What Now? :<( Update

[Donna K & Quincy]

Three weeks ago I posted about Quincy and an abscess he had on his head that caused us a major amount of concern, two weeks prior to that he had to see the vet because his eyelid was very swollen and inflamed. We just finished 3 weeks of antibiotics and having the abscess drained twice and then yesterday we noticed this. There is also a spot on his lower lip and it seems to be getting bigger.

I have taken him to the vet again who diagnosed it as an allergy and he is now on prednisone and another 10 days of antibiotics. Has anyone ever experienced this? I know Joanne has something similar with Spud's lip but put it down to friction from the large ball he was playing with. Quincy hasn't been doing anything different and there haven't been any changes in his diet. The only thing I can think of is that on Monday he got ahold of a pressure treated garden stake that he stole out of my flower bed but he only had it for a few seconds. I don't really know what to think. :<( 

UPDATE;  It's been five days and whatever the mystery ailment is, it is slowly getting better, I don't know if it's because of the meds or in spite of them but it's is getting better and that's what matters.It actually looked a little worse for a couple of days, not bigger but it seemed to have tiny blisters. We go back to the vet tomorrow for a recheck.  I have no new insights into what may have caused it but just to be on the safe side I did get rid of all the garder stakes today while I was cleaning out the flower beds, it may not be the culprit but I'm not willing to risk it. Thanks to all our friends for their ideas and well wishes, I hope our next discussion is not even remotely related to health issues.

This is a pic from today.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Has Quincy been playing a hard game of ball?   I know sometimes I try to ground the balls so not to have Spud trying to jump so much.  He will slide with the ball over the hard ground. 

On another note--we have never inflated this red ball again for Spud  :(  Sad, because he really loved the ball he just beat his head against it so much.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I never fixed mine yet either. I was lazy but I also think Luca will manage to push it into a twig and rip it again in no time.

[Donna K & Quincy]

No games of ball, no hot dishes, no chain link fences, I wish it were. Here is a pic that shows his lower lip as well. Did Spud's lip get better on it's own or did he have to see a vet?

 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Poor baby. Is it swollen? Because on the pic it seems to be.

[Donna K & Quincy]

No it's not swollen that's me holding it down so I could take a pic because it is kind of on the inside of his lip.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Gotcha. In any case, hope it goes away.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Geesh, I can't remember for this one???  Oh no, my mind.  

I think it just got better on its own.  We used an ointment when he was sleeping, but it looked clean, not infected, and it healed.   Just raw skin. It seem to bother me more than him.

You have some other issues going on lately and I can't help but think they may be related. I once had a good infection and spent some time in the Unit on mega doses of antibiotics. So many antibiotics my skin did have some problems and peeled off in places for a few weeks unrelated to the infection site.   So maybe he has just had a lot going on.  That was one whopper of an infection and possibly some areas of his body are stressed right now.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I think they're related as well, it is almost too much of a coincidence for it not to be and I think it all started with the original eye swelling that was 6 weeks ago. I just really hate to give him steroids if they're not necessary and since steroids supress the immune system I am afraid it might set us up for something worse.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

He may not be on an immunosuppressive dose; what dosage is he taking?

[Donna K & Quincy]

He is taking 7.5mg twice a day for three days and then he decreases to 5mg a day for 6 days then 5mg every second day. He has only had one dose so far.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know that the immunosuppressant dose for JD  was 20 mg 2x/day initially, and he was only at 72 lbs then, so I think Quincy's dose is anti-inflammatory but not immunosuppressive.  

[Donna K & Quincy]

I can't reply below, but thanks Karen, Quincy is 66 lbs so that is quite a bit lower than JD's dose so I won't stress as much. Karen, what would we do without you?  How is JD doing with his new therapy?