A Trip to the Vet, (not for weak stomachs)

[Donna K & Quincy]

Last night in the midst of having a few laughs on DK and with Quincy sitting next to me for his favorite rump scratch, I felt a lump and a pop and I suddenly had a handful of bloody drainage. A small cyst that I had been keeping an eye on was suddenly larger and chose that moment to break. YUK! I got up early this morning and made an appt with the vet, the earliest one they had was 6pm this evening. We just got back from the vet where Quincy has the cyst incised and drained of the remaining gunk. He was an absolute angel at the vet and the only anaesthetic required was a handful of liver treats. I cleaned the mess of blood off his fur and cleansed it with the hibitane solution the vet gave us, he is now on antibiotics as well. Quincy has also been doing a lot of scratching and had some very dry scaly skin under his chin. The vet gave us a medication to help with the itching from the cyst which the vet said will also work for the dry skin. The med is a prednisone and I am a little concerned because from what I can remember, prednisone suppresses the immune system and that is not what we need when we are taking antibiotics for a possible infection. Does anyone have any experience with this and should I give them to him now or wait till he finishes the antibiotics. I didn't really think of these things until I was driving home as I was a little stressed and more traumatized than Quincy was. The vet said to put a cone on him to keep him from licking but I'm hoping that my foray into my son's underwear drawer will work without having to resort to that.

Quincy is now resting on the floor with DH sitting beside him giving him some extra TLC and feeling sorry for him.

No swimming until the area is all healed, and Quincy was enjoying his duck retreiving so much. :<(

 UPDATE: The boxers are working well except for the 2 am acrobatics around the bed trying to get them off. The area already looks a lot better this morning. Thank you everyone for the well wishes and he really does rock those boxers.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Poor Quincy! Hope it heals fast so the other dogs don't see you in those boxers!!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Oh poor Quincy I missed all of this (which is probably a good thing, you didn't need a sudo Mom freaking out as well). I am glad he is feeling better and yes he does ROCK the boxers.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Oh and Predisone makes me HUNGRY, CRABBY, and red faced...don't know what it will do for Quincy but it also makes all my aches and pains go away so essentially I am a raving, pudgy, mean cleaning machine. I just got off but I can say cleaning my carpets last week makes me happy today, oh and yes I am now on a diet again! Poor DH!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Gee, maybe I should take the prednisone and get some cleaning done, although I can do without the increased appetite. He has only had two doses and other than peeing a bit more, no problems so far.

[sandy b]

Oh poor Quincey. So sorry you had to go through this. Quincey you are too darn cute in those boxers!!

[Kate C Pappas]

Poor Baby. I can only imagine how scared you were/are. I don't have experience with giving prednisone but I know it's serious stuff, often necessary but most everyone says not to keep the dog on it too long. If you trust your vet, then that's good. For how long must he be on it?

Something I recommend keeping on hand for 'owies', hot spots, dry skin etc is "Peace and Kindness" by Chris Christensen. I am NOT suggesting you not follow your vet's advice right now. It's a 'just in case'. Occasionally the girls will get a little red on the ear flaps after I shave them and I spray "Peace and Kindness" on a cotton pad and rub it on there. Yarra also bumped into a sticker and has an 'owie' on her head and I sprayed it there. Here is the link for CC.

http://www.chrissystems.com/testimon.htm

It seems lately on another forum also, I've been seeing a lot of Doodles with cysts and am wondering why this is?

The boxers are cute too. Hope he feels better soon!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Thanks Kate, Quincy will be on the prednisone for about 10 days, starting a reducing dose on day 5. So far he hasn't shown any adverse effects except for perhaps drinking and peeing a little more. I am going to check out the Peace and Kindness as Quincy does suffer from some dry skin. I think he has stopped scratching as much since he started the prednisone. The area has improved vastly in just 2 days.

[Clifford, Cloud, Jake..and Kim]

Quincy, hope you are feeling tons better today!  Although you rock those boxers I'm sure you would rather be a naked doodle. 

[Nina Vantschip]

Poor guy...he looks like he is being very cooperative about the whole thing. I wouldn't worry too much about the prednisone. I know with "humans" being on prednisone only poses a problem if on for very long periods of time and higher than norm doses, as a lot of people do.  It is a great drug for short term use. Hopefully it will get the itching under control, and you can take it from there. What a nice dog!!

[cheryl & oliver]

Glad to hear that Quincy is doing better.  I love the boxers.  Oliver is on antibiotics right now for a few hot spots that he scratched and got infected, and he also had prednisone.  I hate that stuff, I just took him off of it after 3 days.  I was taking him out every 15 min. and he would pee for what seemed forever.  He was drinking tons of water, and he was still walking and peeong in the house.!!!.. When this dog pees, it is like a river, so he has stopped itching, so goodbye prednisone, but I am continuing the antibiotic.  I also have the cone on him so he can't scratch.  It is healing and just scabby now, and he is really not going for it, but one more day with the cone and I will take it off.  So I guess my vet is like the others he gives both at the same time. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

Quincy is also drinking a ton of water but so far no peeing in the house, I am taking him out a little more often to pee but he hasn't had a problem going all night without peeing. He has only been on it for 2 days so I don't know if that will change. He only has to wear his boxers at night when I can't watch him, he hasn't really bothered the spot too much and he doesn't bother the boxers when they are on. I'm just happy we didn't have to resort to the cone.

[Leslie and Halas]

I hope Quincy is feeling better today.