Our 9 year old mutt, Penny, in the dx process - sweet Penny has passed

[trk_koa]

Penny is our miracle dog. It's been several years now since her Cushings dx and over a year ago that she had hemangiosarcoma cancer.

She's getting very lumpy with numerous cysts and lipomas. We took her to the vet for a check up in December. They sampled 5 or 6 of her lumps and bumps. All are benign. She got a good report for an old dog.

Her hearing is nearly completely gone, eye sight is dimming and she sleeps a lot more.

But every once in a while she gets lively and runs around in the yard. She had quite a romp in the snow yesterday. She loves her food and treats. We lift her onto our bed at night. She seems to like being allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed.

So she is happy and we are glad she's still here.

[molly muffin]

Awww, Penny. What a love. Heck yea she loves sleeping on the bed with you. Nice comfy and with her peeps.
So good to hear a positive report on Penny. Glad she is doing well for an older dog. Sounds like everything is natural progression of aging.

[trk_koa]

Still amazed that our Penny is still with us. She gives us a scare once in a while. This last June she had severe bloody diarrhea and two different vets thought she had a perforated bowel or cancer and it might be her time. Ultrasound and additional testing showed an e-coli infection. Antibiotics, bland diet and TLC and she bounced right back.

In late July she had an adenoma (benign) rupture just above her anus. She bounced right back.

This week, it’s vestibular syndrome. Vet said she might have had a seizure but she has the darting back and forth eye movements, stumbling, nausea, circling that are typical of vestibular. They gave her a shot of anti-nausea meds. She refused to eat for two days but yesterday and today she is enthusiastic about home-cooked chicken and rice. I think she has had prescription diets so many times, just the smell puts her off. However, she has diarrhea again. She is drinking water just fine and had her favorite dental treat a little while ago.

The first two days she was obviously very stressed out, poor baby. It’s got to be freaky to have your world not behave.

We have another appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon.

She’s walking a little better today. I bought a sling harness to help keep her from falling over. She’s resting in her favorite spot right now

[Squirt's Mom]

It's good to hear from you and Penny again! I am glad she is doing as well as she is! Especially considering all she has had to deal with in just a few short years! I think that TLC she gets at home has a lot to do with that.

Vestibular can be so very scary but most pups recover with little to no lasting effects. My old guy, Brick, developed Vestibular and he circled for weeks, at first so badly he couldn't get anywhere which frustrated him no end. But slowly the circling became less frantic and he was able to navigate from one place to the other albeit not normally for a while. He also required some help remaining on his feet for a while. He was blind so we didn't have the nystagmus to help diagnose, we went solely on his behavior. He had hydrocephalus so it was a waiting game to see if it was Vestibular, a stroke, or the hydrocephalus worsening. Thankfully it was only Vestibular. He returned to his normal goofy self and never had problems with Vestibular again. I hope your sweet Penny is soon more her old self, too. Stay in touch and let us know how she is doing!

Hugs,
Leslie

[trk_koa]

Penny’s vestibular is improving slowly. Nystagmus is pretty much gone but she is wobbly and still circling. Diarrhea is gone also. I’m getting better at walking on her “head tilt” side. If she bumps into me, it seems to keep her from falling on slopes or stairs.

Right now the issue is her refusal to eat anything but the home cooked chicken stew. All canned prescription diets are just yuck. She’s had them too many times, I guess. I tried her regular food mixed with the stew and she refused that too.

I’m getting her vetoryl and other meds into her by making homemade chicken pill pockets. So she has had her vetoryl three days in a row now.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words.

[Harley PoMMom]

You're doing a wonderful job taking care of your sweet girl. All we can do is love them and try to make them as happy and comfortable as we can.

[trk_koa]

Penny continues to amaze. She is recovering from the vestibular quite well. Moving better each day and today she finally ate her normal diet from her normal bowl in the normal place. She’s back to following me around the house and wanting love. She still has a slight head tilt and uncertain gait. But her back end is wasted from Cushings so that isn’t far off her normal. We have a recheck with the vet tomorrow.

[Joan2517]

What a great update...she sure is amazing!

[Harley PoMMom]

Good luck with the vet visit today. And I agree with Joan, Penny sure is an amazing girl!

[Squirt's Mom]

So glad to hear Penny is coming back to herself and pray the visit today brings more good news! Thanks for sharing your wonderful update!