Erlina

Erlina as a Monster Dog.

Ready to Attack

The Attack

Erlina is doing quite well. She has just finished a 4 month course of the the antibiotic Amikacin, by injection every day. The maximum recommended course of Amikacin is 7 days because it is toxic to the kidneys. By checking her kidney function 3 times a week for the first 2 months and twice a week for the last 2 months we were able to continue the drug more or less safely.

Now the waiting begins. If the infection returns, there is not much more we can do and the story will end sadly. If the infection does not return, we continue on with the story of the Platinum Princess ! Prayers, good thoughts, candles lit, and glasses of Guinness raised in her honor will all be appreciated.

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

That Darn Wascally Wabbit

The pups (here Rhiannon and Keva) are entertained and excited by a rabbit that appears to have no sense, or perhaps a very good understanding of chain-link fences. The rabbit keeps coming back to eat the clover in the grass right next to their pen. The dogs go completely nuts, but the rabbit does not pay any attention to them, which makes them more nuts.

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

The win picture

Here is the win picture from the Group 1 win about which I posted last time.
Oisin is wonderful, I look like I lost a bar fight.

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

Oisin - a Group 1 at Genesee County Kennel Club Show 5/21/11

Oisin

Oisin and Bill went to the Genesee County (MI) Kennel Club Show on Saturday 5/21. Oisin took Best of Breed in Irish Wolfhounds and was advanced to the Hound Group Competition.

At dog shows, each breed is judged against others in the breed and the winner, Best of Breed, then competes against all other dogs in their group that have won their Best of Breed. Irish Wolfhounds, like Afgan Hounds, American Foxhounds and others, are part of the Hound group.

First Prize Ribbon in Group

Now, we would like to say that this was a usual and uneventful win, but not so.
As Bill was leading the group out onto the ring, at full speed as IWs are wont to do, Oisin bumped his left leg behind his right. Both feet stopped, the rest of him did not. Boom, crash, Bill made a not-so-graceful landing on his face on the concrete. Oisin, loyal hound he is, stayed nearby. After a brief intermission where the judge and others got the bleeding stopped and took the broken pieces of Bill's glasses out of his face and applied an ice-pack, the competition resumed.

Because Bill won the Hound Group, he stayed for the Best in Show competition, which he did not win. Then there was an hour drive home, a half-hour drive to the ER and a 2 hour fun time in which he was x-rayed (left hand/wrist), CAT scanned (head), stitched (face) and sent home.

He is quoted as saying, "Sure I have a headache, but it was worth it."

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

No news is good news

Just a quick note to say all is progressing well here. Erlina continues on the Amikacin and we added Rifampin (another rare antibiotic) and continue to hope against hope. She has more energy and is interacting well with the other wolfhounds, who are much more accepting of her (probably because she is older and behaving less like a monster).

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

Spring is here at last ?

The flowers are blooming. Does that mean spring is here at last ?
Well..............a definite maybe.
Of course, spring does not mean that we are done with the snow, but it usually means that the snow will not stay long.

(Now, you may notice my ambivalence. If I were to say "Spring IS HERE" and then it snowed again, Michelle would blame me for the snow. So I will just say "maybe.")Myrna (top) and Riona certainly enjoy the new grass and the warmer weather.

As does Erlina, who has another uti.

If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com

News - Erlina is home again.

If no news is good news, then.... news is not so hot.

Erlina just came home from the hospital...again.

She was on long term treatment with Baytril, one of the few antibiotics that would treat her persistent kidney infection, except, it stopped working. A urine culture showed that the same bug was present, but now it was sensitive to only one commonly used antibiotic, Amikacin. However a 6 hour frantic search for Amikacin turned up the information that the manufacturer is no longer making it. We called people all over the country and had them looking for it.

Amikacin is a very good antibiotic for rare bugs. It can cause kidney damage and hearing loss if it is not monitored well.

We found ONE compounding pharmacy in the country that would make up the Amikacin injection for us:

Olympia Compounding Pharmacy
6700 Conroy Road
Orlando, FL 32835

407-426-9944

OlympiaPharmacy.com

With one hour before closing, they put together our order and shipped it overnight to the hospital. Applause to them !

Erlina has now been on the Amikacin for 3 doses and is back to her bouncy self.

You might want to make a note of Olympia's address and tell your vet, just in case he/she needs some Amikacin for your dog, or someone else's


If you want to comment, please send an email to:william {at} HoundsOfHeaven.com,or go to our website: www.HoundsOfHeaven.com