I took Mimi to the veterinarian this month and got her hips x-rayed.  She does indeed have hip displaysia.   And arthritis has set into the hips.  So she is now taking fish oil besides glucosamine and has pain pills at the ready.

This is what hip displaysia and arthritic hips look like.  Frankly, the fuzzy Mimi is much cuter.

I am treating her heartworms with Ivermectin and Doxycycline.  She’s all of about 3 years old, and one of the vets thinks she’s had heartworms for half her life.

That vet likes to use the fast kill method on heartworms, but the vet I was seeing likes to use the slow kill method, which is what I’m going along with.  She supposedly tested light heartworm positive in New Orleans.  And upon viewing the x-ray, slow kill vet didn’t seemed concerned.  That and the fact that Mimi is not showing any symptoms such as coughing, panting, shortness of breath, bloating, or fluid retention.   I am not sure how fast kill vet saw from the x-ray that her heartworms have been with her half her life either.  Here’s what that x-ray looked like.

This is what Thunder Phobic Mimi looks like.  This picture was taken during the start of a very severe thunder storm today.  Right after she peed all over the living room floor and tried to climb in the toy box.  I found several toys in the water bucket as I was pulling her out of her manic hole.  When I removed her from the chair to put the anxiety wrap on her, she peed all over it.  It’s a good thing I have it covered with so many covers.  She will also express her anal glands during a thunder storm.  We are having fun.

Once I got the anxiety wrap on her, I put her in her crate.  This is where she collapsed as if she were in a straight jacket, but honestly the anxiety wrap’s nothing like a straight jacket, yet it is supposed to produce that  relaxed effect.  I also sprayed her crate with some lavender and gave her Rescue Remedy on the way in.

I leave her in a crate without blankets because she chews holes in anything I put in her crate.  Her nickname remains “The Termite.”  She  is stealth, too.  She chews holes in my blankets, sheets, and pillow cases and I never hear the munching, but I find the holes.  Susan Garrett says to embrace our holes.  So I do.  <grin>

Even if Mimi had good hips, I’m afraid she would be very uncomfortable with life playing agility.  We live in Florida.  There’s bound to be more of these storms pretty much for eternity or until Florida ceases to exist.

Mimi is a great example of why it’s good to go through rescue if you’re looking for a second-hand dog to do a sport with.  Mimi makes a great pet when the weather is clear.  Otherwise, we take it a day at a time.  She’s a very sweet and loving dog with a sense of humor when she’s not peeing herself or shaking it off on me.  And honestly, I had no idea that Border Collies were disposed to hip displaysia, and guess what else.  Elbow displaysia.  I didn’t know that before the x-rays, but she’s got odd elbows, too.  I’m betting she’s got some of that elbow displaysia, also.  Border Collies are also known to have epilepsy, which I recently learned, and Collie eye, which I know nothing about.  Surprise surprise at all this.  Especially the hips because I always think of German Shepherds when it comes to hip displaysia.  Live and learn.

This is a snippet of Mimi’s storm.