is still paying off his medical bills, which totaled a nice new mid-size car, but it's priceless to still have Joey around today.
His checkup went very well.  His internest was happy to see how much muscle mass he has gained.  He actually needs to lose a few pounds, weighing in at 25 pounds, when he should be 22 or 23.  Dad isn't feeding him any more, but he is getting older, now that he's 10.5 years old, and could use a reduction in calories.  All his bloodwork came back great.  His alk phos is a little high, pointing to some liver failure, but the internest is not too concerned about it.  His Na/K ratio is good, a sign that his medicine for his Addison's disease (because he has no adrenal glands) is working well (he gets a monthly shot of a drug called DOCP). 
He is fairly stable on his daily prednisone dose, but about once every 4 - 6 weeks he seems to bottom out - he'll start vomiting in the middle of the night, and vomit up all his food and become very lethargic.  A boost in his prednisone seems to help him through the event.  Then we tinker with his dose by increasing it, but then he starts drinking too much water, so we decrease it again.  It's a catch-22.  Humans and animals generate internal steroids via their adrenal glands during times of stress - a fight or flight situation, an illness, or even a nail trim for an Addison's dog, can cause them to have such an event when the body needs more steroids. 
Joey will also continue on his ursodiol for his gallbladder sludge that he developed during the pancreatitis attack.  The vet asked if we wanted to do an ultrasound to look at his gallbladder, but at $350 for the procedure, not sure what we would gain. 
His heart murmur seems to have slightly increased to a 3.5 or 4.  We asked about a cardiology consult, but again, at $500 for the consult, we are going to wait a little longer, or perhaps until he shows some signs of CHF like coughing. 
So, all in all, Joey got a good bill of health yesterday.  If you saw him, you wouldn't know that he had any medical complications at all, he's such a happy boy, tail always wagging.  The bill came to a little over $500, but that included a vial of his DOCP ($160, which will last 4 months), and we had 2 new tumors aspirated, and they are both fatty, so nothing to be concerned about there. 
We just wish Maggie was doing as well in her treatment for Cushing's disease.  Our little girl just isn't happy, and seems to be losing that spark in her eye that we love so well.

Fascinating X-ray Video Reveals How Dachshunds Move

The video starts off with a Pyrenean Shepherd, but quickly goes to a side and rear view of our favorite canine, The Dachshund.  Is he not neutered?  Via the New Scientist:

From Great Danes to dachshunds, dogs can have radically different body types. But now X-ray video is revealing striking similarities between the way different breeds move.
Martin Fischer and colleagues at Jena University in Germany used high-speed X-ray cameras to film hundreds of dogs representing 32 different breeds. Then they compared the footage with 3D motion-capture data to create a precise profile of how each breed walks, trots, and runs.
The team found that during most movements, a dog's shoulder joints stay still. Their forelimbs rotate around the shoulder blade which is connected to the rest of the skeleton by muscles. Thanks to the X-ray view, they also found that the shoulder blade and forearm move in sync, as do the thigh and foot. Therefore if the shoulder blade is parallel to the ground, the forearm is too.
For more X-ray footage of dogs, check out this clip of a dog taking a drink.

Slightly Related:  See Maggie's x-rays at Maggie's Trip to the Vet.

A Note From Joey and Maggie: THE CONE OF SHAME

"Someone, anyone, help me.  I do not like the cone of shame." ~ your Long and Short of it All hostess 'Maggie.'

We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but for today - let's just say that Maggie is too far beside herself to consider updating the blog.  She had a follow-up visit with the vet on Saturday, and it turns out that her incision where her anal tumor was removed has become infected.  She won't leave it alone, so they put on an Elizabethan collar, or as it's better known:  THE CONE OF SHAME.  Turns out another side-effect of Cushing's disease is slow wound healing, and we're sure that the location of the incision isn't helping either.  She has started back up on all her meds post-surgery:  pain meds, oral antibiotics, and also added is an antibiotic lotion which is applied every 12 hours.  Hopefully it will be better in time for the next vet appointment this Saturday. 

All weekend long Maggie has been bumping into things with the collar and getting herself pretty upset.  She can't fit between places that she normally can - i.e., squeezing between the chair and table leg.  She did finally figure out how to drink water with it on.  She even bumped into her brother 'Joey,' who jumped in the air as though a book landed on his head or something.  Thanks for your great support, big brother.

"I'll never forget this as long as I live.  I hold my dad personally responsible.  As sure as the sun rises in the morning, revenge will be mine."

Hhhmpff.

A Note From Joey and Maggie: Maggie is Doing Great!

