Frenchie Tink

Our Frenchie Tink was playing at her favorite park one Saturday afternoon when she saw a little bee crossing her path. Tink thought it would be fun to chase this bee and when she finally caught it boy was she in for a surprise. On the ride home from the park James and I noticed her chin was a little red, we had tried to stop her from chasing the bee but we were too late and poor little Tink got stung on the mouth. When we got out of the car to go up to our place Tink started throwing up. When we got in the house she reverted to a corner of the house as if she was embarrassed by her appearance and five minutes later Tink was covered in bumps.

This picture is 5 minutes after we got home.

This is Tinks bottom-side 2 minutes later.

This is Thinks face again only another 2 minutes later.

Apparently our french bulldog had an allergic reaction to the bee sting. We immediately called the vet and they instructed us to give her Benadryl and track her progress. She would hardly eat anything but we somehow managed to stuff some pills down her throat. 20 minutes later, our little french bulldog pup was back to normal and had no more signs of bumps. It was the scariest 30 minutes of ours lives.

At this point we are strongly considering pet health insurance.

And We Don’t Know Why

It was 730am on Tuesday morning. James and I were scrambling to get ready for work just like every other morning. Tinkerbelle went outside to use the restroom and when James went over to her to praise and reward her with her favorite treats he noticed something was wrong. He immediately called to my attention these huge welts all over our little french bulldog’s body. On her chest where her hair is white you could see the red bumps that were the size of quarters and on her back where her hair is black the welts were so high that her coat was noticeably raised in all areas.

I immediately called the Vet and told them about this strange rash our puppy had suddenly contracted overnight. Turquoise animal hospital told me to come in as soon as possible and they squeezed me into a 10:30 appointment. She was in so much pain. Her ears were still straight back like they get when she is excited but she just looked miserable. We walked to the Vet since it is down the block and I had to carry Tink the whole way because it was obvious she did not feel like walking one bit.

Once we entered the doctor’s office Tink was instantly diagnosed with hives and they took her to the back immediately to give her a shot of benadryl. The Doctor informed me that the hives could have been from any number of things but judging by the severity and suddenness they probably derived from an allergic reaction to a bug bite or bee sting. Five minutes and about $100 later Tink was in my arms and back to the happy fun loving dog she always is and it was worth every penny to see her happy again. James ended up coming home at noon to stay with her and monitor her hives the rest of the day. The Vet told us to get Benadryl over the counter and give tink a half tablet if the hives ever come back.

I wanted to take a picture of the hives on Tink but it was too sad to look at so here is a picture of Tink after the Vet eating some string cheese.

This past Saturday, we took Pound Cake in for his first Vet visit at the Turquoise Pet Hospital for his 3rd round of shots. I can’t believe how much we put him through in one day. Besides getting the vaccinations, we got him micro-chipped and some medicine for a parasite called coccidea that was found in his stool. Our vet bill was $267 dollars.

Here’s the breakdown.

Albon Oral Suspension 5% per Oz. (Medicine for Parasite) - $19.74

Examination/Office Visit - $53.00

Intestinal Parasite Exam (Float & Smear) - $42.00

Corona Vaccine #2 - $16.90

DA2LPP #3 - $26.00

Bordetella (NASAL) - $27.00

Strongid T Administration #1 - $23.50

Micro Chip - $59.00

Grand Total $267.14

Did we over pay for anything or pay for anything we didn’t need? Are these prices fair? Should we be prepared for more bills like this in the future? Does anybody have dog insurance or a cheap medical plan?

Today we took our French Bulldog Tink in for her 3rd series of shots. Prior to receiving her, the breeders have been keeping her up-to-date on all her shots and made sure all the stickers were placed correctly on her medical records. With the help of that and the AKC registration papers we received from them, checking in our French bulldog puppy was no problem at all. We even called the Eisenmans to verify all the information we were telling the vet and of course the Eisenmans were available and eager to help us out and answer all our questions as always. We wanted to go as soon as possible to get her up to date on her shots and meet her new doctor.

The doctors did a awesome job with Tink. They checked her temperature (through the rear), her claws, her hair and even a sample of her booboo. The doctor said Tink looked great.

Tink slept in Lisa’s lap while we asked Dr. Atkinson a series of health and food questions. He was very understanding of all our questions as first time Frenchie owners and really took the time to help us out. He has had much experience in the field of Frenchies and we feel confident he will be great for Tink.

Dr. Atkinson and his assistant gave Tink her shots so fast, she didn’t even know needles were piercing her. They gave her some yellow medicine (or distraction) in her mouth to keep her mind occupied while she received 2 shots. She was back in my lap before she could finish that creamy paste and realize what was going on.

The doctor warned us that she would be sleepy and “punky’ for the next couple days. He sure wasn’t lying. Tink has been a “little princess” since we left the doctor. All she wants to do is sleep and do her own thing. She doesn’t even want to sleep near us. I think she’s mad at us for taking her to the vet today. The doctor warned us. Lisa doesn’t know what to do right now because she feel so bad for her. I’m taking this time to update everyone on how this are going with Tink our new French bulldog.

Update: She is awake and alert and back to her loving self or as much as a puppy with three fresh shots can be.