Xan

Interesting stuff! You just never know what you're going to learn on GT in any given day, eh? I wonder if Geostar's homeopathic remedy would have any effect on the "horns"?

Beautiful Josie will make a bright star. :bighug

Nancy, that's a weird one! I wonder if I'll remember that next time, for one of us 2-leggers. I somehow can't imagine taping a banana peel to Pogo's foot for a half hour! Makes a funny mind-picture, though!

We've been soaking and monitoring a mysterious sore on Pogo's foot for over a week now. It appeared on the bottom, and he acted like it might be a splinter. Eventually, it seemed to move up through his foot, between his toes, making an abscess right at the join, about 1/2" long, and oozy. Ew, right? This morning, after soaking it, it seemed to have a point that I could move around, and maybe grab ahold of, so I caught DH as he was leaving, and made him distract Pogo while I went in with the tweezers. Pogo barely flinched as I dug in a bit, and grabbed hold of this 1/3" long, thick grass stem, and pulled it out! Wow! I'd have been a HUGE baby about something working it's merry way through my foot, but not Pogo. *shaking head in awe* What a guy. No fuss, little muss. Back to his nap.

The peeliness sounds like normal healing. Maybe the lumpiness is scar tissue under the skin? Maybe it will absorb over time. Does it feel squishy or liquidy at all? That might be bad-yuck under there. Thanks for the update!! We worry about our little guy!

I wonder if there is some (magical?) laser treatment that might ... I don't know ... sort of ... hm. We need a magic spell here! The look of the scar tissue may not matter, but if it restricts his movement or comfort, it might. I HOPE not! Poor kiddo!!

Wow. What a love! The pictures show us a happy, loved and loving guy. So sweet to see him with your son and Bailey! Many hugs to you and your family. :bighug

Just catching up since the surgery. Whew! I just realized I'd been holding my breath! I'm joining the chant here for B9! When will we know? In the mean time, rest easy, Aquitaine, and you too, so you're ready to do what needs doing with an alert mind, eh? All your words about paying attention to your instincts hit right home. We know our pets better than anybody. If it seems off, it is: good motto to live by!

Fingers, toes, hands, feet, legs and arms all crossed here!!

Oh Faye Oops!! I'm so sorry, Laura! You gave her such a wonderful final act to her life's play, and gave each other so much love, so many memories! Even though Faye Oops is gone, the impact she had on you will last as long as you live. :bighug

So, if you can't culture successfully because of the antibiotics he's already taking, more focused a/bs aren't really an option. Hm. Maybe something else that might be immune supportive? Herbals? Homeopathics? Supplements? Maybe something that supports healthy tissue repair, too? That this infection is under the skin is what's scary. You can't keep the whole thing clean by topical cleaning or treatment. *wracking my limited brain for unavailable knowledge* Lucy, I hope you can find something that helps soon!

Argh, Lucy! Poor Puzzle. Is he at all immune-compromised, or could he be? Why would this be not healing?? I hope nothing else has gotten in there since the last culture. So frustrating for you all! Sending gentle hugs, and good strong healing chanting!!!

Thanks, Mary! Me too. It's odd to see my normally rambunctious guy so mellow, but he ate his meal with gusto, and is now relaxing with an occasional throat-clearing, but no dripping snot or aqua-lung gurgling or anything.

Thanks for checking in! He's doing apparently much better, after a quiet night. The temp I took before bed had me more worried, at 103.3, but swabbing him down may have helped. That and going out in the cold for last potty! I checked on him every two hours, but he really seemed fine: smooth, calm breathing, no coughing or extra noise, didn't feel quite as warm. This morning, his temp is 100.5! Uh. He did have some congestion that he sort of huffed up, but is now just waiting for his breakfast. He looks pretty with-it. I'm cautiously optimistic we can avoid the vet, if things don't go too wrong. Think I'll keep up with the L-glutamine and esterC for a bit, too. Crossing fingers that Brilly doesn't get it!

Ah, thanks for that extra info. I think that's a great idea to set my alarm for every couple hours! He's resting okay right now, breathing relaxed, no nasal discharge. I'll take his temp again in a little bit. He is quiet, for sure, but has shown enthusiasm for comings and goings, and going potty, so not desperately ill at the moment. *crossing fingers* I didn't really want to go to the neighbor's for dinner, anyway! I sent DH over with all the food I've been working on all day.

Whew. He seems a little better. His temp is down 4 or 5 tenths to below 103, and he actually got up with a waggy tail to greet DH when he came home from First Thanksgiving (at his daughter's). We were supposed to go the neighbor's with all this food I've been making all day, but I'm not going to leave him alone. We've been looking at canine influenza info, which seems a better fit for his symptoms, and it sounds like the treatment is simply supportive, and most dogs come through fine unless they get pneumonia. So. We'll see how it goes tonight. Thanks everyone for being there!! Hope you're all having a great T-day.

