Snuggle Time

The new medication has not started working yet. Hopefully we will see improvement tomorrow. Lucie had limited activity today. No running outside. She did chew on her stick for a little bit. To avoid laying down she does this bow thing.

 

  Lucie has been sleeping since dinner. Hailey tried to get her to play but you could see that Lucie was not feeling well. So she did the next best thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addie feeling a little left out.

 

 

 

 

X-Rays

X-rays are all normal. No issues with the back or hips. Her knees look good. No signs of arthritis. Her internal organs look normal. At this point Dr. Johnson believes that it is muscle related to her back legs. She has no problem with her front legs. We are starting her on an anti-inflammatory (Rimadyl) today. If this is the issue, we should see improvement within 24 to 48 hours. I'll be watching her closely for any type of reaction to the Rimadyl and checking in with Dr. Johnson.

The good news: Lucie's ears are doing much better! The bumps are mostly gone and right now there is skin falling off where the bumps were which was expected. It is possible that Lucie's muscle issues with her back legs could the remnants of the Vasculitis. We will just have to wait and see. I believe that is the hardest part.

I was mistaken on the tick panel. It is a very reliable test so we can rule out the following: Lyme, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Anaplasma Phagocytophilum. There is an auto-immune test that can be done but it is not reliable. I was confusing the two. This has been a lot for me to absorb in such a short period of time.

I am very thankful for Dr. Johnson! There is no other vet that I trust as much as him. He has always been there for all of our dogs and you can truly see that he loves them as much as we do. He is leaving no stone unturned in trying to help her. Dr. Johnson recently moved to a new office and all of their staff is just so sweet and nice to work with!

(No, that's not Lucie. I was too focused on Lucie at the appointment today to even think about taking pictures, but I promise I will.)

I had a request to share her blood tests. They are all normal. I use this blog as a reference point to so it is good to have all the info in one spot.

I gave Lucie her first Rimadyl at 10:45 a.m. after she has eaten something so she was not taking it on an empty stomach. She has been sleeping since.  My hope is that we will see improvement from the Rimadyl soon.

It is a beautiful fall day here in Texas! After some lunch I am going to take Addie out for some playtime at a local park. She has a lot of energy to use up since she has not had her buddy to run and play with. Ron will be keeping an eye on Lucie while we are out.  Hailey is snuggling with her right now.

Update and Symptoms

I spoke with Dr. Johnson this morning and the tick panel came back negative. Now this test has been known to produce false results so that is being kept in mind. Since she is not improving, I am taking her back to Dr. Johnson tomorrow for X-rays on her back and back end. Once he reviews the X-rays we will discuss how to move forward.

Eva and Brice's mom recommended that we put a list together of all of her symptoms to see if anyone else has had the same type of experience.

Lucie's Symptoms

(Keep in mind that all of these symptoms my not be related to one illness. Her illness started with us finding bumps on the outside of both ears. Then we noticed her having a little trouble getting up from her back legs. As time went on it became more difficult for her to get up and her energy level went way down.)

• Bumps on both ears that are losing skin (Vasculitis) She also has bumps on the backs of her front legs, elbow area.
  
• Loss of energy (Rarely runs and plays any more. She will get a burst of energy every so often but after she is active she is completely worn out.)
• Trouble getting up from a down position (You can see it's hard for her to lift her back legs(end) and then she is a little shaky while she walks until she has walked around for a little bit. This is at its worst after she has been sleeping for a while.) She also use to run up the steps but now she takes them slow most of the time.
  
• She sleeps the majority of the day. While the other girls are playing, she is sleeping.
  
• Her appetite is good. She use to always follow me into the kitchen to eat but now most times she does not. I believe it's not because she doesn't want to eat but that it must hurt to move sometimes more than others.
  
• No diarrhea or vomiting.
• There have been no changes in her diet.
• She has not ingested anything out of the ordinary that we are aware of.
• She is drinking plenty of water. 
• She does nibble on some leaves and plants outside. I'm going to get a good picture of them to show Dr. Johnson what she snacks on.
• She has not been de-wormed. She has also not been on any types of medications. 

The first blood tests that we did were fine. They did a complete workup and everything was normal. When this all started Dr. Johnson took a good look at her hips as well. He did not find any issues with movement, no clicking.

Typically she will greet me at the door when I come home with the other girls. Today when I got home she did not even get up off her couch. I was carrying in some groceries and when I started to go look for her I caught her trying to get down from the couch. It was like watching an 18 year old dog. It's things like this that scare me.

We did receive a comment from a blogging friend that has the same type of breed as Lucie. Her pup had a strange health issue as well.

Have you tried giving Lucie echinacea tablets? Leo (remember him-Addie's twin?) my dog was sick last January...he had bumps on his feet and no energy or appetite. We did TONS of tests and there was no solid answer for us...I did all the research I could on the internet and by asking other people with dogs and found that while no one will say that echinacea is effective, I gave Leo echinacea tablets twice a day (plus doggy vitamins) for 6 weeks and kept him away from other dogs while his immune system recovered and now he is doing fine! No more bumps on his feet and he has been normal happy and energetic Leo ever since. Might be worth a try. Our vet said it was fine to try and wouldn't hurt the cause....
Hope Lucie feels better soon!
:)Kate and Leo

I'm going to talk to Dr. Johnson about her recommendation tomorrow. 

I am so grateful to all of you for your support! This has been stressful and I just feel so helpless right now.  But I will not give up. She will get better. The answer is out there. We just have to find it.

Sunday

Saturday was a bad day for Lucie. She had no energy at all. Walking out to the back yard seemed to take all of the strength that she had. Addie was very sweet and would bring her a toy and lay with her in the yard.

 

 

I have to tell you that Addie did steal that stick from Lucie, but I gave it back to her. 

 

Lucie resting in one of her favorite spots in the yard.

This illness has been confusing Hailey. You can see that Lucie wants to play with Hailey but that she just doesn't have the strength. That's ok because Hailey enjoys snuggling with her just as much as she enjoys playing with her. These are from last night.

 

 

 

 

  Today, I believe Lucie is feeling a little bit better today! She actually walked around the yard and explored for about 10 minutes before resting this morning. She even went over to one of the digging holes to help Hailey. She quickly realized she was not ready for heavy digging but moved a little dirt around. The best thing that happened this morning, she actually came into the kitchen and waited for breakfast while I was getting it ready for her. She has not shown that type of interest in food in a few days but she is eating ok. (I had been taking her meals to her where ever she was.)

I took these pictures below this morning after their mini playtime outside.

 

 

Hailey's head is not much bigger than Lucie's paw!

 

Hailey is giving me the, "put the camera down" look!