Blood test at vet's

I took Troy to see Mark this morning to have his blood test. Troy isn't a problem luckily (unlike some other little dog I know), so it went quick, though Mark did have a problem finding the blood vessel in Troy's big legs.. LOL Every vet always seems to struggle to find Troy's blood! So we are now waiting for the results.

Troy also seemed to feel much better after yesterday's chiro session as he was quite bouncy this morning! I am feeling much better too, but still a very slight headache.

Blood test

As Troy just hasn't been eating properly on Previcox, I have taken him off of it this week-end and touch wood, apart from this morning, he has been eating ok!

I just talked to my vet Mark and he suggested to do a blood test first of all to make sure there isn't anything else going on with liver etc, and then try a new drug! I'll book Troy in now.

Early morning walks

As I have decided to take Dylan, Flash and Jesse out earlier in the morning (5.15 am) due to that little terrier, I now have time to take Troy out in the morning too! So now he gets a walk every single day even when I am out in the evenings! Cornel only walks him rarely now, so this is an excellent solution and I think Troy is enjoying it too.

I have now put him on Previcox on a daily basis as he does limp quite badly otherwise. He used to stop eating properly, but so far seems fine. I will now also try giving him one tablet in the morning and one in the evening, perhaps that is more gentle on the tummy as well so he will continue to eat well.

Bioflow Collar

Karen brought a magnetic bioflow collar round yesterday. I put it straight on Troy. I have not give him any painkillers yesterday or today to see the effect and so far, Troy is no limping. It would be great if it worked.

Holiday in Wales - 25th April - 2nd May

Yet again, we went on holiday with all four boys to Swallows Dance in Pembrokeshire! We had a fabulous time and really enjoyed ourselves.

I have set up a separate blog for the pictures... Here is the link:

http://walesholiday9.blogspot.com

I will update gradually as I have over 200 pictures and another well over 300 from Sandra that took fab pictures at Freshwater West.

Vaccinations

Troy got his booster today. Mark was happy with him and said that he is looking great for his age! Makes you always proud when a vet says that... :-)

7th Gotcha Day

I can't believe that it's already 7 years since we have adopted Troy! It was 6th April all those years ago that we went to see this giant dog, and he came home with us.

Troy was not always easy, and I have put in a lot of work with him to sort out the dog aggression! But he is so much better now and it was all worth it!

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY, big boy!

SNOW!

Snow, snow, nothing but snow. What a beautiful day! (Can't go to work as no public transport, cars etc.). Love it... and so do the dogs.

Limping

Troy is limping on and off again, particularly when I take him for proper walks (45 minutes a day compared to the 15 or 20 minutes once or twice a week that Cornel does these days...). So I have put him back on Previcox which is helping nicely.

I don't really want to deprive him of his good walks as he loves going out and being outside! He gets so depressed and bored when I don't walk him (which I didn't over a period of two weeks when I was ill recently and Cornel only walked him about 4 times during that whole time with really short walks)... So I think it is choosing the lesser of two evils... which is unfortunately the pain killers. (Luckily the insurance picks up the very high cost... about £80/month).

Troy and I had some fabulous walks on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and 27th December when we went over to the field in Anerley where Troy could run free and rumage around the grass and bushes to his heart's content. He loves it there, he loves his walks!

Sarah Fisher

Yesterday, we were so pleased to welcome Sarah Fisher at WTDT doing a TTouch Demo! And what a fantastic afternoon it was! Sarah was fab, a wonderful speaker and all the dogs and people there loved her!

Dylan and Troy had the pleasure of meeting her. Unfortunately I have no pictures of Dylan with Sarah, but have a few of Troy... (I forgot my camera in my bag when it was Dylan's turn...).

Dylan in the hall; it's a shame I don't have any pictures of him with Sarah as he pretty much fell asleep... He loved it.


And here we had Troy's turn... he absolutely loved it.

Tablets finished

The tablets that Troy was on were Previcox. Well, I gave him the last dose on Sunday and we will see now how it goes. He is currently not limping and even after quite a long walk last night (about 45 minutes) he is still fine!

