A new vet

On Monday, Erin and I took TJ to a new vet, Dr. Frank Bousaid at Harmony Animal Wellness Center in Monroe. It was obvious that TJ's back left leg was infected, and he needed some help. Erin was referred there by a friend, Lena Morrill. Dr. Frank is a DVM who also specializes in Chinese medicine.

What a difference! Dr. Frank asked about TJ's entire medical history and had already read through the notes sent by the other clinic. Erin had the option of doing a typical Western exam or a Chinese exam, but once Dr. Frank saw TJ he told us that before we could do anything, we needed to get his infection and skin issues under control, and the ONLY way to do that was with antibiotics. We can do a Chinese exam at a later time. While we hated to do it ... it's back to the antibiotics and steroids. However, Dr. Frank has a different attitude, and it was obvious he is concerned about TJ and wants to do what's best. He gave TJ a steroid injection, whereas he's always received pills in the past. He also stated that the antibiotics need to be done in 3-week intervals, meaning that if the infection is completely gone in 3 weeks, we're done. If not, but it's definitely working, then we need to do a second 3-week regimen.

But one of the biggest revelations was the amount of thyroid TJ had been prescribed, and his comment that the excess could be contributing to his skin issues, as well as affecting his mental state. He asked if Erin had noticed an increase in his skin condition as the thyroid increased, and she was able to think back and agree that it had gotten worse. The former vet had prescribed 4.0 mg of Thyrosyn per day (2.5 0.8-mg tabs, 2x daily). Erin had cut it back to 3.2 (2 tabs, 2x daily) because TJ was losing so much weight, but Dr. Frank says TJ should NEVER get more than 0.8 total per day. He said to cut back to 1 tab 2x daily for the first week, then to 1/2 tab 2x daily after that.

The other thing he said was that TJ is very "hot", referring to his energy, and that he should NEVER eat dry food again, and that the worst food for him would be chicken based. He put him on a "white" diet for the next 3 weeks: turkey, rice, potatoes, cottage cheese, and/or tofu. After that he'll be going to canned food. The first night he got cottage cheese and rice, and yesterday we cooked up ground turkey and potatoes. TJ loves it! He seems hungry, so I gave him a little bit of extra food yesterday afternoon. Apparently early this morning he threw up potatoes in Erin's room, so we might have to work on the ratio, or feed him smaller amounts more frequently. He still had some issues eating, where his mouth seems too dry to process the food, and he smacks or gets it stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Monday night he slept through the night, and when Erin got up in the morning she startled him because he was sleeping so soundly. He wagged his tail, and seemed so much happier yesterday. He still slept a lot, still licked some of the hair off of his back legs, still had a lot of discharge ... but it does seem as if he felt much better overall.

We've stopped all of the NZymes products. Dr. Frank wants to get back to "zero" and get TJ healthy and happy. Erin picked up a new shampoo that is supposed to be good at controlling yeast, and she made up a spray bottle with it to use to wipe him down. Dr. Frank wants us to avoid wiping him down with straight water to reduce the possibility of bacteria.

TJ goes back to Dr. Frank in 3 weeks.

Happy Day ... ?

Erin and I were commenting yesterday about how much better TJ is looking. He's growing hair on his belly, which is much pinker now (or at least much less black), and the hair on his face is coming back. He hardly had any yeast yesterday, which was amazing! Erin left a note when she left for work this morning that he slept through the night, which is a rare occurrence. He's also snuggling with Erin again, which is great. I've noticed, though, that he won't look me in the eye much, which he always used to do.

This morning he has chewed nearly all of the fur off of the front of his left hind leg. It looks so painful. I put some of his "Buddy Boo Boo" on it, but not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. I'm sure he will continue to have good days and bad, but we just want him to get back to feeling well!

The saga continues

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. TJ's recovery continues, as strange as before. One day he's pretty good, with very little discharge, and the next he's thickly coated with it, with no apparent reason for the change. He's definitely growing back hair, especially under his chin and on his back. Erin is giving him acidophilus and using apple cider vinegar on him, in addition to the other therapy, which seems to be helping. Last time she took him to the vet they increased his thyroid, and he's definitely lost more weight since then, which he didn't need. He's being tested again tomorrow.

