Updated Post on Warts with Pictures

In case you were wondering, I finally added old pictures of Ruki's lip warts that she got when she was about 7 months old. Gross, but anything for the sake of science. :)

The Value of VPI Pet Insurance

Shortly after we brought Ruki home, I decided that it might be worth it to get pet insurance. I didn't do much research, but ended up choosing the VPI Pet Insurance Superior Plan. The yearly premium ended up being $388 a year. 

Pricey, yes, but bulldogs are pricey. Over the 16 months that we've had Ruki, we've spent nearly $2,000 on vet visits. But we've received $567 back from VPI. Maybe it doesn't sound like much, but we've gotten our premium back and have the peace of mind that if something serious happens, we'll get help in the costs. And, going forward, we hope to have less vet visits as we learn more about Ruki's needs and problems and more about what we can do *before* heading to the vet. 

We spent $600 on our initial visits to the vet: the first one robbed us for $440--we just didn't know better, so afterwards we switched vets (to Fresh Pond Animal Hospital, which has been great). These were before we got insurance, so we got no help on those. 

We had Ruki spayed at 6 months--that cost us $227. VPI only covered $32 of that.  

But then Ruki had a brief seizure, had pyoderma (bumps), caught pneumonia, and then had allergies (more bumps!). Over those four visits, VPI covered about 30% of the total costs. 

Again, I don't know if this is highway robbery--I've heard that VPI is supposed to cover about 90% of your costs, but I haven't yet called and inquired about why we're not getting that much. It's just a consequence of being busy. 

The take-home? I think the VPI Insurance Superior Plan is worth it. Bulldogs are expensive, and they will have health problems.  Every little bit of help counts--especially with the added comfort that if something really serious happens, you're going to get some coverage. I'd consider maybe switching to a cheaper plan once she's "stabilized" and we understand her medical needs, but for maybe the next year or two we'll stick with this one. 

(Ruki's thanking me right now for all her vet visits; she's underneath my desk leaning on my legs.)

Bulldog Food Recommendation: California Natural's Lamb and Rice

Ruki started on Eukanuba Puppy from the breeder. Shortly after we got her, we switched her to Innova Puppy, and when she was about 9 months we switched her to Innova Adult. Then at about 14 months, she started developing allergies (and a whole host of other problems). We calmed down the allergies (with a rice and water bland diet), and then switched her to California Natural's Lamb and Rice formula.

With the Innova, one of the problems might have been exacerbated by the fact that she was wolfing down her food, with no chewing. She'd swallow the food, and then spend some time snorting and snuffling food that might have gotten caught in her trachea or nose. So it might have had something to do with the small pellet size. I looked around for larger pellet sizes, and eventually gave up. (I didn't want to switch to Royal Canin Bulldog formula--even though it has a specially shaped pellet (curved like an "s"), I wanted to stick with the Natura brand and its reputation and quality.) 

But Ruki chews her California Natural's. So it may be that the pellet size is just big enough to encourage her to do that. Or it's so tasty that she has to chew and relish the flavor. :)

And no allergies! The Innova Adult was mostly chicken and turkey. The prevailing theory seems to be that baby animals don't have a well-developed immune system, and therefore can develop allergies in the confusion of fighting off disagreeable foods. So if you expose baby animals to a wide variety of foods when they're young, they might develop allergies when they're little--as opposed to encountering these foods when they're older and can fight off any disagreeability and not develop allergies.

That's why after dogs develop allergies, you look to "novel protein" diets--meats that they might not have encountered when younger, like lamb, duck, ostrich, and buffalo. 

So the takehome: Stick with one or two proteins when they're puppies so they don't develop allergies, and consider switching to California Natural's to encourage them to chew their food.

(I have to note that Ruki's 16 months, 40 lbs, and her head's not totally grown in yet. So YMMV if you have a bigger bulldog.)

Ruki at 16 Months

Just some pictures with the new camera of Ruki at 16 months.

The Real Deal on Home Lead-Testing Kits

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released an October 2007 report that Home Lead Test Kits are Unreliable. (Link to the full report.) The CPSC conducted these tests in light of recent reports of lead in toys. I, however, am interested in them in the context of testing for surface lead in our apartment to protect my family from eating lead paint chips. (I hear lead paint tastes sweet! Mmmm...)

The take-home: My opinion is that these lead test kits are still useful in testing for exposed lead paint on your walls, doors, and sills. If you do find lead, then you have to thoroughly clean nearby surfaces and prophylactically paint over the exposed lead and keep your kids away from these areas. (See Lead-Safe Cambridge's practical recommendations on protecting your kids from lead exposure.) Here's a post from Thingamababy recommending the Homax, Hybrivet, and Abotex lead test kits from a Consumer Reports study.

Living in Massachusetts, particularly around Boston, it's nearly impossible for the average family to rent (or buy) a place that *doesn't* have lead. The rule of thumb is that if your building was built before 1978, then there's going to be lead paint on your walls. Since then, the lead paint may have been painted over multiple times. But you have to worry about places where the paint may be chipping--where windows or door jams rub, anywhere where paint is cracking. This might cause lead paint to chip and be accessible on the floor, or to turn to dust and then float around your apartment.

In September 2007, the CPSC tested four lead test kits on surfaces (1) painted with lead paint, and (2) with a coat of lead paint covered by a coat of non-leaded paint. (There was also a control with a coat of non-leaded paint.)

All of test kits detected lead in the single coat of leaded paint (0.5% lead carbonate). (The HUD threshold for lead paint is 0.5% lead.) None of the test kits "consistently" detected lead which was painted over with non-leaded paint.

