It's funny how a camera angle can make a 7 lb Chihuahua look three times his normal size, isn't it? Wilbur was also on the van to Burlington last week for a check-up with our internal medicine specialist at Peak, Dr. Dani Rondeau. In the photo that's Dani doing a physical on him. Wilbur has been on blood pressure medication for quite a while, and to keep on top of it, we've been trying to monitor his blood pressure at home using a device called a PetMAP.
There's only one problem with this particular monitor: It is extremely sensitive to motion, so keeping an animal absolutely still is necessary to get accurate readings. As we've discovered, when you have an animal like a little Chihuahua who trembles, particularly when something is being done to him (like putting a blood pressure cuff on him and inflating it), it is difficult to get accurate readings. He can be perfectly still, i.e., not moving, but trembling slightly, and that throws it off. Last weekend I was getting consistently high blood pressure readings on Wilbur, and wanted Dani to use their Doppler monitor (a different type that is less sensitive to motion) to see if what I was getting were spurious results.
Fortunately, his readings at the clinic were lower than what I was getting on the PetMAP, which means his blood pressure medication is still at the right dosage.
You may remember that Wilbur had bladder stone surgery back in November. One unintended consequence of this is he is now pretty much incontinent, which sometimes happens after this kind of problem. Wilbur can still go "on command," but other times he just pees and seems to have no idea he's doing it. One evening when we were checking his blood pressure, Alayne was sitting back in a chair holding him on her chest, and he just let loose and peed all over her. He didn't even seem to notice. (Although someone else did.) Not much at this point we can do about it, other than getting some itty bitty doggie diapers for this fellow!
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2014 Shelter Challenge Underway
The first round of the Shelter Challenge for 2014 is underway and runs until March 30th. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584. We've won thousands of dollars in the previous contests, so your daily votes do bring in serious money for our disabled animals!
Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.
Thanks for your votes!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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