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How is Ginger?

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  5412.1
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  cl-glebou  Member Icon
date:
  Sep-9 10:59 pm

Wondering if she is feeling better.

 
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dzyg  Member Icon
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How is Ginger?

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  5412.2 in response to 5412.1
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  dzyg  Member Icon
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  cl-glebou  Member Icon
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  Sep-10 10:01 am

Thanks Gaye (and Greta too for yesterdays feedback), I was just coming to post an update.

To be honest we are still not sure what is up. She is keeping her food down and I have been mixing the normal food in with the chicken and rice. She still is not wanting to jump up on anything, even the two steps into the house. She did have bloodwork done at the vets yesterday and all the levels came back in the normal range which is good. The vet felt her legs/joints/abdomen/back and other than a few lymph nodes which seemed a little swollen everything seemed ok. I almost think there were some spots on her back that may have been a little tender to her though. Ginger is very nervous and shaky at the vet so it is hard to tell but she looked at the vet funny a few times when she was feeling her back. May have been nothing though. The vet suggested trying Pepcid AC at night for Ginger since the vomiting episode a week ago and the first one yesterday were just bile that  may be caused by acid reflux. She also suggested having another test run to test the levels in her blood for the lymes disease that Ginger had tested positive for when we first got her, she hadn't been showing any symptoms of it though. This is an additional $100 though and I just spend $150+ yesterday so we are waiting for a bit to see if that would be necessary. The test would show whether Ginger has fought off the lymes or if she should be treated for it. Oh and she does have an ear mild ear infection right now. It is hard to tell with Ginger her ears are so dirty and tender all the time it seems.

So not sure what to do really. Last night we all three took the dogs for a walk and we were talking how we have noticed that Ginger has slowed down lately. She doesn't walk as fast and always seems to be lagging a bit behind the other dogs. She was lagging again last night and then eventually just stopped all together and just stood there. Dh stayed with her and Brionna and I went on with the other two dogs. A little bit later, dh and Ginger came running up to us, he was like...she just suddenly wanted to go again. Not sure what was up with that really but something we need to keep an eye on.

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How is Ginger?

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  5412.3 in response to 5412.2
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  cl-gsalem  Member Icon
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  dzyg  Member Icon
date:
  Sep-10 10:04 pm

I had forgotten about the Lyme disease. That could make her joints sore. I was also wondering about the bile. That was what Bud was doing when we first got him and he took Pepcid AC for a while and it really helped. Now I just give it to him when he gets an upset tummy.  I mentioned to Gaye in a different post how well we know our dogs. For someone who doesn't pay attention too much, Ginger's reluctance to walk and jump could be nothing, but for us who know our dogs things like that are good to keep an eye on. I think it's great that her initial tests came back with normal levels. I hope that Ginger is feeling better really soon!
dzyg  Member Icon
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How is Ginger?

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  5412.4 in response to 5412.3
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  dzyg  Member Icon
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  cl-gsalem  Member Icon
date:
  Sep-11 9:23 am

Thanks Greta. I am thinking we will be visiting the vet again soon though. There is definately something wrong. She doesn't come to great us when we get home all the time anymore, this morning she just stayed lying in her bed when I got back from dropping Brionna off. The two steps into the house are hard for her now. I think we should stop walking her with the other dogs, it just seems too much for her. I did notice once yesterday when we were walking that she picked up her right hind leg and like skipped a bit with it in the air. Other than that she never seems to be favoring any leg or anything so I am thinking maybe everything hurts which would lean towards lymes I am sure. I think I may call the vet this morning and we can maybe decide over the weekend what we want to do. I would hate to spend the $$ for that lymes test and then have that in the ok levels though, what if it is arthritis or something. Just now she was lying on the floor and Angel and Maya started playing around, Ginger jumped up and joined in for a bit. It is so confusing, I'm not sure what to do.
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How is Ginger?

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  5412.5 in response to 5412.4
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  cl-gsalem  Member Icon
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  dzyg  Member Icon
date:
  Sep-11 10:52 am

I don't know much about Lyme Disease in dogs but my FIL had it. He had good days and bad days (he didn't stay on his medication) and his joints were painful.

You know about arthritis from ^Lacey^ but when Bud started acting painful, they didn't do any tests besides mobility/pain (range of motion tests). The vet wanted to try the rimadyl and see if that helped (it did) so they didn't need to test. Maybe they could try rimadyl on Ginger- short term- and see if that helps. It's a relatively inexpensive alternative to testing. Or does your vet think rimadyl would help lymes disease as well? Do you know what the treatment for lymes disease is?

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