HOW TO BRUSH YOUR DOG'S TEETH (IT'S IMPORTANT)

 

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WHO?

If you ever wondered about the [ WHO ] World Health Organization's  value, wonder no more. WHO else could have handled the following situation w such deftness & sensitivity? The WHO. That'S WHO.

"The World Health Organization announced yesterday it would begin referring to the monkeypox virus as "mpox," the result of a six-month effort to find a nondiscriminatory alternative to avoid stigma. The name "monkeypox" will be phased out over the next year. "

SOURCE 1440 Daily Digest

PANDEMIC

"The Los Angeles Times reported that two months before the virus spread through Wuhan, the Trump administration halted a $200 million early-warning program to train scientists in China and elsewhere to deal with a pandemic. The name of the program? “PREDICT.”" 

DOG LOVERS

UW researchers test drug to extend dogs’ years

Originally published May 16, 2016 at 4:32 pm Updated May 17, 2016 at 6:28 am 

The drug rapamycin, which lengthened the lives of laboratory mice, is being tested on dogs [at]University of Washington scientists look for alternatives to treating the individual maladies that come with age in humans.

By Amy Harmon

The New York Times

Ever since last summer, when Lynn Gemmell’s dog was inducted into the Seattle trial of a drug that has been shown to significantly lengthen the lives of laboratory mice, she has been the object of intense scrutiny among dog-park regulars.

To those who insist that Bela, 8, has turned back into a puppy — “Look how fast she’s getting that ball!” — Gemmell has tried to turn a deaf ear. Bela, a border collie-Australian shepherd mix, may have been given a placebo, for one thing.

The drug, rapamycin, which improved the heart health and appeared to delay the onset of some diseases in older mice, may not work the same magic in dogs, for another. There is also a chance it could do more harm than good.

“This is just to look for side effects, in dogs,” Gemmell told Bela’s many well-wishers.

Technically that is true. But the trial, which just concluded its pilot run in Seattle, also represents a new frontier in testing a proposition for improving human health: Rather than seeking treatments for the individual maladies that come with age, we might do better to target the biology that underlies aging itself.

While the diseases that now kill most people in developed nations — heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer — have different immediate causes, age is the major risk factor for all of them. That means that even breakthroughs in these areas, no matter how vital to individuals, would yield on average four or five more years of life, epidemiologists say, and some of them likely shadowed by illness.

A drug that slows aging, the logic goes, might instead serve to delay the onset of several major diseases at once. A handful of drugs tested by federally funded laboratories in recent years appear to extend the healthy life span of mice, with rapamycin, approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat organ transplant patients and some types of cancer so far proving the most effective.

In a 2014 study by the drug company Novartis, the drug appeared to bolster the immune system in older patients. And the early results in aging dogs suggest that rapamycin is helping them, too, said Matt Kaeberlein, a biology of aging researcher at the University of Washington who is running the study with a colleague, Daniel Promislow.

But scientists who champion the study of aging’s basic biology — they call it “geroscience” — say their field has received short shrift from the biomedical establishment. And it was not lost on the UW researchers that exposing dog lovers to the idea that aging could be delayed might generate popular support in addition to new data.

“Many of us in the biology of aging field feel like it is underfunded relative to the potential impact on human health this could have,” said Kaeberlein, who helped pay for the study with funds he received from the university for turning down a competing job offer. “If the average pet owner sees there’s a way to significantly delay aging in their pet, maybe it will begin to impact policy decisions.”

The idea that resources might be better spent trying to delay aging rather than cure diseases flies in the face of most disease-related philanthropy, not to mention the Obama administration’s proposal to spend $1 billion on a “cancer moonshot.” And many scientists say it is still too unproven to merit more investment.

Researchers in the field, in turn, say they might have more to show for themselves if they could better explain to Congress and the public why basic research on aging could be useful.

