Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Another Vet Visit

By

Sampson and his issues.

Well it seems like my poor little Punkin just can’t catch a break with his health issues.  First he had the soft tissue injury for which he went on anti-inflammatory medication (he took the last dose last night.)

Then we were at the vet two week’s ago for a bacterial skin infection.  The vet prescribed an antibiotic (Cephalexin) and a follow-up visit to discuss his Leptos vaccine.

Saturday night I noticed his right ear was extremely hot and red, Hubby and I suspected a yeast infection.

I spoke to the vet’s office and was told to use a warm wash cloth with a mild soap to clean his ear. They didn’t want it too clean, just in case she needed to do a scraping. 🙁  The warm cloth also seemed to help his ear feel better as he did not protest at all, and actually leaned his ear into the cloth.

It’s hard to get a great shot, but his ear red and hot.

 

Last night once again found us at the vet for our third time in less than a month.

Dr. Soutter said, it has the look of a yeast infection, and smells a bit like a yeast infection, but let’s swab it and take a look at it.

Whatcha brewin in there Sampson?

 

She swabbed it and set it to brew.

I  pointed out he has a few bumps on his head, like little welts or bites.

She looked at his tummy and said, his skin infection is better, but not gone.

Then she went out to check on his culture.

When she came back she said, It’s a bacterial infection.

To which I replied, Well that concerns me, he’s had a bacterial skin infection and now a bacterial ear infection, what’s causing this?

She suspects it’s allergy related. 🙁 Something airborne that he is breathing in. We came home with ear drops for the ear infection and an additional week’s dose of antibiotics.

She’s interested to see what happens when we have a good hard frost.

She also said she thought it was okay to give him his Leptos vaccine, I told her I preferred to wait.  She agreed.

Recheck in two weeks.

 

He was so happy to see everyone.

 

I did ask if there was anything we could do to prevent this from happening again.

Dr. Soutter said that some dogs react well to an antihistamine and others do not.  We can certainly try him on one and see if it helps. If that does not work than we can do some testing and see if we can determine what exactly he is allergic to.

When we exited our exam room and went to check out there was a woman there checking out and waiting for her cat.  I decided it was best to put Sampson in the car.

I brought him out and moved the car so I could see him from the window.

 

Are you done yet?

 

It was about 5:40 pm by this time, and a very cool day, still I’m never, ever comfortable leaving them in the car, so I moved it close to the door in order to keep an eye on him and I quickly paid my tab.

There was a squirrel running up and down the tree behind the car, but Sampson kept looking toward where I was.  Must have been Mr. Squirrel’s lucky day.

Has your dog ever missed an opportunity to torture bark at a small animal because they were too focused on something else to notice?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

comments

Comments

  1. Poor Sampson. He hasn’t been swimming recently has he? I have heard of bacterial infections (skin, ear) from pond swimming. This year was particularly bad because it was so warm and most ponds were down. Freighter had a bacterial infection in his ear in May from dunking his head under water. Once it cleared, it did not came back.

    Hope you figure it out. 🙂

    • To the best of my recollection, he has NOT been swimming lately. We haven’t found a spot they can actually swim in. I’m thinking the last time he swam was probably about 2 months ago.

      Poor Freighter, it’s been a tough year on some of these guys!

      I hope we figure it out too, but if it’s something he’s breathing, I’m not sure what I can do about that. 🙂

    • LOL Sampson is a good boy. Delilah might bark, but not Sampson he just wants to be near people. 🙂

      I’m sure Doggy would do fine!

    • Thank you!

      Delilah sometimes fixates on reflections on the ceiling, which can make it difficult to eat at the dining room table. LOL

      Is there anything you can do for Monty?

  4. Oh Sampson… I guess it really never Rains but that it POURS. I hope you get ALL better SOON.

  5. Aww, Sampson looks so cute poking his head out of the car. What a good boy for ignoring the squirrel!

    I hope you figure out the source of all his ailments. It does sound like they are linked somehow. Poor little guy has been to the vet far more than anyone ever should.

    • He’s a very good boy Kristine.

      I hope we figure it out too, I’ll do whatever I can do to help him.

  7. Poor Sampson ;( Cali has had allergies all of her life – she is allergic to the world! She is always too busy sniffing to see squirrels run by! That picture of him in the car is adorable! Hope he is feeling better soon!

  8. Hey Sampson, Hey Delilah, Jet here. Hi Miss Jodi.

    Sampson, Dude… big fat bummer. We know from JJ and formerly Koko, had unpleasant ear issues can be. So sorry you’ve become a regular at the vet’s.

    Sending anti-bacterial Jetty kisses and JJ hugs for a more comfortable day and a SPEEDY recovery from all your stuff.

    • Thanks Jetty and JJ,

      If there’s hope for your mom’s computer, I’m sure there’s hope for Sampson!

