Update (11/7/09)

I just wanted to post an update on how Penny is doing. I know I have not done this for quite some time. I am happy to say that Penny has been doing much better. I feel like I have finally getting a grasp on her problems. And since her condition has improved we were finally able to get Penny fixed, about 3 months ago, which was a big relief for me. Where should I start, I guess I will start with her biggest problem that pretty much started them all, her allergies.

Allergies (skin issues)
I have still been feeding Penny Wellness (the allergy one) since I still wonder if she may have a food allergy. In the future I plan to experiment a little to see if she does or not. I now believe that her skin problems were caused by a very bad case of dry skin. I determined this when her skin started to bother her and got red, right around the same time when my hands start to get dry and bother me, when it gets cooler outside. It makes sense because I could never understand why during the winter was when she was at her worst. During the summer she hardly scratches. It also makes sense that when I put the boots on her when she goes outside, she is 100x's better. I have been putting her boots on her again for the past couple of weeks (at least, maybe 3) and she has been doing fairly well.
Difficulty Eating
I am also happy to say that Penny has now been eating with no problem at all. I believe that the reason why she was having trouble eating was because she had fur or fur balls that was causing the problem. After she threw up some fur balls she seems to get much better, and now has no problem at all.

Burping up of Clear Liquid
I think that this was also associated with the fur balls, along with her difficulty eating. Since it also stopped after she threw up her fur balls.

Eye Problems
Penny's eye problems although we have not discovered a reason her eyes have improved drastically. For a very long time I was putting 2 and for a while 3 medications in her eyes. I did not really like any of them though, they all just seemed to dry out her eyes, and for a dog with a low tear count it just was not working out. As the medications started running out I slowly stopped using one at a time. The only thing that I continued to put in her eyes was artificial tears that I got at the store for $1.00 (vet said it was ok to give to her). Of all the things I was putting in her eyes it seemed to be the only thing that did any good. When I had her on just the artificial tears it was so much easier to clean out her eyes, and she can see again! Before she had some much gook in her eyes that she did not like to even open them, she would just lay around and sleep most of the day. But now she is playing again! And she is much much happier. I have been putting the artificial tears in her eyes about 3x's a day for about 3 weeks now. After I put the artificial tears in her eyes I clean them out with Q-tips every time. It seems like every time I clean out her eyes their has been less and less discharge.

Ears
She still has ear problems, of and on, but Oxyfresh Ear Cleaner seems to control them fairly well, as long as I can catch the problem soon enough. Since her ears do not stick up it is easy to not realize that her ears may need some attention. She does not ever scratch them when they are bothering her so if I do not check them often I may not realize there is a problem until they smell, which at that point they are pretty bad. It then takes a while to get them back to where they should be, but we are working on it, and it is getting better.

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So to sum things up Penny has been doing much much better. Allergies and skin problems are mostly understood and becoming under control. She has not had any difficulty eating, or burping up of liquid for many months now. Her eyes are improving and getting much better everyday. Since her last problems with seizures she has not had any episodes, not even when she has been very active. I have finally found a way to control her ears without having to go to the vet every other week, which is very good. Also her dry nose does not seem to be as bad as it has been before, still slightly dry but not anywhere as bad.

Copper and Diabetes
After all that good news I do have a some bad news to share also. Right around the time that I started to feel I was getting a grasp on most of Penny's problems our other dog Copper was diagnosed with diabetes. It has been a rough past couple months. He has slowly been getting better, but we are having a lot of trouble trying to get him to gain weight. Before the diabetes he use to weight somewhere around 65 lbs. he now weights 45 lbs. He just does not seem to want to gain weight. I am not considering making up a special diet, that is specially designed for him. If anyone knows of a good web site or some one who is good at specially designed diets, I would love to know about it. I am hoping that one day soon both Penny and Copper can be happy like they use to be before, and all their problems can be under control.

I wanted to post this update so in case there is anyone out there that has had any of Penny's problems maybe it can offer some possible solutions or some things to try for your pet. I know how difficult it can be to see you pet unhappy and uncomfortable and not know what to do to help them, and what it is like to seem like there is no end in sight. I now have hope that if you do not give up there is an end in sight, it may take a while but it is there.

Update- June 1, 2009

I have not posted an update for some time now and thought that I better do so.

Allergies
For about the past week Penny's allergies seemed to have really improved. I am wondering if maybe her allergies are food related and maybe she ate something she should not have eaten.

Eyes
Still the same have not really improved. Optimmune (3 times a day), and Dexacidin (two times a day).

Ears
They were red inside and had a slight smell to them. I am now putting Mometamax in her ears once a day (started Wednesday May 27th).

Difficulty eating
She does not seem to be having much trouble eating now. Not quite normal but much better. I have still been putting a small amount of water in her food.

Burping up clear liquid
She has still been doing this when she gets active, although today Penny and Copper were playing with their new toys together and she did not burp anything up. I still wonder if all the fur that she ingested when she was severely chewing on her paws could be causing this and the trouble eating. It makes sense to me, after all how many different problems can one dog possibly have?


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On Wednesday I took Penny to the vet for an allergy outdoor allergy test. Hopefully the results will be in soon, and it will tell us something.

Update- May 9, 2009

I am beginning to get worried that Penny's allergies may be returning.

Allergies
I believe that it was around April 25th that I decided that I would try taking Penny outside without her boots on. At first there seemed to be no difference in her paws and the amount that she was chewing on her paws, and it is hard to tell for sure but I do not believe that there is really a difference as of today.

Red Skin on Face
What does seem to have gotten worse is the areas on her face where you can see her skin, they pretty red, which they have not been for a while. On one of her ears is a large spot, then a little by her nose and somewhat around her eyes. I have noticed her a couple of times rub her face on the ground, but I am not sure if it is because of her eyes, ears or allergies.

Paws
Her paws are slightly red on the bottom, but in between her paws, the skin on the top is not really red at all.

Belly
For a while her belly was very red and dry, but it has now mostly cleared up, and is looking pretty close to normal.



Eyes
Penny's eyes have pretty much stayed the same.
I am now using:
Optimmune: 3 times a day
Neo-Poly-Bac: (Triple Antibiotic Ointment) (Instead of Artificial Tears) 2 times a day
I believe that it has been about 2 weeks since I switched from the Artificial Tears to Neo-Poly-Bac.


Ears
I am beginning to think that Penny's ears may be infected again.
Left ear- Does not look real bad inside. There is a little build up, but not as much as there has been in the past. This is the ear that is red on the outside of the ear and she is missing quite a bit of fur, so it seems like she must be scratching it.
Right ear- This is the one that I am starting to get very concerned about. There is not a ton of build up in this ear but there is a lot of spots where she must have been scratching because it is all scabby. I would like to put some stuff in her ears but I am hesitant to do so because of the scabby areas. I have not seen her ear bleeding at all, but it seems like every time I look inside her ear there are more and more scabs.



Unusual Eating
Her eating is sill the same as the last time I posted, and I have been putting some water in her food, which seems to help her have less difficulty when eating.


Dry Nose
Her nose is usually still very dry, and now her lips are very dry, and scabby is some spots. I am not sure if the dry lips are related to her allergy problem or her dry nose problem.


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I plan to give Penny a bath, and to start putting her boots back on her when she goes outside, to see if there are any changes, and see if it makes a difference.

I was wondering if she could possibly be allergic to pine. It would make sense why she was sill having such bad allergy problems during the winter, because of our christmas tree, maybe? Plus we have a lot of pine trees everywhere, and they are still around even during the winter. I would make sense why she improved so much as soon as I started putting her boots on her.