“People understand ‘my relative died of a heart attack, so I’m going to give money to that,’ ” said James L. Kirkland, a Mayo Clinic researcher. “It’s harder to grasp ‘my relative was older, that predisposes them to have a heart attack, so I should give money to research on aging.’ ”

Aging in mouse and dog years

In 2006, Kaeberlein and others demonstrated that rapamycin, the drug now being tested in dogs, suppressed one of the crucial proteins in yeast, resulting in a longer life span without removing a gene. The protein is known to be involved in cell growth. But just how its suppression works to extend life is still unclear, raising questions about potential unknown downsides.

Dogs age faster than humans, and bigger dogs age faster than smaller dogs. The 40 dogs that participated in the rapamycin trial had to be at least 6 years old and weigh at least 40 pounds.

Like Lynn Gemmell’s Bela, whose cholesterol was high, many of them were showing signs of aging: loose skin, graying muzzles, a stiffness in the joints. So were some of their owners.

“How are you going to be sure people are going to be giving this to their dog rather than taking it themselves?” Gemmell, 58, joked with Kaeberlein on her first visit to the veterinary clinic, where Bela was given a checkup and an echocardiogram to measure heart function, a marker that could conceivably register an improvement over the 10 weeks that she would be given the drug.

A research coordinator for human clinical trials at a hospital, Gemmell adopted Bela as a 12-week-old rescue without realizing how much outdoor time she would need with her. Now divorced with two grown daughters, Gemmell dons a headlamp when she returns home in the dark, and takes Bela out with a glow-in-the-dark ball and a collar light. “I wish she could live forever,” she said.

She is not alone. Over 1,500 dog owners applied to participate in the trial of rapamycin, which has its roots in a series of studies in mice, the first of which was published in 2009.

Ethical questions

Made by a type of soil bacteria, rapamycin has extended the life spans of yeast, flies and worms by about 25 percent.

But in what proved a fortuitous accident, the researchers who set out to test it in mice had trouble formulating it for easy consumption. As a result, the mice were 20 months old — the equivalent of about 60 human years — when the trial began. That the longest-lived mice survived about 12 percent longer than the control groups was the first indication that the drug could be given later in life and still be effective.

Kaeberlein said he had since achieved similar benefits by giving 20-month-old mice the drug for only three months. (The National Institute on Aging rejected his request for funding to further test that treatment.) Younger mice, given higher doses, have lived about 25 percent longer than those not given the drug, and mice of varying ages and genetic backgrounds have been slower to develop some cancers, kidney disease, obesity and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. In one study, their hearts functioned better for longer.

“If you do the extrapolation for people, we’re probably talking a couple of decades, with the expectation that those years are going to be spent in relatively good health,” Kaeberlein said.

Still, drugs that work in mice often fail in humans. It is also hard to ask rodents about their quality of life. The side effects, depending on the dose and duration, include mouth sores, cataracts, insulin resistance and, for males, problems with testicular function. No one knows if people, who already live a lot longer than mice, would see a proportional increase in life span.

And some researchers say there would be serious concerns in testing rapamycin, or any drug, in healthy people just to slow aging. What if a drug lengthened life for some and shortened it for others? Could anyone ethically put a healthy person into a test that might actually shorten life span?

“It’s not as simple as cancer, where patients are going to die anyway if they don’t get the drug,” said Andrew Dillin, a biology of aging researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who recently raised the questions in Nature, a scientific journal.

Ethical concerns aside, such a trial would take decades. But dog lovers have long known that pets age about seven times as fast as they do. And Kaeberlein knew that fact would be a boon for a study of rapamycin that would have implications for both species. An owner of two dogs himself, he was determined to scrounge up the money for the pilot phase of what he and Promislow called the Dog Aging Project.

Last month, he reported at a scientific meeting that no significant side effects had been observed in the dogs, even at the highest of three doses. And compared with dogs in the control group, the hearts of those taking the drug pumped blood more efficiently at the end. The researchers would like to enroll 450 dogs for a more comprehensive five-year study, but do not yet have the money to do it.

Even if the study provided positive results on all fronts, a human trial would carry risks.

Kaeberlein, for one, said they would be worth it.

