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Hi-
Hannah's back seems to continue to be better (yay!) and I am hoping the vet thinks the same thing at her acupuncture appt. on Wed.
I did have to have my parents take her into the vet for me today because her ears looked so bad to me this morning. Sure enough, she has a double ear infection. So now we're back on ear medication. There is yeast and some bacterial infection too.
Here's to hoping we don't have any more issues in the near future...
Julie & Hannah
aweeeeeee bummer, bless her sweet heart, poor little ears.
Okay, BUT the back is better??? so hope doctor agreed! thinking of you all. love and hugs
Thought I'd post an update on Hannah. She had acupuncture again on Wed. (my parents took her while I was at work). The vet said she was SO MUCH better. They could see her personality (thought she was so cute!) and she wasn't too into the acupuncture that day. They did it on the floor instead of the table and my mom said Hannah was trying to walk away. They finally distracted her with treats.
The vet said she may not need another one and that I should just watch her and see how she does. She suggested it might be good to get a maintenance treatment every 6-8 weeks in the winter, and that I should watch to be sure she doesn't slip on ice.
Hannah is happily trotting again on her short walks (about a block and back) and is following me around the house. She is going to be getting groomed this week (a week earlier than I planned) because the groomer at my vet (who has experience with dogs with injuries) has to quit grooming because of her own back problems. This is her last week. That stresses me out a little, but I am hopeful my other groomer can do it, as she has some experience with older/injured dogs too. She said she typically does all necessary areas (nails, pads of feet, sanitary area, face) right away, then does the bath and cut, and lets the dog dictate when to take breaks.
We are still treating the double ear infection, but both ears look much better. They just get so greasy and disgusting feeling. I am also going to check with my vet on if we could stop earlier than the 14 day recommendation on the bottle. She is still licking her feet a little bit and scratching her chin and sides from time to time, but it seems a little more under control. I am relieved that there is nothing resembling a rash near her vulva, and she has been leaving that area alone, except for a quick lick after she goes potty. We are still on Hydroxyzine 2-3 times per day, but when it was really cold this past week she was less itchy and fine with only two pills. It warmed up again yesterday, but it is supposed to be really cold again this week. Hannah has also been fine in the cold weather (even with a dusting of snow) and hasn't been resisting going outside (another relief).
Hopefully we'll have another calm period for a little while. I need to get her in for her NSAID monitoring sometime soon, and hopefully that will look good.
Thanks for checking in on my little Hannah!
Julie & Hannah
Sounds like a pretty good update. I am glad Hannah is feeling better. You deserve a nice long period of calm, happy dog time.
I know how you feel about having a groomer leave. I don't know what I would do if I lost the two I use. Mine have never seen anyone else since I adopted them.
Hugs,
addy
Hannah was finally groomed yesterday and it went well, so that is a relief. They also checked her ears while she was at the vet and the infection is gone so no more ear meds!
She was due for an NSAID monitoring so they did blood work as well. Unfortunately, her ALKP level has increased from 424 on Dec. 1st to 826 yesterday. My vet was okay with it if it stayed at 424 (she had only gotten as low as 320 initially, I believe, while she was on Anipryl) but since it has doubled in 6 weeks, we are no going to try Denamarin. Does anyone have experience with that? I wanted to try that rather than going back on Anipryl for now, since it will specifically target her liver. We are going to try a month and then recheck.
Her BUN was still slightly increased (at 32 and 7-27 is normal), but her Creatinine is normal, as is the ratio, so he isn't worried about her kidneys. There were a couple of other things just slightly off (low or high) but he wasn't worried and they seem to be consistently that way.
We actually got some snow today (maybe 2 inches) and Hannah was shivering a little when outside (probably from the haircut). She did go potty when I got home from work, but had no interest in pooping. I'm hoping we don't run back into the issue of her not wanting to go outside and holding it for hours on end. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope she just didn't have to go.
Hopefully we won't have to make any vet visits in the near future. Yesterday between grooming, ear check, blood work, etc. I spent over $200, and if I add in the acupuncture the last couple of weeks we have spent closer to $400. She's certainly worth it, but I can't keep that up on a regular basis. Both of my girls are curled up and sleeping peacefully on their blankets right now. It must have been a tough day for them today. ;)
Julie & Hannah
Julie so glad its going better for Hannah and glad the ear infection is gone! Those are nasty and she must feels so much better now!! Hope the weekend goes well:)
love and hugs to you xoxo
Julie - Thanks for the update and glad all is ok. Yep these little guys can get expensive.. but oh how we love them. :p Give Hannah a hug. Kim
Hi Julie,
Glad Hannah's back is improving and the ear infection is gone. :) And I hope you are able to stay out of the vet's office for a few weeks at least! :eek::p
I haven't used Denamarin but several here have and I'm sure they will be along to share their experiences. I remember the senior vet at our clinic in TN said she always saw liver values drop in her clients on Anipryl and that did happen with Squirt while she was on it, too. I can't recall if her values remained high after that tumor was out or not tho. :o After the tumor was out, we stopped the Anipryl, of course, as there was nothing for it to treat for sure then! I need to go to storage one of these days and try to find all her old records, huh? :rolleyes:
Keep up the good work, Mom!
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang
popping by to see how everyone is doing. sending love and hugs...........
glad things are getting better!