Max's Road to Recovery

After a rough start to our week, Max has turned right around (thank goodness!)

I took him to the vet’s this morning (made the appointment on Tuesday when he was not himself at all) and they ran some more tests. We get the test results tomorrow or Monday (they wanted to redo the blood panel as he was so sick the first time they ran it and had borderline anaemia showing up with his toxic WBC – she wants to make sure that those were just attributed to the massive infection he was fighting and not a sign of something else). The vet agreed with the comment made here that his lethargy and his loss of appetite could definately be his withdrawl from the tramadol.

He tested negative for heartworm (he’s already been tested), lyme’s disease, ehrlichiosis and cushings (again – another thank goodness).

He still has an ear infection (yeast) in both his ears, so we got some new drops to use twice a day. The vet figures the excessive licking when his cone is off is either a skin infection (yeast), allergies, or a self soothing measure from his previous home. We got some shampoo for seborrhea and I finally got the okay to bathe him – yay! The vet feels the shampoo will help clean up his itchy skin and the dermatitis on the rims of his ears (although with the thyroid medication that his totally turned around his fur/coat/skin).

They did a stool test and all of the Coccidia are gone! They also did a urinalysis and everything came up clean/well functioning (no kidney problems or indicators of cushings).

When I picked him up from the vet’s, he was full of it and it’s ready to storm here, so I decided it was time to take our first trip to PetSmart. I’m happy to report it went very, very well. He was thrilled to hop around and smell everything and loved all the attention from the employees and two young children that were in the store. He was offered three different treats but didn’t take them (he’s just not food motivated despite his current “stature”) but was interested in the budgies as they were at his level. Not as interested as he was in the people petting him. He’s such a ham.

We’re home now and everyone is enjoying a Spot’s Chew dental stick (well – Max is enjoying his – Connor hoovered his down and is now stalking Max to see if he can score any more reminants). Mr. Casual decided he needed to follow me up the stairs:

And now – he’s found the squeaky mallard and is enjoying himself:

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. It was a busy week for us!

Max is now all off medications (last antibiotic pill last night), except for his Thyroid medication (and his ear cleaner, but I don’t count that anymore).

In the last few days Max has been acting differently. He snores very loudly at night and doesn’t want to get up in the morning (I can’t blame him, I’m not a morning person either). Three mornings in a row now he has turned up his nose to breakfast after I’ve dragged him downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. He does eat a portion of kibble at night (with a lot of coaxing). Last night it was only a half cup but tonight it was a full cup. For a large boy he certainly isn’t food motivated – at all.

I’m not sure what’s happening in his body be it pain from his amputation/infection (he doesn’t act like he is in pain and his wound looks amazing) or maybe his body is just working to expell the medicine cabinet that has been his body for the last three weeks. He’s just not as perky as he was before – even medicated.

We’re going to the vets on Friday so she can take a peek at what is going on. She asked me for a stool and a urine sample and I asked her “how exactly do you get a urine sample from a dog?”. Let me tell you he is lucky he’s cute! We will have to go in sooner if he develops anymore symptoms. I know he can “live off the land” for awhile, but he’s really changed in the last few days and I don’t want to ignore it if there is something more serious going on (I hope not – he’s come so far – I can’t wait until he feels 100% again).

Did anyone else experience a slow down when the medication stopped?

Someone needs to tell Max that he needs to take it easy – because he sure doesn’t agree!

At lunch he planted himself by the front door and refused to come back up into the kitchen. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t budging. Fortunately for me, I can just pick him up and bring him upstairs (I didn’t have enough time at lunch to take him for a walk).

After dinner – however – was a different story. Max was eager to get out and moving quicker than I’ve ever seen him (which caused a few tumbles – his jaw sounds so terrible hitting the pavement – but he just gets up and shakes it off) so I decided to let him see where he could take me. We made it around one block in the subdivision – although I really had to coax him the last few houses and we took a lot of rests. It’s like he has these “power surges” and then he has to stop and “recharge” – lol.