“I would argue we should be willing to tolerate some level of risk if the payoff is 20 to 30 percent increase in healthy longevity,” he said. “If we don’t do anything, we know what the outcome is going to be. You’re going to get sick and you’re going to die.”

For her part, Gemmell is not counting on anything. The other night, when she got home from work, she was ready to read her mail and have a glass of wine. But Bela greeted her as usual, ball in her mouth, ready to play.

For now, she said, this is how they both plan to stay young.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/uw-researchers-test-drug-to-extend-dogs-years/?utm_source=The+Seattle+Times&utm_campaign=43f7c02a26-Morning_Brief_5_17_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5beb38b61e-43f7c02a26-120316545 

PSYCHIATRIC TEAM

Lower Back Pain -- Most of Us Have It.

More From Dr. Mike Evans

Rotten Teeth

Stella Bella, 13.5 yrs young

For those of you who have older Bouvs (or even younger ones, for that matter) please take care of their teeth. If you don't brush them daily -- even if they have bones -- tartar builds up, infections occur, etc.

I can relate to you that Stella Bella -- age 14.5 -- is having a rebirth of sorts. 

No, she has not lost her lifelong caution & insecurities BUT she is now running (arthritically), is somewhat more excited about treats & wants to be out & about more since 6 rotten teeth were pulled from her mouth. 

I held my breath when I decided to have this done and & I am VERY glad I did !! As we all know these guys are quite taciturn, can take a lot of pain w/o complaint & I feel so guilty about what was clearly a failure on my part to realize Stella's discomfort over what must have been a long period. 

It's just that it's so damned hard to read her as there is so little to read in her reactions in the first place but I definitely see a difference in her behavior now. 

Yes, it is an added cost. Yes, your Bouv does have to undergo some form of anesthetic. But if if you decide to do it, be sure to discuss a course of antibiotics with your vet before the procedures. 

I pass this on to you all as a cautionary 'tail'. (For more Bouvier tails click here.

Hugs to all your Bouvs.

Are you really thinking about a Bouvier des Flandres?

