4.01.2015

March 31, 2015

White Dog looked at me with suspicion. "You did not do anything totally embarrassing like KISS her did you?" I shook my head no and WD breathed a sigh of relief. "I just never know with you, momma!"

We just returned from Storm's meet and greet with Dr. Julia, who is still only back in the office once a week. White Dog had good reason to ask about our seeing her; I WAS overjoyed at finally having the opportunity to spend time with our excellent, vastly knowledgeable, open minded and incredible vet who knows us and our WDA so well.

First we went over Storm and her records. Sensitive to our very shy girl's timidity, Dr. Julia did her exam with Storm in my arms and she asked Steve to carry her back to the scale. We agreed that already Storm was showing signs that the probiotics, change of diet and the elimination of dairy and chicken was working. Dr. Julia reminded us that colitis issues take months to resolve and that her mastiff took nearly a year after his adoption to normalize. She added a temporary steroid and B Vitamin in the hopes of clearing up the sore on the side of Storm's nose that may potentially be an auto-immune issue. We will go back and recheck in a couple of weeks. If all is good then, we will add a immune boosting holistic regimen.

Then we flipped the binder (yes, the WDA has a BINDER not a chart) to look at Taiko's section. We have been concerned that our boy is growing more timid of everyday things and that his walking is becoming labored. Dr. Julia put forth the theory that maybe our battered boy is actually older than 8years and is starting to feel the ravages of dementia. (Later, Candace suggested an alternative, that in his years of abuse Tai was struck often in the head which now is manifesting itself in dementia-like issues). We spoke of options and decided to increase his pain medications to make walking easier and to eliminate the possibility that pain  is driving his behaviors. We are going to try Tincture of Valerian Root which is a sedative and a GABA neurotransmitter. Our hope is to relieve pain and eliminate his fear enough that he can comfortably go into the office for a thorough check without needing to tranquilize (and thus altering what Dr. Julia needs to see). In the meantime we will keep a photo/movie journal so  she can share what we see at home.

Finally, we turned to Puff's tab. Our Little Old Lady turned 17 earlier this month and is showing signs of slowing down. Dr. Julia agreed that more time in oxygen was a good thing but said that Puff was one perfectly capable of calling her own shots. "She'll tell you. Keep up the mushroom extract and turmeric to slow tumor growth, let her eat as much as she wants to avoid muscle wasting, let her do zoomies if she wants and don't constantly worry over her fainting. If you try to restrict her, THAT is what will bring her down. If you tell her she can't she will just give up."

It felt so good to have these conversations with our trusted guide and healer. We are blessed to have a relationship that includes dialog, sharing and mutual decision making. And yes, White Dog, I DID think about kissing her!

4 comments:

meowmeowmans said...

Thank goodness for Dr. Julia, and your special relationship with her. What a great veterinarian she is, and a loving friend of the WDA. It so makes all the difference, doesn't it?

Vanessa Morgan said...

Seems like Dr. Julia is the perfect vet. Have a lovely end of the week.

Gus said...

Wish we had a Dr. Julia around here. Must make finding a new vet a priority!

Random Felines said...

we are so glad Dr Julia is feeling good enough to be back some. we know you are all very lucky to have her and her knowledge