Ciara Update

I’ve been meaning to write an update about Ciara, but it became apparent that she had some medical issues and I have been waiting to hear the results of some tests.

But before we get to the medical stuff, let’s talk about her personality. Ciara is a very friendly dog and has been getting along great with the Base Pack. She has no resource guarding issues which means she shares toys and doesn’t squabble over food. Eating near the other dogs does not bother her and she sits politely in the treat line and waits her turn. We’ve discovered that she knows “sit” and “down” and is pretty good about being in the crate when we leave the house. She also seems to be housebroken.

Ciara is a little reserved and it’s taking her a little while to seek out affection from Harriett and me, but she’s coming around pretty quickly now. She’s very easy to live with. At first she didn’t want to come back into the house after “going out,” and it made us wonder if she lived outside in her previous home.

One of the functions of a foster home is to monitor and watch for medical problems. This is especially important in surgical recovery cases like Ciara’s.

Ciara occasionally regurgitates food and there was a concern at the shelter that the cause may be related to her stomach surgery or a condition such as megaesophagus.Since the problem has continued while she’s been with us, Ciara had x-rays yesterday to find out if she has megaesophagus. The results indicate she does not have that condition, but that still leaves us with a dog that regurgitates food once or twice a day for an unknown reason. Next week, after everyone gets back to work after the holiday, we’ll speak with the shelter vet and decide what to do next.

We also noticed that Ciara sits or lays down very slowly and is very slow to get up. While she was at the veterinary clinic yesterday we asked them to look at her hips. They found that her hips were in excellent condition, but she has a pinched nerve in her lower back. We’ve started giving her anti-inflammatory medication and there are already signs of improvement.