It's been awhile... Again

It seems to be a constant pattern with us and social media. We're here, then we will disappear for a bit. I guess I can't maintain it.

As the look of things, it doesn't seem like any of our Shiba pals have been updating their blog either. Meaning... there's probably nobody reading this - but that's OK! It'll be nice looking back on this blog and reread what I've posted about sweet Yuki... If I actually maintain this.

But what has been happening lately?

On the night of July 26th, her hudad was knocked out asleep while I was meditating to some binaural waves with my headphones on. Out of the blue I hear Yuki screaming and howling in pain through my meditation.

She's foaming at the mouth and she can't seem to get up from her position. We wiped her mouth and tried to comfort her by petting her. Since the 8 years we've had her, this has never happened before. So, we had decided to take her to the Emergency Vet. As I tried to slip on her harness, she limped away and sat under the table & growled at me.

When we FINALLY were able to get the harness on her, we walked to the car, and that was when i realized she had lost her vision. She had no clue where she was going as she was zig-zagging to the car.

While we were driving to the vet with Yuki in my arms, she just freaked out and was trying to get out. I tried to soothe her by talking calmly and petting her.

Her first blood work showed that her liver enzymes were above 700. 160 is supposed to be her normal. She was also blind. They said she had a seizure.

She stayed overnight & we were able to say goodnight to her.

The next day, the Vet told us she had a second seizure - that's 2 in less than 10 hours. They had concluded she had Acute Liver Toxicity and must have gotten into something she wasn't supposed to. She did gain her sight back a couple of hours after the seizure.

We were able to spend some time with her.

She had to stay a second night to do more blood work and tests. The next day, we met with the vet regarding updates on her condition. Her liver enzymes shot up to OVER 1000, which the machine could have only read up to - so we didn't have an exact number. It could've been 1001 or 2000. She explained to us each medication she had to take: Keppra, Clindamycin, Denamarin and Enrofloxacin.

Enjoying another car ride.

We were able to take Yuki home that day. As you can see, she's enjoying the breeze from the car ride and wasn't antsy at all. We were so happy she's back with us.

Since then, we have been trying to figure out what it could have been that she's gotten into. We did A LOT of research on ingredients and what was new. Here were the possibilities that we had narrowed down to:

1. She just started her new 10 lb. box of Honest Kitchen ZEAL 2 two days before.
1. We contacted them and they responded in a timely matter. They explained they test all their ingredients and that they haven't received any information with other customers regarding seizures, but will keep an eye out just in case. They also offered to test the batch, or return the box for a full refund.
2. She had new treats she was trying out called Bixbi BARK POPS in White Cheddar.
1. We have yet to contact them.
3. We started using Wondercide FLEA and TICK Control Spray.
1. We contacted them regarding their active ingredients 4.2% Cedar Oil. They NEVER got back to us yet. It's been 2 weeks & I'm still waiting.
4. & I found that using Confortis in conjunction with Ivermectin (an ingredient in Heartgaurd) can be dangerous.
1. We talked to our vet regarding this. They said, if anything, we should be more worried about using Confortis than Heartguard. But the fact that Yuki does NOT have heartworm (meaning she isn't taking a high dose of Ivermectin), it should be OK.

Diet changes and any updates will be posted on the next blog. Until then, hope everyone out there is healthy, safe and doing well!

Etsy Shop

I'm excited to announce that Sincerely Yuki (formerly known as Chasingpaper) is officially open today!

We posted our first listing today: A customizable greeting card for any celebration. The balloons are customizable to the listed colors and there's an option to choose what to say inside the card. There are more items currently in the making.

Depending how well the shop is doing, I cannot list too many items at a time because I am the sole maker of each card.

Get to know more about the shop by visiting the About section or click on the right!

Any feedback is welcome.

Thanks for reading... you.... whoever you may be :)

It's been awhile...

...since I have blogged here. Does anyone still use their blog anymore?

I figured I'd update this because it's been a few years since I've documented anything. A lot has happened since 2012! In short: We moved 5 times since then. A very close family member passed away. I got laid off. I injured my hand from a recent job & it has gotten worse since. But honestly, I couldn't be more at peace within myself right now and with Yuki.

