State of the Coonhound update : with bonus badly-drawn cartoon!

[bunn]

Darwin has now been diagnosed as having Cushing's disease. We thought he might have this as he has been drinking a lot, has a pot belly & bald spots. He had a Cushings test with his owners 6 months ago, but this was done by a vet practice which really could win awards for the utter pantsness of its record-keeping*. All Darwin's records (and yes, we did call back and check) were scribbled illegibly on a single file card, and all the info there was about the Cushings test was how much they had charged for it. When we asked if it had been positive, they said no, but frankly as it was six months ago and they had no written record, I'm wondering how they could possibly be sure. So, new set of tests, which duly came back positive.

He's now started on some rather alarming capsules which come with a long list of possible side-effects, starting with 'lethargy' and working right up to 'sudden death'. But, he's been on them 3 days now and so far, so good. OK, he snoozes a lot in the house, but that's nothing new. I want to get him stabilised on these before we start looking for a new home. I've also moved him onto a better food, which has had the fortunate effect of rendering him noticeably less fartulent. This is excellent news, as I was starting to think we would have to buy scented candles in bulk...

And when he is waiting for something really exciting, like a tripe stick, he can do this!

Front row: Mollydog, Darwin, Az,
Back row: Henning, Suma, Perl, Yama, Kjetil, Footie.

philmophlegm's foster dog review was quite positive. "Really weird looking... but mostly harmless"

* remind me of this if I ever show signs of complaining about NHS administrators...

Comments

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Oh love it!

Shame about Darwin but at least there is medication. My old horse had Cushing back in the '90's when there was none. He grew a very long coat all year round and made it to the grand old age of thirty before weight loss forced me to put him down.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping Darwin will do similarly well (if not to quite such an age!)

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

What's Suma doing?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

He is lying on his back, huggling & kicking the mysteriously-zebra-striped bag of catnip that he particularly likes.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Excellent cartoon! I love the pointy dogs' faces. It's a universal truth, too, that's pretty much exactly how Sky looks at Blaze when Blaze is singing the breakfast song (or the walk song, or the look-at-me song, or the song for the sake of the song song).

Sorry to hear about the Cushing's, though. I suppose it does explain his funny shape, a bit. I hope he does well on the medication. Glad to hear he's less flatulant, anyway, I'm sure that's a relief for all concerned.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I get the impression there is definitely a social hierarchy of hounds, and the sighthounds definitely think they are at the top... :-D

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Oh I don't know ... I reckon anyone would be allowed to complain about some of the NHS administrators I've come across.

Sorry to hear about the Cushing's; I shall be keeping my fingers crossed.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

It just gave me a renewed appreciation of anyone who is not actually keeping medical records on one tiny slip of card, in *felt tip pen*...

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

That's a very impressive trick Darwin's got there. And I particularly like the dubious expressions on the surrounding dogs and cats.

I hope the medication does the trick.

[chainmailmaiden]

Love the cartoon, hope the meds and the new food continue to do their work...