Trudis Reporting

The Secretary allowed us to blog all days now so here I am, Trudis, with some good and bad news.

Good news:
My sister Benji has recovered from her illness, yay!

Thanks to friends who sent positive vibes, Benji's creatinine and B-U-N have normalized! What a great reward for all of us at the clinic too. The Animal Doctor had been working real hard on Benji's case, while me and the Secretary had our heads glued to the 'puter for several days, asking Mr.Google about Benji's health problem. The Secretary gave some papers for the Animal Doctor to read- there were no pictures, but I knew those were the work of animal doctors in other parts of the world. Our Animal Doctor found some new stuff and thought it won't harm to try on Benji. Here's a summary of Benji's treatment.

1. continous slow IV drip with potassium chloride infusion
2. diuresis
3. omegal 3 fatty acid supplementation(new, based on research)
4. ferrous sulfate
5. ranitidine to protect the stomach from excessive acid produced during renal failure
6. prescription diet for renal failure( Benji was on this diet and nothing else during her confinement)

Current maintenance medication/diet:
1. Nefrotec
2. Multivitamins
3. Diet of boiled chicken, egg, or tuna, rice( Benji can not stay on prescription diet for long)

I'm whining in this photo because the Secretary made me stay in jail with Benji. She wanted to document that I'm now a lot bigger than my sister- and to think that I was the runt of our litter! Benji stays in our house right now and needs to be fattened up and cured of her pica before she can be returned to her adoptive hooman ( shhh, but the Secretary thinks she might just keep Benji).

Now,

Bad News

After returning from her vacation, the Secretary noticed a firm bump along Scarlet's back. Once again, Scarlet stopped making bowel movements and lost control of her bladder. Her hind legs were swollen and her breathing was so fast, I think she was in lot of pain.

The Secretary got desperate. A months ago, she took Scarlet home because it was a better alternative than letting Scarlet go home to his real parents( they couldn't take care of a special needs dog). She was committed to take care of Scarlet but just wasn't financially prepared to deal with Scarlet's current condition. Finally, she managed to fork money for xray. When the result came out, the Animal Doctor saw that Scarlet's spinal cord had become deformed in the middle and there is a sort of mass ( or fluid filled cavity??) just underneath the arc. The Animal Doctor is not a specialist in this field and wants a bone expert to see Scarlet's xray plates. In the meanwhile, he gave Scarlet a medicine to make her poop and she did! The swelling on her hind legs disappeared almost around the time she got her poop out. And she began breathing normally too.

Shelly's( of the Fleasgang) pop was so kind to teach the Secretary how to exercise Scarlet's legs. This is the same exercise they did on Simon( of the Fleasgang) who was able to walk again after his hind legs became paralyzed. The Secretary is hoping to see some light out of the tunnel. Its been very difficult not even knowing what ails Scarlet.

Oh, I could cry with all the sadness and suffering I see around me :(