Sadie Grace

[Sadie G]

Thanks We're pretty happy she's doing better too.

I just don't like these meds in her system and will be glad when she's done with them. She is so much better allergy wise and she looks great. She's just not herself though. Almost like she's zoned out. I understand though they said it would take some powerful stuff to get it under control again. She started on half a steroid pill as of today and she doesn't have too many of those left.

Does anyone know if antihistamine makes you drowsy? I'm trying to figure out which med is doing that to her, or if its a combination of all of them.

Deb, I forgot to answer your question on the marshmallows. We had the mini ones at home already so I decided to try them and they are perfect. Just enough to poke a pill into, or a capsule into two of them. We call them "treats" and she gets very excited when we say that word now. They will be so much easier to take somewhere than a slice of cheese that gets all yucky in your pocket!

Just to keep record since I forgot to post it, she weighed 61 lbs. She doesn't look like a 61 lb girl, but now I know why she can pull so hard when she wants something

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Linda, I think 61 pounds for Sadie is a good weight. She's a tall girl, and yes, it's no wonder she can pull so hard.

Antihistamines can make dogs (or people) drowsy, but the steroid (something like Prednisone) really zones them out. They need that though to heal sometimes, so it's not a bad side effect. I'm sure once Sadie finishes the steroid treatment, she will be more like her old self. It worked like that with Emma. ♥

The mini-marshmallows sound like perfect, inexpensive, "Pill Pockets". I used to buy the Greenie "Pill Pockets" for Oliver, until I realized they were costing me nearly $1.00/day (on top of his very expensive medication)! A slice of extra-thin, low fat processed "cheese" does the trick just as well and the cost is easier to take. Oliver thinks it's a treat as well, and can not settle for bed unless he has his "treat", even though we now give his pills much earlier than my bedtime. We save a wee bit of the "edible oil product" from his pills as a "fake treat" at bedtime.

I'm glad you are keeping a record of things in here. I want to hear how Sadie is doing, and it will help you keep track a couple of years from now as well.

[4 the Dogs]

I'm late catching up. happy to hear Sadie is doing better.
I can't say I notice the antihistamines or steroids making Charlie sleepy. If anything I think they hype him up.

Charlie recently had an allergy attack too. I think it was salmon treats. However, the vet also noted they had been seeing a lot more dogs right now for allergies and believes it's due to the mild winter. The ground here isn't even frozen!

Is Sadie still doing well with the lamb food? One of mine had trouble with it, I think Izzy. (I should also log these things!)

[Sadie G]

Sadie is doing great with the lamb TOTW. We tried the salmon first and she had a reaction to that. Her coat has never been this soft, shiny and full looking. I know the meds are helping with that too, working on the allergy situation, but her coat started getting shiny even before the meds.

She got a bath today. I think I mentioned above a leave on, after the bath rinse. It's WONDERFUL! And smells really good. I could feel the lotion that would help her skin when I was rubbing it into her fur and skin. Her fur has to be wet and we have to keep her from licking it until she dries. It won't harm her to ingest it, but like the vet said, it won't do any good if it doesn't stay on her coat and fur. It was pretty easy to keep her occupied, easier than I thought it would be.

Thanks for the info Deb, I thought it was probably the steroid. She's is on her second day of 1/2 a pill and she wasn't quite so zoned out today. But still no where near her normal rambunctious playful self. After tomorrow she goes to 1/2 a pill every other day.

I remember (I think it was Phyrie?) talking about the steroids and how it made them hungry all the time. Oh my!! How true that is. Sadie wants to eat all the time. When she isn't sleeping she wants to eat. If we walk through the kitchen she is right there with a begging look in her eyes. I couldn't help it, I had to give her a small amount of kibble in her dish a couple of times yesterday and today. That was besides her normal breakfast and dinner! I wonder what she will weigh when we take her back

Kris, I'm sorry to hear about Charlie's allergy attack. It's so hard to see them go through this. Is he doing better now?

[kian]

I too wondered if the steroids were making her hungry. Glad to hear she is doing so well, fingers crossed this keeps up!!!

61 pounds, she is so beautiful ♥ What's the leave on rinse you use?

[Sadie G]

It's called ResiCORT. (That's exactly how its spelled on the bottle) I called it a leave on rinse, but it's actually called a leave on lotion. It says its for dogs, cats and horses.

I think it may be by vet prescription only? Not sure. It says I have no refills, so I'm assuming it can't be bought over the counter. I will go look to see if I can find it elsewhere, besides at the vet's office, it was $32.50 for 8 oz there. I can already tell it was worth every penny though.

Just found it on Amazon for $27.50 for 16 oz. That's a much better price!

[kian]

Fantastic!! Yes worth every single penny. No I haven't heard of it, I googled it and see on Amazon, I do wonder about getting those products though those sources.

[Sadie G]

I know what you mean! I looked at several other sites that came up when I typed in the name. Several of them said by rx only. Makes you wonder!

[4 the Dogs]

yes, Charlie, is better now.
When he is on steriods he is all about the food bowl, water and going outside. It seems worse with every round.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Linda, with all this recent talk of products being mass produced in part, outside of the U.S., you might be better off sticking with the one you are provided, rather than ordering on-line. I would be very leery about that as well. Sometimes the "cheap comes out expensive", as the saying goes.

