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Very upsetting night here. My boy kitty Gus was not himself this evening when I arrived home from work. He seemed pretty normal at lunchtime when I came home to walk Sadie. He was howling when I walked in the door this evening and his belly was very swollen. I immediately took him to the vet and was informed that he had a urinary obstruction or Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. It is apparently very serious. Had I waited the night to see if he was ok in the morning, his kidneys would have failed from the toxins and he would most likely have died according to my vet. He had emergency surgery this evening to remove the obstruction and they just called to let me know that he's out of surgery and stable. Now all I can do is wait to see how he does when the catheter comes out.  Both my girls are beside themselves, as am I. Sadie is not her normal bouncy self - she's been very quiet and just kind of sitting by me. Maggie is running around the house looking for Gus. It is breaking my heart. She's been with him since she was 8 weeks old with the exception of one night when she was spayed. He's like her big brother - she follows him everywhere. I'm trying to be positive but if anything goes wrong and I lose my little boy I think I'll die. Does anyone have any experience with this? Anyone know anything about it? I looked it up online and found some information. It can be related to stress. Could this have happened because I brought Sadie home? He didn't seem stressed at all, in fact he was playing with Sadie just this morning.  But I'm feeling so guilty thinking I might have caused this. If anyone has any info about this condition, I'd appreciate it. I'm worried sick and terrified that this is my fault somehow.

I can't tell you how awful it was to sit there with my little boy in my arms, listening to him scream and not be able to do anything for him. Then to sit in the exam room while they're working on my cat out back and have a vet tell me my two options are an expensive surgery or euthanasia. Where's the option there? I don't understand. Sorry just needed to vent I guess.

Say a prayer for my boy please?

Hey all,
Hopefully this will work. I've tried a few times already. This is my Sadie and her kitty friends Gus and Maggie. The last two are a little prank my boy pulled at Christmas. I came home from work and he had somehow dismantled the Christmas tree. How he did it, I still don't know, but what a punk! Thankfully, there were no ornaments on it yet. Hope this works! I'm crossing my fingers!
-Shawna

OK, I'm having a really hard time with my pictures. This could be a result of my lack of skills with computers or the fact that Sadie has allowed me to get maybe 45 minutes of sleep since she came home. I can see them when I click them on the desktop, but then when I try to put them on here, all I see is a box with a red x in the corner

Also having a tough time with a certain canine someone with biting. I know she's a puppy but this is ridiculous. She bites EVERYTHING. Ankles, toes, fingers, cats, what have you. My cats are being really good sports about it but I'm nervous that one of these days one of them is just going to haul off and hit her. I say no, means nothing to her. I gently close her mouth and say "No bites!" - she doesn't care. The second I let go she goes right back for my hand. Tried a squirt gun. I even tried growling at her! That worked for approximately 3.5 seconds. My friend told me to whack her on the nose when she does it but I'd never feel comfortable doing that. I'm at a loss as to what to try with her. I'd cut off my hand before I'd ever hit one of my animals anywhere in any capacity, and I'm taking lots of criticism for not doing that believe it or not.  A couple of my friends keep telling me that if I don't whack her when she does it, I'm going to wind up with a huge dog who bites. I don't think either one of them has ever raised a dog from the stuff they say though. Anyone have any training tips for mouthy dogs? Vet said something about using treats and teaching her the word "easy"? Anyone else try this?

I'm working on the pictures guys, I know it's a requirement.
-Sadie's (very tired and cranky) Mommy,
 Shawna

Sorry to be asking so many questions, I'm just really rusty at the puppy thing and I've never owned a Newf before.

Anyway, Sadie and I live in Massachusetts and we are having some extreme temperatures today and very high winds. Sadie hated being outside today. I fed her dinner at about 6 this evening and I've taken her outside 5 or 6 times since then. She does her...uh...num ber one every time and she knows she gets a treat when she does it but she hasn't done a...uh...numbe r 2 since just before I fed her last. I know she must have to go because it's been over 6 hours and I tried to make her stay out there until she went this last time. But the winds were freaking her out and she kept hiding under my legs or pulling towards the house. I finally gave up after about 45 minutes of freezing cold and I put her right in her crate when she came in instead of letting her play with kitties. I don't want her to think I'm punishing her, but I don't want her going on the floor and getting into that habit. Should I be bundling her up to go outside? I thought Newfies liked the cold weather? I know I'm probably overly paranoid, but could she be sick or something? I don't know if she is just being stubborn because she doesn't like it out there or if something might be wrong. She didn't fuss when I put her in the crate like she normally does either, she just laid down and kind of konked out. Maybe she's just really tired? We did go outside a whole bunch of times today and she spent the afternoon having some serious playtime with her kitty friends. I'm just nervous I guess, she should have gone by now, even if it was an accident somewhere and I've read about blockages and things.  Any ideas from anyone as to what might be going on here or am I just worrying too much?

Again, sorry to be so verbal when I just "met" all of you a couple of days ago, I just don't know who better to ask than people who own these dogs too. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hey all,
Sadie is home and all is well. She is an angel. She's very quiet and mellow (so far). Kitties were superstars. Curious, but not angry or aggressive. They actually seem like they kind of like her and I think having them here is making her less nervous. She's doing great so far. No accidents, no crying - so far, so good. She loves her Barbie dog toys, she puts them all in her bed with her, LOL.

I'm psyched to have her home, I think I may be in love:) pictures soon, I promise