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Random update of the canine kind
Feb. 25th, 2005 05:54 pmDas Pooch has been having a few problems lately. She's had a cough that, while not constant, is frequent enough to make me worry a bit. She might go perhaps a day without, but she gets fits of what the vet aptly described as reverse sneezes, or does a hacking that ends in her smacking her tongue like something came up in the process. She's also had two bladder infections in a year, which again isn't a whole lot but enough to make me go "Hmm." Then what I'd dismissed as a few isolated accidents at first has become noticable as somewhat frequent urine seepage--mostly when she sleeps.
So! Tests aplenty in the past few weeks with enough X-rays to make her glow in the dark (and a handy way of racking up bills to try competing with Feren's). Nothing hideous in her lungs, just a touch of fibrosis consistent with her age which may be contributing. Per the vet's suggestion I've picked up some Pepcid 10mg to see if the cough might be related to acid reflux. No absolute conclusions on that front yet though.
Yesterday I went in at 10am to check on the bladder issues. Doc was concerned that repeated infections and incontinence might mean bladder stones, so onward with the next slew of radiation; and since they were going to be in that region anyhow I asked if they could check her hips as well. I waited until about 4pm before they finally had results for me. No stones of any sort or size indicated, neither in her bladder or kidneys. Hips and joints look awesome, no degeneration at all. They ascribe the incontinence to lack of hormones, as a result of her being spayed when I adopted her, so I now have a prescription for DES (diethylstilbestrol, synthetic estrogen) to make up for what her body can no longer produce.
The bad news is, the x-rays showed she has lumbar spondylosis (osteoarthritis). Basically she shows some scarring and calcification on the ventral surface of her lower spine. It doesn't seem to be causing her a lot of pain, so maybe it's pretty mild so far or she's just lived with it long enough that she's learned to ignore it for the most part (like I have); she does sit and get up a little slowly when she doesn't have any particular motivation to move faster, but she also pandiculates frequently enough that she's obviously still able to arch her lower back. But doc says no more activity for her which might cause overt compression, torsion, or lateral flexion of her back and worsen her condition. Meanwhile, I'm looking into possible therapy methods to try on her.
So! Tests aplenty in the past few weeks with enough X-rays to make her glow in the dark (and a handy way of racking up bills to try competing with Feren's). Nothing hideous in her lungs, just a touch of fibrosis consistent with her age which may be contributing. Per the vet's suggestion I've picked up some Pepcid 10mg to see if the cough might be related to acid reflux. No absolute conclusions on that front yet though.
Yesterday I went in at 10am to check on the bladder issues. Doc was concerned that repeated infections and incontinence might mean bladder stones, so onward with the next slew of radiation; and since they were going to be in that region anyhow I asked if they could check her hips as well. I waited until about 4pm before they finally had results for me. No stones of any sort or size indicated, neither in her bladder or kidneys. Hips and joints look awesome, no degeneration at all. They ascribe the incontinence to lack of hormones, as a result of her being spayed when I adopted her, so I now have a prescription for DES (diethylstilbestrol, synthetic estrogen) to make up for what her body can no longer produce.
The bad news is, the x-rays showed she has lumbar spondylosis (osteoarthritis). Basically she shows some scarring and calcification on the ventral surface of her lower spine. It doesn't seem to be causing her a lot of pain, so maybe it's pretty mild so far or she's just lived with it long enough that she's learned to ignore it for the most part (like I have); she does sit and get up a little slowly when she doesn't have any particular motivation to move faster, but she also pandiculates frequently enough that she's obviously still able to arch her lower back. But doc says no more activity for her which might cause overt compression, torsion, or lateral flexion of her back and worsen her condition. Meanwhile, I'm looking into possible therapy methods to try on her.