Oh, I forgot to mention the hunger and "starvation" our dogs feel on these Steroids. Kris, for some reason Charlie has the opposite effect, such as hyper-acitivity, which happens. You should buy Lottery Tickets.

I'm glad to hear the "leave in" product is working so well. By the name, it sounds like a Cortisone creme, like Cortisporin, only not harmful if swallowed, which it would have to be for pet use. Obviously, if they lick it off, it can't work, so I'm glad Sadie cooperated.

I bet she feels lovely and smells delicious!

Kris, I noticed the same effects with Emma until we started the allergy shots. The poor girl was allergic to everything she loved...swimming in the Creek, running in the fresh grass, and catching other animals...moles were her favourite pastime. She was even allergic to most trees!

I feel for those of you going through this, as I remember well trying to alleviate the symptoms.

[Sadie G]

Deb I should have clarified my price statement a little more than I did. I agree, we don't know for sure about products purchased over the net, or that don't come directly from the vet. Especially one that is by prescription. I would not consider buying what I saw, I was just surprised at the cost difference.

Kris how long has Charlie had to have steroid treatments? The old vet had told us this would be the next step, and that once she started the steroids it would be a continual thing (but not all of the time).

Sadie is still doing great. I need to wet her fur again & use the leave on lotion again tonight. Last night she started licking and biting at her legs again. Not badly, but I want to take care of it as soon as the signs of itch appear. It was the middle of the night so I couldn't take care of it then. Her tummy and legs are such a pretty pink now instead of red and rasht looking.
And she is so much more herself with the steroid pill being reduced.

I rush home from work every day to see how she is!!

[Sadie G]

Sadie's two week checkup on her allergies went very well! The vet was very pleased with everything.

We are weaning her off of the steroid, 1/2 pill every three days for 2 weeks, then stop. Continue giving her the antihistamine for now, but in a month or so quit giving it to her to see what happens. The vet wants to determine if she can go for periods without it or if its something she needs to be on daily.
Finish out the antibiotic. No more ear drops, but keep the bottle. It won't go bad and if we see the red yeasty look to her ears again with a brown discharge start the drops up again for a minimum of 7 days.

We don't have to go back to the vet, everything can be handled by phone. She said call her any time, with any questions we have. I REALLY like this vet!

I do have to tell you what happened when we were about done at the vets office. I was at the counter paying and a family was coming in with their dog. One of the workers came out and asked the OH to take Sadie to a side exit door, and whispered "euthanasia". She whispered it to the two girls behind the counter too. It hit me hard. I had already seen them coming in and had gotten a look at the dog coming in and knew it was an older dog by the way it was walking. Although it was a shepherd mix and didn't look a bit like Boomer, the way it was walking reminded me so much of Boomer at the end. Thank goodness the family didn't see me, I kept my back to them, but I was bawling my eyes out. Crocodile tears that would not stop. I was very embarrassed, but couldn't stop the tears for anything.

I think those girls think the newbies (me) that they acquired from the other vet office closing are a bit weird
(Just kidding, they understood)

The good news, Sadie is doing very well. Her coat is thick, shiny and her skin is a perfect shade of pink with no red anywhere.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

LInda, I am SO pleased to hear that Sadie is doing so well, and that you really like the new Vet. That is so important. Ironically, I too was at my Vet's today but only to pick up more heart medication for Oliver. Like your new Vet, my Vet's have often come out to meet my car in the parking lot as their office is quite small, to ask if I can come back with Oliver or Henry at another time due to euthanasia. Since we've all been there, and know how hard it is, I willingly oblige.

I hardly think your tears were "Crocodile Tears" as they were genuine. I too feel the same way when I see a family coming in to say goodbye to a loved one. It is so hard, and I am often so grateful that on that day, I am taking my dog home, and not going home alone. I'm sure the family appreciated your consideration, and that of the Vet's staff. I don't even know these people, but my heart breaks for them as I imagine they are enduring a very sad evening tonight, and the end of an era.

Sadie sounds so much like Emma with the hotspots as well as the ear condition. The good news is that with age (and perhaps the allergy shots) the symptoms lessened later in life for her. She also wasn't nearly as active and did not have a constant source of water, whether it be a pool, pond, River, or Creek in which to swim. I was always checking her ears, and cleaning them with a special solution from the Vet.

Good luck to Sadie and kudos to you for your diligence. It's a lot of hard work with our larger dogs, especially if bathing weekly is part of the treatment from time to time!

[kian]

It's such a great feeling to find a good vet and one that understands Sadies allergies, so glad she is doing better.

It's always hard to lose a dog, it's still sad as the dog doesn't have to be one we know. Our soft heart holds a place for these wonderful companions, crying at someone else grief is a testament to that. It never got easy when I worked as a tech, if it did, that would mean a heartless heart. I'm sure it made you love Sadie even harder that day ♥.

[pawsforthought]

Sorry to hear you'd had problems, Linda, but glad Sadie is doing much better now, and also that you like your new vet

She's such a sweet girl, shame she gets these problems but unfortunately it seems to happen to the best of them!