We tried leaving him alone, uncrated, for a half hour while we took Connor for a walk. Well – that didn’t go too well. When we rounded the block and headed back towards home I could hear him a few houses down and walked in to a howling, wagging tail at my front door. I don’t know if it was being left alone, or everyone (including Connor) leaving that he was jealous about – maybe a combination of the two. Hopefully that changes when he feels more confident about his surroundings.

He’s out for the night now – and snoring loudly (still coned until he can leave his wound alone). One more day and three more medicines are done – the antibiotic for his Coccidia, the probiotic, and his pain pills. Can’t wait until he’s just down to his thyroid meds! I can’t believe how much better his skin/coat are already.

So Max got his sutures out yesterday and took it all like a champ. He didn’t yelp or cry once (although he did fidget a bit and keep turning his head trying to “watch” what the vet was doing). Here is what it looks like two weeks + 1 day post op. I think it looks pretty good.

I put a t-shirt on him to keep the wound clean and dry (and keep prying eyes away), but it was too big (youth large) so his one front leg kept hopping out of it. I tried to secure it with elastics, but that didn’t work well so I abandoned the t-shirt plan (at least until I buy a smaller sized shirt at the thrift store).

She didn’t refill his Carprofen, so we are one medicine down – yay! We’re just going to see how he does without it. His pain meds and his one antibiotic (for Coccidia) run out in two days. She said if he needs more of the Carprofen or Tramadol taht she will give us more, but we’re just going to play it by ear and see how he does. I would LOVE him to be off all the meds (except his thyroid meds – he will always need those).

He just finished his dinner and his nighttime meds and he’s ready for action! He looks kind of stunned in this photo, but every time I tried to take a full body shot of him he would crawl into my lap instead. He’s such a ham.

His wound may be without stitches but it is still itchy. The vet said I could put small amounts of Polysporin on the spots where it looked aggravated (which aren’t many) and could use a wet washcloth to soften off some off the crusties. I’m certain he will be a new man in no time!

Well, the vet said the time would come when Max’s sutures would irritate him, and that time is TODAY! He is constantly trying to scratch around his suture site with his back leg (balance doesn’t always play in his favour) and as soon as his collar comes off, he’s trying to remove the sutures from his “private” area (in case I didn’t mention it before – poor boy got neutered when he was under for his amputation). He’s also scratching his face on everything (not something new – he has a bare spot on his nose). Sounds like time for some more coconut oil on the dry spots tonight.

Well – we’ve finally finished one medication (Carprofen) but I have a feeling the vet will give him a few more tomorrow when the sutures come out (so short lived victory of one medication down).

He’s obviously more alert tonight – same as he was last night (yesterday was the first night Max didn’t sleep from 6:00pm meds all the way through until the morning) and he’s now taken interest in a chewing a bone. Up until now he has shown no interest in bones (unless they are small, delicious treats) or toys. Of course he stops chewing when I take a photo:

The better he feels, the more stubborn he gets. Getting him in the crate is still a hassle, and today when I tried to leave he yipped and howled bloody murder. Sorry dude – if you want to eat, I have to go to work – lol. I have to put his cone on as soon as he’s done eating (for licking reasons) and he just rolled on his back to play dead so he prolong the now familiar routine.

I have to say, his fur feels less greasy today. I didn’t say it – just thought it – then my boyfriend mentioned he thought it felt less greasy. Maybe the thyroid meds really are doing the trick? Do changes happen that fast?

Anyway – I’m thankful for everyday he’s feeling better. When we go on our “walks” we get a lot of looks from the neighbourhood. Either they feel sorry for him and say “awww” or they are freaked out and give us a wide berth – lol. I don’t care what they think – for a recent amputee and a long time sufferer of neglect, he’s doing very well (if I do say so myself) and I’m proud of him for all that he can do just two weeks after loosing his leg.

