December 7, 2018

White Dog tugged to straighten Nilla's jacket before Steve carried her out to go see Dr. Julia. "Don't worry," WD told her, "Dad is going to connect us by phone so that we can be there with you."

Bella was starting to get a bit nervous when we did not hear from them immediately. I reminded that the office might be running a bit behind and that we should be patient. When the house phone rang nearly a half hour later I was blizzarded by the WDA wanting to be close enough to catch every word spoken.

"Hi there," I answered. "How is My Girl?" Dr. Julia greeted us and then began her exam. As she touched and looked, and poked and prodded, I directed her to look at the new hairless patch on the top of Nilla's head and another along her side.  "The older patches are not getting worse," Steve added, "but we still seem to have a problem with new patches like on top of her head." He tilted Nilla's head and showed the spot like a monk's tonsure.

"Yep. This antibiotic is not working. And this redness on her bottom is not good either." The White Dog Army listening in drew a concerned breath. "Let's send out a scraping and a biopsy to the Lab for a full analysis. That will guide where we head next...certainly a different antibiotic but we will have a more complete picture of what is involved. It will take a couple of days to get the results but there is no reason to panic." The WDA's eyes all turned to me before I heard Dr. Julia say, "Did you hear that, Sue? She is no worse but I want to see improvement. Please do not work up unnecessary worry."

Steve asked, "until we get results?" Nilla yelped as the needle slid into her skin. Dr. Julia capped the sample and looked up. "Continue the topical ointment and her regular medications. And bathe her with the medicated shampoo, it will soothe and help the itchiness. I will call you as soon as I get the results."

At that we ended our phone connection knowing that Nilla and Steve would be home in a few minutes. When she arrived we all told her how brave she was...and shared "home from the vet" cookies.

Then Nilla excused herself. "I am tired. That took a lot of energy. Wake me for dinner."