Lump in abdomen

Troy and I were off to see Mark today for Troy's vitamin B injection. Mark was again very pleased about how well Troy looks.
Troy's been slighly more wobbly on his back legs over the last couple of days, but I have decided to give the two-week gap another go and see how he gets on with that. If he gets wobbly again, we go back to weekly injections.

I asked Mark to check the lump I found in Troy's abdomen. But Mark said that it was just a fatty lump, so nothing to worry about! Phew.

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY, TROY!

It's Troy's 11th birthday today... I am so glad I get to celebrate it with him - something that wasn't so sure just a few months ago! Troy is feeling great at the moment, loves his walks and is alert and happy!

He enjoyed his chiro session this morning and got an extra treat to mark the occasion!

I love you very much, my big fluffy polar bear of a dog.

Troy's feeling better again

Last night when I came home, Troy wasn't feeling well at all and he didn't eat his dinner. I thought I'd see how he goes today and take him back to the vet tomorrow if necessary.

However, he is much brighter today and has eaten all his breakfast (bar a few kibbles...)! Yay! So happy that he's feeling better again.

Throwing up

On Thursday, I decided to give Troy some echinacea to help his immune system as the hotspot is just not healing properly. Whether it is linked to that or not, but he stopped eating after that and hasn't picked up properly since. On Saturday, I gave him Wainrights Trays (hoping he'd like them better and also he has been licking his front legs more again, something he only does when he is on dry food) together with the usual raw meat... and yesterday, he threw the lot up in the afternoon!

He also didn't look so well and quite weak on his back end. On Saturday evening, I also gave him 2 tablets of Prednisolone (instead of half) to see whether that would kick start his appetite again, and it did. He is eating again, though not particularly enthusiastically... I put him back on kibble and raw meat, and he ate half of his breakfast at least this morning.

Troy did come for a little walk this morning, but he wasn't particularly keen really. I hate it when he doesn't feel well.

We'll see how Troy goes this week; if he doesn't pick up, it's back to see Mark sooner than I hoped!

Vitamin B injections every TWO weeks from now on

Troy and I went off to see Mark today as always on Wednesday mornings. Mark was very pleased about how well Troy is looking - which made my day! And indeed, Troy is feeling very well, not stressed (not panting), happy and walking pretty well; his backend is not getting worse at the moment.

So Mark decided it was time that we dropped the injections to every two weeks instead of weekly and will see how Troy gets on with that! Yay!

I have also ordered Devil's Claw for Troy as well as Green Lipped Mussel again, hopefully that will help him with the discomfort in his joints.

My graduation week-end in Yorkshire

Yesterday, I had my BSc (Canine Behaviour and Training) Graduation at Beverly Minster. Karen, David and I drove up there in two cars as we took all our dogs with us! I thought it was going to be quite stressful, but in actual fact, the boys were all so good and well behaved, it was no problem at all!


Here's a picture of all the boys ready to go in the Travelodge room.

Troy was relaxed throughout the whole week-end, however, he found it very tiring! His old bones were exhausted by Saturday and he collapsed in a heap to sleep at home...

Eating again

We saw Ian today for the vitamin B injection as Mark was on holiday. Troy didn't eat his food this morning either, so after I picked up the Prednisolone this morning, I gave Troy a whole tablet at around 9 am.

And luckily Troy was eating his dinner tonight (where I added another half tablet).

So 2.5 mg Prednisolone a day it is for the rest of his life. It keeps him eating, it keeps him happy with no side effects; so I am happy too.

Stop the steroids, Troy stops eating

Last week, I forgot to pick up the Prednisolone for Troy, so I thought I'd give it another go to take Troy off of them. Saturday he was still eating fine, Sunday too, though slightly more hesitant... But this morning he refused alltogether (after he threw up some bile before the meal). So I guess we are back to half a Prednisolone a day! Bugger... I thought it would work this time! He also seems a bit more uncomfortable on his hind legs now, standing quite wide at the front and close together at the back end at times!

Just as well we are off to see Mark again tomorrow morning.