Tuesday 17 May 2016

When your dog gets ill - Animal Tales


Bob hasn't been well the past few weeks, it started with bumpy skin on his right back leg, then an infection and raw skin under his left front leg. At the same time we noticed he was looking a bit thin, but he was eating normally so we put it down to me working and out the house all day and not feeding him titbits. He's become an indoor dog now the temps are over 35c in the day, so he's not running around during the day and the evening walks have been shortened due to the humidity and the heat of the ground, so in theory he shouldn't be losing weight, so we decided a trip to the vets was in order.

The vet wasn't too worried about the weight loss and took a skin biopsy to check for ticks, fleas, mites. He gave him a steroid injection, a course of tablets, cream and a cone of shame to stop himself from licking the cream off.

The vet asked about changes in diet, shampoo, washing powder for bedding, trips out etc. Nope not changed any of the above, and the vet didn't think the rash/infection was from the lakes as we go every week and never had any problems before, so our only conclusion was it must be to do with the rat we had in an outbuilding, about a week before Bob started showing symptoms.

Bob wasn't fazed by the cone and although it was amusing to start with as he bumped into walls and doors and had to leave the car backwards, the fun soon wore off when he kept smashing into my shins and using the cone to knock on the door at night as he needed help getting back onto his bed.




On Saturday we took him back to the vets for a check up and added to the list that he hadn't poo'd for 2 days and was having difficulty peeing. He had a new rash on his belly and has lost a further kilo in weight.

The vet has decided on an aggressive treatment of worming over the next two weeks, but if he's lost any more weight at his weigh in this saturday, the vet will run blood tests and do a scan on Bob's prostate. The cat is also on a similar worming treatment plan, in case she's a carrier and they've both been treated to kill/prevent ticks, mites and fleas.

To say I'm a little worried is an understatement. Apart from annual jabs, this is the first time we've taken either the cat or dog to the vets since we've had them. Pushkins 4 years and Bob 3 years.

It has been suggested we should take out vet insurance, especially as we've already spent £180 on treatment to date, but we'd have spent £1440 on instalments over the past 3 years without any gain from it and we have a pot of money saved up for relocation fees so we'll dip into that if we have to have scans, tests and treatment.

In the meantime Bob is now free of the cone and is perfectly happy, wagging his tail, bolting down his food as usual, enjoying the odd bone or two and demanding his nightly walk. We're not going out in the desert now till summer is over, by 7am it's around 32c and just too hot for humans, let alone Bob and his feet on the hot sand.

If you read last week's post you'll see my cat proof nets aren't working as planned.


12 comments:

  1. Pets are such a worry when they get poorly, glad Bob is feeling better and that pet insurance sounds like a good idea. #AnimalTales

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    1. we looked into the insurance costs but decided not to bother, the monthly fee compared to what we've just spent for the first time in 4 years just isn't worth it

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  2. Poor Bob - I really hope he is better soon

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  3. Hopefully Bob is on the mend and regaining some weight. I had pet insurance on my last dog until she was about 11sh when the annual fees went sky high because of her age - and she lived until 17 1/2!

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    1. we've got income to cover vet bills, so not bothering with insurance, maybe when we move back to the UK and Bob is older

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  4. Oh bless him, I hope he's fully better ASAP and the treatment works in good time! Poor boy with his "cone of shame". I bet he's glad it's off now! #animaltales

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  5. Oh no - how is he now? Not what I want to be reading n #AnimalTales :(
    Oh and next week Animal Tales will be hosted by Karen at http://themadhouseofcatsandbabies.com/

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    1. he's fully recovered now, next week is the turn of the cat

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  6. Was sure I commented on this last week to send Bob get well wishes...lost in the t'interwebs somewhere no doubt! Always a worry when they get poorly for no obvious reason and boy don't those cones make some lovely scratches and bruises on the backs of your legs?! Off to catch up on the next instalment now.

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    1. Bob and my shins have fully recovered now

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