I’m waiting for my walk now:

Sutures out tomorrow. Fingers crossed it goes well (maybe they will let me leave the room when they snip them – yuck!).

Max started the day off pretty slow on Saturday – he ate his breakfast and took his meds and refused to go outside. He would go to the door – but he wasn’t going down the stairs. I knew he had to go, so I finally gave in and carried him outside. Surprise! He had to go.

I stepped out to do some shopping this afternoon and came home to a bouncing boy in his crate. He was determined to go for a walk – so we did. He walked down (and up) two smaller flights of stairs and we walked about 10 houses on each side.

As Max feels better, he also is more resistant to taking his medication, especially the liquid one (which I’m sure tastes as delicious as it smells – yuck). Today I bought a can of Wellness Pure Beef and mixed in a few spoonfuls with the medicine coated kibble – ta da! He ate it all. He also enjoyed part of a Spot’s Chew (all natural) Dental Treat.

I always feel bad giving him his medicine lately as he’s so spunky until I load him up – then he’s out for the night. At least we got a good walk in – he LOVES walks and is bent and determined to go as far as I will let him.

A friend told me about an e-collar called KONG Cloud (yes, the same people who make every dog’s favourite rubber toy). It’s shorter, soft and inflatable. Poor Max has so much trouble turning in his crate or walking up stairs with his giant click cone from the vet, I thought it was worth trying it out. He’s sleeping with it now, but hasn’t tried to lick himself. Apparently it doesn’t work for all breeds – we shall see …

Today started about the same as yesterday. He was moving around and decided he wanted to take his time eating breakfast (which is fine – except that my other dog tries to eat it).

After his breakfast/meds he willingly went outside (yay) to do his business. I have no idea how he holds it so long.

Connor went to the door to bark and wouldn’t you know who was right next to him, testing his “bark” out. First time we’ve heard it here.

We left him in his crate to get some groceries and he whined and cried his disapproval. He was crazy bouncing crate man when we got home and bounded outside to go for a “tour”.

Ate his dinner with no issue again (when the Wellness 95% pure beef was added of course) and took his meds before standing on his back legs to prop himself up on the couch. I helped him up and he cuddled with me for awhile until he couldn’t get comfortable and went back to his blanket pile.

All in all a good weekend – I think we’re FINALLY on the mend!

WARNING: GRAPHIC PRE-AMPUTATION PHOTO BELOW

At the end of May, a lovely little dog found his way to a shelter in Kentucky after he was pulled from a neglectful home (although with the children). He was a 35lb (in a 25lb frame) Brittany/Beagle(?) blend who was estimated to be 5 – 7 years old.

This poor dog had, at some point, broken his front left paw and it went untreated. In an attempt to self-soothe the wound, Max licked his forearm 24/7 developing a lick granuloma. The lick granuloma was so infected by them time he got to the shelter, a member of the shelter staff desperately searched for a rescue that wouldn’t take him so he wouldn’t have to be euthanized.

The National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network stepped up and had Max pulled from the shelter and taken directly to a veterinary clinic. NBRAN took it to their Facebook page to raise $1400 for Max’s amputation surgery, which took place just a few days later on May 31, 2011.

On Saturday, June 4, just five days after his operation, NBRAN set up a transport of volunteer drivers for Max to be driven from the vet’s in Kentucky, to our home in Ontario.

The first thing he did was zero in on my Quaker Parakeet – sure made him scream and convinced me that he was indeed part Brittany (sporting bird dog). The first night went pretty well – he motored around a bit – confused where he was – and slept in his crate (when we moved it up to our bedroom) with little sound during the night.

Sunday he was a new man – content to take himself for mini-walks around the block and getting his bearings in his new (foster) home. I panicked when I took a closer look at his ears – black on the inside and crusty yellow and curling around the edges, and thought he had mites/mange. I will mention at this point I have my own dog and was terrified he would catch it. The vet on call assured me that it was unlikely he was boarded at the vets for 5 days and they wouldn’t have treated mites/mange. I felt better until we all fell asleep.

