Max's Road to Recovery

The vet called this morning to tell us his T4 test was perfect – exactly in the range they want it to be! Which means he doesn’t have to be retested for another year and his prescription was refilled.

Max had a check up this morning to have his T4 counts checked and he’s down to 31.8 lbs (He was 35 lbs at our last check up and 38.4 lbs originally)! Three more pounds to go and he will have lost 25% of his previous body weight! She is going to call me tomorrow to let me know if they are keeping his medication the same or changing it.

The right medication, food, and exercise have certainly gone a long way in his recovery process. The vet was thrilled about how he’s looking – she even commented “he has a waist now”.

The vet tech inserted his microchip (I finally remembered to take it with me) and they said we could make an adoption poster for their office.

His newest favourite sleeping place is wedged under our bed or in the bototm of the linen closet. Our other dog, Connor, stirred up the blankets during the thunderstorm the night before, so Max decided it was a perfect place for a morning nap.

I looked at the calendar today and realized that today is Max’s two month ampuversary! I can’t believe it’s only been two months since his operation – but what a turnaround from the sick little dog that I picked up. The thyroid treatment has made all the difference in the world both in his overall health and his hair/skin/coat issues.

I also realized that I promised a picture of his new haircut, but did not yet deliver. It’s pretty short right now, but considering the weather is very hot it isn’t the worst thing to happen to him. It will all grow back in nice and even now. She left his ears as they were cut pretty short at the veterinary clinic in Kentucky. He’s not really as sad as he looks. He was staring at a toy that Connor had and he wanted.

A new start and a new haircut also meant he needed a new collar. The old, faded orange one he came with simply would not do – so a trip to the pet store meant a new brown and green lupine collar with paw prints and matching leash. A handsome man needs his accessories! Lol.

Mr. Max is now a healthly, spunky little man. He’s still looking for his furever home to love him deeply and spoil him rotten. Is that you?

Well I’ve taken some heat as it’s been awhile since my last posting.

Max is doing well and as feisty as ever. Today he jumped up on the couch all by himself. He’s learning to push off from his back legs instead of trying to pull up with his one front leg.

He’s very much a “velcro” dog and loves to be wherever I am – which can get a bit annoying if I am running around the house trying to get errands done.

One of his many nicknames is “speedbump” as he likes to lay at the base of the bottom step. I’m always very aware of where he is when I’m walking up and down the stairs but I’m also aware of the hazard this presents. Not sure why – but he loves laying there.

A week ago I had him shaved. It’s kind of nice for two reasons – first – it is hot as heck here and second – it takes people longer to realize that he only has three legs as they don’t see the shaved portion from his operation anymore.

People still talk about his three legs when we walk past (as we’re walking away). I find it funny that they don’t just ask me about him. Obviously, he’s a dog so you can’t hurt his feelings. He’s obviously happy and well adjusted so does it matter that he is missing a limb? I think not.

He goes for a walk with Connor now – he’s always tired and needs a big drink when he gets home, but he doesn’t stop to rest anymore. He’s pulling me the whole way! He goes nuts when he sees his leash and it makes me wonder how long it’s been since he was walked regularly – maybe never?

I’ll try to take a good photo of his new ‘dew tomorrow. He’s fast asleep now. I have to say he looks much thinner with a shaved body – but I think he’s loosing weight too. Back to the vet’s the first week of August for another T4 check so we will see then what he’s down too.

Due to the Canada Post mail strike, we really didn’t get any mail last month. I ordered Max a lovely tripawds bandanna when we started this blog (so he could represent, of course) and it finally arrived (through no fault of the site – it was mailed right away but sat in a sorting warehouse somewhere for a month). Here is my attempt to get him to “model it”. The problem is, when you come close to Max to take photos of him, he stands up and walks towards you to be pet. He’s such an affectionate little man.

Looks like he has some funky hair going on, but he actually walked through a lawn sprinkler on our walk today. Silly boy – didn’t phase him at all. We went three blocks today! I’m not sure they are real “city blocks” but we walked three streets parallel to our street and looped around back to our place. He’s passed out on the carpet now – lol.

We got the test results back today from his T4 retest – the vet says his counts are now on the high end of normal for his thyroid, so we’re going back in a month for a second retest (she doesn’t want to leave it a full year just in case his dosage needs to be descreased and the read out wasn’t just a fluke). I thought we were done with this vet deal! Oh well, I understand that medications need adjusting (just like in people) and I would rather he be in tip top shape for his adopting family.

