Vet visit

Erin took TJ to the vet yesterday. Although they went to the same clinic, TJ saw a doctor he hadn't seen before, and Erin really likes her. The doctor spent an entire hour with TJ and did slides from his ears, chest, belly, and paws. She looked through all of the NZymes medications and examined each ingredient. She didn't see anything that would harm him, although there were a few ingredients that she's not that familiar with. She told Erin to consider taking TJ to a holistic vet, but that if money is an issue she should take him to a dermatologist first because his skin is horrible. I still believe from looking at the information on the NZymes site that much of the skin issues will clear up when we get the yeast problem fixed.

The slides showed that TJ has a dangerous rod bacterial infection in his ear that must be treated. He also has a couple of other bacterial infections, including staff on his paws. She did find some yeast, but not that much. Erin was adamant that she will not give him steroids, but she does need to treat the bacterial infection in his ear immediately. She is planning to call NZymes today to discuss it with them.

The doctor also recommended doing a food trial, but Erin has decided not to pursue that at this time. TJ is getting a premium dog food with only 4 ingredients, and he seems to be doing quite well on it. He hasn't been scratching much at all lately, although he does still lick his legs and bite at his paws a bit (which are still pretty swollen). Once we get everything else cleared up it might be worth looking into.

Yesterday TJ seemed to have more energy and wagged his tail quite a bit. He was also ravenous! I fed him a cup of green beans around 9am and about 1/3 cup of food at lunch time, plus he's getting 5 cups of food (2.5 at each meal). He's slightly less than 90 pounds, which is definitely low for him. He's back to eating solid food with just a little bit of water added to it.

On Friday TJ goes back in to have his thyroid tested again. He has to have the test within a certain number of hours after taking his meds, so Fridays are the only days that work for Erin, since she only works a half day on Fridays.