When it rains...

It pours.

I took Colonel Brandon in to the vet today to check on the new things on his legs - different from the other thing that was on his leg that needed to be biopsied. This spot was on his front right elbow. At the vet we realized there was one forming on the left front as well. Also - skin lesions on his tummy, tucked into the bits where his underside joins up with his legs. The lesions are allergy related - BUT his allergy meds are steroids and if he takes them twice a day to fight off bad allergies, he gains weight. And Brandon is seriously already on that border between chubby dog and obese dog, and three pounds (which a week of the meds twice daily can do, easily) makes it hard for him to breath when he's lying down.

So, I'm trying to figure out if it's better to treat the lesions themselves until the allergens have dissipated, or treat the cause and hope it won't take too long to drop the weight again and my vet, the very vet who told me why Brandon had been wheezing last time (because of the steroids) goes "oh, we can give him something different for that now. Not a steroid."

Gee, can we? Why couldn't we have done this from the moment we realized he was squishing his lungs last time?

Plus, yesterday, I woke up to kitty barf on the floor, which isn't that rare of an occurrence so I didn't panic. Then Bella did it again last night. Cue MommyMiah starting to worry a bit. Once is no biggie, all kitties do it once in awhile. Twice in the same day? Without a hairball? Not so good.

So an hour after Brandon's visit was over, I was back in the vet's office with Bellatrix. Who was not happy AT ALL. Even more so when the ear thermometer was deemed "not sensitive enough" and the OTHER thermometer came out. Then the poking around to see if anything was tender, and the stethoscope and finally the shot. She's always snored and had a slight wheeze at times, but now the vet thinks that wheeze might mean allergies (are you seeing a theme for the MissMiah household, yet?) so I'm to keep an eye on her and see if the allergy stuff in the shot helps the wheezing. She also had a fever and a tummy infection (probably brought on by allergy complications).

THEN, as if that wasn't enough fun with the animals for one day - Loki barfs all over the floor at one this morning. "Oh crap," I think as I clean it up and chase him down to feel his ears and paws.

Yep. He's warm.

That leaves Roswell... who also seems to be running a bit of a fever.

I'm getting up early tomorrow and calling as soon as the vet opens to see if I can get kitties number two and three in. If so, chances are all four furballs will be going in on next Monday for their rechecks and I don't know if you've ever seen one person trying to manhandle three cat carriers and a stubborn, seventy pound dog, but it is not pretty.

When it rains...

It pours.

I took Colonel Brandon in to the vet today to check on the new things on his legs - different from the other thing that was on his leg that needed to be biopsied. This spot was on his front right elbow. At the vet we realized there was one forming on the left front as well. Also - skin lesions on his tummy, tucked into the bits where his underside joins up with his legs. The lesions are allergy related - BUT his allergy meds are steroids and if he takes them twice a day to fight off bad allergies, he gains weight. And Brandon is seriously already on that border between chubby dog and obese dog, and three pounds (which a week of the meds twice daily can do, easily) makes it hard for him to breath when he's lying down.

So, I'm trying to figure out if it's better to treat the lesions themselves until the allergens have dissipated, or treat the cause and hope it won't take too long to drop the weight again and my vet, the very vet who told me why Brandon had been wheezing last time (because of the steroids) goes "oh, we can give him something different for that now. Not a steroid."

Gee, can we? Why couldn't we have done this from the moment we realized he was squishing his lungs last time?

Plus, yesterday, I woke up to kitty barf on the floor, which isn't that rare of an occurrence so I didn't panic. Then Bella did it again last night. Cue MommyMiah starting to worry a bit. Once is no biggie, all kitties do it once in awhile. Twice in the same day? Without a hairball? Not so good.

So an hour after Brandon's visit was over, I was back in the vet's office with Bellatrix. Who was not happy AT ALL. Even more so when the ear thermometer was deemed "not sensitive enough" and the OTHER thermometer came out. Then the poking around to see if anything was tender, and the stethoscope and finally the shot. She's always snored and had a slight wheeze at times, but now the vet thinks that wheeze might mean allergies (are you seeing a theme for the MissMiah household, yet?) so I'm to keep an eye on her and see if the allergy stuff in the shot helps the wheezing. She also had a fever and a tummy infection (probably brought on by allergy complications).

THEN, as if that wasn't enough fun with the animals for one day - Loki barfs all over the floor at one this morning. "Oh crap," I think as I clean it up and chase him down to feel his ears and paws.

Yep. He's warm.

That leaves Roswell... who also seems to be running a bit of a fever.

I'm getting up early tomorrow and calling as soon as the vet opens to see if I can get kitties number two and three in. If so, chances are all four furballs will be going in on next Monday for their rechecks and I don't know if you've ever seen one person trying to manhandle three cat carriers and a stubborn, seventy pound dog, but it is not pretty.

My day so far

( Read more... )

ETA: 10:45 AM - Have finished Roswell's exam with minimum of fuss. Set Loki's carrier on exam table and the big guns come out. Enter vet tech with thick gloves and a towel. How many people does it take to restrain one cat? There were four of us in the room. Two of us ended up bleeding.

Exam completed, shot administered, discussion held about the pros and cons of removing Loki's back claws (he's already had the front ones removed, yes, I know, I'm a horrible person). My vet, who is seriously an animal person and not a people person, summed it up thusly - "It's for his own good. The more we have to restrain him, the more likely he'll get hurt." The vet, btw, was not one of the two bleeders - that would be the vet tech and myself. We compared Loki scars.

My day so far

( Read more... )

ETA: 10:45 AM - Have finished Roswell's exam with minimum of fuss. Set Loki's carrier on exam table and the big guns come out. Enter vet tech with thick gloves and a towel. How many people does it take to restrain one cat? There were four of us in the room. Two of us ended up bleeding.

Exam completed, shot administered, discussion held about the pros and cons of removing Loki's back claws (he's already had the front ones removed, yes, I know, I'm a horrible person). My vet, who is seriously an animal person and not a people person, summed it up thusly - "It's for his own good. The more we have to restrain him, the more likely he'll get hurt." The vet, btw, was not one of the two bleeders - that would be the vet tech and myself. We compared Loki scars.