The study reports that of 104 tests, 56 were false negatives--i.e., they didn't find lead when lead was there. But it's unclear as to whether the CPSC considered tests that didn't detect paint over lead paint a false negative. It sounds like this might be the case, but again it's unclear.

In that case, I'm not so worried about false negatives--so long as I can prevent my kid from chewing on the sills or picking up paint chips off the floor. The concern of the CPSC is different, however--kids are more prone to chew on toys and thus a coat of non-lead paint isn't much protection.

And so while there's always a theoretical risk for my soon-to-be infant (and my puppy), I have to calculate the practical risk: Can I find a non-leaded apartment? Can I afford a new, non-leaded apartment? Do I ask my landlord to de-lead the apartment? (They have to by law pay to move me out, pay for alternate housing, and then pay the $10-20K to de-lead the apartment. Come on. Instead, they'll evict us, and we'll spend the next months homeless and in court.)

Instead, I'm going to test doors, windows, and any cracked or chipping surfaces for lead paint. Then I'm going to thoroughly clean all these areas with wet detergents and paper towels (not cloths or sponges: read this great guide to preventing lead poisoning), and then paint or caulk over any cracked or chipping areas. And then I'm going to sleep easy--as much as I possibly can--when the baby finally comes.

On the risks of lead exposure: We spoke with a pediatrician who is extremely concerned about lead dust in the air and the risk of "mental retardation" in children. She strongly encouraged us to immediately find a de-leaded apartment, ignoring the reality of living in Cambridge/Boston. I've spoken to a pediatric cardiologist--so not specifically concentrating on lead in kids--who said the kid's gotta be eating lead chips and then you're talking a statistical drop in 1-2 IQ points. So it's all over the place.

More Bumpiness -- Food Allergies?

So yesterday morning I noticed that Ruki was looking particularly angry. And then I realized the fold above her left eye was particularly bulging. Was it a bump? It was. A huge one.

What happened? Did she hit her head? Was it from playing rough with another dog? No idea. So we watched it. And when I took her out for her walk, I noticed that she was bumpy on her legs. It's not that you can see the bumps; it's just that her fur is raised in small dots.

Through the past few days, the bumps have come and gone. First on her legs; now on her sides; now on her face, around her lips. Sometimes they seem to subside; sometimes they seem to spread.

We've been giving her Benadryl since yesterday. One and a half pills--that's 25 mg + 12.5 mgs. She's 37 lbs, so the dosage is right: 1 mg per lb. And then give her this dosage 2-3 times a day for a few days to see if she clears up. The big bump above her eye has gone down since then. But there are more bumps everywhere.

I noticed a new thing last night: She dove into her food with the same gusto as usual, but then about halfway through, she stopped, and walked away. Crazy!!! I then held the bowl for her, and she re-approached and finished most of it up. But not all! Crazy!!!

The same thing this morning. I wonder if it's a food allergy.

I initially thought that maybe she had eaten something when we took her to Harvard Square's Oktoberfest (which was fantastic, by the way). But then after doing some reading, her allergic reactions would have started much earlier. They say that sometimes allergic reactions would occur within 20 minutes of contact with the allergen.

So the best--in the worst kind of way--diagnosis might be a food allergy. I'm going to give her some more Benadryl this afternoon. And then maybe just feed her rice and water over the next few meals to see if her bumps go down.

The theory on food allergies is that exposure to some things too early creates these allergies. That's why often the foods recommended for allergy treatment are lamb or fish-based: most puppies have limited or no exposure to lamb or fish until their allergies develop (by 2 years of age), and then they can eat lamb or fish for the rest of their lives. The same theory goes for grain or starch allergies, and new foods containing more barley or potato than wheat or soy.

In retrospect, then maybe we should have limited the types of proteins and grains we fed Ruki as a puppy. Her Innova has turkey, chicken, herring, barley, rice, and potatoes. So what's left to try to eliminate? I'll keep updating on our journey for Ruki to some day be stable and healthy...

Update (12/03/07): We ended up switching her food to California Natural's Lamb and Rice formula. Since, she's been fine.

Her Innova Adult was chicken and turkey based. So we suspected a chicken or turkey allergy. This Thanksgiving, we fed her some turkey, and I noticed a bump or two show up, so we know it's at least turkey. But now we just avoid both.

Reverse Sneezing... Or Worse? (Update!)

Update from:

http://rukimonster.blogspot.com/2007/09/reverse-sneezing-or-worse.html

So, I ended up taking her to the vet... And the vet said that Ruki has mild pneumonia. Her "reverse sneezing" is actually just coughing, and her licking up in her mouth was her licking up phlegm. Then her coughs would get so violent, they'd make her regurgitate. (Not "vomit"--vomiting comes from the stomach, regurgitating comes from other causes. Well-noted, Dr. Vet.) They confirmed this with x-rays.

So they gave us Clavamox--she just got off Clavamox for her pyoderma!--and the vet made some suggestions that have so far proved brilliant:

Raise Ruki's food and water bowls off the ground, about chin-height.

The thing is that bulldog's throats and airways are so short, that straining down and wolfing down food can mess with their breathing.

So I took an old Amazon.com shipping box, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and put her food and water up there. And amazingly she doesn't choke any more when she gobbles up her food! And she hasn't puked from coughing since! (But that could be just because she's getting better.)

I have to get her a new bowl since she eats with such gusto she knocks food and water all over the place--right now, I just hold the bowl while she eats. But this is great.

Now, the next step, is to look into changing her food and see if some day I can get her to actually *chew* her food!

Also, here's a link to a Yahoo! Answers post that gives some insight into too fast eating and the risk of bloat:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070329080847AAFNk1I