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24 March:
Judy is starting to display a little Airedale "attitude". All to the good, we think. Barks fiercely if anyone steps on her poor, sore tail and she elbows her way into the middle of the pack for treats with the best of them. Oddly, she doesn't like ice cream or peanut butter. The Circus will do back flips for either.
Judy with her "Little" Sister, Pixie
We believe Judy is suffering from some significant pain issues. She's still panting a great deal. Her joints are swollen and her hind legs are almost immobile at the knee. She walks with the sort of gait one expects of someone wearing stilts or wooden legs. Her mouth seems to hurt as well so possibly she has some bad teeth.
25 March:
Judy went to the vet this afternoon. She weighs a giant 37 pounds. The vet says the lumps which I hoped might be lipomas are likely something not as nice; they will be biopsied. Fortunately, she has no heart murmur, no temperature and not a lot overall wrong with her aside from apparent arthritis and related pain. She does need her teeth cleaned; she has a large growth in her mouth from poor dental hygiene. Our vet says it is the sort of growth one sees when plaque builds up too much in a dog's mouth.
He also is slightly concerned about Lymes disease, as Judy's bedding for most of her life was hay. He worried that there could have been ticks in the hay; this could explain the swollen leg joints and stiffness. She received a Metacam shot for pain & a Cartrophen shot for the arthritis. With the vet's help, we will develop a pain protocol for Judy.
Jim had already taken about one-third inch off Judy's nails; the vet was able to remove even more. Since school was closed today, the vet tech's little girl was at the clinic. Judy's nails were clipped while she lay with her head in the little girl's lap. The youngster was rubbing Judy's ears; Judy was nearly purring with pure pleasure. A Kodak moment with no Kodak in sight!
The vet advised me to clean & medicate Judy's ears. He said he could see evidence of chronic yeast infections. Her ear leather is very black on the inside; both ears are heavily covered in scabs. I will shave these down, flush out her ears and apply papaya ointment to the scabs when we get home.
Judy has cataracts and is mostly blind. She is also fairly deaf. She can hear me if I pitch my voice exactly right and howl at the top of my lungs. This may be a result of the apparent ear infections she's had in the past. Judy deals well with being blind & deaf - gets around our house with minimum collisions and only occasionally whacks her head on a closed door, table top or chair leg. Murphee, who's notorious for not watching where he's going, ran smack into her at one point. She merely shook her head and kept toddling along.
Taking our meds
26 March:
The medications Judy was given yesterday for pain have made a terrific difference in her demeanor. She's dancing around today, following me like a shadow, accompanying The Lunatic & The Maniac as they shout at the dog in the yard east of us . . . . No further panting. No obvious stress.
Judy's blood chemistry proves to be amazingly good for a 14-year-old girl. She has some minor thyroid & kidney dysfunction that the vet says is to be expected in an elderly dog. Otherwise, he judges her to be remarkably healthy. The next step is to treat the tumors on Judy's tail & flank as well as the one in her mouth. Her teeth will be cleaned as well.
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Tyner with her foster bro & sis
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Tyner, meanwhile, is doing very well. She is playing with the foster family's big puppies, going for walks, lapping up attention . . . . She's enrolled in doggy day care where the attendants adore her. Tyner loves romping with the puppies at day care!
Tyner is available for adoption. |
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