She's been getting shorter walks since living at our new home. The neighborhood isn't as great as the home I've had when I adopted her (from her 30-60 minutes walks now cut down to 15-20 minutes). She got attacked a few times here due to loose dogs & had ran away because my mom kept the gate open. Thank goodness for my brother who found her a few streets over sitting on someone's porch peering into their home. One of her teeth broke in half when she was chewing her bully stick, so we had to take her to get it removed - boy was she so cuddly and swollen from being drugged up!

I believe I summed it all up. She's still the sweet-face dog who jumps up to greet people and unleashes her alpha-female side with other dogs. She receives plenty of snout kisses, body rubs and behind-the-ear scratches. Still so very lucky to have her in my life.

Which leads me to our Chasing Paper Etsy shop. I have been working on new ideas & items for the shop for a few weeks now. Just working out all the design-kinks because I want to be sure I am 100% happy with it before I put them up in the shop. You know what they say... Artists are their own worst critics!

The shop is slowly being update with new policies and will also have a new name. I've realized I am not happy with "Chasing Paper" because it can come off sounding money hungry, even though that's not what it's intended to be - & that's not what I'm about.

I will keep updating when I can. Until next time...



❤︎  Julie & Yuki

Tuesday's check up

Yuki got weighed in at 17.22 pounds. They said she had lost two pounds since her last weigh-in.

Yuki has been doing fine since the meds. We have stopped the Previcox and the Tramadol, but the vet wanted us to continue half-doses of the Gabapentin per day for another week.

He also wants us to confine Yuki for another week or two to make sure her pain doesn't suddenly appear

The vet didn't say much. He just kept repeating the same stuff.

I also asked him if it's possible that it may be a pinched nerve, and he told me that we would have to do an MRI on Yuki for that.

There wasn't any new news. Nothing mentioned about the lesion either...

I'm glad that Yuki didn't break anything, though.

Again, thanks for all your thoughts. Yuki sends all of you humans virtual hugs and kisses (she can really do it on command!) And barks, lunges and maybe play bows to the pups.

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Update 5: The Results

The Doctor said that Yuki's results came in today.

The Radiologist said that her xray shows no abnormality in the spacing of her spine. Her blood work came in clean as well. They want us to continue her on the pain medication with confinement and have her back in two weeks to see how she is doing.

((Sigh))

I said this on one of the Shiba Inu network... I don't know how I feel about it. Should I be happy because they didn't find anything? Or should I be sad because they didn't...

A fellow shiba owner had said it sounds like it might be a really bad pinched nerve that her Sakura had before.

Thanks again for all your worries. I'm really glad to have such an awesome group of dog-loving friends who understands... Because I am not a crazy dog lady who loves dogs more than people.

Well... Maybe.

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Update 4: 4/3 Vet Visit

We were able to nap for about an hour and a half together on the floor. She still whines.

I took her out in case she wanted to do her business. When we stepped outside, she barked at a dog that was passing by... Huh.. Normal in that department. She was able to do #2 normally - most likely due to the medication...

Who would have thought that watching your dog perch over normally to poop was a nice site to see? We walked right back home afterwards -- no pee. Which worries me. She won't drink.

This is how she stands at times before the pain medication. Her hind legs are a little bent and her tail droops.

And this is how she looks with the medication. Dazed and dilated pupil, open jaw that won't close. In fact, she is staring at me like that right now.

I should be recieving the results some time tomorrow...

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UPDATE 3: 4/3 Vet visit

WDoctor told us that Yuki's lumbar spine near her pelvic bone is inflamed, but they're waiting for the blood work results to come back.

I'm a bit surprised that an inflammatory can cause such pain to where she can't poop and she has to literally sit on the floor to go - which is what she did when she first left the vet.

He also said they found a lesion on her spleen, but he can't tie it together with the pain right now.

We were sent homes with Provicox, Gabapentin and Tramadol Hydrochloride pills. I hand fed yuki her pills along with her "breakfast" at 230.

She's been whining a lot and looking dazed with her jaw open.

She has to be confined for two weeks. This is going to be a difficult task for me because 1) we don't crate her at all - ever and 2) the training and/or care in the house isn't so... consistant and 3) my job isn't so consistant in the schedule as well.

This all may not seem like a big deal to some, but it is when you see your dog in pain and you want to do more than pain killers to help. But, I'm also glad its nothing extreme... For now.

We also like to express Much gratitude and thank those who were concerned on the well being of Yuki...

I am laying beside her on the floor while she whines and stares at me trying to sleep.

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