The Dog Log 3

Loki had his third visit to the vet yesterday.  More on that below, but let me first catch you up on the past week or so.  

The last major event in Loki's medical care was his ear cleaning.  We were able to super-sedate him to the point that he allowed (with some resistence) a liquid to be poured into his ear canals.  We then wiped up the accumulated wax and debris with a cotton ball.  Having completed that task, we decided to stop torturing him until we could get him to the vet nine days later.  She would apply a "longer lasting" treatment for his ear infection.  

In the mean time he showed a few unusual behaviors.  He twice refused to climb into our car.  The first time was when we were taking him home from his Saturday obedience training.  Eventually, I had to pick him up and put him in the back seat.  I thought he would struggle during the process, but he didn't.  He was completely compliant.  A few days later we wanted to drive him to a local park so that he had some good experiences following a car ride, but again, he refused to get in the car.  We abandoned the effort.  There are only so many stressful things one should do to anyone, and Loki was having more than his share.

One night, Loki decided to sleep downstairs.  Normally, he sleeps in our bedroom; however, an hour after the lights went out, we were awakend by his very loud, agressive barking.  Loki very, very seldom barks, so something quite unique set him off.  He might have been awakened by someone dumping recycling in a bin outside our open kitchen window.  He might have awakend simply to an unfamiliar place or he might have been having a bad dream.  He barked in the middle of the night once before, shortly after he came to live with us, and I have seen him barking softly in his sleep.  So any of the three explanations for his barking fit are plausible.  Hopefully, whatever sets him off will no longer be an issue as he settles in with us.

Anyway, on to the big news: Loki had his third visit to the vet yesterday.  The whole process started with us beginning his sedation at 1:00.  We gave him 1,800 mg of gabapentin and 300 mg of trazodone.  At first, he refused to swallow them, spitting them out from the "pill pockets" in which we hid them.  Later he swallowed them eagerly when we smeared them with a pepperoni flavored cream.  Two hours later we dosed him with 0.7 ml of dexmedetomidine which we applied to his gums.  He was more compliant with this than he had been when we cleaned his ears nine days earlier.  Once that was done, it was time to drive him to the vet.

When we took him to the car, he was barely able to stand.  That he could was critical as otherwise I wouldn't be able to lift him from the floor.  He's a pretty big dog.  But I did manage to load him into the car.  Once inside the vet's clinic, it was as if he had been given a general anasthetic.  He posed no resistence to anything done to him.  The vet applied the "longer lasting" medication into his ears and took his sedated state as an opportunity to draw blood for further tests and to trim his nails.  Throughout all the procedures, he didn't flinch.  Finally, the vet gave him a medication designed to help him recover from the dexmedetomidine.  We managed to get him into a position that allowed me to pick him up and carry him to the car.  It was 5:30.  He had been with the vet since 4:00.

Once home, it was a bit of a struggle to unload him out of the car, but we managed.  He was finally, safely home.  We were extremely pleased that we were able to pull all this off and get so much done for him, but as the evening wore on, he showed no signs of recovery.  We began to worry.  He was able to raise his head around 10:00 PM when we could feed him, but that was about it for any sign of voluntary movement.  We went bed at 11:00 with him inert on the floor downstairs, but at midnight, I heard him come into our bedroom.  It was a reassuring sign that all would be well.  

The next day, he was still pretty lethargic on his morning walk, but perked up just fine by afternoon.  His hotspot is healed, so we've taken his collar cone off which means he's now able to "investigate" more of our unit than before.  We'll need to monitor him as he might try to get into things he shouldn't.  Of coure, we are putting the cone back on over night when we can't watch him, but he hasn't shown any signs of wanting to scratch or bite at his skin enough to worry about.

Having dealt with his most pressing medical issue, the vet has now pointed out that he has some inflamed spots on his elbows.  They need to be treated with the same topical antibiotic that we used on his hotspot.  The inflamed elbows aren't severe problems.  I expect they'll clear up quickly.   

All in all, Loki is doing fine.  He's even become playful at times, though he remains pretty skittish on his walks. 

The Dog Log 2

On July 16th, Loki got his first visit to a local vet.  It went surprisingly well, probably because she gave him lots of treats through the early stages of the exam.  We were particularly interested in the progess of his hotspot which was deemed to be still enflamed.  The vet was able to clear away the remains of the scab on his hotspot without him objecting much.  That was a big surprise.  Since it's still enflamed, he'll need to stay in his collar cone for about a week or so.  Becky continues to treat it, but with some procedures she hadn't been doing previously.  

He also has an infection in both ears.  That will take some daily treatment which dogs generally don't like.  If he doesn't tolerate it, we might need to use a less effective, but "long lasting," medication.  His conditions led the vet to declare that he is indeed allergic to something.  It could be environmental or it could be ticks or fleas.  The ear infection suggests an environmental allergy.  His hotspot and that ticks were found on him in the Solano County shelter would implacte ticks.  She said that food allergies are rare. He also has gingivitis.  

