ok, so i tried to squeeze in as many questions as i could to make this a worthy visit and also to get to know my new bully dr. (dr. Hackler was referred to me by sfbullymeetup group). Norcal bulldog rescue supposedly use him too?

KIBBY - bully , female, 5 years old

- re her UTI - i brought a cup of pee again put in a tupperware. he says that there would be no way to check for bacteria because he did not get it directly from her so there would be too much of a chance for the urine to be contaminated already. he says that he could still check for stones and crystals though.

- re her idc - says it looked ok, didn't find anything inside of it. just a little infected because it got scratched so it popped , probably when kibby was playing fetch.

- re the two being related - possibly, but said that food trials are the best bet and does not reccomend allergy testing because he says that there are just way too many variables, and 80-90% of the time, you will find that it is an allergy that you can not control anyways, such as pollen, dust, grass, etc... says that they look good now, so once you find a good food just stick to it... just becareful of too much protein, since these dogs don't "work" like pull sleds and everything so they dont need it.. thus too much protein can create issues as well. says to beware of corn too, corn is a big allergy for many dogs.

- re her hacking or possible morning congestion - i thought she might have a cold or pneumonia again - he listened to her lungs, says it sounded all clear... he opened her mouth so wide that kibby was shocked! he showed me her white phlegm and says as she gets older, her palate will get longer and start to droop thus causing more phlegm.

- re her clear runny eyes - probably part of the allergy - said to try 25mg of benedryl for a few days to see if it would help.. he showed me how she has a little entropian (? not sure if i remember this right) because the meat around her eyes are puffy thus when she blinks, her lashes almost roll into her eyes..

- overall diagnosys- 2 weeks of cephaxline (?) antibotics, he said should clear up the phelgm, idc, and uti.. he says that she is in good shape because she doesn't have the strong bully characteristics that most bullys have problems with such as deep wrinkles, flat nose, palate/jaw issues...

GABBY - 12 year old kelpie girl-

i brought my old gal gabby too, so he could check her out and get her ready for teeth cleaning, dr. says he would give us free xrays because they got a new machine that they wanted to try out. Dr. says that he wouldnt reccommend adequan or rimydal just yet.. he says to give the glucosamine a try and see what happens first. he says the anesthesia that they use is the kind they give to humans, i cant remember the name.. something with a "c" ? he says that it is gentle and there would be no risks involved.

re- her constant feet licking - he looked at her feet, says that they are in good shape, she doesnt have athletes foot or anything so he wouldnt worry about the licking, its just a weird habit that comforts her like thumbsucking.

Dr. Hackler is good, much better then my other vet. I think my other vet, took advantage of my paranoia and ran every test under the sun for every issue that i ever brought up! he spent a good amount of time with us too.

I will take some before and after pictures of her yucky mouth and keep everyone updated...

p.s. its our ladies one year anniversary of us being lucky enough to find them at the rescue! we will have a small party for them! i hope that they have been happy with us