Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Week 3: Losing More LBs, Steak & BFFs.

And so begins the 3rd week of this blastomycosis infestation on our puppy....


Day 16:

Today has been an interesting day. This morning Xena would not eat anything. Came home from work at 1pm and we went to our follow up vet appointment. She was running a fever there, has lost 2 more lbs (10 total now) and had blood work done. Her blood work came back already tonight and her liver and kidneys are doing well and there was nothing else (fortunately) out of the norm for her blood work since they know she's fighting off this infection. Got home and she ate 8oz of wet dog food and 1/2 a cup of dog food. Two hours later she ate 1/2 a steak, 1/2lb of carved turkey and a bunch of blue buffalo dog treats (that were hiding her meds). So of course everyday has its ups and downs ... ups of the day is that she's eating well at this moment ...   today's downs... shes's now sneezing blood, which is really kind of difficult to clean up... it's only from 1 nostril, so it's not a GI issue. Means its either a lesion in her nose or just a really irritated nasal passage. Poor girl, she can't catch a break.

clean plate club

joined me on the couch for the first time in 2 weeks






Day 17:

Finally, a day with nothing new popping up. Nose bleeds lessened (hasn't had one tonight), ate a TON for dinner, took all her meds no problem. AND she has company. My friends great dane is staying with us for the next few days. Stella is Xena's best friend and nothing makes her more happy than to snuggle up with Stella. I know that calm is key right now and fortunately Stella can snuggle with the best of them for hours on end! My dog is a happy one tonight.
yes, Xena is asleep 

happiest I've seen my puppy in 2 weeks 




Day 18:

1 guess as to which of the 4 eyes is blind due to blastomycosis ... 
Xena's 'dad' came in to town today. Both Xena and I could not be happier to have him back from Texas for the week. Still on the food roller coaster, but showing more and more signs of wanting to play -- just wears her out fast. Two minutes of jumping on dad is at least equivalent to a 60 min nap right now. Today's battle is the bathroom issue -- poor girl just can't digest anything the right way and it's taking a toll on her stomach... and my floor while I was at work ...



Day 19:

Today is the best Xena has eaten yet. Ate 1/2 a pound of a beef/lamb/blueberry dog food mix this this morning, napped, then spiked a fever this afternoon, but it broke in about an hour then she wolfed down a 1lb steak and 1/4 cup of dog food. Bathroom habits are much improved due to the quantity of food she is eating today, which is great because it really couldn't have gotten any worse from yesterday.


Day 20:

I say this with my fingers crossed that I am not jinxing Xena and myself -- but today was the 2nd day in a row that nothing new popped up but that things actually just showed improvement. I know that there will still be many ups/downs but still ... 48 hrs ... nose bleeds are gone, bathroom habits are 'normalizing', she's eaten more than her recommended food amount the past 2 days, she's showing more interest in just about everything, and breaking fevers quicker. She's still sleeping A TON (which her body needs it) and still looks like a skeleton, but the ups are outweighing the downs right now. Side note: salmon flavored cream cheese is her latest kick -- i can mix just about anything in it and she'll woof it down. :)
sleeping puppy ... it's a beauceron thing :)

1.1 lbs steak .. only 3/4s of what she ate for dinner!


<3

Day 21:

Of course ..  a new lesion. This one is small and right next to the other two. Tonight our pascalite powder came in and I'll be trying a little paste on them to help draw out the infection and close them faster!



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