Everyone – including the vet – commented how he’s lost weight. I can’t wait until he looses even more. He goes to the groomer on Monday for a full groom (we’re going to trim him today to the same length as his shaved zone all over so it can grow in evenly – that and be more comfortable for him through the hot summer).

Yay to the weekend!

We went to the vet today to have Max’s T4 counts rechecked. He was a total champ (as per usual).

The vet said she can’t believe how good he looks considering he was almost septic the first time I brought him in to see her. He was all tail wags for her and the veterinary assistant.

The good news is – he’s lost 1.6lbs in the last two weeks! He is down to 35lbs now (he was 36.6lbs two weeks ago and 38.4lbs before being treated for hypothyroidism). Hopefully we can keep it up at the same rate as he’s still got some more pounds to loose.

He’s still a spunky little firecracker. He and Connor get into wrestling matches ALL the time now. It’s a bit annoying, but I know they can both use the exercise so I let it go on until someone needs a time out (usually Max – he gets feisty when he feels he is loosing).

Everyone here is walked and it is time for bed – I was just so happy to hear he is finally loosing weight that I had to post.

We have a small, man-made lake across the road from our house and tonight Max seemed really energetic so I decided to test it out and see if he could make it around (I would say it’s about two blocks where our usual walk is a block or a block and a half in length). I figured the worst that would happen is we would have to take a few “recharge” breaks or if I absolutely have to I can carry him home (never had to do it yet). Well – he made it the WHOLE way without stopping to rest once.

It’s funny, when we take he and Connor together for a walk it seems like Max feels he has something to prove and moves a lot quicker than when it’s just he and I walking together. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know that more exercise for Max = less weight for his remaining limbs.

I’m curious to see how much weight he has lost when we visit the vet again on Thursday to have his T4 levels rechecked. He really doesn’t eat much at all (3/4 cups of premium salmon/oatmeal food a day) and has been getting a lot of exercise between wrestling Connor and our nightly walks (sometimes morning ones too depending on how he is doing). I’m hoping it’s a few pounds at least. He looks trimmer to me.

Have a great night everyone and an early Happy Forth of July to our American Friends!

We had the pleasure of celebrating Canada Day here yesterday with good friends of ours and their children. Max absolutely ADORED the kids (aged 5 and 2) and was a perfect gentlemen. Now that he is feeling better, he is quite the instigator with our other dog Connor and loves to wrestle him.

Here they are in action. If you didn’t know better you would be inclined to think that they both have four legs -lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdjqfw2nuh0

We had quite the storm tonight and it doesn’t bother Max at all (poor Connor is hiding in our bedroom closet). I also vacuumed around him yesterday as he sniffed the powerhead. He’s just a mellow dude like that.

Well – it was a good run while it lasted. The e-collar “cone of shame” is back. Hopefully not for a long time. I came home today at lunch to find Max licking his tail. This isn’t out of the ordinary for Max to be licking his tail/groin/paws, but when I looked closer I noticed under his tail was now bleeding a little bit. Great … thanks Max. So back to the e-collar we go.

I called Connor’s groomer and she squeezed us in to have his tail shaved. I know, it’s not all that attractive, but it’s much easier for me to get the shampoo to his crusties on his tail and to put ointment on his hotspot (just found those crusties today – I think it’s a dermatitis of some kind or another side effect of his untreated hypothyroidism, but it seems to come off rather easily with some gently exfoliation). The hair on his tail was a good 4″ long on the end. We go back July 11th to have a proper haircut. She’s going to cut it all the same length so he will be cool for the summer and it will all grow in nice and even.

He’s not very traumatized but the whole deal as he was passed out cold until I took this photo.

You can’t really see his tail in this shot but it’s super skinny. The groomer also told me that the only dog she knows that has two dew claws on the back (he as 3 on one foot and 2 on the other) is a Swiss Mountain Dog. She also thinks he may have a little long haired daschund in him. Lol.

Good news is that all of his bloodwork from last week came back normal. Yipee! I know I’ve said it before, but it really feels like we’re some making some real progress.

Finally – almost four weeks after his amputation – Max was allowed to have a bath. Mind you – he was probably not as excited about it as I was. The vet gave us some shampoo, so down to the washtub we went. He was actually pretty good – I think he was tired from standing in a confined spot for so long (the shampoo has to stay on for 10 minutes to penetrate), but all in all he was pretty agreeable.

He bounded around the basement like a new man when he was sprung from the “washtub prison” and loved being towel dried.

He’s a new man – fluffy and clean! I’m not sure he’s that impressed with me at the moment, but that is okay with me.