Day 9 - Vet Visit #2

Written by Erin

Mason is out of town for the next few days for work, so I am on full puppy duty. Since Cooper has been sluggish the past few days, I was delighted to wake up to him barking this morning. He was sitting up and ready to go to the vet for his first week check-up I guess.

ready to go to the vet!

At the vet, Cooper had another fecal float and skin scrape taken. Good news - all the hookworm and roundworm eggs are gone. Bad news - the coccidia have taken over. This just means that Cooper will continue his banana flavored medicine. I don't think he'll mind. More good news - there weren't any scabies mites found on the skin scrape. This doesn't mean there aren't any left, as they are harder to find on skin scrapes, but this is a significant improvement compared to the flooded skin scrape from last week. We did find another type of mange on the skin scrape though. Demodex. This type of mange is not transmissible to humans, but it is much harder to get rid of. There are 2 ways to treat this mite. One is repeated weekly Amitraz/mitaban dips. Given the condition of Cooper's scarred, flaky, infected skin, Dr. Nemetz chose the other option, ivermectin. This adds another daily medication to Cooper's list. This is the longest lasting one, though, and will be given for at least a month. It supposedly doesn't taste good either.

Cooper was again very hypothermic. We will try to keep him warmer and wrap him up with more towels. I am letting him stay outside in the sun for longer amounts of time as well. While at the vet, we also bought a whole case of the original food that Cooper loved, especially given the recent digestive issues after switching his diet. I think he will be happy with our choice!

Cooper and Liz, his favorite RVT

Once a week Cooper will get a bath with a medicated shampoo to help his nasty skin. He had his first one at the vet last week, and I took over the honors today. As soon as I put him in the water he tried to jump out, but he stayed in place once I put my hand on his back. I was able to remove most of the major flakes from his sides, but he still has a lot along his spine.

My favorite moment of the day was at 5:30 pm when Cooper wagged his tail at me for the first time! Mason had thought he saw a tail wag last week, but when I saw it I think it was just the aftermath of a total body shake-off. Today, Cooper had just finished eating, peeing, then pooping, and he was walking in the grass towards the door. I came outside to pick up his poop and he started wagging his tail at me. I thought it was just a coincidence again, so I squatted down 2 feet in front of him and starting talking in high pitch baby voices. Sure enough, he stretched his head towards me and and wagged it again a couple times. He still won't come to me on his own, and he lay down shortly thereafter, but perhaps he likes me now.

Cooper had another first today, although less exciting. I saw him do a real stretch for the first time. He started with his elbows on the ground and his butt in the air, and then stretched his nose forward while extending his back legs. Okay, so it's really not a big deal to see a dog stretch. I just appreciated it because he is behaving more like a real dog now.