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Postby iluvk9 » June 18th, 2011, 12:33 pm

I guess I just don't understand the entire situation. Sorry. I thought I remember reading Toby was reactive awhile ago. Now he may be in pain and/or ill for an unknown reason. I look at it as two different issues, to be treated separately, even though I realize a dog in pain will be snarky.

Does it go with your philosophy to separate the two issues in your quest for solving health and behavior? Or get a new boyfriend?
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 18th, 2011, 12:51 pm

Not sure what you're asking, sorry. Toby was having issues with people from out of the clear blue and when he really started to feel lousy, we started to think maybe his behavior stemmed from a health problem. The further we delve into his health, the less it seems to have a strong, obvious connection. Right now my goal has simply been to get him feeling better health wise and switching back to Blue Buffalo and getting him eating again before even worrying about tackling any behavior problems.

If he continues to feel better on Blue Buffalo, then I'll start worrying about working with the trainer again. Even if the two *are* related, I can't do much behaviorally until he feels better. As far as behavior, I don't think it's going to magically go away. I am preparing for the worst case scenario in which I will have to work with Kathy Cascade extensively. It may be that or Toby may need a few sessions and we can work on it from there and there may even be a fluke possibility that after feeling better that he won't have any more behavior problems. I'm certainly NOT counting on the latter happening, but at this point, I'm not too sure what's going on inside Toby.

All I know right now is that he is eating and obviously feeling better and that's what makes me the happiest. We'll tackle any behavioral problems when we get there. :)

And as far as getting a new boyfriend... that's not happening. :lol: I happen to really like this one. ;)
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Postby amalie79 » June 18th, 2011, 3:19 pm

I know you've worked with Kathy before so I'm sure you know this... I just heard from folks who attended her seminar and said she was amazing. I've been out of town so I missed it. Good to know you have someone good in your corner and close by. We think some of Simon's stranger danger as well as some of the odd aggro toward us stemmed from pain. Robin was recently ill and uncharacteristically snapped at us so it's definitely possible it's related. Hopefully you can figure out what's going on.
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Postby TheRedQueen » June 18th, 2011, 9:08 pm

I'm tacking this old thread on to this thread, for those that don't remember where all of this started with Toby and his human interaction issues:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=34655
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 18th, 2011, 10:12 pm

Good idea Erin, thanks!

I really hate to post this (and hopefully it's okay to post here since it's been approved), but even if Toby's energy and all stays up, I'm still going to have to pay Kathy Cascade $45 per session. These vet bills (nearly $300) have set me far far back on my budget. I moved into a one bedroom house because of Toby's behavioral problems so I'm paying a lot more now than I used to. I owe my Grandma $200 because I spent that money that I was paying her back with on Toby's bills. I've been working as many hours as I can get and in the fall I'll be getting my student loan money and can finally breathe easy as I'll use it for all of my rent and other education related expenses. But until mid August, I'm scraping by pay check to pay check. I've already borrowed money from my grandma and my parents can't afford to help me out right now.

If anyone can donate anything, even $5, I would really really appreciate it. Heck, if you want, I'll even pay you back at the end of August! I'll do a custom drawing of your dogs for donations. I'm not looking for handouts, I can give you something in return or I can pay you back in a few months. In fact, I would love to have a reason to draw any of your dogs! I'll show receipts of Care Credit payments/Kathy Cascade payments, anything I spend it on.

Please if you can help at all, visit this thread
http://pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=35350
-Kristen
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 19th, 2011, 10:46 am

Yesterday Toby was a little more sleepy than usual but still better than a week ago. Definitely getting his thyroid checked still, ASAP. I think actually eating again is making him feel a little better, but something is still off about him. Still haven't been around anyone other than myself, taking Liz's advice to heart. :)
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Postby TheRedQueen » June 20th, 2011, 9:41 am

Is he still on the rimadyl? Any better?
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 20th, 2011, 11:09 am

He hasn't had any Rimadyl since Thursday morning (we wanted to see how much of a change eating again would do for him) and he has been feeling pretty good! Much more playful, actually wags his tail at me again, eating is his favorite part of the day... Pretty much old Toby. He still relaxes a lot, our house is a little warm these days, this window unit isn't the most effective thing in the world. But his relaxing isn't the same as his lethargy. He has no problem getting up and moving around (whereas before he would move very very slowly) and he isn't stretching every few minutes. When he wasn't eating much Diamond and was really lethargic, he would get up to stretch a LOT.
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 20th, 2011, 9:12 pm

Today he was very playful. While I was watching a movie, he was grumbling at me wanting to play. After eating both his meals very excitedly from his wobbler (one am and one pm, not at the same time. Haha), I decided he probably felt good enough to go for a walk. He loved it! Town is dead right now and campus is even more dead, plus it's really spacious so we don't have to have any close encounters with people. He viewed people from a distance but always with a relaxed posture and I really worked on solidifying "look" even more with the clicker. He's doing really well in that department.