During the visit, Loki spontaneously volunteered a stool sample which we're having examined to learn more about his condition.  We were pleased to learn that because his current dose of seditive is quite mild, we shouldn't expect significantly new behaviors when he comes off them.  All in all, there might be a good deal of daily care we'll need to give him for the time being to overcome these conditions.  We were glad to have a thorough exam done, and we look forward to getting him in good, healthy shape.  

The vet gave us the task of cleaning his ears and administering an ointment to clear up the ear infection.  Unfortunately, Loki strongly objected to the ear cleaning, even as he had 1,200mg of sedative in him.  Per the vet's instruction, we took him back to the vet to have them try to clean his ears.  They too were unsuccessful.  Today, however, we succeeded after upping the dose of sedative to 18,000mg and adding two more additional sedatives.  He was pretty much a rag doll when we administered the ear cleaner, objecting a bit at first, but allowing us to get the job done.  He was completely compliant when we administered the ear infection ointment.  We're very happy to have got that done.  We'll have to clean his ears periodically from now on, so hopefully we'll get him to tolerate it without the sedatives.  His hotspot continues to show progress healing, but he still needs his collar cone.  

He's also gaining some confidence being near other dogs.  Yesterday, we took him to his first day of obedience school where he was around ten other dogs.  He was quit apprehensive at first, but eventually calmed down a bit.  The trainer believes he'll do fine in the class.  We have "homework" for him to do before his second training session next week.  It amounts to a few simple behaviors: getting his attention, sitting, lying down, controlled walking, and recognizing his name.  We'll start his homework tomorrow after he has recovered from today's sedatives.  

Right now he's sleeping quite soundly, and we understand it's best to let a sleeping dog lie.  I'm hoping he's having a good dream.

The Dog Log

On July 8, Becky and I adopted a dog: Loki.  He has a sketchy history and probably some neuroses.  So I thought I'd make a record of how he adjusts to his new home.  Here's a little background on him.  

The Sonoma County police found him on April 16th abandoned in a crate without water along Highway 680, between the towns of Benicia and Cordelia.   Loki was estimated to be 5 years old.  At 55 pounds, he was very underweight and his fur was extremely matted.  Clearly, he had been badly treated or at least badly neglected.  He was taken to the Solano County animal shelter.  While there, he underwent a umbilical hernia operation.  He was neutered and vaccinated.  At one point, large ticks were found dropping from his coat.  Beyond his recent traumatic experiences, there's no telling just how hard his life was before being abandoned. 

On June 6th, Loki was rescued by CalPaws, a dog rescue group that looks out for German Shepherds in particular.  Loki is by no means a pure bread shepherd, but he's enough shepherd that CalPaws found him a foster home in Sacramento.  He had reached an adequate weight of 67 pounds.

When we first visited Loki on June 29th, he had healed from his surgeries, but a "hotspot" had reappeared on his rump, something that was an issue earlier during his care at the shelter.  It was about the size of a quarter -- not so serious as to change our decision to adopt him, but a few days later it expanded to at least 3 inches in diameter.  Apparently, he aggravated it overnight.  A vet in Sacramento put him on antibiotics, an anti-inflamatory, and a sedative to keep him healthy and comfortable.  The spot was now a more serious problem, but still not enough to change our minds about adopting him; so we brought him home.

We've had him in a recovery collar cone for over a week now to keep him from further aggravating the hotspot, and thankfully, it's healing nicely.  He continues to get twice daily doses of his meds which we feed him by hand, powderized and wrapped in treats at each meal.  I expect he'll be healed soon.  

He was extremely anxious during his first day with us.  He paced about our condominium unit.  On walks, he was cautious, if not frightened of every dog or human he saw.  Happily, he has calmed down and is more comfortable on walks; however today he actively opposed going for a walk.  He backed away from the open door and bit at the leash, trying to pull it from me.  When I got on my hands and knees to comfort him and remove the leash, he pinned my hands to the carpet with his paws, clearly trying to prevent me from getting up.  It was a very puzzling encounter.

We've convinced him that his bed is a good place to be, but he'll lie down just about anywhere.  He's not too particular.  He generally sleeps through the night at the foot of our bed, but on three occasions he woke and started barking in the darkness.  Sometimes he craves attention; other times, he avoids us.  He sometimes gets exuberant, but he wimpers a lot, especially when Becky leaves the house.  Separation anxiety is certainly one of his challenges, but he wasn't destructive when we both left him during a 90 minute trial separation.  It will be interesting to see how he behaves after his hotspot heals and he's off his sedative.  

Loki has a lot to learn and much more to teach.