Trouble with malfunctioning machine

It was irritating that I traveled all the way from Taguig to Alabang with my dog because Animal House-Alabang was supposed to have a lab… and then not.

I knew something’s wrong with Princess yesterday because she wouldn’t eat her treat, so I wanted to have CBC done to know exactly what the problem was. In AH-Alabang, the vet collected blood samples (which she did thrice because the first two attempts were unsuccessful). But When she was already running the CBC, she told me the machine malfunctioned and that she’d just call me later that day for the results. The technician, according to her, will arrive a little later.

Darn, right? I traveled that far for nothing. I could’ve just gone to Animal House-Bicutan, which doesn’t have a lab but is so near my place, had I known I wouldn’t get the results right away. Same process, Bicutan would also phone me the results afterwards, but less trouble traveling and less time consumed.

Can’t Alabang have a backup machine? I remember the same incident has happened to me in the same establishment some two years ago. A lot of pet owners I know only rely on Animal House-Alabang and Animal House-Makati for their pets’ lab tests. Would it really hurt to have a backup?  They have a lot of clients, for goodness’ sake. Investing in another machine would make their service better.

Anyway, Princess’ temp was 40. After the three ‘tusok’ for blood sample, it became 40.5. She’s okay now, though. Not as enthusiastic for the treat like two days ago, but at least she eats it already.

And the vet just called in to tell me Princess’ platelets have again went down to 120. Normal is 200-500. I have to give her Vibravet for three weeks.

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Portable

I want everything portable.

It’s a kiddie camping chair but some kids are heavier than me so I guess it’s okay.

Costs P399 at Ace Hardware. Price doesn’t include Princess, though.

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It’s raining outside

Rainy days. Cuddly dog.

This is the first time she looked straight at the DSLR, when she doesn’t have any problem staring at the digicam. She’s quite afraid of the DSLR lens, but I guess not anymore.

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Princess under the pillows

Smiling under the pillows.

Naughty Princess

Princess after playing

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Princess gets freebies

After being a regular client for four years, Princess got freebies this afternoon from Animal House!

Yay! Free Denta Stix that was handed to me upon buying Princess’ weekly supplies this afternoon!

But that’s after a gazillion of canned Science Diet (Princess has been consuming 1 can in 2 days for 2 years and 5 months already), packs of Denta Stix (1 85g pack every week for 2 years and 5 months as well), a lot of grooming sessions, 1 confinement, lotsa check-ups, and lots of laboratory tests.

Each of the free Denta Stix pack contains 1 thin stick. So we got three free thin sticks. Hurray!

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Princess is love

Princess is love.

Taken using Samsung Galaxy Y, edited using Lightbox.

Prepping Up

Trying to comb her (a little unsuccessfully) before she retires for the night.

Hello, September!

Because yuletide in the Philippines starts with the arrival of the BER months, I should say that the Christmas season is officially on.

And with that, let me be the first to greet you "Merry Christmas!"

This is an old pic, as she's in no mood to dress up at the moment. Will post new Santa Princess pics soon.

Pet Grooming: Nail Trimmer

I've been paying a hundred pesos for Princess' nail trim every month. She doesn't like it when we touch her paws so we decided it'd be better to just bring her to the groomer for nail trim. We were afraid we would hurt her if we're the ones who'd clip her nails.

Aside from that, most of her nails are black so it's really hard to see the blood vessels.

I dropped by Ace Hardware yesterday to look for Shoe Goo. They don't carry the brand so I just roamed around a little until I saw this:

I thought I would try giving Princess a nail trim on my own. I immediately tried it on her the minute I got home. She was making funny sounds all throughout the process, cried once (but there was no blood, really), but successfully clipped all her nails in one sitting.

This means I could save a hundred pesos every month. No, make that a hundred pesos more for the climb budget.

Vain!

