Random Ramblings
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Frustration!
Nobody has ever said owning a dog was easy. Theoretically, I also know that whatever "health complications" Kosmo and Faith have I pretty well signed that I will bear the full responsibility of managing them, considering their backgrounds. It doesn't mean it doesn't suck, though! Today's blog will be random health ramblings so I can track things to see if I can notice any kind of pattern. Wish us luck!
Faithey is going to the dermatologist tomorrow. She has some skin lesions.. which funnily enough have decreased significantly since she was taken off of the salmon oil - coincidence, or allergy trigger? Her ears are still bugging her, and she's still breathing loudly, so hopefully Mr. Dermatologist can help us figure out what her issues are. She sometimes acts like she has lost her "zest" for life, but sometimes she's just fine, so this has been one frustrating road for us. We at first thought it was an orthopaedic problem, but after treating her with metacam for a month and putting her on cetylM and cosequin, I'm convinced that although she may have orthopaedic problems, that's not the "cause" of her loss of zest. I sometimes wonder whether she doesn't have some kind of auto-immune disease that's making her feel like crap. I feel bad that her ears are bugging her right now, but I thought about it, and thought that A) should he determine he wants to do allergy testing tomorrow he'll be abe to because she's been off "steroids" for a while and B) He NEEDS to know what happens as soon as she's off of the ear medications. That way, it won't be a description. I hope I made the right choice. We'll soon find out. Whatever Faith's issues are though, I'm glad she's still her sweet little loving self, and thankful she is how she is, because truthfully, her issues could be a whole lot worse.
Kosmo, on the other hand, is an entirely different piece of work. This past week he has completely ripped off half of his ear hair on the one side. It's been a really bad week for us. I've gone to the vet on this issue several times and she's convinced he has allergies. We tried Novo-Hydroxyzine and it did nothing for him. He keeps scratching his ears and it seems like when I talked to the vet she'd say "well, there's something there, but it looks pretty good." Hmm okay well then why is he scratching his ears like mad??!! I eventually got frustrated and left it. I had "the talk" with Avi (daddy) this morning regarding what to do with Kos. I often wonder if he doesn't have some kind of SM or Chiari Malformation pain going on. What I find so interesting in my experience with SM/Chiari Malformation is that just as every person presents illness differently, it seems as if every dog does too. Sure, there are those classic SM signs such as air scratching, but I've learned that every dog presents their case differently. I worry about Kosmo because he seems to constantly be scratching his face, but he doesn't really fit many of the other "symptoms". On the allergy side, he doesn't have runny eyes or tear stains which I would think if he had allergies would be one of the first things he would show. I suppose he could suffer from allergies, but on a more serious note, he could be showing signs of neurological discomfort. This is where the road has taken us, and there is a theoretical fork in it which I suppose we'll have to decide which side to go down.
This morning when I Avi was getting ready for breakfast, Kosmo was "squinting." Not so much squinting full on, but his eyes were not open and bright like they usually are. It was like he had a headache and they were 1/4 closed. If I said his name, his eyes would open fully again, but I wonder if he didn't have a headache?
Lets say he hypothetically has neurologic pain (which could honestly be completely true) - at what point does an owner say "ok this is affecting his quality of life so lets get it checked out." Does Kosmo show enough signs and symtoms to warrant further investigation and a possible medication for the rest of his life? That is one of the questions I've been struggling with for a while now. While I know that Kosmo is my bouncing, happy, fun, I love my life dog, I never have been able to get rid of "that scratch." But on the other hand, even after "that scratch," he reverts right back to his flower sniffing happy go lucky self. What is the "cut off point" for this kind of thing? It's very frustrating and I still don't have an answer.
On the other hand, lets say it's allergies like my vet said - he honestly did get really scratchy on that GI food he was on a few months ago. Avi says his scratching is worse in the spring/summer than in the fall. I know we did have a pretty good period (and his best looking ears ever to show for it!) this winter. How come the anti-histamine didn't work? I was thinking about it and we haven't tried him on Benadryl yet, so I suppose for now, that'll be our next step. With Faith going to the dermatologist tomorrow, it'll be interesting to see if I learn anything new that will sway me in one way or another.
Right now I feel like a helpless sitting duck.
If you've made it this far, congratulations.. ;) Thanks for listening to my Tuesday Ramblings post. It's somewhat therapeutic for me to be able to get all of this "out," and I suppose someday I'll be looking at it and trying to draw connections. If you have any wisdom or words of advice, feel free to leave your thoughts. :)
3 comments:
Not rambling...just throwing your ideas out there. What a worry, you poor dog loving Mummy. I hope you will find some answers for your beautiful puppies. Wishing you the best tomorrow and let us know how you go. Marley and Jasper.
Good luck!
We always just do the best we can. I don't think anyone will ever have all the answers. If you are wanting to go down that one path let me know and I'll help get you sorted out. I'll talk to you soon, and hopefully see you soon!
<3 <-- Hearts for you, Kosmo and Faith.
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