Monday, January 5, 2009

Berry's on the up-swing

Berry seems to be feeling better again. No meds since Saturday. Kudos on that. Let's hope it stays this way for a while....

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Berry White, the saga continues

Berry White seemed to do well on the Rimadyl yesterday, but by last night, the pain had returned and he woke us up with yelps several times in the night. We gave him another dose of Rimadyl this morning, and that seems to have helped again. If this goes on all week, he'll see the vet next weekend, as she suggested several days of pain in a row prompt further investigation. Some reading and advice from Greytalk leaves me a little more paranoid of other potential problems, but I'd rather know what I should be looking for and worry about it than be blind and have no clue what to look out for.

When I spoke to our Vet she said we would start where we are and just deal with flare-ups and if the flare-ups became consistent, we would do some more investigating and add meds. Yeah, meds. I don't like the idea of a med regiment, but we will do what we have to do. She also mentioned the potential of sending him to LSU for an MRI and more tests, and this is where a big problem would come up. I LOVE my dogs and would do everything I can for any of them, but it will cost over $1000 to have tests done at LSU. I'm not going to have this internal debate outloud and I don't want to think about it.... or the choices we sometimes have to make for them.... not yet....

To end on a good note, he had a nice bow about 15 minutes ago, which usually means he is in less pain, so the Rimadyl must be working at the moment. Yeah for the small victories!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Berry White - Round 2

So Berry White had another neck/pain episode this morning. He seemed fine when I let him out and fed him. T put them all back in the bedroom with me when he left for work (I have one more day off) and then when I got up I noticed Berry seemed to be holding his neck funny like he had before - just outstretched forward. I had trouble getting him to look up at me and he would not jump up on me, which he usually readily does. I sat down with him and he put his head in my lap and I decided to try and turn his head as the vet had done to see if he reacted, and a turn to the right yielded a scream. So, we had some Rimadyl I had gotten from the vet before Christmas for Dax's reoccurring limp on his broken hock leg, so I gave him one and then went and talked to the vet. I was already going there to get more Heartguard, so I just talked to her then. She said just give him the Rimadyl as needed for now and if he has several bad days in a row we may move towards a daily regiment and add other medications as necessary. So, right now he, as well as Anna and Dax, is sleeping on the floor with me in the office. I hope the medication works and that he is fine tomorrow. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for the goof-ball. I know this is something we are likely to continue to face with him, but I just hope that we don't have to put him on a daily medication anytime soon.