Shasta is more playful than ever and does have some vision!

On January 4th, a long-time friend of Shasta's had come to visit for 3 weeks. He is a little Bulldog named Tucker who Shasta used to play with when they were both puppies. I may have mentioned that Shasta has become somewhat picky in who she plays with as she has gotten older and isn't necessarily as submissive as she used to be. So I kept her apart from Tucker until all three dogs got comfortable. As I put Shasta outside while the other two dogs played in the kitchen, I saw Shasta looking through the sliding glass window and her head and eyes followed the other two dogs as they played and moved across the kitchen floor. I was very excited to see this, although I know myself that there have been instances and proof that Shasta can still see in the distance as she does things on walks and when we are outside that I can tell she can see something. I was more excited for my husband to witness it! She has gone from laying around and being a little mopey from when she first lost her vision, to now playing with her sister, even playing keep away with her ball, teasing me by pulling on my shirt when she is tired of me working in the afternoons. Shasta has always loved the water. She has gone to lakes, rivers, beaches, swimming pools, baby pools, and bathtubs without apprehension. When she first lost her vision though, she became apprehensive of getting into the bathtub. I think mainly because it was a shower tub and had the sliding door which made her entry a little more difficult. After some coaxing though she would always climb in with some assistance. Well the other night after we all went to bed, I heard some rumbling around in our bathroom. I told my husband I think that Shasta had climbed into the bathtub and he was sure I was wrong. I turned on the lights and she had climbed in and layed down in the tub. She used to do this when she was a puppy as she liked to lay in the cool tub. Also, the other day I had turned on the shower for myself and walked away just for a second. Shasta thought it was a clear indication of her bath time and jumped in before I could tell her no! So she got an extra bath! : ) There are many things that she does now that a dog or a human just would not do freely if they could not see at all. I will try to post more as they occur. When I go to clean her ears and use a flashlight, for awhile she would not flinch or look away from the light coming at her, but the other day she did. I'm no longer devastated that Shasta has lost some vision as she is a very happy dog and that's all that really matters, however, knowing that she is not totally in the dark and that she even has some distance vision gives me peace of mind. If it weren't for trusting Dr. Plechner, I don't know what kind of condition Shasta would be in today and I'm thankful every day that I contacted him when I first discovered Shasta had SARDS.

It's Always Something - November 2014 - calcinosis cutis???

I was petting Shasta and felt something like a scab on her skin. I checked it out and it definitely looked like a scab at first. Then it kind of looked like a rash. Her skin looked dry. The next day when I checked it out it had spread pretty rapidly on her back close to her spine area. I was freaking out. I put Animin Clay on her back for about a week and by this time it had spread all down her back.

It didn't bother her at all, she didn't lick or scratch at it. But I was freaking out trying figure out what this was. I sent pics to Dr. Plechner and he had his ideas as to what it was, but sent me to my local vet who confirmed it was calcinosis cutis, which can be caused by steroids. The vet said the skin would not heal and would always be rough. I had shaved Shasta's back so I could clean it better and keep it from getting infected. The vet said her hair would not grow back in those areas and there is no treatment for the calcinosis, but advised to lower the dosage of Medrol presribed by Dr. Plechner. Instead I got another blood panel done (EI-1 panel) and sent the results to Dr. P. Shasta's thyroid had significanly lowered in the past month so we did not decrease her Medrol dose, but increased her Thyroxine by just a little bit and she started acting like a spring chicken immediately after. Dr. P also prescribed DMSO as a topical treatment for the calcinosis. I couldn't find this anywhere in local stores so I bought the gel from Amazon online. This stuff worked like a charm! It does stink pretty bad and the dogs will try to lick it so I had to put Shasta's water vest on her to prevent that. : ) I then had to bath her every coupld of days and get all the dead skin that peels off her from the DMSO, but she didn't mind at all. After a few weeks her back has cleared up and her fur has grown back where I shaved her as well. It is rare that calcinosis cutis occurs in a patient that has been shown to be cortisol imbalanced, but if it does happen, the cortisol replacement definitely needs to be continued so the original disease does not reoccur. The local areas of calcinosis cutis, need to be treated daily with DMSO topically,.until the lesion is no longer present. Again, I really do love my local vet and I know they have Shasta's best interest, but I will always go to Dr. Plechner for final advice and opinion as this man knows his stuff and would never suggest anything that would harm animals.