Q: My husband and I have only recently become aware of Bouviers des Flandres and have come to believe that this just might be the breed for our family. [...] I have a few concerns I would like you (any of you) to comment on, if you would: 1. We have read about the fragrant nature of these dogs [...] 2. I've also noticed a few people talking about their Bouvs being aggressive toward the cats [...] 3. And, just from reading this list I'm beginning to wonder about those who write about having "yappy" Bouvs. [...] A: I've been thinking about the questions you raised several days ago & I decided to respond to them. First of all, I think you've demonstrated great responsibility in researching different breeds of dogs before accepting one into your household. My hat's off to you. It can save heartache & worse for both your family & the dog.  However, I'd be interested to know why it is that you "have come to believe that this might just be the breed for [your] family"?  Most dogs I've ever lived with fart, bark & chase cats naturally. What were the attributes of the Bouvier that attracted you, that made you lean towards this breed? I find the three questions you asked pretty inconsequential in terms of the entire Bouvier experience. Perhaps you already know a great deal from your own life, from reading Pam Green's article DON'T BUY A BOUVIER !! & talking to some Bouvier owners via email, but let me just run down a couple of things about the Bouvier which will occupy much more of your attention than the 3 items you've mentioned: Bouviers *need* TRAINING -- you have to take them to obedience classes if you don't know how to do it yourself. And even then, you probably should go anyway. An untrained Bouvier is extraordinarily difficult to live with because they are strong willed, extremely intelligent, imaginative, will fill up a power vacuum in no time flat & run circles around you, your family, your furniture & cats before you know what hit you. Bouviers *need* GROOMING. I know there are groomers but it's more fun to do it yourself. This process takes about an hour or two a week once you get their coat into shape. And you have to *train* them to accept grooming or it is a giant pain in the butt -- theirs & yours. During the winter or rainy seasons, wiping feet, de-icing beards & bodies will become part of your daily existence because most Bouvs just love to play in & around water, mud & snow. Bouviers *need* to be with their families so having them around means that, like many an intelligent two or three year old child, they need attention, conversation, entertainment & *more* training.  They go through the terrible twos but with them, it's the terrible ones. They constantly test, probe, challenge your authority, decide what's right for them to do & what's not worth doing. They cannot be beaten or scared into submission; they must learn to respect you as a strong but *fair* leader. And they will try your patience, make no mistake. If you perform admirably then they will follow you anywhere, unlike children. Bouviers *need* EXERCISE. Now some breeders, like one kennel in the Philadelphia region states in their "brochure" that Bouviers don't need a lot of exercise & therefore make great apartment pets. Baloney. They *need* exercise just like you do. Bouviers can live in apartments; I lived with one in this way for many years but every day we went to the park to run, play & swim. His name was BOGART. Many Bouviers, as you've probably read on the mailing lists, *have* HEALTH ISSUES. Pretty serious ones at that -- heart, eyes, thyroid, hips. Only a good breeder can help ameliorate these problems through very responsible breeding, but even then problems can & do occur. Animal medical insurance is really non-existent for all practical purposes so you have to be prepared -- but hopefully never have to -- reach deep into your pockets to take care of your canine child. Finding the *right* breeder is crucial. I cannot stress that enough.  Bouviers are big, bulky, playful, aggressive, possessive, mischievous & sensitive animals. They are, in short, a handful. They need constant supervision, attention & care. They don't mature fully both emotionally & physically until the age of 4 or 5 so it will be a long haul. So whether they fart every once in a while, yap every so often, or chase the cat is not the question. The question is are you & your family *committed* to the responsibilities of owning a Bouvier? I don't know the answer; you do. If you are, the questions you raise will be taken care of  for the most part. I might suggest that you also go to shows, meet Bouviers & their owners, RESEARCH THE BREED thoroughly, take your time & read a very fine BOUVIER BUYERS GUIDE.  If *any* breeder tells you they are the best, most famous Bouvier breeder, turn around & *run* out. The BOUVIER BUYERS GUIDE contains extremely good information about buying or adopting a Bouvier. And if at the end of your research, you decide that you are going to commit to a Bouvier des Flandres, the people in the Bouvier community will be extremely supportive & helpful in answering more questions, making suggestions & guiding you over the rough spots that are sure to come. Whatever you decide, the best of luck. Having a canine companion as part of your household just can't be beat. If it turns out that the Bouvier is, after all, not for you, there are other wonderful breeds or mutts that may be easier & just as much fun to live with.

Hiking in Aldrich Park

Hiking with Sophie > Topstone Park,Redding CT

Hiking with Dogs in Topstone Park

Gen'l Info on Topstone Park

Other photos taken inside Topstone Park

What Vegetables Can Dogs Eat? by Katelyn Lynn, eHow Contributor

Pet nutritionists, Pat McKay, Anitra Frazier and Celeste Yarnall, believe that giving your dog vegetables as part of his daily diet can help prevent certain diseases. Vegetables contain many essential vitamins and minerals that dogs need for a long, healthy life.

Significance

Your dog will benefit from a diet that includes vegetables rich in digestible fiber, which helps maintain healthy weight, and phytochemcials, which help to prevent disease. Most modern-day kibble and canned dog foods lack the nutrients your dog needs.

Misconceptions

Dr. Ian Billinghurst, the co-counder of BARF (biologically active raw food), suggests that for good health a dog must eat as closely to a natural diet as possible, especially one that includes lots of vegetables. Commercial pet foods are often prepared from meats that are deemed "not fit for human consumption," and highly processed and cooked commercial dog foods often lack many necessary nutrients.

Portions

Generally, you should include about 20 percent vegetables in your dog's total daily food intake. Pet nutritionists suggest starting out slowly. Introduce raw vegetables into your dog's diet by mixing them with his standard food, which will prevent gastrointestinal problems.

Types

A good rule of thumb is any vegetable that can be grated, chopped, sliced or pureed can fed to your dog. But low-glycemic vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and Brussel spouts are a good choice because they give her the benefits of vegetables without adding unnecessary sugars.

Preparation

Vegetable matter may be difficult for your dog to digest, unless properly prepared. Dr. Ian Billinghurst suggests making vegetables into a nutritious pulp and adding it to your dog's diet to make it easier to digest.

