You have no idea how encouraging it is to hear this. We took our 1 year old in for a dislocated toe…apparently he has lax joints and that toe needed to be amputated, at that time they x-rayed the other paws and the other back one showed up with lytic bone. The vet said this could be infection or cancer and to amputate that as well. We thought that was extreme at the time and didn't do it. Instead we took anticbiotics to clear up the infection...5 months later we are awaiting surgery in 2 days to have it amputated and sent off for histology. He's been on antibiotics for months and the new ones have taken care of the swelling but now his lymph nodes are enlarged and he is obviously sick. We have had every test possible without amputating and no answers as to whats going on...so happy your dog is going to be fine and have hope that our boy will get the same diagnosis.
Cooper's skin setback
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Cooper was finally getting in the groove working with me twice a week at PetSmart… But he had an outbreak of patchy hair loss and some red splotches that didn't go away after our usual two weeks on antibiotics and increased prednisone. This happens occasionally, even though he's up to maintenance on his allergy shots. I kept him home this weekend, as he was acting tired and wasn't very pretty to look at.
We went into the vet yesterday. Negative for mites. We got more antibiotics because he had some open spots. We have to wait two weeks for the ringworm culture to find out if that's an issue.
So, it's 25 F outside, and the poor little guy can't go to work to get his mental and physical exercise!
But we went through this last winter as well, and he came back negative for ringworm then. If he does this time too, I'm insisting on the full thyroid workup. In fact, I'm probably going to insist on it anyway.
He sounds much less troublesome than other basenjis, he gains weight easily if we don't keep a strict eye on what he's eating (gained 4 lbs in 10 days at my parents' house!), and he's had a thin moth-eaten coat for the last year.
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Good luck with Cooper, Subaruthie! Storm is hypothyroid, and I didn't notice much in the way of coat problems for him (mostly it was weight that was a dead giveaway), until after he'd been on the thyroid med Soloxine for awhile. His coat is now soft as silk and very thick! I was amazed at the difference! I also supplement with Dream Coat in the dry winter months to help avoid dry skin itchies - too bad Dream Coat isn't for people (I sure could use it! ). Also, Storm's stamina has increased a ton! He's so much more active now - it's like he's a puppy sometimes! I would definitely recommend a thyroid test - you'll be so surprised at the difference in your dog if he is hypothyroid.
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I would do the same, insist on a full work up….
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Poor Cooper, I know his regular customers probably miss him right now too!