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Dermatology Photo Gallery
Week 18 Progress Report
The Dogs: as described last week, the dogs had definitely taken a turn for the worse, especially Simba. He became extremely itchy, and the skin on his belly often looked very inflamed, and almost swollen. When his skin flared up, it looked very painful. He was also starting to get little scabby sores all over. The skin on Asia's belly was a bit redder than before, and she was definitely itchier, but not nearly as bad as Simba. The combination of dropping the prednisone dose and stopping cyclosporine had clearly taken its toll on Simba, though Asia was holding steady.
The Specialist: I spoke to Dr. G. and we decided that Simba would perhaps fare better on cyclosporine, while Asia could stay on the affordable antihistamine. We also decided to try a couple of weeks of antibiotics for both of them, and add a dose of essential fatty acids as well, as this sometimes helps with atopy symptoms. They were both still on a low, every other day dose of prednisone as well, though that would have to end during the next week or so. I had to make up a schedule for giving pills and post it in the kitchen so I could keep everything straight. Once back on the cyclosporine Simba improved a little bit, although clearly he was still pretty miserable. Poor dogs.
New photos - Simba is itchy: rubbing his face and belly for relief.