Joint problems

After two weeks of metacam that was helping some to relief Troy's pain, but not enough, I took Troy to see Mark today. Mark reckons that it is arthritis setting in and did not recommend knocking Troy out at this moment in time, which I agreed with. He has given us new anti-inflamatory tablets to try Troy on and see how we get on. It looks however that this will be a long-term (probably permanent) thing for him.

I will now also look into accupuncture for Troy is simply short term pain medication does not help.

Troy has also been diagnosed with lenticular sclerosis, which results in a bluish hazey appearance of the lense in certain light and is an age related change of shape of the lense. I thought that I could see this, but wasn't sure, so got Mark to check it and he confirmed it.

Our big boy is getting older... which makes me feel so sad.

Troy's limping

Troy is still limping. He started last week all of a sudden a few hours after a walk. We didn't walk him for five days until he stopped limping, then Cornel took him for a short walk... and Troy promptly started limping again... Troy too will be going to the vet to make sure it is just a soft tissue problem, not something more serious.

Almost all healed up

Since last Sunday, Troy is not wearing the buster collar anymore. He does very occasionally scratch, but it does not cause damage anymore. The middle bit is still a bit scabbed over and I still put some aloe vera gel on it, but we are getting there.

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I am mostly walking Troy now as Cornel only walks him once in a blue moon (once a week or even not at all in a fortnight...). Troy is fit and healthy and pretty happy, down to me walking him almost daily! I wish I could take him to a training class again... I need to find someone to do the classes for me, then I can attend my own classes... LOL. Troy does enjoy going out, e.g. classes, but right now, I just don't know where. I will have to take him to the field in Anerley a bit more again to give him a chance of scenary!

Getting better...

Troy's "patch" is getting better and is pretty much scabbed over now. So the aloe vera gel is doing the trick. In fact, this morning is the first time that I managed to put the gel on without any fuss, so I think it is not particularly painful anymore either... though it is still itchy at time.

Troy back at vets

Last night, I noticed a dark patch of fur on Troy's side of his face. When I investigated I found it to be very red skin, but Troy would not let me examine in closer. He wouldn't even let me cut his fur.

So this afternoon, I took him to the vet. They had to sedate him to shave the area and have a look. It seems it is like a hot spot that got infected, it looked like wet eczema. It was all cleaned up and he got some antibiotics and steroids to take care of it.

I have applied aloe vera gel which seems to sooth it better than the steroid cream. Troy was really stressed out for a long time and kept thrashing his buster collar around... But he eventually settled (after I applied the aloe vera cream).

He is fairly settled now, but still tries to scratch the big patch frequently. Poor lad. I hope it clears up quickly.

Good news...

I took Troy to see the vet Paul this morning and yipee... it's only a fatty lump (just like Dylan has got). So luckily it is nothing to worry about!

A lump...

On Monday night, I found a smallish lump on Troy's right front leg between shoulder and elbow. I have booked him in for Friday, 8.20, at the vets to find out what this is (it's the first early appointment I could get this week). I hope of course that it is just a fatty lump or something else that's nothing to worry about, but unfortunately you never know with these things.

Cornel told me not to be so pessimistic, but I can't help it, particularly since little Sunny died so quickly "from a lump"... But of course, I hope it is nothing serious!

Been to the vet

I took Dylan and Troy to the vet, and luckily, on both counts, it is nothing to worry about.

Troy has Gingival Hyperplasia, which is a benign growth. Nothing needs to be done about it unless it starts bothering Troy.

Dylan's lump is a fatty lump. Again, nothing needs doing unless it becomes a problem.

I am so glad that both are fine and the lumps are nothing serious! The boys are just getting older... :-(

A weird growth

On Friday evening, Troy breath smelt a bit funny and made me check his mouth. I found a strange growth from the gums on one of his canines. He is booked in for the vet's tomorrow morning... to go with Dylan who has a new lump on his chest...