Surgery

Muffin had surgery the other day. Don't worry...it was minor surgery. She's been getting those skin tags(look like a bump) all over since she's gotten older. Well, couple years ago we got a few cut off(another minor surgery). The bump tumor decided to grow on her lower eyelid. Finally it just got to big to deal with and had to get it removed. Now that she's home she has to wear one of those CONES around her neck. She is not pleased about it!!! Here is a video of her not too happy about it. I gave her a piece of Turkey to ease her PAIN. LOL




She's so funny, she forgets her pain when food is around. She is all better, just getting use to her Cone. She's putting up with it! She keeps running into things(doorways and such). Here some pixs of her before(with the tumor)and after(with the cone).

Busy with the YUCK

Been busy with the extreme "Gross" factor around here. Remember THIS POST along time ago? Almost one of my first posts. Well, turns out we still have that problem and it wasn't an easy fix at all.

We recently brought Muffin to the Vet because her fur was falling out by her ear. I knew she had problems and I still suspected she had some infestation of some kind. So, we finally went to another vet. Actually it is the place we use to work(Pet hospital). They got us in right away and Muffin had a multitude of problems.

She is getting treated for MANGE! GROSS! There is four different kinds of mange. The one she might have(Long story) is Sarcoptic Mange. Which is one of the easier one to treat but hard to diagnose. Thus, why we think she might have mange. The vet did a scrapping and it was negative but usually it's really hard to get a scrapping from the animal and see the mange. So, if the dog has all the symptoms of Mange they treat it even without a positive test.

It's really weird she would get mange but maybe she caught it by going to the groomer? That is the only place I could think she would pick it up. She's never around other dogs at all.

If you don't know what mange is, your lucky(LOL) but Mange is a mite that burrows into the dogs skin and lays eggs. This can cause extreme itching, skin irritation, hair loss etc...... and they can effect humans and bite but can't live off a human(sometimes called: Scabies). I haven't seem to been effected but did get some bites on me that I thought was caused by mosquito. Happened right after I combed muffin too.

I am still not convinced she has mange. I am seeing things in her fur, visible to the eye and that wouldn't be Mange. My vet says it can be skin droppings from her itching and sore skin. Will see. Muffin had a shot(can't remember the name off hand)and in two weeks will go for a second shot. If the skin clears up than we will know it was mange. Until than I have to clean, clean, and clean and disinfect the house. Make sure all Muffin's bedding and favorite hang out spots are treated and cleaned so she doesn't get reinfected.

I wish I would have gave her frontline PLUS all year around. I will do that from now on for sure. I have read on the Internet and even the vet confirms this....that frontline will kill most any parasite, infestation and PREVENT them from ever happening. I do give her frontline Plus but usually only during wood tick season. It's going to be year round from now on, so no more bugs!!!

I am so grossed out.................and I feel really badly. I haven't given Muffin any HUGS and Kisses since the treatment. Too scared now of getting BUGS! LOL! Poor muffin she's depressed about it and I won't let her sleep near me either. At least not til her mange clears up(or if it does)???

On top of all Muffin's problems she also had conjunctivitis again and multiple ear infections. She's on all kinds of pills. The poor thing! Ear drops, Eye drops, antibiotics, allergy pills. She is not a happy doggie!

That's why I haven't blogged in awhile or visited blogs. I did peak at every one's blogs ...just didn't have time to make comments and such. Cuz, besides all this my mom is still in the hospital(but out of ICU), we are right in the middle of finishing up the porch(finally my time to help with painting and all that)and it's just been crazy.

To think July is coming up and that is our crazy busy month. Aaron bday, July 4th, and city celebrations, family visits etc.....................just alot going on and we haven't been able to take Aaron camping yet this season. We do have to make time for that soon. Hope we can fit it all in.

Sorry just rambling about all the stress. On happier front, the porch is coming along really well. Almost done(with the inside, still have to finish the deck part). Wow, we painted and it looks so different. To add to the stress, the paint I picked out I didn't end up liking. Not sure if I will change it yet? It looks too minty green in the sun. Not really the look I was hoping for, but might try a darker shade of it tomorrow. We did decide to do the ceiling white, and the trim white. We picked out baseboard, and crown molding. I got to say, the porch looks more like a 4 season than a screen by the time were done with it. Which is what we were aiming for so that's a good thing!

