Visit with the Vet

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Yesterday, Monday, we drove to Reno to see Dr. Drumm at Lakeside Animal Hospital. It's 2 1/2 hours each way and Elsie slept most of that time. She was a little uncomfortable and kept shifting around. The moving couch is not her favorite thing.

Her temp was down to 102.4 and she weighed in at 53 pounds (when she arrived at the shelter she was 58).  She has some weight gaining to do. Along with all of the homeopathics that Elsie is getting, Dr Drumm suggested Cool the Blood, a combination of Chinese herbs to help with the inflammation in her skin. The doctor also said to reduce the amount of processed carbohydrate foods. More greens and protein. Around here that means high protein tofu and seitan. Elsie loves seitan. Low carb and extremely high in protein. Did you know that it has more protein, about 3.5 times more, than an equal amount of cow meat? And as much as we don't want to give her any drugs, Dr. Drumm suggested that a low dose of Ivomectin would be beneficial. I thought about it and it felt like it was the right thing to do. Anti-biotics were never suggested nor any other pharmaceutical drugs. As for Elsie's cough she didn't feel that it was kennel cough per se, but something else possibly. Going back to the Chinese food chart she suggested an elixer made of almonds, lemon, and honey. All are used to move the phegm and to help sooth the throat, and are neutral. To help her general well being she is getting radish added to her diet. This will help balance out the heat that is in her body right now.

The doctor was wondering how Elsie liked her lemon wash that she gets at night and was surprise that it didn't seem to bother her. I asked if adding in some arnica would be alright and got the nod of approval.

Each day Elsie improves and relaxes just a little more. She has discovered that it is fun to chase the chickens and ducks. Thankfully there is a fence between the them and her, and she is learning that it is not a good thing to do. She is on the bed at night and nearby all day. She sleeps soundly too and barely wakes up to turn around. Her Reiki sessions continue and I am constantly amazed by how gentle she feels when we connect. Soon enough she will leave here, but I will never forget her.