Something didn't seem right with Sadie right from the time she was eating breakfast. What normally takes her less than a minute for her to finish eating her food, took almost ten minutes. We had to wait for her to finish before we went outside ... usually she is waiting for everyone else to finish and the first to run outside.
I thought it was part of that indigestion she has been having. No symptoms of bloat, but some diarrhea. There had not been a change in her food so I figured she had eaten something from the field that didn't agree with her.
Mid-morning I cooked some rice, mixed it with cottage cheese to give Sadie. That usually works for diarrhea problems. She didn't care for the rice but ate it. Stella in the mean time was going crazy trying to get to Sadie's food bowl to help herself.
So all three hounds slept most of the morning, low energy but that was something I had seen before. A little after noon I thought we'd take a walk. As we got to the edge of the field/yard, Heidi turned around and walked back to the house ... I guess that meant she wasn't interested today.
Sadie looked normal but didn't act normal. I felt around her stomach area to see if she would yelp or show any signs of discomfort, she didn't. So on we for an after lunch walk.
Stella was all over the place with her nose and none of the usual spots. Sadie did a lot of slow walking and standing ... something is wrong. On the way back both hounds walked behind me almost all the way home ... until Sadie saw Heidi next to the house. She was sitting looking at us just barely over the tall field grass.
She had been enjoying the sunshine while we were gone. Sadie and Stella ran toward her to check to see who was in 'their yard' ... they have short memories at times. After all ID'd themselves it was time to return inside for some afternoon siesta's.
While they slept, I got online to do some reading at PedMD. I needed to find out if Sadie was showing any symptoms of intestinal blockage. She wasn't. She did get up in the middle of the night last night. I let her out on her own and she always comes back to the door when she is finished. She did that but I have no idea what she did or if she was successful.
She was acting different though and that concerned me. Such as sleeping in areas that she never sleeps in, moving from different spots, never quite comfortable. She came to the door while I sat at the kitchen table to go out. I went to the computer room and looked out the window to see what she was doing.
It was strange to say the least. She walked over to the very south part of the field, walked slowly in a circle as if she was looking for something and a little disoriented. Then the shock of all shocks, walked to the edge of the yard and laid down. She never lays down by herself and only does that when chewing sticks or being with Stella.
I snuck out of the house quietly to get a photo before she would get up. I thought she would come running if she saw me.
She didn't move. I moved my chair out to sit down and zoomed in on her to take a photo ... she still didn't move ... that isn't the normal Sadie.
Stella came outside later and barely got to Sadie when she turned around and headed for the opposite side of the yard. Sadie never moved.
I moved the camera back and forth taking photos of each ... Sadie looks normal but she never acts that way outside. She is always hunting something, cruising the field ... I mean I have never seen her do this in the 8 years I've had her.
Finally Sadie sits up ... but doesn't walk anywhere. I decided it was time to go out and see what was up. So I sat the camera down and walked out to see what was wrong. As I am petting her upper neck talking to her, I feel something under her collar ... a tick that had been there long enough to fill itself with blood!! I went inside to get my "ticked off" tool ... but that is not all I found ... as I took off the tick that was full, I found 4 more ticks under that one on the same spot. ... No wonder she was acting strange.
I normally check the inside and outside of their ears and then run my hands along the tops and sides of them and can usually feel if they have a tick somewhere. But I rarely if ever check under their collar. I will from now on.
As I get up to go back inside to clean off the tool and throw away the ticks ... she gets up and follows me to my chair. I left her outside as I went inside. When I came back out in a few short minutes she had ran out to the field, hopefully to relieve herself ... she has been having problems doing that ... then she came trotting to the house with her tail up ... normal Sadie is back.
The tick story doesn't end there though. By this time both hounds decide they want to take early evening walk. It's after 7:30 pm. Sadie doesn't look like it but she was wagging her tail before and after the camera went 'click'.
Stella heads for her favorite spot in the far corner of the field.
Sadie is not running anywhere but spending most of her time walking next to me. We are both fighting off the first gnats of the season.
After we finish the walk, we get back inside and I am for sure going to check under their collars for any ticks .... what do I find????
On the left side of Sadie's collar, not quite under it, but just on the edge of it is another tick filled with blood and 3 more in the same spot under it. So that was a total of NINE ticks that were attached to her either under or at the edge of her collar. They may have been there from our late walk last night ... I have no way of knowing.
What about the Seresto Collar I mentioned? Why aren't the hounds wearing those today? Three different Walmarts in a 30 mile radius are sold out of that collar until May 2. I am making a morning trip with the hounds to PetSmart tomorrow to pick up a couple of those collars.
The reason I no longer use the pills and liquids for fleas and ticks ... they have never worked that well for me. All bought at the vet office, their recommended brand ... but none of them have worked.
Just now looking out at the window at Sadie ... she has her "bounce" back in her step as she moves around the yard and field. She looks normal again.
It's been a quiet but strange day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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