If you’ve been following the blog you know that Ruby has been having a tough go at life lately.  It all started when she started would always have her head tilted….like this.

She was having accidents in the house…wouldn’t go upstairs.  She had become at old dog at five years old.

After some testing we found out she was having thyroid issues and started taking the same meds I take!  How weird.  Anyway the vet was worried that there was more wrong and might possibly be Cushing’s Disease.

We have been back and forth to the vet.  Kelli has been fabulous on helping me get her there.  I’m so thankful for her.  Well last week on Monday Kelli took Ruby in three different times.  She had to get a blood draw each time.  Poor girl.  They were testing for Cushing’s.  If you had ever ridden in a car with Ruby, you would know this was a painful process for Ruby.  SHE HATES RIDING IN CARS!!  She pants and whimpers…she hates it.  It’s a painful process for the driver too.

Well Friday the results came back…No Cushing’s.  We’re so happy about that but now it’s time to get the thyroid really under control.

Now her main problem is shedding.  It’s terrible.  She’s fluctuated up and down with her thyroid.  know in people hair loss can be attributed to thyroid levels so I’m guessing it’s true in dogs too.  Look… Continue reading →

I wrote a blog post about Ruby and it was suppose to post today…but I stopped that post as Ruby had to go to the vet yesterday and I decided right now, it was more important to tell about that visit.

In the past few months Ruby has not been herself.  I have gotten lots of comments from readers asking “Where is Ruby?”.  I’ve gotten comments from people saying “I miss Ruby”.  To be honest, I’ve been asking all of those same questions.  Ruby the dog has been living at my house but she’s not been “MY Ruby dog”.

Gradually things with her have been changing.  She doesn’t jump into bed and sleep with me anymore.  She’s more nervous about things than ever.  She has starting having accidents…and nervous peeing when for the most part, she had completely stopped that.  When she goes outside to pee she started peeing on the cement of the patio and not going onto the grass.  She’s gained weight.  She walks so slow and seems too tired when she walks.  When I go to take pictures of her on a quilt, she’s not happy and excited about it.  I hated it.  I simply thought she turned five and had hit that “older” stage of dog.  It was sad.  I missed “MY dog”…but figured it was time I realized she had hit five and wasn’t a frisky girl anymore.

I talked with Kelli and Kalissa about it…Hubby and I talked about it often.  We all kind of agreed that she wasn’t quite herself but chalked it up to old age.  We thought it was kind of early for old age to gotten her but who knows….

Then about a week or so ago I noticed that she was cocking her head all the time.  I asked Hubby to watch her and he agreed she was.  All of the time she would lean her head to the side like this….The other thing she started doing was not knowing her personal space.  I would turn to throw something in the garbage and almost trip on her.  I would be cooking at the stove and she would get tangled in my feet.  This NEVER happened before.

I talked to Kelli and Kalissa and they offered to help me get her to the vet.  Our vet is 45 minutes away but only 15 minutes from Kelli’s house.  Yesterday was her day to go.

I thought maybe she had ear infection…maybe she was having vision problems in one of her eyes.  I was only guessing.

After some testing, we found out this…. Continue reading →