Poop. Thanks for the links, the ideas and the thoughts. (I hope you all have something more cheerful to do today, but I'm always so grateful that there's always somebody on GT!) Canine influenza, huh? It looks like flu. I'll look that up, too. I don't think KC, at this point. Coughing is rare, and not sustained or like he's really working on something. Just little huffs, almost. There also doesn't seem to be that cough-trigger when you rub his trachea that is described with KC. The nasal discharge seems to have dried up for the time being, but his temp is a little higher, and he seems so uncomfortable. Well, having a fever IS uncomfortable, so I get that. I wiped him down with a cold wet cloth, which he stood for without seeming interested. He seems to be breathing with a bit of effort, but not noisily, just a bit faster. As usual, it's that question of rushing to the e-vet (to be sent home with possibly useless antibiotics and a gored wallet) or wait and see how he does over night. I'm leaning towards the latter, but ... ack. What if things get desperate in the middle of the night? What if I sleep through it?? It will PROBABLY be okay to wait at least 'til tomorrow, but ...... After losing Wabi so suddenly in September, I'm pretty on edge.

I'm thankful for Greytalk on this Thanksgiving Day! Poor Pogo! He's feeling pretty poor today, and I'm feeling like a really bad dog-mom. He's been coughing a little bit for the last couple days, but nothing too bad. Yesterday's sounded a little wettish, but just in the morning. Then he seemed fine all day - eating, walking with enthusiasm, normal digestion. We just took a big hit at the vet for Brilly's big dental and many extractions, so we decided we'd treat him like we'd treat ourselves: keep it calm, warm, watch and wait. Today (Thanksgiving, of course), he was shivering when we got up, and had a long round of the sort of wheezing-coughing with gagging that is described with kennel cough. Great. Not that he doesn't just do that sometimes anyway (his nose is deformed from a bite when he was a puppy, so it sometimes causes him to cough like that), but really, this had a different quality to it. He ate his breakfast, then lay down, which is all normal for him, but he didn't perk up by the time I generally expect him to, nor react with his usual hysteria when DH let slip the magic phrase ("take the dogs for a walk"). At that point, we checked, and he has thin green snot just drooling out of his nose and dripping off his chin, and is very subdued. Took his temp: 102.8ºF. So ... I know not to give him aspirin. I have some Ester C and some L-Glutamine (from past sick dog history) that I'm thinking I'll add to his dinner. Anything else to do 'til or instead of going to the vet? Send good thoughts for my formerly bouncing boy, if you can spare some!

Just seeing this. I'm so sorry Hurley and you all are going through this. I'm so GLAD he's doing as well as he is. I HOPE he recovers and has years of tripodal joy and love to share with you!! :bighug

Yeay!! That's great news. I hope he's not in any real discomfort meanwhile, and he heals superfast!

Checking in. How's he looking now? Keeping my fingers crossed for a simple fix!!

Yikes yuck and owey! Poor Puzzle. What a trooper, to let you deal with this so much! I am on the edge of my seat now, hoping for good news of a specific bug that just needs the right antibiotic for speedy healing! *crossing fingers and chanting!!* (I'm also reliving all the abscess fun I had with one of my goats, who regularly got them after her yearly vaccinations. At least those were "sterile abscesses", and thank goodness I don't get grossed out too easily! )

All these ideas could work. Depends on Luna, of course! My offering is nutritional yeast. I can find it in bulk, but most seem only to find it packaged, say at Whole Foods. It's full of B vitamins, protein and other goodies, smells sort of like toasted cheddar cheese, and can spark an appetite, if she likes it. Sprinkle it generously on something small and smelly, to "prime her pump" as was suggested. The B vitamins can really give a huge health boost, and appetite boost. What you'd look for would have some or all of these kinds of words: "vegetarian support", "nutritional yeast", Red Star (a brand). You're not looking for Brewer's yeast. That's a bit different, and doesn't have the same flavor either. The "vegetarian support" is grown and fortified to be a source of B12, which is the most important thing for these purposes. Good luck with Luna! I hope you can find something that will spark her love for life again.

I just put this in another thread, but to quote myself:

I'm absolutely NOT an expert in this, but I've had great luck adding pure cranberry juice to my cats' food. They don't mind at all, oddly, and so far no more UTIs. If what she has is a low-grade infection that might not be showing up in labs, this might help. Cantharis is also great to help with bladder irritation. Good luck! This is no fun for either of you, I'm sure!