  9. (I told you this on my blog comments, but I’m never sure if anyone reads my responses, so I’ll tell you again just in case:) We’ve had really good luck with salmon oil, which has some natural antihistamine-like qualities. I’m not sure if it “cured” Silas’s hives last month, or if it was just coincidence, but it’s nice and healthy, anyway. We give a bigger dose than the bottle says. I’m kicking myself that I can’t find the article that told me to do that. I also can’t remember if salmon oil was supposed to be better than fish, or if it was just what our store had.

    You can also wipe him down when he comes in from being outside, if you think it might be ragweed or leaf mold or something like that. A baby wipe, or a cloth dampened with water and a little vinegar can help a lot. Wash all of his beds and things twice as often as you do now, and do a really excellent vacuuming.

    You have my deep sympathy.

    • Thank you Jessica, believe it or not I really do go back and check on comments I’ve posted. I’m just anal like that. 🙂

      I just picked up some salmon oil tonight, I may grab a pack of baby wipes so I can wipe him down, I’ll do whatever I can to try and prevent this.

      But I have to admit, I suck at cleaning. LOL

  10. Poor Sampson…it’s the pits when our “kidz” feel punky.
    Did you make it over to T*A*R*G*E*T??? I’ve thought about going back and grabbing a couple more memory foam mats to have for the future!! Have a great day Jodi.

    • I hate it when they don’t feel good.

      No I did not get to T*A*R*G*E*T yet. LOL I probably won’t get there til Saturday!

  11. If there is a squirrel any place in sight of my dogs, they see nothing else, even me. They are convinced that squirrels are evil and they are the only things standing against a complete squirrel takeover of the world.

  14. Hi Y’all!

    Sampson, sounds like some of the awful stuff I go through from time to time! We know mine are allergies. I wish you well Sampson.

    Paws still crossed,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

    • You poor thing! Do you know what you’re allergic to, Hawk? Is there anything you can do to help it?

  15. Sorry Sampson is having so many allergies. I get a LOT of allergies too. Have you changed anything in his diet, or started giving any foods a lot more often than you used too? Even though I have environmental allergies, most of my infections (skin and ear too) went away once my peoples figured out what foods I was allergic too.

    Feel better Sampson!

    • Off-hand I can’t think of anything I have changed. I did give him one home-made treat that I bought at the Farmer’s Market, but I only gave him the one and haven’t given it to him since. That was like 3 weeks ago.

      What foods are you allergic to, Toby?

  16. So sympathize with you. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be allergies. We fought with our fellow for years with ear infections and eventually very bad skin allergies. We never did find what he was allergic too but I believe he had an underlying immune system problem.
    We did all the food elimination testing (not easy considering how he loved his food!)
    I hope Sampson gets better with the frost and that you get to the bottom of it.
    I haven’t been up to date with your blog so I don’t know if he’s had his thyroid tested. Everyone suggested I do that but my vet kept saying his thyroid was fine. I still wonder though and wish I’d had it tested.
    Be better soon Sampson

    • Hi, thank you for commenting and welcome.

      Yes, he has had his thyroid tested but it was a few years back. He’s never had allergy problems until last year. Just before he turned 7 he got hives on his head so bad that he needed to go on steroids. He got the hives this year too and now this.

      I will certainly do food elimination should the vet recommend it, but right now she is thinking it is something airborne. I will keep you posted! Thanks again for the comment.

  17. Jodi!!! Hi!!! First of all, the site is beautiful. What a slick and nice interface. I like it! And am looking forward to getting caught up in here. Bummed to hear that Sampson is having these health challenges right now. My pup is struggling with allergies these days as well. So frustrating. And as others above have written, that last photo is adorable.

    • Sherri!!!! Girl, I have missed you!! I’m so excited to see you back I want to hop a train to Brooklyn and hug you!!

      I’m glad you like the site, I’ve really been digging it myself, although sometimes trying to figure things out can be tough. 🙁

      Poor Samson, do you know what he’s allergic to? Is there anything you can do for him?

  22. Sampson and Georgia must be related. Chronic skin issues, dermatitis, allergies. We do our best to keep it under control without meds and are now thinking holistic vet when the next big outbreak happens. Hope the big boy feels better soon X

  24. I could of swore I commented on this post yesterday, but maybe it landed beneath another post! Poor Sampson and poor you! He’s such a good sport with all of the poking and prodding from the vet.

    For your sake and his, I hope everything resolves itself quickly and easily, as determining and managing allergies is frustrating and expensive.

  26. I, too, have been caught in those cycles of vet visits. I hope the hard frost helps (if it ever comes). Poor guy and poor you. As a side note, our vet is not keen to prescribe antihistamines. She says that they mainly make dogs sleepy since their allergic reactions aren’t the same as humans. Wishing you both well.

    Mango Momma