Friday, August 28, 2009

Wrestling lessons



The usual suspects

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Memphis and friends






Any dog will tell you, splashing through a giant mud-puddle is way more fun than looking for mushrooms.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Some positive news

The positive news is that the culture the clinic sent to the lab to test for an immune related problem - came back negative.

The vet we saw today told us that there is still a possibility that Memphis has this disorder, even though the cultures were negative...but:
...she was in very good shape today for a pup with this immune disorder, especially one who hadn't had pain meds in 9 hours
...the Dr had only rarely seen immune mitigated poly-arthritis in a pup as young as Memphis
...she was doing as he would expect a dog with an infection would be doing, responding well to antibiotics

So, the plan is to extend the antibiotics two more weeks, not extend the pain meds and monitor Memphis along the way. If she has any more severe pain, we'll bring her to the clinic right away. If not, we'll call the doctor with an update each week.

If Memphis continues to do well, she'll be able to run around with her buddies on the last week of the antibiotics.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Memphis has been doing fine...

Memphis has been doing fine since she came home on Saturday. She's on pain meds and antibiotics. We've been able to walk her on-leash. She's been playful and affectionate and she doesn't seem to be in any significant discomfort. She's had a very good appetite. If you saw her, you wouldn't guess that less than a week ago she was experiencing acute pain.

On Wednesday afternoon, we bring Memphis back to the vet's for a followup check and consultation on treatment. By then they will have the results from her joint taps and they will hopefully have a conclusive diagnosis so we can get her treated.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Home

Memphis is home and she's comfortable and doing well. Dr's think the problem is an immune mitigated bone disease, but the diagnosis will be confirmed during the week when the culture results get back from NY. If that turns out to be the problem, they'll treat it with a steroid. For now, we're going to limit her walks and keep her comfortable. She's got her appetite, and just had a big dinner.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Memphis doing much better!

Memphis is still at the clinic but she's doing much better. I just visited her and she was alert and very happy to see me. It looks like she will be coming home tomorrow. The Dr's now think she has an immune mitigated joint disease, which they will treat with a couple different drugs. I'll have more detail when we pick her up tomorrow.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Memphis in the hospital

Our pup Memphis is ill and is in the hospital. Yesterday, she experienced acute pain making movement difficult. The cause is not obvious and they're doing some tests to determine what's going on and how to treat it, including joint taps and more x-rays.

She's comfortable and not in nearly the distress she was in yesterday afternoon. She's eaten some and she's walked around a little and that's good.

Memphis will stay at the clinic overnight, and we hope to know more in the morning.

Update: they are narrowing down the problem...it may be an infection or possibly an immune mediated joint issue...we expect to have a better idea tomorrow.