The $243 case of.................................

A couple of weeks ago, Fuji seemed to be having incresing problems with ...........accidents. It seemed like she was leaking, because everywhere we turned, there was a little spinkle of pee.  Mom knew it wasn't me when she saw Fuji just stand there in plain sight while piddling, not even a half squat.  No amount of walking or keeping her in our (very large, shady and  FENCED) backyard, or our crate seemed to improve the situation.   She obviously knew what she was doing was bad, and seemed to hang her head in shame.  Even her tail was uncurled......

Finally, Mom figured out that Fuji was probably not doing this on purpose, but might have a serious problem.  She was afraid it might have been a urinary tract infection, or maybe bladder stones.   So, Fuji earned a trip to the vet.   Yes, we are very cute and get loads of tummy rubs and kisses at the vet, but still, a trip to the vet is never much fun.   I was glad to be left behind this time.......

The vet agreed there might be a problem and suggested a boat load of expensive tests, including an x-ray.   Good thing we started there, because Fuji's belly look suspiciously like this [not actual x-ray]:

It was plain to to see that nothing could be seen through all that poop. Fortunately, no stones or calcifications were visible.  The vet wasn't able to really visualize any of the structure because of the ENORMOUS amount of poops in there. Even Mom could see that.  So, only $243 later, the diagnosis:

CONSTIPATION

Fuji came home with poop medicine ($11) and strict orders to stay in the yard between frequent walks.   Until she "produced."   Luckily, Fuji seemed to "respond" to her medicine quickly and things got better quickly.   Now that she's more...."regular", things seem better and we are seeing a lot fewer accident.   And the curly tail is back.

That was one expensive case of constipation.