Maggie relaxing and reading some old Dachshund magazines, May 25, 2011

Thanks so much for all the well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers for your 'Long and Short of it All' hostess Maggie.  She is doing very well after her surgery yesterday for removal of her anal tumor.  Although it was getting pretty large, the tumor was removed relatively easy without any complications according to the good veterinarian.  Dad was surprised at how alert and happy she was when he picked her up from the vets late last night.  She needed to stay very late to get lots of hydration after surgery in hopes of preventing another pancreatitis attack.  After leaving the vets office, she immediately went pee and poop, and she didn't seem to be in any pain at all.  She is on pain meds and antibiotics for several days.  She got 2 small meals when she got home; she was quite hungry, and was letting it be known with loud whines while dad was preparing her dinner.

She also got a dental while she was under anesthesia.  Two teeth were removed.  Troubling is that the veterinarian found a large tumor mass under her tongue.  It was also removed, and will be biopsied along with the anal tumor.  It did not look malignant according to the vet.

So today she is resting after her ordeal.  She's pretty tired, but is keeping one eye open because it's thundering and raining today, so it's hard for her to relax.  Dad did put some Rescue Remedy spray in her breakfast to help her stay calm.  We'll watch her closely over the next few days for any signs of pancreatitis (not eating, vomiting).  No jumping or active play for her for at least a few days.  She needs to go back to the vets in 10-14 days to have the stitches removed.  But for now, she's so incredibly happy to have that tumor off her rear!  Even her brother 'Joey' noticed that it was gone right away.  She's already posturing her tail more normally.

A Note From Joey and Maggie: Maggie's Big Day

Maggie, May 24, 2011

The day has finally arrived - your Long and Short of it All hostess 'Maggie' gets to have her anal tumor removed, so we'll be a little short on the posts for a few days.  She's also going to have a dental while she's under; she's got a slab fracture which will most likely be removed.  It's a risky surgery for her - she's 10.5 years old, she's got Cushing's disease, a heart murmur, and she just had a pancreatitis attack about 2 months ago.  The pancreatitis is what we're worried the most about - surgery can cause pancreatitis to flare up, the same way Joey developed a really bad case after his bilateral adrenalectomy last fall.  Her lipase levels, which indicate pancreas issues, are still about twice normal, but the good vet doesn't see that as an issue - they need to be really high to indicate pancreatitis.   All precautions are being taken to prevent a flare-up, including heavy hydration before and after surgery until almost 8 PM tonight.  She should be able to come home tonight if all goes well. 
In this photo you can see how Cushing's is taking its toll on our Mags.  While she is groomed with a modified cocker cut, her hair stopped growing last fall.  She used to be fully grown out again in about 2 months, but her last cut was in September.   People keep commenting that her hair is turning more brown, but we think that's because it is just so thin from hair loss.  Her legs have been shaved for IV placement from when she was in the hospital for the pancreatitis.  She's also losing the hair on the back of her ears - her skin has become scaly from the Cushing's, and the hair falls out.  And you can't see in this photo, but her stomach is very large - she looks pregnant.  She also has extra fatty deposits around the back of neck.   One of our good friends at our local Dachshund meetup didn't even recognize her in March - she said "This isn't Maggie, is it?"  :(
But the good news is that she's really close to being stabilized on her trilostane treatment for Cushing's.  She had an ACTH stimulation test last week, and her resting cortisol was 2.2 which is right about where we want it, (before it kept coming in at over 10), and her post test cortisol is about 9.5.  We'd like to get that post test number down just a little to maybe 7.5.  So, we upped her medication just slightly.  Hoping to see hair growth and decrease in the pot belly soon, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.  At least she's been very happy and spry since her levels have been good - she runs around the house like a puppy, and when she gets excited she bucks like a little bronco.  We're hoping that her good demeanor is indicative that she's going to sail through this surgery without a single issue, and she will be comfortable enough in her nether region that she can wag her tail at full force once more. 

Who's a pretty girl?

Home, Sweet Home

Thank you for all the prayers and well-wishes for 'Maggie,' because coupled with good veterinary medicine, she has come home and is doing pretty good.  She kept her water down yesterday morning, so she got 2 food trials, and kept everything down all day, and she came home last night about 8 PM!  She's happy to be home, and it's such a relief to have her back after 4 days at the hospital.
She's on a low-fat highly digestible canned prescription food which she eats "ravenously."  She's on tramadol for pain, metronidazole for her lower gi, and famotidine for her tummy.  She didn't rest too much last night - she had diarrhea several times, with a bit of blood in her stools still.  This has her a bit on edge, as she knows the drill about going potty in the house, but Dad is trying to console her that it's OK this time. 
Maggie and Joey will spend the day with good friends while Dad is at work so she can be watched closely.  We have to follow up with the vet to determine the next course we're going to take for her Cushing's, and planning again for removing the troublesome tumor on her anus. 
Thanks again for all your love and support - there's nothing in the world like having your sick little ones back home and feeling better by your side.