Caution

Some vegetables, like garlic or onions, can have a toxic affect on your dog.

Resources OnLine CLICK HERE

Interested in History?

SCOTUS > Day II of the oral arguments on mandatory health insurance

Sophie > Reverse Sneezing written by Mo van den Tillaart

Reverse sneezing (Pharyngeal Gag Reflex) is a sudden, rapid and extreme forceful inhalation of air through the nose causing the dog to make repeated snorting noises, which may sound like he is choking. 

It sounds like the dog is trying to inhale a sneeze, and it is therefore known as reverse sneezing. Reverse sneezing is often caused by irritation of the the palate/laryngeal area. 

It causes a spasm in the muscles of the pharynx. Reverse sneezing is characterized by honking, hacking or snorting sounds (gasping inwards). 

It primarily occurs when the dog is excited, but it can also happen after drinking, eating, running, or pulling on the leash. A typical episode lasts only a few seconds, but some dogs may experience this for a few minutes and usually several times a day. 

Most of the time you can stop the spasm by gently massaging the throat of your dog, or briefly closing it's nostrils until the dog swallows. 

In some cases reverse sneezing is caused by foreign bodies in the nasal passage (grass blades), irritation from allergies or irritants (pollens, smoke, perfumes), or even tooth root infections. 

In those cases you should always consult a vet. If the dog is having repeated attacks of reverse sneezing, your vet may prescribe antihistamines to see if that helps stop the sneezing. 

When reverse sneezing occurs right after the nose-inoculation against kennel-cough, it would be advisable to give the dog some antibiotics. 

Most dogs that have infrequent episodes of reverse sneezing, can lead a perfectly normal life, cause reverse sneezing is a harmless condition and medical treatment is not necessary. Although it is important not to confuse reverse sneezing with a collapsing trachea or a heart problem. 

In case of doubt, it is important to have the dog examined by your veterinarian.Click here for a 'reverse sneezing' YouTube video. This is just one of the many examples on YouTube, so I advise you to browse YouTube for more. 

Be sure to seek the advice of your veterinarian about any question you may have regarding your pet's health and behavior. No diagnosis can be done without a veterinarian actually seeing and examining the patient.

The original article is here

Sophie > Medical Update

To remain on leashed exercise even though, we think we're around the bend on elbow BUT discovered very high bacteria levels in urine culture which may have induced sepsis which traveled to elbow.

To make sure it's no where else, the Soph will be on antibiotics for another 4-6 weeks. Will do another urine culture 10 days after last antibiotic dose to confirm bacterial eradication. 

All joints currently OK, no temperature. Antibiotics seem to be efficacious. Hips OK, back legs lack muscle tone but that's from former life of zero exercise. We'll work on that as soon as this is over.

Walking w/o limp. Appetite, attitude, water intake, output all OK, fingers crossed.

Another follow up with surgeon in ten days. Dr. Feldstein turns out to be an Aussie and absolutely terrific! Wish I could clone her. Extremely confident having Sophie in her care.

Thanks everyone for your concern, notes, caring. Truly a happy valentines day for us. xoxo to you all.

 

Diary of a Soutern Belle - Weeks 4 & 5

It was Thursday night. The Soph & I were cuddling on the sofa & we both fell asleep. About 1:00am Sophie's panting (not heavy) as she began to re-arrange her large frame, awakened me. She had decided to get off the sofa & I watched her step off, uncertainly pausing on her front legs while her rear was still on the cushions (not a pretty sight I might add).

After a few seconds in this position, she hopped off, walked unsteadily for a few feet & unceremoniously dropped to the floor. She moved onto her side. Frightened by this unusual behavior, I got down on the floor with her, stroked & talked to her while checking for bloat (sometimes successful but not always) & otherwise felt around what I could get to. She wasn't moving b7t she wasn't panting hard either.

