Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Follow-Up Veterinary Visit


A few weeks ago, before we took our New York - Chicago trip, we had to rush our younger Cavalier Mystie to an emergency vet.  The emergency veterinary office we chose was the same place where her specialist practices medicine, even though we were there during the night at a time he wasn't there.

 


Our little Mystie has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and has since she was a young pup.  We have it mostly under control, fortunately, thanks to her diet and meds, but for a week she started having appetite and other issues until some blood made us dash off for help.
 

The only thing we could think of that was different in her diet was that we were receiving a large number of packages for a relative, and the very nice man who delivered a lot of them would sometimes slip both of our dogs a treat each time he visited, which was nearly daily for a while.  Mystie had been doing fine with the off-diet treats we'd been giving her, but this new kind apparently didn't work well for her.  Or maybe it was because she started licking soapy water off the bathroom floor after our showers or baths.

 

So, she's back on only eating her prescription food, plus some veggies now: carrots and green beans.  She had a follow-up checkup earlier this week where we saw her regular specialist, and he said it was okay to try her back on some of the treats we had given her before, too, if we try them on a limited basis one at a time and see how she does with them.

 
And no more soapy water.

 
Maybe I can work some of this into a story one of these days.  And I'm glad to say that Mystie's doing much better now.

 
How about you--do you or your family members, including pets, have dietary issues that you have to be careful not to violate?  Have you gone to any emergency medical facilities lately--human or veterinary?  If so, I hope all's well now!

10 comments:

Terri said...

Wow, glad she's okay! I've never heard of a dog having IBD before! My son has it and gets remicade treatments as well as oral medications and he is doing very well! And - he eats what he wants! I have IBS and have to be very careful about what I eat. Strange, huh? You'd think it would be the other way around! LOL!

Linda O. Johnston said...

I do find it interesting that people and dogs can have the same condition, Terri. Mystie has improved this time although she still suggests on some mornings that she might have another bad tummy day, but she hasn't so far. Hope you and your son always have good tummy days!

Tracy Weber said...

Hi Linda. My dog has a digestive disease (EPI) and several food allergies and has to be on a very controlled diet. I even modeled the dog in my series after her. And she's had a lot of other issues that have necessitated white-knuckled late night emergency vet visits. It's never easy. But they are worth it!

Linda O. Johnston said...

No question that our fur-kids are worth it, Tracy. My older dog Lexie has issues, too, but different ones. Looking forward to reading the first book in your new series for lots of reasons!

Anonymous said...

Hi there Linda my husband has coeliac disease once diagnosed simple to stay on gluten free diet caught out in summer when eating a fish pie fish must have had gluten in the sauce potato topping ok. My little old Yorkie Rosie made herself sick by eating lots of another dog's dried food passed blood etc took 2 weeks to settle completely I only went to collect a knitting pattern from Cassie's owner. Now we are all looking forward to Christmas - keeping treats to minimum best wishes Tricia & Rosie

Linda O. Johnston said...

Hi, Tricia & Rosie--It's so hard to ensure that those we love, including our pets, don't eat stuff that's bad for them. But watching those treats has to help!

Betty Hechtman said...

I'm glad Mystie is okay. The only stomach issues our two cats have is that one of them throws up a lot (Vet said it's just a thing some cats do and nothing to worry about) and the other cat is a foodie, who loves french fries among other things and will snatch them if they're not given

Linda O. Johnston said...

Glad to hear that your cats don't have real tummy issues, Betty--and that you have a sneak thief!

Unknown said...

So Glad to hear Mystie is okay!

The scariest thing my own beloved Alix, a Brittany-Springer mix, ever did (food-wise) was to snitch a Christmas package of imported chocolate-covered cherries with brandy centers. By the time I got home she'd eaten the entire box and was lying on the floor among the shredded wrapping paper.

Knowing chocolate is potentially deadly to pets, I rushed her to the vet clinic, where she proceeded to burp loudly while wagging her tail and kissing the vet!

In a weird twist she developed epilepsy shortly after that, but the vet swore it wasn't related. Happily, she went on to share many more years with us despite the occasional seizures she suffered.

I miss her every day.

Linda O. Johnston said...

Oh, my, that must have been scary, Susan. Glad that Alix didn't have a worse reaction. It's so hard when our fur-kids do things that they might enjoy but we know what they've done can harm them.