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Dermatology Photo Gallery Week 9 Progress Report
The Dogs: they were quite stable in week 9. They were both a little itchy but not too bad.They also had episodes of red and mildly irritated skin, but not too bad. Simba thankfully recovered quickly from his urinary difficulties, and also stopped licking his toe so the sore cleared up. Early in week 9 it was confirmed he had a urinary tract infection (two kinds of bacteria were cultured, and both were sensitive to the antibiotics he had been started on, so we continued for a 10 day course of the antibiotics). Asia looks like we are starving her, and even Simba started to look too skinny (his backbone became visible for the first time in a long time). However, Asia looks way worse; we could see her backbone, shoulder blades, and hip bones way too well, and even her face and head started to look sunken.
Recheck Visit: at the end of week 9 they were due for a recheck. Their skin looked pretty good, but the trouble spots were still an issue (neck, belly, flank and under the tail for Asia, and the face and neck for Simba). Dr. G. felt their skin looked very irritated still, though to me it looked pretty good in comparison to the times it had been much worse! Since we were nearing the end of the food trial period, Dr. G wanted to start getting off the prednisone to see what effect the diet alone was having. Though the trial hasn't been perfect, we have been as strict and careful as we could. Dr.G recommended that we wean them off prednisone during the last few weeks of the food trial (will do a total of 12 weeks) -- if their symptoms worsen we will know we are dealing with atopy, and will proceed to intradermal allergy testing. Dr. G. doesn't think the food can possibly be the sole source of their symptoms, though it could certainly be a component. So, we elected to start weaning them off prednisone (it is very important to not stop prednisone suddenly) and see how it goes, while keeping them on Ultra z/d. Eventually, we will go back to their old food, and see what effect that has.
To do the intradermal skin testing, we will have to have them off prednisone for 8 weeks. If they get worse, that will be a long wait and it is hard to think of letting them get really red and itchy again. However, we can put them on cyclosporin until up to 3 weeks before testing to control symptoms though. So I priced out cyclosporin for the two of them - all I can say is "ouch"!
Food Trial: as mentioned before, between the weight loss and the difficulty of keeping up with cooking for dogs I decided to go back to the Ultra z/d, and we made the switch right at the end of week 9.I think the dogs were a bit disappointed as they absolutely loved the home-cooked food, but I was happy to get back to plain old dog food (even if an 18 pound bag is over $75.00 -- turns out I am willing to pay for convenience!). Simba became so food-driven he was driving me crazy trying to get into things and find food. Dr. G. got a look at this side of him when he spotted her treat jar and spent most of our visit trying to get to it. I will be very happy once the food trial restrictions can be lifted a bit. I think even being able to give him carrots, other veggies, and fruit will make him a much happier dog!