I called for Carol and we determined that something was definitely wrong. What it was we couldn’t tell. I considered some kind of convulsion or stroke or heart/blood problem. She was quiet, calm, motionless for the longest time and then, as it turned out, gathered her strength, overcame or emerged from her problem to get to her feet. But couldn't.

That's when we made emergency calls. Sophie weighing 120# or so is not easy to move around as you can imagine. Carol searched for a veterinary ambulance to no avail, then contacted the emergency hospital we use to ask some quick questions of the vet on duty & to alert them that we were coming. Carol went off to move the car to the front of the house (shortest distance).

Sliding a large towel under Sophie was a chore but we managed; she whimpered a little. Then all three of us tried to get her up at which point she let out a scream & standing I could see she was holding her left paw aloft, refusing to put any weight on it.

I searched for a broken bone, something in the pad, all for naught but when I got up under her arm/leg pit, she let out another yelp so I moved the towel back & we started to move her to the car. It was a struggle. Sophie helped as much as possible but her rear was working too well either so it was like carrying dead (gulp) weight. I started to consider some kind of spine injury as we moved her closer & closer to the door, resting at 3 or 4 stages. At the car, don't ask me how but I was able to lift her into the rear of the station wagon & I got in with her.

Sophie is not yet confident enough to lie down while traveling by car so she sat, keeping weight off that one leg, leaning her body against my arm which was squashed between her & the side of the car. But I knew by then her spine, spinal column was ok which was some solace. In that condition we made the 20 minute trip to the emergency hospital.

There two/three emergency vet techs met us with a gurney which we transferred Sophie onto without much of a struggle (I think she knew we were trying to help) and the techs wheeled her into the emergency room where we could not follow. Two went with Sophie. One remained with us, to gather some history.

Eventually the vet, Michele Roch, came out to confer with us. Her cursory analysis was a leg problem in the elbow area. It was hot, swollen & produced an immediate reaction from the Soph when extended but she didn't know the cause. We authorized x-rays, blood tests, and whatever else was necessary to deduce what was going on & we waited, dozing off in the waiting room.

Nose was cold, wet -- not always a good barometer. Infection? A high white cell count might point that way but the result was a low white blood count. Conveniently, this could mean body was fighting infection & running low on ammunition.

Medication to relax Sophie enough for the x-ray didn't kick in so we agreed to anesthesia and signed a form authorizing CPR in an emergency. About an hour later we all looked at the digital x-rays together. Joints were good, sockets & seatings looked clean, no fractures, no bone spurs, chips & the like were in evidence. So Ms. Roche reasoned the damage was in the tissue surrounding the joint.

And what could that mean? Anything from an infection discharge to soft tissue cancer.

Sophie was resting comfortably, a surgeon was coming in & would examine her later in the morning so about 5:30am we decided there was nothing more we could do until the surgical consult & we went home, had an early breakfast & waited.... and waited.... and waited. Carol couldn't go to work.

About 10:00am Fri surgeon Judith Feldstein (a Brit) called to discuss Sophie's case. We reviewed what we had observed from 1:00 AM, what we knew of her background, what experiences we had had with her in the three weeks she had been with us: an active, playful, limber, wiggly, romping, chow hound who ate everything in sight, licked all bowls clean, drank water like a Bouvier, was smart as hell, had a winsome personality and perfect bathroom habits, resulting in good deposits left in various spots on the front lawn.

Ms.Feldstein decided to withdraw some liquid, put it under a microscope & send it out for a culture. Same with the blood work. Her concern was that infectious materials left to fester too long could lead to damaged tissues or even the joint, itself. To prevent that she would have to cut the knee open & flush it out thoroughly. However, as a first step, she wanted to put Sophie under again, drain what she could by needle, put her on massive dosages of intravenous antibiotics & wait one day (Sat) to see if there was marked improvement. I asked for her criteria for marked improvement. "If she puts weight on the leg". Sounded reasonable & made sense to us.

I had elected not to visit Sophie out of fear of making her even more anxious with my coming and going but I conferred with the emergency techs taking care of her 2-3x daily. Sophie was NEVER left alone. I was comforted by that and felt I was doing the right thing.

