Pip's First Gotcha and bit of an update too
Posted: 12 Sep 2015, 17:49
I can hardly believe that it's 12 months since this lovely little girl joined us. Pip is a supported dog - she has dust and storage mite allergy. In the 12 months she has been living with us, she has had a bumpy ride (quite literally!!) with her skin. In a nutshell she has been on all the treatments available. She responded well to Apoquel at first but over time has developed some side effects (lumps/bumps, diarrhoea and recently an interdigital cyst between the pads on her left paw). She was also having an immunotherapy injection. Both treatments have been stopped in the last few weeks because they were making things worse for her rather than better - it seems that she takes one step forward and three steps back.
Being a typical lab, she carries on regardless and it does not affect her sweet, affectionate, cheeky nature - Millie and I love her to pieces and her problems and how she just gets on with things only serve to make her all the more adorable.
She is not a fan of the vets - as we have been frequent visitors, she has become more tolerant, and did well recently when she had to go in and have biopsies of her lumps done under anaesthetic (thankfully they seem to be a side effect of treatment rather than anything sinister). She has always allowed me to care for her and puts up with daily showers, saline cleansing to her foot and face, along with aloe vera gel etc etc etc
I'm fortunate that I know a really good homeopath and Pip has recently started some treatment -so far things are looking promising and once the other medications are out of her system, my hope is that she will respond even more. Fingers and paws crossed.......
Pip has got a bit of a fan club - so many people when we are out walking ask how she is and offer advice - people on this site have been great too.
One day I hope to post some better news, along with some pictures to show how well she is doing. She is not too photogenic at present (but I still think she is gorgeous) so no pics today, sorry.
Thanks again to this wonderful rescue for my lovely girl.
Being a typical lab, she carries on regardless and it does not affect her sweet, affectionate, cheeky nature - Millie and I love her to pieces and her problems and how she just gets on with things only serve to make her all the more adorable.
She is not a fan of the vets - as we have been frequent visitors, she has become more tolerant, and did well recently when she had to go in and have biopsies of her lumps done under anaesthetic (thankfully they seem to be a side effect of treatment rather than anything sinister). She has always allowed me to care for her and puts up with daily showers, saline cleansing to her foot and face, along with aloe vera gel etc etc etc
I'm fortunate that I know a really good homeopath and Pip has recently started some treatment -so far things are looking promising and once the other medications are out of her system, my hope is that she will respond even more. Fingers and paws crossed.......
Pip has got a bit of a fan club - so many people when we are out walking ask how she is and offer advice - people on this site have been great too.
One day I hope to post some better news, along with some pictures to show how well she is doing. She is not too photogenic at present (but I still think she is gorgeous) so no pics today, sorry.
Thanks again to this wonderful rescue for my lovely girl.