May 20, 2021

White Dog nudged Bella toward the door. "Move along! You do not want to be late. Dr. Julia is going to get her fill of the White Dog Army between your followup today and mine tomorrow."

"I would be more than glad to stay home," Bella offered. "She's going to poke around and shine lights in my eyes and probably give me a shot. She NEVER just says 'you look great Bella let's skip the poking and just her and have treats."

At Dr. Julia's office Bella indeed found herself on the exam table with a bright light in her eye nd the good doctor tsk'ing. "Well, the good news is that we are managing to keep the pressure on the eye under control; the bad is that we STILL have not cleared out the infection so we are going to have to get a little tougher. Continue the dropsand before you leave I will give you an antibiotic injection."

Steve asked if she thought that Bella was in need of medication for her Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. "She has manic episodes, circles, and get disoriented?" Dr. Julia responded. "But she does not cry in distress for long periods? I know she is awake late but the calming supplement is still working? Holding her and talking to her brings her back from never never land? The reason I ask is that we do not want to give her the big gun drugs before they are really needed. If she is having a particularly bad day try a gabapentin and for the worst of times like it is 4am and she still is awake, go ahead and give a trazedone. If she gets worse or there is a troubling pattern we can always reassess."  

Bella had been pointedly looking at the door during this conversation. Dr. Julia laughed, "Yes, Bella, we are through. You and dad can go home. I will see you in two weeks."