Muffin is having a Bad Day

Guess what we were doing this afternoon(Monday)? Yup.......at the Vet getting Muffin a bandage for her paw. We were gone Sunday all day and got home and she had chewed up her paw. She has moles or warts on her......and the one on her paw is bad. It started bugging her and she decided to chew on it all day. Needless to say by the time we got home it was red and sore and bleeding. By the end of the night she was gimping on her paw and holding it up in the air. Trying to tell us it hurt. Poor Shih Tzu!!! So we went to the vet and we are getting the moles removed. Plus, having her teeth cleaned. That will be next Tuesday for minor surgery. In the meantime, the Vet gave us this bandage so she wouldn't pick at her mole further. I am pretty glad to remove these wart/moles...as they were looking pretty gross and looked uncomfortable. Here is Muffin looking pretty upset about the whole thing. Ha! At least she didn't have to wear the cone over her head. She hates those cones and always gets them off her head somehow. This bandage has worked great! Check out the JOY on this Shih Tzu's face:

Yeah, I think she's mad! Mad Shih Tzu! On top of it all.........she has a grooming appointment tomorrow. She's going to have a tough week. Can you tell she needs a groom job? she's a furball mess! Wish Muffin Luck for next week!

Happy Birthday to MUFFIN!

THIS IS OUR SIGN FOR THE CHERISHED FRIEND OF THE HOUSE, OUR DOGGIE: MUFFIN!



It's Muffin's birthday today! She was a winter puppy! She is 9 years old .......my little fur baby is 9 years old!!! I love my doggie! She is the best! We picked her out of a litter of shih tzu pups. If we would have gotten to the breeder just a few moments before....we would have went home with a totally different dog. I am so happy we were late. I wanted a chocolate/darker colored shih tzu...and some lady got there before us and picked the only chocolate color one. IT was so docile and friendly. The breeder was trying to talk the lady out of picking that dog/as they had a child and she thought it would be too docile for kids. No go tho/the lady wanted that dog. So I thought I better choose a dog. There was only one other sorta chocolate color one/but she had alot of white fur(more white than I wanted). She was also the opposite of the docile dog-she was pushing around the other pups in the litter. Fighting for the puppy food, and really really spunky wild, and when I went to pick her up she hid behind the laundry basket that was near.~hee! In fact, she was the "bully" of the pack along with a male sibling of hers. I didn't want a male dog, that I knew. So she was the only other choice. Needless to say, we went home with her that night. To this day, she is the Ultimate cuss......and a DIVA....and a bully and we wouldn't have it any other way. I guess that breeder lady was right, the spunky ones are the fun ones. Hee! Muffin turned out more white in color than I wanted but hey, as you can see from these puppy photos. There coloring changes with age anyways. The above sign says it all: We spoil her rotten, and she DEMANDS it anyways!~hee! I love that sign, it was a gift from Doug's sister/brother-in-law when we bought Muffin.

Here some cherished puppy photos of Muffin. I have this frame hanging next to the shih tzu spoiled plak and muffin's shih tzu calendar in our home. You can tell these pixs were taken BEFORE digital camera. LOL! I also scanned the image in crooked, sorry!

I like these photos of Muffin as a puppy. I tried to get aot of side profiles and different angles with these puppy photos. My fav. is the one with her puppy paw up close to her face. Really can see her cute puppy pads on that one and cute mug face.

Muffin had the topknot in and a cute bow. I used to really "primp" and "groom" her to the max. After she grew out of her baby fur, I didn't do so much anymore with her topknots. As her fur got too thick and she look like "jabba the Hut" with too much fur. So we opted to groom her short and do away with topknots forever. Plus, that was BEFORE Aaron. As soon as he was born the grooming session really went out the door.~hee Poor Muffin! I am really impressed at how she has grown use to Aaron and now they are best buds. She is really good with him and misses him when he is gone. She is pretty protective of Aaron. Aaron and Muffin have this "relationship" with each other. It's really cute! Aaron is in charge of giving Muffin her treats. Now, Muffin is getting pay back for all those cussing moments with us. Now Aaron gives her the treats but makes her work really hard for them/as he runs away with her treats and taunts her with them. LOL!

Here are some more Puppy Photos I found of Muffin. All these are my favorite of Muffin as a puppy. The cute ones with the topknot, eating her puppy food, beating up all her toys-she was really super hyper and played, played than crashed really hard(sleep). The closeup of her face is funny too. When we bought her from the litter-they just let the puppies fur grow out. Shih tzus get this cute fan shape fur/on their face. Later it grows into a beard and mustache moo choo shape.

Happy 9th bday Muffin......YOUR THE BEST!!!