Since Sophie met the criteria, Ms. Feldstein decided to continue intravenous antibiotics rather than cut her open. Sunday, her day off, she came in to check on her & was pleased with Sophie's progress. However, Sophie was not eating despite the fact that we had dropped off her favorite foods.

Sunday night's conference with the emergency vet resulted in the idea of picking Sophie up on Monday, subject to the surgeon's ok, to get her to eat at home, and to follow up with oral antibiotics, a return visit with the surgeon within a week, and only walking on lead to take care of business and then home again to rest up.

But you can't keep a good girl down.

Sophie wanted to run, jump, wriggle & bump -- all bad things. And I had to stop her which made me feel guilty as hell since one goal in her adoption was to give her total freedom to wander & play, something she lacked in her prior life. 

 

At home, we were to keep her off the furniture, medicated: 6 pills in the AM + 7 pills in the PM. We were to put hot compresses on her elbow 3-4x daily. Smart girl that she is, she wouldn't take her pills stuffed in a hot dog, in a pill pocket, mixed in with her dinner (she wouldn't eat), in cream cheese or wrapped in baloney. For one session, peanut butter did the trick. Then she saw it coming. You can put a pill into this girl's mouth wrapped in anything and she can shake her head until the pill falls out of one her jowls but the rest stays in. So we watched her shake her head violently with each attempt and stared helplessly as a little white pill dropped to the floor. I finally took to shoving them down her throat (last resort). A bit of treat, a pill, a bit of treat, a pill, a bit of treat, a pill....

Upchuck once, feeling punky each time but eventually good appetite, lots & lots of water and frequent trips to pee. Stella who is also a chow hound, walks out of the kitchen during the pill routine, wanting no part of it. I know how she thinks: "I don't want to be next. Out of sight, out of mind."

Tuesday we go for a checkup with the surgeon. Sophie is now licking her back left thigh. I don't know what that means. I hope nothing. She looks like an oddly shaved poodle, done by a groomer on hallucinogenics (Remember those days, Timothy Leary?). But she's still Sophie.

The saga continues.

Next step, Newt Gingrich

By John Roach 

After six years and several million dollars, scientists have created a 3-D model of a rat brain circuit.

The accomplishment is a first step toward creating a complete computer model of the brain that will allow a deeper understanding of how our noggins work — and what causes them to malfunction, according to the scientists behind the feat. 

For a starting point, researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute are focused on how the rat brain processes information gathered by a single whisker. 

They did so because studies in their lab and elsewhere have shown that a single whisker is able to detect, in complete darkness, whether a gap is safe to jump over and, if so, trigger the order to jump. 

What's more, there's a specific region of the brain "that is dedicated to processing information from a dedicated whisker," Marcel Oberlaender, a researcher at the institute and the first author of a paper explaining the research in the journal Cerebral Cortex, told me today.

That region is called the cortical column, a vertically-organized series of connected neurons that form a brain circuit and an elementary building block of the cortex. 

The cortex is the part of the brain responsible for many of the higher functions, such as memory and consciousness.

To build the model, the researchers studied the cortical column in awake and anesthetized rats as well as brain slices and then used computer software and other tools to reconstruct it.

"The model we built is really based on a complete reconstruction of these nerve cells," Oberlaender said. "So how the model looks in the end resembles how it would look in the real animal."

It is composed of 16,000 neurons, each of which can be divided into one of nine different cell types that has characteristic functional, structural and connectivity properties, he added.

The model can now be used to run computer simulations that show, in realistic detail, how signals flow within the brain. So, they can begin to understand, for example, what neurons fire as the rat detects the gap and decides whether or not to jump.

Until now, researchers have only been able to see how a single neuron or a small group of neurons interact during such a process. "We can now, in simulation experiments, mimic what is really going on in these circuits," Oberlaender said.

Going forward, the researchers should be able to use the methodology developed to build this model to add more parts to it, thus incorporating other brain functions such as the motor system that sends a signal down the spinal cord and makes the limbs move so that rat can jump over the gap.

*  *  *

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website.

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself & I can't decide whether to laugh or not.