As much as I wanted to sleep in this morning I was up bright and early to take Bubba to the vet. We have two very wonderful vets at Foxnest Veterinary Hospital. I recommend them to anyone who lives in Upstate, SC. We’ve switched vet’s almost 2 years ago, and I couldn’t be happier with our decision.

I noticed a couple days ago when Bubba would lay down on his blanket he’d leave a little yellow spot of goo. I knew exactly what that was, and I knew it was time to get his anal glands expressed. That’s one of those things I’d rather leave up to the vet to take care of if ya know what I mean especially since yellow is a sign of infection.

Being that he’s a very hyperactive bulldog, we plan all vet trips on Saturdays if possible so Hubby can be there to assist me. We’ve been in and out of the vet’s office so much in the last year and 10 months due to Bubba’s skin problems that we’ve pretty much got a stand in spot as the first patient of the day before the office gets filled with other patients. In the past we’ve had to keep him outside because he’s so hyper.

I think this morning’s trip was the easiest one we’ve had. I swear he knew we were headed to the Vet because he was raring to go. As soon as I hooked him up on his leash and opened the door he took off in a full run for the truck. Hubby had the door open, so he jumped in and plopped down in the backseat in his usual spot. Bubba is really great in the car, but most of the time I have to wrestle with him to get him in the backseat.

Maybe it’s because he’s getting older and calming down, but we were in and out of there in 15 minutes. One other dog came in at the same time, but it was a nice pug that had no problem letting Bubba sniff around. They hung out together in the waiting room for about 5 minutes, and we all laughed because when it was time for Bubba to get on the scale the pug wanted to sit on the scale with him. It was rather cute, so one of the office assistants had to take a photo of them to put on their photo wall. She’s going to email me the picture.

He’s 68.7 lbs, and Dr. Ross said we can also expect another growth spurt at this age, so we shouldn’t worry if he gains a few more pounds. He’s gained roughly 2 lbs in the last 6 months. He’s definitely on the larger side for a bulldog, but he’s healthy and at a good weight. I was beginning to worry that he might need to lose a few pounds knowing he weighs more than most other bulldogs I’ve seen. Also the other vet, Dr. Dunagin, told us at his last checkup that he may need to start on a diet. Apparently Dr. Ross doesn’t seem to agree, and he’s the one with 25+ years experience, so I trust him more. Dr. Dunagin is a great vet, but he’s young and still learning.

Anyway, I was right about infection in his anal glands. That also explains why we’ve had more problems with his skin and ears this week. The first sign his immune system is low due to infection somewhere is mange spots. He had a couple small ones pop up on his left front leg earlier in the week, the first one’s we’ve seen since November. His ears also went haywire this week. We’re on a nightly Zymox Medicated Rinse treatment (Amazon has it for $10, vet sells it for $18) for ear and skin infections because he’s so prone to them, but this week I haven’t been able to control it. Now he’s got a full blown bilateral ear infection which might sound bad, but we’re pretty used to it. I have to treat with Zymox Otic With 1.0% Hydrocortisone twice a day for a week, and then he’s got to take Tetracycline twice a day for that and the infected anal glands.

Other than that he’s a happy and healthy bulldog.

Alley is about a month away from his next set of shots, so I almost went ahead and took him with me today. I changed my mind when I remembered Bubba’s next shots are coming up in September, so Alley dodged the bullet this morning. He doesn’t do nearly as well as Bubba at the vet, so the next trip won’t be so easy.

Just great.  I was curled up on my favorite spot on the couch when Mom came thumping through here really early this morning.  Dad was right behind her, and they were being loud.  Dad isn’t happy because he’s up this early on a Saturday (yay it’s Caturday!), but we don’t get to sleep in.

I heard that horrible word come from Mom’s mouth…vet.

She can’t fool me.  That horrible box they put me in when I go for a car ride is sitting in front of the door.  Mom’s in the shower, and Bubba is way too happy.  He loves going to the vet, and I don’t understand why.  I get shoved in a box, and they only let me out long enough for some man to poke and prod at me before he puts me right back in the box.  Bubba runs around chasing those horrible chickens that run around outside the vet’s office until it’s his turn.  I don’t know what they do to him, but he always comes out happier than he went in.

I think that vet guy has it out for me.  Maybe I’ll get a chance to use my claws on him today.

Somebody’s in trouble, and for once it isn’t me!  Mommy and I are up late tonight.  She’s been watching a movie while I checked my Myspace.  Mommy paused her movie and looked over at me sitting in my chair next to her.  She started wrinkling her nose and sniffing like crazy.

Oh no!  Did she smell that fart?  I hope not!  Everybody knows Bullies like me can have some rank farts sometimes!

Mommy got up out of her chair and walked off sniffing, so I knew I was in the clear.  I had to follow her to see what was going on, and when I got there it wasn’t a pretty sight.  Alley must have forgot how to use his litter box because he left a big stinky pile of cat doo doo right in the middle of the bathroom door!

Mommy said a few words I shouldn’t repeat, looked at it for a minute, then asked me if she should leave it there for Daddy to step in when he wakes up.  Yes, Mommy’s evil like that sometimes, but Daddy was supposed to clean Alley’s doo doo box, but he didn’t!

Mommy cleaned it up and left a big note on the door telling Daddy he’s in serious trouble for not cleaning the litter box!

I love to lay in the bathroom floor because it’s cold, but not this morning.  I can’t lay in my favorite spot because Mommy’s there!  She has one of those really soft blankets in the floor in front of that big white thing I’m not allowed to drink from.  Daddy keeps petting her like she’s one of us, and she just lays there in the floor.

Alley says our peoples use the big white thing to go to the bathroom.  Weird, but whatever.  Why can’t they just go outside like I do?  Or Alley has two of those big boxes full of that stuff that looks like dirt but smells like trees.  Maybe Mommy is using the peoples potty more tonight.  I’ve seen her sitting on it a lot, and she’s even had her head hanging over it with stuff coming out.  Maybe she’s sick.

I’m sorry I haven’t gotten around to doing this yet, but Mommy has been hogging the computer all week. As some of you know we lost a great bulldog last week. Uga VI passed away from heart failure, and I just want to pay my respects. Uga you will be missed man. You did a great job serving your team, and you earned the respect of all the little bulldogs out there like me. You were my hero man! You made history, and you won more than any other Uga ever did. Love ya man, and I’ll miss you!

A Moment For Uga…

There was a private memorial service for Uga Monday at the Sanford Stadium. He was buried in a marble vault in the southwest corner for the stadium right beside the 5 Ugas that came before him. You can catch a glimpse of the memorial service on the UGA Photographic Services website, or click here for the quick link to remembering Uga VI.