DOG-gone-it

They shed. They mess up your yard. They get into things.

But...

They love you unconditionally. They never get mad at you. The bring so much joy.

DOGS.

We have 2 of them. Dougan & Gracie. They are 7 year old black labs, and are litter mates. From the same litter, however very different.

Gracie loves to be around people. If you're by her and not petting her, she isn't shy to put her snout in your hand in an effort to get a pet or 2 from you. Dougan is the opposite. He prefers being on our bedroom floor all by himself, away from everyone

However, both of our dogs are great with kids. Carsen practically rides them like you would a pony. They have never growled at either of our kids. Our kids come first, but our dogs are definately a part of our family, too.

A few weeks ago I noticed Gracie was peeing straight blood. The next week she was put on an anti-biotic to cure a bad bladder infection. 2 weeks later when she was re-tested, it was found that she still had the infection. The vet did an xray, and discovered that she had bladder stones. They put her on a special diet, hoping the diet would shrink the stones, which would then allow the infection to go away.

This past Sunday, Gracie started acting sick. She wouldn't eat or drink, and wasn't able to urniate. Monday she got worse, and Monday night was terrible. She was panting so loudly that Keith & I couldn't sleep. She was shaking so badly that I honestly thought she might die.

I frantically called the vet first thing on Tuesday, and they said to bring her in immediately. After an exam, it was determined that Gracie was healthy. However, one of the stones had become lodged as it was tryig to pass. When she wasn't able to urinate, toxins were being released into her body making her sick.

The vet was able to dislodge the stone back up into her bladder. However, there was a chance that this would happen again and again and again. So they recommended immediate surgery to remove them. We knew the surgery was expensive, but it was also peace of mind knowing the problem was taken care of.

We've spent nearly $1000 the past couple weeks on Gracie for vet bills. Some people say "they're only dogs, why would you do this?". These people have obviously never HAD a dog. Dougan & Gracie are part of our family. When we adopted them 7 yaers ago, I feel as though we made a commitment to take care of them. There was no option. Gracie deserved to have the surgery.

Here are some of the stones that were removed from her bladder. The penny isn't an indication of how much it costs... it's just to show you the size. :)

I'm so glad that our little Gracie girl is going to be ok. Dougan is glad to have her home and healthy too. She's still a little tired, but she's definately on the road to recovery.

Don't mind her sleepy look in this photo. She's pretty drugged. :)

I'm also very thankful for Dr Trandem at the Faribault Vet Clinic. He called me a few times to give me an update on Gracie b/c he knew I was worried about her.

Gracie is still recovering at home, but I'm confident she'll be back to her normal, spunky self in a few days.