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.
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