Health and Wellness

[Linda and "Toby"]

Let's share health or wellness issues here so we can easily find them, and refer back to them later.

[The Dude and his person, Kristi]

Glad all went well Carla!  Dude sends lots of love to his sister.

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

Is Izzy home? How's she doing? I hope she's calm so you don't need to drug her again.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

She is home with a huge cone (so she can't lick the patch). She has a Fentanyl patch on her back foot that needs to stay in until Tues pm. I plan to put the smaller cone on her after the patch is off. She is on Rimadyl and her doggie valium. They gave her Tramodol (also for pain) but I hope not to use that until after I take the patch off. It's a lot of pain meds.I have to do cold packs for the next 2 days 3/4x/day. then switch to warm packs for 5 days to keep the swelling down. We put every extra area rug we own in the kitchen. Kelsey says it looks like a rug showroom!!

The good thing is that she is walking with absolutely no limping. I was really worried about that. We hear about the pathology report Tues or Wed.

Hopefully she will be rarin' to go to the Romp on the 23rd.....that's the goal.....

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

Feel better izzy!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Izzy's incisions. She is doing well today. Lots of energy and no limping. One of the meds she is on is making her fart up a storm. She is able to clear the entire room and it permeates throughout the house. It's really gross.

[Sheila Balthasar]

poor baby...it looks sore.  Hope she's feels better.  Hope her gas gets better....my boys just read this and got a laugh!  :))

[Linda and "Toby"]

Ooooh, that does look sore! Poor baby! (And poor you! haha!)

[Joyce,David"Mochi,Latte,Popcorn"]

Poor Izzy :(

She's lucky to be your little girl. You take such good cares of her.

[Linda and "Toby"]

HELP! A couple weeks ago, Toby developed an allergy. He started scratching and scratching and scratching like CRAZY! Mostly around his head and legs, from the tops of his feet to his tail/butt. I took him to the vet and sure enough, whatever he's allergic to has caused him to develop a bacterial infection under his skin and a fungal ear infection. (GROAN) So, the vet gave him a shot (I think it was cortisone) and some antibiotics and ear medicine. The cortisone helped immensely. By the next day he was much calmer. By the following day he was itch-free. For about a week anyway.

Now, although he's still on his antibiotics, he's starting to get itchy again. I gave him a bath and a haircut yesterday to see if this will help. I don't believe it's the shampoo/conditioner, since his original itch didn't begin till about 2 weeks after his previous bath. 

About a week before his allergy started, I started switching him from EVO dog food to (grain free) Blue Buffalo by gradually adding some to his bowl. At first I thought that must be the culprit, so I switched him back to just the beef EVO. The food must not have been the problem because Saturday he started itching again and is doing it progressively more. 

Our vet said he is treating a LOT of dogs for seasonal allergies this year. More than usual. I find this so bizarre. Maybe it's something that's blooming in our community. Who knows...

Are any of your dogs suffering from allergy symptoms right now? 

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Poor Toby. I thought it was food too. They are on Orijen but still itchy. I agree that it has been a high allergy season, even for humans. Izzy gets a runny nose in the mornings sometimes. If I see them super itchy or runny noses I give some benedryl. It seems to help

[Linda and "Toby"]

Good to know Benedryl helps! How much do you give her? And how often?

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

The vet said 25mg every 8-12 hours. It does make them a little sleepy. BTW...my way of giving meds.... Farmer John Liverwurst or Braunschweiger paste. Stick the pill in a small pea size piece. Izzy has meds everyday right now - still for her elbows. She LOVES getting her medicine!!!! Lucca has to have a little nibble too!!