TJ has definitely not been himself. He seems depressed, which is understandable, and he's started getting up on the furniture, which he hadn't done since they first moved in 2 years ago. I think that may be partly because of his weight loss, and he's just not comfortable on the floor because he's too bony. I brought one of his old beds up, and he seems to be staying off the furniture since then (at least we haven't caught him on it). He's been spending a lot of time outdoors. I'll put him out on his chain, then check on him every half hour or so. He's very content lying in the sun, which is probably very good for him. I think I'd get depressed if I had to stay in the house all of the time, especially when it's sunny outdoors!

Erin is setting her sights on moving to SoCal, and I told her it's important to visualize TJ with her, because I think perhaps he's been picking up on her "leaving" energy and is afraid of being left behind. Sounds kooky, but I think dogs are very intuitive.

More energy ... sometimes

Dave and I were gone for the Labor Day weekend, but Erin said that she and TJ played a lot. He chased his toys, played a kind of hide & seek in the house, etc. They also took a really long walk. This morning I took him out for a walk, and we basically jogged around the entire neighborhood, with only short stops. This is definitely NOT the typical behavior for him lately, and I take it as a good sign. He still has a lot of discharge on his neck, which comes and goes. He also still spends a lot of time sleeping. Yesterday I could hardly get him to come out of his room. His legs are really raw from scratching and chewing. Erin bought him some new socks (boots?), and she's been keeping those on most of the time so that he can't scratch himself raw.

Thursday is his last day on antibiotics, so it will be very interesting to see what happens with his skin and itching once that's over with. Yesterday and today his ears seem to be really itchy again, so I hope the infection is completely gone.

The saga continues

TJ has been on the antibiotics for over 2 weeks now, and to me it seems as if he is nearly back to where he started before we began the treatment. He's itching constantly, his front and rear legs are raw from scratching and biting, and he seems pretty miserable. He does appear to have a little bit more energy than he had for a while, but I'm not sure why that is. He hardly has any discharge except for on his chest, and when Erin took him to the vet she said that the discharge was bacteria, not yeast.

I have my suspicions that he has a mild allergy to the antibiotics. When I brought this up to Erin she dismissed it, saying that this is the same antibiotic he always gets, and that the itching was due to allergies. However, he wasn't itching before he took the antibiotics. I have a hard time believing the antibiotics "caused" an allergy to his food or environment that he didn't have before. I'm really curious how they would treat him if he did have an allergy to the antibiotics. But that's just my assessment. If he always ends up taking steroids after the antibiotics to stop the itching ... hmmm, just seems to make sense to me.

He definitely hasn't been nearly as stinky as he was before, but his fur gets sticky after a few days. Some days his chest has a lot of discharge; some days none at all. I think he might be growing some of the fur back on his chin, and the bare patch he had on his back from his ACL surgery has completely grown back. He still has a bare patch on his tail where he chewed on it. The inside of his lips was really pink yesterday, and he still isn't eating normally, although he's getting better. He's also still really picky about drinking water from his regular bowl, which we can't figure out. And yes, that is duct tape on his nails, which helps a little to keep him from tearing himself up.

Back and forth

TJ has definitely seemed to have a relapse since taking the antibiotics. He's not that yeasty or itchy, but he's definitely not himself. He's not eating his food at mealtimes, although he does seem to always finish it. It's 1pm now and he's just eating his breakfast. He's also not drinking much water, but he's taken to drinking out of the toilet, which he's never done before. Weird. We took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, and he wanted to "jog" several times and seemed to have a lot of energy. But today he was very slow moving. Sometimes he's slow because he wants to sniff everything, but today he just moved like an old man. I've noticed that he trips over his front left paw quite a bit lately, and I'm not sure what that is all about. Erin and I talked yesterday about his quality of life. I know she's contemplating stopping the treatment because she feels as if he will go back to having energy and being playful, but he hasn't really been very energetic or playful since he had his surgery for his ACL in February.

Getting better

TJ seems to be doing much better this week. The output on his body continues to travel around, and right now the heels on his hind legs seem to be pretty red and raw. I think he's been chewing on them some. He's eating his food well, but he still has an issue with his water that we can't figure out. Erin caught him drinking out of the toilet today, which I have NEVER seen him do. Weird. He went to the vet today to have his thyroid checked, but I'm not sure when they get those results.