Vet visit, part II

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yes - I only got through the scabies (still yuck, by the way).  So our other issues, listed by dog:

Wolfey

Itchy
This was pretty well covered with the scabies issue, but it was also determined that he is probably allergic to fleas.  All dogs will scratch when they've had a flea bite, but a dog who is allergic to fleas will chew at the base of their tail/top of their butt for up to four months after having been bitten.  This was news to me, but so interesting, since Wolfey has gone through phases of chewing there.  He was given steroids to help with the inflammation and will have to have a better form of flea protection in the future.  Right now, the scabies meds will prevent flea bites, but once that's done, I'll have to get him something else.  I'm not sure what, yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Sores on paw
This was addressed in the earlier post, but I just touched on it.  Basically, Wolfey is an anxiety chewer.  Where some people binge eat, cry, cut, etc., Wolfey chews.  I was already doing all I could do, with using the drops to help heal it, but this may just be an ongoing effort, until he gets comfortable with Lolly being around, and it may be something we have to deal with every time there is a change.  Just like having a child with mental health issues, having a dog with anxiety means being patient, providing support and care and helping them through all the rough patches.

Worm prevention
We are nearly out of Wolfey's worm prevention and I learned that the type he has been taking is no longer being made.  I had concerns, since he had whipworm in the past and I had heard that he would forever need whipworm prevention, that it may be difficult to find something he could take.  I learned that once the whipworm is cleared from their system and from your environment (it can live for a while in the surroundings and the dog can pick it back up by licking the ground or eating feces) it is no longer a concern and he can switch over to any heartworm prevention.  Since Wolfey's whipworm has been gone for eight years now, I figure we're safe!  The scabies meds will take care of all worm prevention for the next two and a half months, then we'll start up on something new.

Lolly

Flea prevention
When I found fleas on Lolly when she first came to me, I put flea medication on both dogs immediately.  I really hate to give my dogs chemical treatments, though, so I was hoping for a homeopathic option.  I know garlic helps prevent fleas, but I wasn't sure if that was enough, since she had live fleas when she came to me. I learned that when a dog has fleas, you want to do the flea treatment for three months in a row.  Darn :(  The up side?  The scabies meds will cover this, too.

Rough paws
Yes, I'm beating a dead horse, but she really does have the roughest paws of any dog I've ever known.  The vet recommended I increase Lolly's fish oil and be patient.  Not my strong suit, but I'll try!

Eye boogers and sneezing
Dogs can have allergies, too.  I figured all this could be chalked up to seasonal allergies, but I wanted to make sure.  It's nice to be right every now and then :)

Incontinence
I asked if Lolly peeing everywhere could be a sign of something wrong.  They asked lots of questions, like whether she's leaking or just going more frequently than most dogs (just more frequent), whether it's a lot or a little (usually a lot) and how consistently she's having accidents (for a while there is was several times a day, every day, but recently it's been more sporadic) and couldn't settle on any one diagnosis, so they asked me to collect a urine sample.  Yes, I had to get my dog to pee in a cup.  Talk about interesting!  It actually wasn't as difficult as I expected, and I'm currently awaiting the results.  I'm sure there will be an update soon!

Stink
Lolly is the stinkiest dog I've ever met.  Even when she came home from the groomer's, she smelled like a dog.  Yes, I know, she's a dog, but she stunk like a dog.  It turns out, she had the dirtiest, stinkiest ears in the world.  Okay, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but seriously, the vet cleaner her ears and got a ton of gook out.  She also had ear mites, which were causing her to itch even more. She's now on drops for the mites and I'm having to stick cotton balls in her ears to clean them out. More than once I've told her "it's a good thing you just like attention and don't see this for the torture it is!"

My poor girl was just a mess!  It's no wonder she's needy, whiny and scratches all the time.  She must have been miserable.  I'm so glad I have such an amazing vet, who took the time to thoroughly check out both my dogs and answer all my questions.  If you think it's overwhelming here, you should have been in the appointment!  Yes, four prescriptions, increased homeopathic remedies and a follow up visit seems like a lot, but I learned so much, and if it means things will settle down at home and my babies will be healthy and happy, it's totally worth it!