Riley,Thyroid issues, and switching vets.

People close to me know our quest to find a small animal vet for our dogs has been a bit of a challenge recently. Years ago we left our long time vet because she told us the rash our cat had was probably fleas. Uhm, no I knew it wasn't, and in the end it was not. Then there was Devan's EPI battle. When I had to defend my feeding of raw when that vet wanted me to feed a diet primarily made up of potatoes we never went back.

Ranting (fair warning): Riley (My Pitbull) had his thyroid levels checked yesterday. He has lost more weight recently so my guess was he was a little over treated and his thyroid numbers were high. Well we arrive and weighed him...he has lost weight. Something I knew already, but then the tech was sure he had lost over 10lbs cause apparently they have his last weight at 58lbs. He weighed in at 48 yesterday. I told them their weight last June had to be off cause when he was in his prime he was about 60lbs, so last June he probably weighed closer to 54 lbs like the weight last May said. Not to mention he didn't gain 4lbs last May to June so their scale was clearly off. The Vet tech and I proceed to "talk" about it in the lobby. She didn't believe me and I was irritated, so I politely ended the conversation.

Flash forward to my conversation with the Vet on the phone: Riley's blood work comes back perfect, except his thyroid levels are a little high (oh really- shocking) She decides to lower his med dose by 1mg.

Then the vet proceeds to ask me what kind of food I feed him cause he has lost a lot of weight. I didn't even bring up the fact that their scale was wrong...whatever, lol. I told her how much and what he eats. He eats just about 2 1/2+ cups dry and a cup give or take of the homemade food a day. Her response: Well add in another 1/2 cup a day.

Fine I will do, but here are my thoughts on this...

1. My dog hasn't lived to almost 13 with a perfect blood panel because I starve him.

2. If his thyroid is overactive he could still lose weight even if I up his food. As has been the case recently. (For a dog his size and activity level this amount of good quality food should be more than enough) In his prime he weighed around 60-65lbs and only ate 2 to 2 1/2 cups dry food.

3. She should have asked me more questions about the protein and fat levels of his food. I told her the protein level, but she didn't remark to it.

I am going to add in some digestive plant enzymes with pre and probiotics (not because the vet suggested it, which she should have in my opinion). I am hoping with the lower does of thyroid pills and the added enzymes he should put the weight back on. Maybe not though as he is old and trying to get old dogs to gain weight can be a challenge.

Why is it so hard to find a Vet that doesn't treat us like we don't know what we are doing. (Disclaimer: I am already using a different vet for my other dogs, but it was easiest to keep Ri here for his thyroid pills. I stopped using this vet when they turned Peanut away when her spay incision split open.) I understand not every dog owner is super knowledgeable, but a vet should get to know their clients.

Well add this vet to the list of vets I won't use because they assume I am an idiot. I am sorry, but I want the best care for my animals and that means you don't assume we are idiots.

I am too the point now that I am thinking most of my dogs routine care will be taken care of by my horse vets. Stillwater clinic in Absarokee also does small animals and doesn't charge the large town fees like the clinics in Billings. And I love Dr. Olson. She has been great to us and all of our horses! If driving 45 minutes to the vet for routine care is what it takes then so be it. I trust her! Dr. Stacy (my other horse vet) already does my dogs vaccinations and has been great to us in answering questions when we have them. In Emergencies I will use Best Friends here in town, they did a good job for Peanut and pulled her through Parvo.

Ok, rant over :)

Welcome Duchess TWH

 Sometimes things happen when we least expect them too. Not long after we said goodbye to Jess we were approached by a friend in the horse world, who asked us if we would want to consider her horse Duchess as our next horse. We hadn't decided if we were going to get another horse at this point, but she made it very clear Duchess wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so we had all the time we needed to make our decision. We have known Duchess and her owner since 2010 when we first got Pixie. So we made the choice to work with her and get to know her more to see if she would fit in with our family. We started working with her and quickly started to fall in love. I have said for a long long time that I really wanted my next horse to be big and I would love to own another TWH, as Willow has shown me just how much I love the breed. Not only is Duchess a big Tennessee Walking horse, but she had a great mind also!

Last weekend, we had the vet pre-purchase exam done. She got the all clear that she would be good as a trail horse, however due to some conformation flaws she needed to be worked and conditioned to hit the trails. Truly that is with any horse, it doesn't matter if they have perfect conformation they need to be conditioned before hitting the trails for a long ride. So we made the decision, she was going to join the family as a trail horse for us. She will be perfect for me when riding with others that have horses that can move out. Her walk is huge and you can really cover some ground :) I am so excited to hit the trails with my other half and Willow this year (if Spring ever comes). Willow and Duchess will make the perfect trail riding match, they are both big walkers and we can really cover some ground.

When we were looking at buying Willow and I was "test" riding her, I said then "This mare and I are going to have some fun"... the last few weeks with Duchess, I had been thinking the exact same thing about her. Yesterday, Duchess and I rode inside all alone and she was amazing. We kept it short and worked on relaxation. And in the end when I jumped down (somehow forgetting just how far away the ground is, lol) I looked at her and said "We are going to make a great team and we will have fun".

Welcome to the family Duchess. You quickly won our hearts over and we look forward to many years with you!

She really wanted treats, lol.

After our ride. We are riding in just the halter :)

Pixie in background, Willow, Navi, and Duchess

 

Saying Goodbye- Jess

It has been just over 2 weeks since we had to say goodbye to Jess. I thought maybe as time went on I would be able to come up with a post that would justice in remembering him. However, the truth is I still can't. Maybe the day will come when I can, but for now I still can't quite find the words that do him justice. So I will just write this short blog in memory of him...

 He meant the world to us and taught my partner everything she knows about finding a partnership with a horse. I have always been a "mare" person, but at the same time I have always said some times you just can't beat a good gelding. For me that gelding was Jess. He wasn't just good, he was great. He tried his heart out every time we set out to do a job with him. Even though he was bought for my other half, I always enjoyed getting to work with him. My favorite memory of him is when we did the games at the ranch. We went into the arena had fun, and we won a lot of the games. He always took care of us when we rode. Well with the exception of if he was in a muddy bogging place, he hated that and he would buck then. Well and then there was the electric fence incident...he crow hopped good with that also. And then well that one time him and Willow left us to walk home. Oh and when he decided to rush down the mountain with my partner when we took our first trail ride. He wanted to go home. I replay those memories, because I love them just as much as the times he was perfect! Those memories make me smile and laugh because he wasn't always perfect, but he knew his job and did it well.
Simply put there will never be another "Jess" for us. He was a once in a lifetime horse. He is in a better place now. Young and happy. Most likely working cows and eating all the green grass he can get. Our hearts are broken, and time will heal some of the pain. But we will always cherish the sweet memories we have of our boy. A piece of our hearts went with him that day we said goodbye, but he forever lives on in our memories. I will forever cherish the time we had with him.

We sent off tail hair to have bracelets made and will be getting tattoo's also to remember him by.

Rest in peace Jess. We miss you!

My other half, Sarah, riding Jess.