It seems that Blogger won't upload pictures to its servers. I thought it's a problem with Windows Live Writer (which I use) so I logged in to my Blogger account to create a post the old fashioned way (thru an internet browser). But alas! Blogger still won't upload the pictures.

Anyway, Resty (Princess' dad) slept over last Monday. I was actually surprised when he called up and said he's here in the country. I eventually learned that he cut his vacay short due to some "technical glitches."

He brought with him a big bottle of Jose Cuervo. It was my first time to drink tequila. I was already numb when we finished the bottle.

The presence of Resty actually reminds me that I should be at least a little vain. I'm turning to look like his assistant with all the sun I get from mountain climbing.

Solution: I should get him to climb with me so he'd look ulikba as well.

And speaking of mountain climbing, I've been surfing TNF's website as of late. Been looking for a daypack with hydration system. And here are my picks (just picks, I still have no cash to spend):

TNF Animas 12 (bladder included) - $95-$99 (mall price here: P5690)
TNF Gunnison 18 (bladder included) - $115 (mall price here: P6590)
TNF Enduro 30 (bladder NOT included ) - $99

Well, for now, my Hawk daypack would do.

Princess After Bath

I give Princess a bath every 4 days (as per instruction by the vets) and she was scheduled to have one last Friday. But Typhoon Falcon made it rain until Saturday and (again, as per instruction by the vets) I couldn't bathe her when it's raining.

Good thing the sun came out last Sunday.

Here's a short vid of her after the bath:

Princess Gets a Puppy Cut

I brought Princess for a grooming session at Animal House SM Bicutan this morning. I didn't want to have her hair cut but Nanay insisted.

So Princess had a puppy cut.

She now looks young again.

Here's groomer Rene doing the final touches on Princess:

Princess Eating Denta

Forgive the hair, I've been very lazy lately. But here's my Princess brushing her teeth, er, eating Pedigree Denta.

Thank You

Doc Djoanne called up. She’s the vet who checked into Princess last December 31st. I was kinda holding my breath while she was going through the usual courtesies and asking how Princess was. The less-than-a-minute “prelude” to the real reason of the call felt like an hour of waiting.

It was worth the wait, though. Princess’ liver and kidneys are normal. I was able to breathe easier.

Here’s an everything’s okay tummy rub after the good news:

A Vet Trip on the Last Day of the Year

Amid the chaos inside our house while everyone’s busy preparing for the New Year, Princess threw up her breakfast on the sofa on the last day of 2010. Imagine how I felt! Part of me wanted to bring her immediately to the vet, but part of me also wanted to wait until the next day cuz it might be just a case of something not to be alarmed of. But then Animal House Alabang wouldn’t be open on the New Year, they only have the Jupiter branch for emergencies on that day.

So I immediately took a bath, got dressed and dragged Princess to Alabang.

Call me paranoid (cuz I am) but in our three years of being together, throwing up is Princess’s first sign of sickness. And of course a dog won’t throw up if there’s nothing wrong with her.

After checking Princess, Doc Djoanne took a blood sample for CBC.

Princess didn’t have any fever or any physical sign that she’s sick. I waited at the reception for the CBC result, praying that everything’s normal. Actually, I was kinda positive that time that it would be normal. So I busied myself looking at the other dogs.

After about 30 minutes, the result came. Normal. So I opted for a more thorough kidney and liver tests. Results will come out on the fourth.

Princess is now on a special i/d diet and is under Cimetidine and Liveroline (just in case her liver’s the problem). Anyway, her poop’s okay and she never threw up since.

The vet gave me a number of possible reasons why Princess would throw up. One was that she played right after eating. Two was that she licked something that her stomach wouldn’t take. And others I cannot remember as of this time. Those two stuck with me cuz they were the most probable. But I’m hoping it’s just the first reason.

Together Again

Sunday, October 10, 2010 (10-10-10), I brought Princess to the vet cuz her left eye turned red all of a sudden. Paranoid as I was, I thought she’s having blood clots again, a sign of her ever frustrating ehrlichiosis.

