Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Never a Dull Moment!

There's never a dull moment around here!  Last evening when I got home I noticed a little bit of swelling around Sheba's eye.  This morning she looked like she'd gone a few rounds with a prize fighter!  Carl took her to the vet who thinks Sheba lost a battle with a spider.  She was due for a yearly exam anyway, so since she was there, they popped up the hood and checked everything else.  Dogs testing positive for lyme disease isn't uncommon in this area, and for the first time Sheba tested positive for it.  She's not showing any symptoms of the illness so we'll do a round of 30 days of antibiotics and hope that'll take care of it. I hope the medications that she has for her eye will take care of that too.

I don't know that I've mentioned that Sheba is our youngest Golden at six years old.  Given up by her owners because she needed hip surgery, (that they couldn't afford) she came to us via the rescue in the fall of 2006 at almost a year old as a foster dog.  Sheba always has something in her mouth and with people she is affectionate and leans and melts into you when you pet her.  But around dogs that she doesn't know she can be bossy and wants to be top dog.  There was a time after we adopted her that I thought I was going to have to return her to the rescue because she was picking fights with the other dogs, which resulted in trips to vet for the other dogs.  However with some good outside help and the dogs figuring it all out, (and Sheba getting LOTS of exercise) she found her place within the peking order, but not at the top--Rudi is our top dog, and Sheba, I can tell has a lot of respect for her.  Sheba's favorite playmates are CarrieAnne and Charlie who thinks we got her just for him--He loved her from the minute she first came to us, and that has never changed--For either one of us--Even with a swollen eye!

30 comments:

  1. oh, sweet baby prize-fighter! wow. the lyme disease is scary, although I know if caught early, the antibiotics can whip it. i hope. :)

    i like that charlie thinks you got him a dog! :)

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  2. Oh she is so sweet! I hope her eye is doing okay. I can see why you love her so. She is just adorable! Really like your blog.

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  3. OH dear, poor Sheba! I hope she gets cured soon from that horrible disease.

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  4. You're not kidding. There is always something when you have multiple critters. Hope her eye improves quickly. We don't have a lot of lyme disease here...one more thing to worry about. You and your husband take such good care of the pups~

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  5. Hey there Kim
    I'm sorry to hear about Sheba's demise. Hopefully it will heal up nicely. Spider bites can take quite a while to heal. Our Toffee had one a few weeks ago and I was totally dismayed. My first thought was 'mast cell tumour' (after Max's episode), because it looked exactly the same. In the end, the lump erupted, formed a scab and fell off. But each spider is different. Hope all will be well with Sheba....she looks a dear.
    But yes, I understand, Goldens can be tricky at times.
    Sending lotsaluv
    MAXMOM IN SOUTH AFRICA

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  6. You can be sure that Sheba and family will be getting wafts of encouragement from this side of the Atlantic.

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  7. Poor Sheba! Do you have poisonous spiders?

    I hope her eye clams down soon, and the Lyme Disease is sent on its way.

    xx

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  8. So beautiful dog your Sheila......happy day love Ria.....

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  9. What did they do to help her eye?

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  10. Hi Kim. Poor Sheba. I hope she feels better soon. I love to hear about how the dogs got to be with you and the details on each one. Slowly I'm getting to know them... I know they keep you busy and entertained :)

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  11. I worry about Lyme disease for my kids too.What a good girl! Sitting there posing with her sore eye...give her a little extra goodie for me, okay?...:)JP

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  12. Poor pup! Her eye looks so sore! I send a little kiss for her sweet nose and hope that all is better soon!! xx

    xo Catherine

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  13. Spiders and bees - we all need to be careful, humans and canines alike. I think my clan has finally figured out that no good comes from catching bees. I hope Sheba heals soon and has no lasting effects from lime disease.

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  14. Woof! Woof! Golden Healing Thoughts to you Sheba. Most of the time "dogs" are misunderstood ... with proper LOVE, caring n training they get better. Sheba is very fortunate to spend her life in the Golden Pines. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  15. Poor Sheba. Very interesting how your pack finds it's own harmony in it's own time. Sometimes the path can be rough. Charley deserves his own girlfriend. Sheba may be be high maintenance, but she it a beauty.

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  16. I actually look like that when I get bitten by spiders too...anywhere on my body! I react very badly to them indeed. I hope Sheba's eye clears up soon and that the Lyme disease goes away!

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  17. What a sweet girl, you two have such a lovely family.

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  18. Oh Poor Sheba. Lucy, our little Chihuahua/Pomeranian who went to the bridge a couple years ago, used to love to hunt for bigs. What else can you hunt when you're so little? She was stung several times and I always checked for swollen eyes and nose. Hope she's feeling better soon.

    You're right that with large packs like our, life never gets dull.
    Sue

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  19. Oh my - wouldn't you love a dull moment? That looks mighty familiar. K has deadly reactions to tick and spider bites, and they often start like that. But, in her, they rapidly become hives and general facial swelling. So, we have a syringe of stuff for emergencies, and she wears a tick collar.

    Oh yes, and I don't tolerate spiders in my house anymore... But, I capture them and take them outside rather than smushing them.

    I hope that Sheba recovers well from the bite and from Lyme disease. It sounds like you caught the Lyme disease very early which is a very good thing!

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  20. Sheba and I could be twins...we are both blonde and both have a swollen eye. Mine from a stinkin' sinus cold! Who knew!!!

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  21. I hope Sheba`s eye heals nicely.
    My sheltie,Maggie,has lyme disease even tho I had her vaccinated for it.She now has to take a pill for her kidneys & milk thistle for liver support.She`ll be 9 this year,but she still acts goofy like a puppy & is doing fine on her meds & Hill`s KD prescription dog food.Of course the other shelties believe they have to eat Hill`s too,& it`s expensive!phyllis

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  22. Poor baby, she is so cute though. That happened to Soldier last year. He looked just like that.--Inger

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  23. she does look like she has been in a fight and came worse off, poor girl...

    Gill in Canada

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  24. She is gorgeous..even with that poor eye! I love these goldens so much too! You have a great Easter weekend. :D

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  25. I sure hope her eye heals up quickly and that the antibotics take care of everything else!

    Thanks for visiting my blog and I look forward to reading yours and I look forward to your comments!

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  26. Thank goodness the Lyme Disease was caught early. Hope the eye heals quickly. The stink bug infestation would drive me nuts if I knew there would inevitably be a return in several months. How awful for all of you.

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  27. I am sending healing bubbles of love to Sheba.
    Sweet little girl with a boo boo spider bite,, and the ticks stuff,,,
    we keep our paws crossed the antibiotocs work perfect and fast!
    love
    tweedles

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  28. Oh no Sheba!! Heal fast sweetie pie, so you can play with your pals again soon :) We've had more hooman than furrie lyme disease noticed around here... And, I had a reaction to some sort of brush or branch a while back that gave me a trememdous eye redness and swelling. Take good care there :)

    Sweet hugs,
    Sierra Rose

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  29. Bless her. Thanks for the hilarious Royal wedding spoof ! Loved it xx

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Speak--I really enjoy your comments! Thanks for stopping by today!!