Both Bailey and Zoe recently had their annual check-up at Park Vet. Zoe, five-years, went first and received a glowingly clean bill of health:
Zoe Report
•Weight down a touch: from 7.56 to 7.3 pounds
•Parasite-free
•Heartworm/Lyme/Ehrlichia-free
•Teeth look great! (she lets me pick at them with dental tools)
•Rabies vaccine good through 2012
•Total cost including six months of Heartgard: $163.49
Bailey, almost 11 1/2-years, went Thursday and we got off to a bad start. Bailey's weight fluctuated rather wildly from 2002-2003. At his heaviest he topped out at 67 pounds - thanks to Jodi and Kelly's generosity with treats! Until Thursday, his lowest weight had been 42.10.
Bailey's weight on 3/12/09: 39.9 pounds. Dr. Geyer was not happy.
Although I managed to convince her that Bailey would be better off without a dental scrub this year, she was concerned about his weight. She even let him go without a due vaccine (Da2PPv Booster, which in my mind is not necessary anyway).
I ordered a senior blood panel for him and crossed my fingers.
Bailey Report
•Weight down from 46.6 (3/18/08) to 39.9 pounds
•Parasite-free
•Heartworm/Lyme/Ehrlichia-free
•Liver & kidneys functioning at normal levels
•No ketones or protein in urine, glucose levels normal
•Electrolytes, cholesterol, white blood cell count, thyroid: normal
•Rabies vaccine good through 2012
•Total cost including six months of Heartgard: $215.74
As you can see by the above information, Bailey appears to be perfectly healthy - PHEW! When my vet called yesterday and greeted me with "I've got good news about your boy!" I almost cried. However, she also told me about a boxer that came in the day before us. They found THREE tumors, each bigger than a baseball, via an ultrasound. The kicker: the dog's blood work was perfect.
So, she explained some diagnostics we could do, but we both agreed on increasing Bailey's food intake over the next 5-6 weeks and then re-checking his weight.
Bailey seems perfectly happy and healthy (other than the weight drop) so attempting to pack on a few pounds seems reasonable. Should he fail to gain weight, we will have to dig deeper for the cause.
Meanwhile, Bailey will be in hog heaven as the treats will flow freely and the dinner bowl shall runneth over!
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6 comments:
Hopefully Bailey will gain weight just fine!
Oh I hope Bailey is fine too, keep us posted! And hey, don't sweat the bad stuff yet (and there probably won't even be any) ...just enjoy the moment with your sweet pups...
Load that boy up woman! Get some meat on his bones! I'm sure B is fine. He's had issues, but he's a tough dog and he's got a great mom. Don't worry.
Any words on Jeni yet?
And oh, that photo of your niece and the Mini-Collie (?) is beautiful!
Glad to hear both are well. More food? Hope Bailey enjoys that rx!
Bailey is a trooper - don't get worked up unless they give you a concrete reason to be concerned. I know in my heart that he is and will be fine!
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