Animal House Alabang was almost empty that Sunday, a very strange thing on a Sunday. I asked for Doc Rose, but she wasn’t in. The secretary said they only have 2 vets on duty – Doc Djoanne and another male vet. I had to ask again. “Doc Djoanne?” And the secretary said, “Yes, sir. Doc Djoanne Quinto.”

Imagine my delight! Princess’s first ever vet (at least when I adopted her) is now back in Animal House!



There’s no ehrlichiosis found in her CBC, thanks God! But there’s a slight bacterial infection which we had to cure. And at the mention that bacterial infection is the first sign of leptospirosis, I immediately had her liver and kidney checked.

And Doc Djoanne just messaged me a while ago – Princess’s tests are normal!

Wrong Info

Last Wednesday, July 28th, I brought Princess to Animal House in Alabang for her third CBC. Her initial test last month showed her platelets to be just 30 of the normal 200 to 500. After 3 weeks of medication, we had her tested again to find out that her platelets got slightly higher but still way lower than the low normal. It was 64.

 

 

Her vet had her continue the medication for another 2 weeks. Last Wednesday was the 14th day. We were scheduled to go back Thursday but since her vet wouldn’t be in Alabang that day, she asked us to just go back Wednesday.

 

 

Sadly, the machine they’re using for blood test wasn’t functioning that day. The 30-minute waiting time for the result became 2 days since the blood was sent out to wherever branch they had a functioning machine.

 

Yesterday, Friday, I went to “encash my paycheck” near SM Bicutan and since it’s the second day of Princess’s blood test, I decided to drop by the pet’s clinic’s branch at the mall. I could ask them to call Alabang for the result and then I could buy whatever meds my baby would need just in case her platelets were still low.

 

Doc Rose, Princess’s vet, holds clinic in Alabang on Fridays but still, she could prescribe over the phone. Actually, it’s the fact that I didn’t wanna go back to the mall again in case Doc Rose called me up at home and I would need to buy extra meds for Princess.

 

I talked to a geeky male vet in Bicutan and he called Alabang for the results. Lo and behold! It was a very low 3.5! I was shocked. It’s supposed to become higher. From 30 to 64 to 3.5? Even Nika, the secretary who has become a friend over the years, was also shocked at the result. We were one in thinking there could be some machine error, or that the blood wasn’t preserved well during the send out.

 

The catch was that I couldn’t talk to Doc Rose cuz she’s already out that time.

 

I was so disturbed last night. I carried Princess and hugged her and couldn’t put her down. Paranoid as I am, I started thinking it might be something else.

 

I made up my mind to bring her to Alabang for a retest early in the morning. Only a retest would clear my mind. With that I called Alabang to inquire about their machine. The secretary told me it’s already working.

 

But then I woke up late and had to walk Princess first before giving her a bath (it’s her bath day). We finished bathing 9:30 but then I still had to blow dry her coat, which takes a lot longer than bathing.

 

It’s past ten when she was finally dry. And since Doc Rose was already at Animal House Bicutan by ten, I decided to call her up first.

 

And then I was shocked. Happily shocked, actually. She told me Princess’s blood tests were already normal. Huwatt?

 

But then the geeky doc told me it was a low 3.5!

 

Doc Rose explained that the machine used for the test uses a different unit of measure and 3.5 was actually 350 when done in their Alabang machine.

 

I could hear myself talking a little faster and in a higher pitch. That’s me when I am excited. And I couldn’t thank Doc Rose enough.

 

Buti na lang I called her up first.

 

She said she texted me yesterday informing me of Princess’s blood test results. But she texted my old phone, the one that got lost during the summer slam. I’m sure I’ve update my number in Princess’s records. But anyway, I’m just glad Princess is now okay.

 

Doc Rose also told me that she’d talk to the geeky doctor about giving me the wrong info. I found out the geeky vet is just knew with Animal House.