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Man. I've been slacking on the blog. I was hoping to blog once we got the consultation report from the neurologist (he was going to do more research and email me), but it still hasn't come so for now I'll just say this, GRRR.
We had our appointment on Monday and on the drive there it hit me. I FORGOT TO PICK UP HER XRAYS. OI. Instead of having the vet courier it to the neurologist I thought, I can pick it up no problem. No problem if I remembered. Problem when I totally blank on doing it. We called to see if we should postpone our appointment since I didn't have the xrays, and they said they can exam her without the xrays.
We get there and take a seat on a couch while we wait in the lobby and Darwin decides to make herself comfy too.
Having just her butt on the couch wasn't comfy enough, so she hopped right up and found a good position.
See that lady in the backround? She couldn't help but laugh at Darwin making herself at home on the couch.
So we go in the exam room and Dr. Sanders checks Darwin out. We told him about her gimpy butt and her incontinence and what the new xrays showed. From what he could tell from his exam and the MRI's they did in March he still doesn't think it's a neurological issue, but it could be an orthopedic issue due to excessive bone growth in her lower back. He was going to send for her new xrays and look them over with the ortho guy and do some research. We also got sent home with Gabapentin which Darwin has to take for two weeks.
So she started the Gabapentin Monday night, two pills every 12 hours. She got two more Tuesday with her breakfast before we went to work. We come home from work and that familiar unwelcoming smell was floating in the lobby area. UGH.
The hallway was covered in poop. COVERED. Jason took her out for a walk while I cleaned. There was even diarrhea on her bed.... poor girl. I Googled Gabapentin to see its side effects and I couldn't find diarrhea as one, so I called SVS to see if we should stop giving her the drugs. They said the diarrhea is probably unrelated to the Gapapentin and to keep giving it to her, but to give her a bland diet for a few days (rice and chicken). So while I felt bad for her stomach issues (and me having to clean it again) she was quite the happy camper having rice and chicken for dinner.
Darwin LOVES rice. If she hears one of us in the kitchen making rice she is right there. If she hears the rice cooker button pop up when done she is right there. I think she is faking the stomach ache just so she can get rice more often.
If you look carefully you can see rice on her nose and stuck on her lip.
So our adventures with Darwin's ailment continues. I did ask Dr. Sanders about accupuncture and chiropractic care, and he said he wouldn't recommend chiropractic treatment for her as it may stress her out, but accupuncture may be a way to go. He said there is a vet, Dr. Donna Kelleher , who is a nutritionist and holistic vet that he may recommend us to, but she has a long wait list and there are other vets. He said if Darwin were his dog though he'd wait to see her.
It's funny because shortly after we started Darwin's blog I had won a book from Stella for her third birthday called The Last Chance Dog and it's written by Dr. Kelleher.
I've put off reading it in favor of other books, but now I feel motivated to read it and see if a more holistic approach would be beneficial to Darwin.
Before we get to the weekend review, I have a confession to make. I think I have a crush on Ammy. I love her smiling face! I can't get enough of it!
Ok, now that I've got that off my chest we can move onto our weekend.
Saturday we took Darwin to the vet for her annual check up. She weighed in at 113lbs... she's lost 2 lbs in the last few weeks even though she's less active. Strange.
She was really well behaved while we were there and got all her vaccinations! The vet noticed that the teeth on the left side of Darwin's mouth had considerably less plaque than the right side... she must be a left sided chewer.... which means I'll be brushing her right side more often! We also discussed Darwin's walking and some hopping action she's been doing and now the vet is concerned about Darwin's hips and is going to check the x-rays we took to see if she can see her hips and if there is anything to be concerned about. OI. Let's hope not.
It's been cold and rainy, more like winter than spring, here in Seattle but on Saturday we had a break in the cold and the sun came out. I set up Darwin's bed outside on the deck and she got to enjoy a raw bone while getting some vitamin D.
{mmm. i'm a left sided chewer}
{don't mind my funny lip i've spotted a fly!}
She didn't catch the fly... too slow!
For Easter we didn't do much. It was a beautiful morning so we all hung out on the deck for a bit, and then it turned grey and rainy. We ran some errands and got Darwin an Easter treat!
A perfect find at the thrift store!
After a little cuddling... off came his eye!
Then his other eye.... then his nose... and then some face stuffing.
He's still got a lot of de-stuffing to go! It was a $1.99 well spent!
Hope you all had a great weekend!
OH. And the neurologists office finally called, apologizing profusely for not calling earlier. The results of her spinal fluid tests showed a "high normal" and slightly inflamed. The neurologists thinks it's best to treat it as meningitis so they'll be sending over 3 prescriptions, 2 antibiotics, Doxycycline and Clindamycin, to be taken for 3 weeks, and a steroid, Prednisone, to be taken for 9 weeks. Let's hope these drugs help and Darwin can get back to normal soon!
April has started off with a BANG.
We got home from work yesterday to a pile of diarrhea in the hallway (funny in a way cause Duchess just left a similar gift for her family) and dirt from my planter I'm trying to start seeds in in the living room. OI. While Jason took Darwin out for a walk I cleaned up her mess (again... how have I been designated the poop-in-house-cleaner?). I cook dinner and give Darwin a few pieces of raw chicken as a treat on her regular kibble (she's so spoiled even when she makes a mess in the house she still gets a treat... but when we eat meat she eats meat). We eat our dinner and are finishing up, when out comes Darwin and throws up all her food in the living room. She has a thing about not chewing her food and just swallowing. Is that all dogs? Or is that just her?
So we go to get the cleaning supplies out (again) and she proceeds to "help" clean up her mess. Since she still wants to eat it, we put it in her bowl so Jason can clean the carpet. Just as he's finishing, she comes back out in the living room and I can tell what's about to happen. I run over, shove my cupped hands under face and she throws up again. This time it's nasty stuff deep from her stomach. UGH. Jason was not happy. We clean up again (as well as we could... this is going to require renting a steam cleaner this weekend) and throw out all her food and only give her water the rest of the night.
Poor dog.
We also still haven't heard from the neurologist about her spinal fluid test results! I am so annoyed with them right now. Tuesday they said it would take 24 hours for them to get the results back. Wednesday after work we hadn't heard from them so I called to see what was going on. They say there seems to be a backlog but they should get the results that night or the next day and they'll give us a call. Thursday came and went (with a bang) and still no call. Today I call them back and oh, "the neurology department isn't in on Friday's maybe they'll get back to you on Monday." OI. I paid you guys how much money to get tests done that you said we'd hear back on two days ago and yet you can't even call to say "hey, so I know we said 24 hours, then 36 hours, but we still haven't gotten those results back and we're not in tomorrow but we'll give you a call on Monday when we get in." Is that too much to ask?!
I'm not a fan of posts with no pictures so here are some pictures of Darwin from one year ago today:
That's doggy toothpaste (chicken flavor) on her nose.
Thank goodness the weekend is almost here.