Life is Full of Little Suprises! July 2014

Right after Shasta's surgery and the day before we left for vacation in San Diego, we got a call from my step son's girlfriend. Her brother had adopted a little Husky puppy, but didn't realize how much work it would be to take care of her and really did not have an appropriate home for her. She ended up breaking her leg while tied up in the backyard and was now in need of medical attention. We had been thinking of getting Shasta a little sister, but were very worried about a young dog, especially a puppy, being too hyper around Shasta and were fearful of her safety and how she would take to the situation. This little girl looked so small and helpless though we had to take her in and get her leg fixed. But we were leaving for San Diego the next day... So we took her in and had the surgery done (4 screws and 2 pins in her back leg) and my step son and his girl friend took care of her during that week while we were gone. It was very difficult to be away while we knew she needed us, but she was in good hands, and pretty sedated for the most part.

When we got home from San Diego, Roxy was hobbling around and very excited to see us. She was very interested in her new big sister and Shasta was excited to meet her too. But while her leg was broken, it was best to keep them separate via Roxy's new kennel (in the house) and Shasta would lay next to it to keep her company. We still did not know how this would go once the cast came off and Roxy was going to be newly free, hyper little puppy. The cast stayed on for 8 weeks, then it took another week or so for the area to heal from the screws and pins. But once those two were actually able to play together, they loved each other at once. Shasta took quite awhile to really unleash her playfulness on Roxy. I think SHE was nervous she was going to hurt HER! and my fear was the Roxy would unintentionally hurt Shasta since she was blind. As Roxy has grown to almost the same size they play all the time. Shasta couldn't be happier.

Shasta's Trip to San Diego July 10, 2014

Shortly after Shasta's surgery to extract the stuffed animals she ate (June 10, 2014), we were going to San Diego for a softball tournament/vacation. Shasta usually loves the beach and she really loves softball games! We took her absolutely everywhere as San Diego is one of the most dog friendly cities around. We shopped at Seaport Village, went to Ocean Beach and even to the boardwalk. Shasta got lots of attention. People came up to her frequently and I had to tell them she was blind as it really isn't very noticeable. Some people even asked if they could get their picture taken with her and she was obliged. : ) She is one of the most loving and best travel

companions there is.

Shasta's Ravenous Appetite got her into some Trouble

Shasta had been doing quite well on her raw food diet, although depending on what she would get into would determine her overall health. Shasta is very tall and can reach countertops and trash cans. We try to be diligent in putting things away and out of reach, but it is not always possible with kids, guests, etc. I had noticed that her determination to get to human food had become very strong in recent months and have had to reach in her mouth to grab something she shouldn't be eating quite a few times, but I NEVER thought at her age (5 at the time) that I would have to keep her stuffed toys away from her. One day I took her to visit my parents, who have a little dog and lots of toys that Shasta loves to play with. She literally has a field day and gramma and grampa's house! Well all the sudden she went from squeaking one of the toys to suddenly devouring it before I could stop her. I was advised to feed her 2 pieces of dry bread a few times a day between meals (because she takes her meds and enzymes with meals and we don't want her absorbing the stuffed animal), for several days and to watch her stool. Several days and weeks, and even a month or two had passed and never saw anything in her stool. She acted normal so I figured the acids in her stomach had dissolved it or something. One night she suddenly started vomit and was having very dark, runny stool. I took her to the vet and the Xrays showed an obstruction. Low and behold there were actually 2 stuffed animals in Shasta's tummy and had to be extracted.

This not only cost more than a pretty penny, but was a very invasive procedure for Shasta. She handled it like a champ though. The procedure was successful and she had immediate relief. The doctors were very nervous of the fact that she was on long term steroids and therefore were apprehensive about doing the surgery right away. Dr. Plechner confirmed that their fears were not necessary and we had them proceed. Shasta bounced back right away! We ended up increasing her dose of Medrol after another EI-1 panel and this helped to alleviate her ravenous appetite!