Great walk, great spirits today, it's just been a good day all around! Time to relax this evening. =)
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » June 20th, 2011, 9:34 pm

Good update! :-)
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Postby pitsnok » June 21st, 2011, 8:38 pm

I will say, this still sounds so much like a thyroid issue.
When we first noticed something was up with Harlow she was really ... lazy. She didn't seem lethargic necessarily, but she was NOT her typical bouncing off the walls self. She was also pretty 'grumpy' for lack of a better word. Just a little less playful with Degan, and had less patience than she normally does. She also was shivering a lot...like she was FREEZING at all times. This was in the winter so we just thought she was cold, but realized it was actually because of her thyroid.
The biggest similarities I'm seeing though, are how you say Toby seems to be 'hurting' a bit, and his weird appetite. Harlow wouldn't eat out of her bowl, but she would take a piece of food from our hands or would eat it off the floor. It was bizarre. Like she had no interest in eating whatsoever if her food was in a bowl. She also had gained a little weight, but not enough that we had really noticed it. She wasn't jumping up on furniture like normally, which could have been attributed to her lethargy, or to weight gain, I'm not sure which was the actual culprit.
The other symptoms we realized she had once the vet pointed them out were little 'blackhead' looking bumps on her neck area and under her chin. I am pretty sure the vet said they were actually 'clogged sebaceous glands', but don't quote me on that. She has almost no hair at all on her chest and neck so we just thought she had blackheads, or dirt on her neck. Also her hair was duller, and thinner in some places. But like I said, it wasn't enough that we had noticed it until our vet pointed it out.

Anyway, keep on with the updates. I'm glad to hear Toby has improved!
~Brittany, Degan and Harlow's mom


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Postby Tubular Toby » June 21st, 2011, 8:44 pm

Thanks Brittany. =) I am definitely getting a thyroid test done as soon as I can. It does sound eerily similar. Thanks for the details.
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 21st, 2011, 9:15 pm

Just wanted to add that I also want to get Toby's eyes checked. It's a thought that I keep coming back to and after talking with Erin, I've decided to look into it a little further. So, thyroid and eyes! Calling CareCredit and the vet tomorrow to figure out if I can do it right now.
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 22nd, 2011, 11:51 am

I have great news!!! No, Toby isn't cured, but I called Care Credit and I have six months to pay it off interest free. That is TOTALLY manageable for me. I called the vet and we have an appointment today at 3:30 to have the thyroid test done. :bounce:

As of right now, I don't need anymore donations. I can cover this thanks to Care Credit. Thanks to everyone for your support in dealing with this. I don't know how I would manage without you guys!
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Postby TheRedQueen » June 22nd, 2011, 2:09 pm

Yea!

Glad you're doing thyroid and eyes...good luck at the vet, keep us updated!
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » June 22nd, 2011, 2:29 pm

Woot! Fingers crossed for you!!!
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 22nd, 2011, 4:45 pm

The thyroid test was only $30!!!! And I'll be getting the results today or tomorrow at the latest.

The tech was like "He is really sweet, it's so bizarre what you're describing. He's not a problem at all in here."

Yeah... Let me take the muzzle off and let him get comfortable here and then see how he does.... lol
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Postby hugapitbull » June 22nd, 2011, 6:00 pm

Sounds like you had a pretty good day!

Duke has always had to be muzzled at the vet until his last checkup. The main tech came in and decided she could handle him without the muzzle. And amazingly enough, it worked. Duke grumbled a bit but she talked to him and held him while the other tech took the blood samples and gave the shots. There is hope for all our grumpy dogs not needing muzzles forever :)
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Postby TheRedQueen » June 22nd, 2011, 6:06 pm

Tubular Toby wrote:The thyroid test was only $30!!!! And I'll be getting the results today or tomorrow at the latest.

The tech was like "He is really sweet, it's so bizarre what you're describing. He's not a problem at all in here."

Yeah... Let me take the muzzle off and let him get comfortable here and then see how he does.... lol


:shock: Wow! What a deal!
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
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Postby Tubular Toby » June 23rd, 2011, 1:21 pm

Thyroid "within the normal range"... :sad3:

I'm going to pick up a copy of his test results when I get a chance.
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