Vet visit

Took our 3 dogs to the vet today & got some not so good news. Old (17) one eyed Buffy had blood work done & it didn't come back like we had hoped. She is having kidney problems from what the results show & the vet is afraid it could possibly be cancer overtaking her. Her CHF seems OK but she is taking an additional Furesomide along with Elanapril. She is dehydrated (as she was last year at this time) and will now be 'enjoying' KD kibble and canned. She has gained 3 lbs. and her tummy is about touching the floor. Willow has yeast in her ears and struvite crystals. She's on Clavamox for the next 14 days, then back to the vet 2 days before it runs out. No wonder she's been wetting on the floor, I had a suspicion she might have something going on. Jasmine, the Boston Terror, has gained .04 in two months so this is a blessing. She has IBD and severe allergies and some medicine was added, some taken away. She's still on Prednisone, which frightens me. The vet said some dogs with IBD have to be on Pred the rest of their lives. Anyway after my wallet was lightened considerably, we are all home, warm and fed. Oh yes, I h ave Optimox (?) for Buffy's sore, rough nose, for Willow's yeasty ears and a sore spot on Jasmine's hairless head. Merry Christmas to all

Well, even though the news wasn't great, I always try to keep the attitude that it could always be worse. I know how you feel about the prednisone, but knowing that it gave my Pugsly a good quality of life made it worth while. If it helps to keep the IBD from going out of control then I would not think twice about it.

How long was Pugsley on Prednisone? It has been about 16 months for Jasmine but she was in pretty bad shape for a while until she was started on that. I am thankful I have an interested vet. We scoot right by the local vet as we travel 27 miles one way to go to this one. Was Pugsley's problem IBD too or something else. Such a tiny pill to do so much.

A lot of news and information to digest Jo! I hope you can get everything to a manageable level.

That's a lot to take in. Hope you get it all under control.

Lots of news to digest. I hope everyone is well soon.

Tyson is on a daily dose of prednisone-more like a replacement therapy though since his body doesn't produce the corticosteroids he needs. He's been on it for over 20 months and will have to be for the rest of his life-given he's not quite 6 I'm hoping this is still for many years. I don't know about IBD, but with Addison's we can tweak the daily dose of prednisone, and I have found that the oral suspension is much easier to measure in smaller doses than trying to cut a pill into small parts. With IBD, if the pred can be adjusted to a "lowest effective dose", you might consider checking on whether the liquid is an option.

Miss Pugg wrote:How long was Pugsley on Prednisone? It has been about 16 months for Jasmine but she was in pretty bad shape for a while until she was started on that. I am thankful I have an interested vet. We scoot right by the local vet as we travel 27 miles one way to go to this one. Was Pugsley's problem IBD too or something else. Such a tiny pill to do so much.

He was on pred non stop for 4 years. He normally had to take at least 1 5mg tablet daily and sometimes twice a day depending on how bad he was coughing and struggling to get his breath. His liver enzymes did start to get a little high, but I was able to give him SAM E which brought the numbers back down.