We took Cooper to the vet this morning for the 4th time. He is doing remarkably better, even since just last week. We increased his food intake over the past week, and boy did it work. He gained a full pound! We will still continue to feed him large amounts as he is still underweight. We went ahead and ordered another case of yummy food. His temperature had also gone up since the last visit. It was still low at 98 degrees, but that is much less worrisome than 94.
Much to his displeasure, Cooper had another skins scrape taken from his forehead. This involves scratching the skin with the edge of a blade until it barely starts to bleed. The skin mites hide deep down in the hair follicle and this is the best way to try to find them. Cooper is very good at the vet, and he never shows pain. He just ducked his head down. At first the techs couldn't find any mites. After a repeat skin scrape and more extensive searching, they found one demodex mite. He may still have mange, but it is close to being gone. The skin on his head and tail base is still rough and bumpy, so I suspect there are still mites hanging around in those areas. Perhaps you can tell in the picture below. We will continue giving ivermectin (medicine) for another few weeks, just to be sure.
Next, they took a look at some fresh poop under the microscope. The coccidia are finally gone! This means I will discontinue the banana flavored medicine. They did find 3 unusual shapes in the poop, and they had me take a look. They had smooth edges and were very small. They had a teardrop shape with a small clear end, making me think of another type of coccidia. They could have also been some type of debris, like pollen. The microscope didn't have very high magnification, though, so it was hard to get a good look. Due to the scare from last time, we decided to take the fecal sample to the diagnostic lab at UGA for them to take a look. I got a call a few hours later that the sample was negative. Either the unknown shapes were just debris, or they couldn't find any.
Finally, Cooper got his second DA2PP vaccination. He has improved so much that we do not need to go back to the vet for 3 more weeks when he will get his next DA2PP booster and his rabies vaccine. In the meantime, we will start giving him 2 baths a week to help clear up his skin. It is much smoother than 3 weeks ago, but he still has several scabs distributed all over his body. I sometimes touch him without gloves now, but the scabs and greasy hair are not fun to touch.
Cooper had a lot more gusto today. Both this morning and this evening he trotted after me as I walked through the yard with his food bowl in hand. He even ate from the bowl while I was holding it. Mason and I have been trying to get him to do this for the past few days, but he usually just stops a few feet away and gives us hungry puppy eyes. If he sees us as a source of food he will trust us more.
After eating, Cooper saw Atlas at the fence. He went trotting towards him with his tail wagging and head stretched forward. It was adorable. This little puppy really likes Atlas. He even barked at him the other day. You can see his tail swaying in the picture below.
After Atlas ran off, I again squatted down and called Cooper. He usually stops 2 feet away, but this time he was just a few inches away. He was soooooo close! He could've stretched his nose out and touched my fingers. I will be very excited on the day he decides to come all the way.
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