The evening of Sunday, June 5 brought a new and terrifying surprise. From about 1:15am – 5:00am, Max screamed out every hour. I layed next to him and pet his stomach each time – offering him a drink of water around 3am when he seemed to be licking his lips a lot – 3 “juice glasses” later, he was back to sleep.

The next morning (Monday, June 6) I called my vet and the Ontario NBRAN coordinator in tears. We had an appointment at 9:40am at the vets.

The vet took one look at him and confirmed my suspicions – there was more going on than meets the eye AND he was more like 7/8 years old. She took skin scrapings, an ear swab, a stool sample and a blood sample (which she had to try three sites to get his veins were so bad). I told her about the screaming and she said short of anaesthetizing him, there was nothing she could do (and obviously didn’t think it was a good idea). She told me he had a yeast infection on his skin, Califlower ear (hardened cartiledge on the edge of his ear from a past untreated hematoma), Coccidia (intestinal parasite) and that it would be treated the following day when the blood test came in. We came home with a DAP collar and a snap collar (for licking). She told me she hoped it was a Thyroid issue (black skin patches, bald patches, waxy/smelly skin/coat, and what they call “rat tail” but it said it could be Cushing’s or Addision’s and at which time we would need to talk about his options.

I called the vet clinic he had be treated at in Kentucky and she calmly assured me that “he screamed all the time” after his operation and told me to give him more pain/anti-inflammatories. I called my vet and she told me not to do this – and that he was already taking too much pain medication and should be dropped to a pill and a half (75mg) of Tramadol instead of 100mg twice a day.

The next day (Tuesday, June 7) we found out that he didn’t have Cushings or Addison’s, that his liver and kidneys were good, but his WBC was very high and showing some toxic cells and there was a flag on his Thyroid tests. She told me she needed to run another specific thyroid panel to decide if it was a false positive from all the infection he was fighting OR a real case of hypothyroidism.

I drove out after work the same day to pick up a new antibiotic (Zenequin) and some probiotics (Florentero). The antibiotic for his Coccidia had to be ordered in. He only had one screaming fit that night at 3:00am.

The next day (Wednesday, June 8), the vet called with some more news. Max definately has hypothyroidism – which is actually the best case scenario (from those presented) as it is inexpensive to treat and my vet really felt we will see a total turnaround in his hair/skin/coat/weight issues as well as helping his body heal from the operation and amputation. So that evening I went back out to the vets and pick up his second antibiotic for Coccidia (Sulfamethoxazole) and his Thyroid pills (Eltroxin). No screaming incidents this night.

Thursday, June 9 – pulling back his pain meds and adding in the new meds made him much feister. He fought me hard to go into his crate in the morning and at lunch (while I’m at work, he’s crated). He was happy and much more bouncy – until I had to fill him with meds with his dinner. Then he was out for the night and into the morning. No screaming incidents.

Today, Friday, June 10, he had slow start to the morning, but motored around a bit before I went to work. Finished his breakfast at lunchtime, spent some time outside with my other dog, and went for a 15 minute walk (self directed of course as he “decides” when he wants to go and just starts walking down the sidewalk). He was alert and happy until I had to load him up on the meds – now he’s sleeping. I feel bad, but I don’t. I see the difference the meds are making for him everyday. I affectionately call him my “walking pharmacy”. He’s on 7 medications at the moment (add Carprofen and Burow’s / 1% HCL for his ears to the 5 mentioned above).

I made an appointment to have his sutures removed on Tuesday and discuss refilling the Carprofen or taking him off it.

Max is a sweet-as-pie little man who will be available for adoption to an amazing (and very lucky) family when he has healed. Find more information at www.nbran.org.

Sorry for the long first post – I should have started a week ago!