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Post by suziriot on Jan 21, 2013 16:00:20 GMT -5
Dharma had her (hopefully) last vinblastine treatment last week. She's continuing the 1/2 tab of pred daily for now, but our vets are going to consult with an oncologist about alternatives for preventing the return of the mast cells. The steroid weakens her muscles, and we can already see it in her front leg. She obviously needs to keep up her muscle strength in that front leg or she could could completely lose mobility. Otherwise she seems to be doing really well. Just as feisty and goofy as ever. Otis is a whole other story. We took him in this weekend for a recheck on his weight loss, skin, and fur issues. Good news is that he's up to 41 pounds from 36 a few months ago. Still a few pounds underweight, but at least he's moving in the right direction. Bad news is that the skin rash and hair loss are worse than ever. None of the supplements have helped. He has been losing pigment on his nose. We looked at a few different pictures and articles with our vet and everything points to autoimmune disease. He's already been tested for some of the potential culprits, but we are now going to schedule a skin biopsy. He'll have to be sedated, which I hate, but he needs his teeth cleaned anyway. We'll probably schedule it for next month, and I'll post results when we get them.
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Post by Dave on Jan 21, 2013 16:50:30 GMT -5
I've been wondering lately what's been going on. Good to hear there's some results and answers, even if they aren't ALL good. Hang in there.
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Post by melonie on Jan 21, 2013 17:56:45 GMT -5
Glad to hear Miss Dharma is doing well, but poor Otis. Hopefully the biopsy will hold the answers so he can bounce back.
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Post by RealPitBull on Jan 22, 2013 9:21:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. That's good news about Dharma. I will think good thoughts for Otis, I hope everything comes back ok and that you get some answers so you know how to proceed. *Hugs*
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Post by maryellen on Jan 22, 2013 21:44:51 GMT -5
i hope you find out whats going on with Otis... great news for Dharma...
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Post by suziriot on Jan 28, 2013 21:14:36 GMT -5
We all decided it would be best for Dharma to wean her off the steroid over the next month.
Otis's biopsy surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Really hope we get some answers and that it's something that can be easily treated. Poor guy looks like crap with all these rashes and no hair.
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Post by catstina on Jan 28, 2013 21:18:40 GMT -5
Poor Otis. I hope you get some answers soon!
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Post by suziriot on Jan 31, 2013 11:22:39 GMT -5
Vet was able to get skin from three sites - face in front of right ear, belly near right flank, and back of left leg. It will be about a week until we get results.
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Post by michele5611 on Jan 31, 2013 11:56:01 GMT -5
Will keep everyone in my thoughts. Hopefully the results will come back with nothing serious but at least some sort of a diagnosis.
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