Does anyone have any idea why?
PS from Gail: some of you have been wondering about Bertie's health, and if has recovered from his gastroenteritis. Well the short answer is yes his tummy troubles are better thank goodness, but the longer answer is that he has in general been very up and down these last few weeks, with low energy levels and also intermittent lameness. This is not the Bouncing Bertie I know. On Monday night this week he was very uncomfortable and developed a tremor, so on Tuesday I took him back to the vet. She examined his legs and feet, and did some blood tests but she couldn't detect anything amiss other than slightly elevated white blood cell levels which she attributed to residual infection or inflammation. She prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication and he seemed a bit better next day. Then on Friday I spotted an interdigital cyst on his front left foot (something he has had before) which would explain the lameness, except that it was a different leg, the rear left one, that was lame towards the end of last weekend's Balmoral walk, and I still can't spot a cyst or any other problem there, and neither did the vet. At least the tremor has not returned. For the moment he is getting short walks, frequent gentle paw washing in Hibiscrub antimicrobial skin cleanser, and wearing a sock to try to stop him licking the paw when I'm not around. His energy levels are still well below normal. (After an unwise 3 a.m. symptom googling session on Monday night I began to wonder about Lyme disease as, despite Frontline treatment, Bertie does occasionally pick up ticks over in Torridon and they are hard to spot through his fuzzy furs. However, the vet thought it "not the first thing we would investigate" which I took as a polite reprimand for my attempt at diagnosis via early hours internet search!) Anyway, he still has a week's worth of medication and we'll see how things go.
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| Bertie enjoying a gentle late evening (9:30pm) stroll and sniff |
Bertie I hope the meds help you to be back to 100% Bouncing WHFT soon... and I hope so much that the darned ticks did not cause bad things... they are evil little critters we should ban to northpole...
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWell, Bertie, let Gail know that LD was the first thing my mind jumped to as a pawssible cause and a vet knowing that you have had multiple tick bites might have considered at least testing in order to rule that out... jus' sayin'... It must be admitted that LD is not particularly easy to diagnose and often is an elimination-of-other-causes process, but as I believe you were on a/bs even before I went travelling and you are on more now, just as in humans one must think about their effectiveness. I have you on my POTP listing dear lad! (and a little for Gail, so that she does not worry too much...)
Oh - and I believe that is the Icelandic flag... Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
...aha... I did a search and now I know it to be so! Could be that some Scots are happy Iceland beat England in soccer... or it could be that someone likes the Icelandic President's offer of alliance! Yxx
DeleteThanks for your thoughts on Lyme disease. I am going to ask my neighbour Kirsty (a much more experienced vet than the one I saw on Tuesday) for a second opinion.
DeleteI suspect the football result is behind the flag!
Cheers, Gail.
Whew. At this distance we can't do more than pray, but we are doing that in bunches. Muzzer is backing the Lyme diagnosis, but she gets in trouble for this type of thing a lot with vets and human docs alike. Fingers crossed, paws crossed and Teka is crossing her eyes. One of her few nonviolent reactions.
ReplyDeleteCrikey Bertie ... I'm worried for you, mate? I think Gail's very wise to get a 2nd opinion.. That Lyme disease is no picnic in the park. I'll be thinking of you and hoping and praying that your all back to your normal WFT self real soon.
ReplyDeleteI assume the vet has checked for elevated liver enzyme counts? The symptoms sound similar to Bonnie's. She is doing much better now and her liver counts are going back down with treatment. She too had elavated white cell counts which led to all kinds of scary possible outcomes. And expensive tests and biopsies. We are very glad to have a chronic but treatable diagnosis.
ReplyDeletePam, keeper and chief pill pusher for Bonnie n Kenzie
Hey, Bertie!
ReplyDeleteBertie, we hope they figure out what is wrong and you are back and bouncing soon.
ReplyDeleteBertie my sweet little WFT...bless your heart.
ReplyDeleteI hope and purr this round of antibiotics will bring a bounce back into your step. I send you a ton of kitty kisses and slobber which is very potent and mom sends hugs to you and Gail.
You know just the other day Dad was wondering how long it was light in Scotland. Now we know. 9:30 pm looks like noon here.
Hugs your bestie kitty friend
Madi
We're so sorry Bertie is having troubles and we think a tick should not be so quickly dismissed by the dogtur! We know how hard it is to find them in thick fur (our recent experiences)! What we have learned is that until the tick has fed awhile they don't transmit the mechanism to spread the Lyme's Disease. The treatments attack the nervous systems of the ticks and aren't intended to immediately kill them. We hope there isn't anything hiding in there!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Oh Bertie we are so sorry you aren't feeling well. Norbert had lyme disease and made a complete recovery, so hopefully it isn't that but if it is he can be totally fine. Norbert was on frontline too when he got lyme
ReplyDeleteBertie - A Scalibor collar and three weekly application of Frontline are a necessity when it comes to ticks. 'The Font' got bitten by a spider, However, when the bite turned bright red and spread we went to the local doctor to make sure it wasn't a tick bite . It was. Massive injections of anti-biotics followed.
ReplyDeleteBertie, please be 100% well soon!
ReplyDeleteWe'll keep our paws crossed. That sounds a bit more serious than gastro.
ReplyDeleteInteresting times. Wonder if Scotland will go for independence. Just had an election...that we didn't have to have..on the weekend. No clear winner, could be a hung parliament.
we are hoping you are back to bouncing bertie in no time soon
ReplyDeleteBertie, My paws are crossed for your speedy recovery. The tremors are worrisome. Take your meds and do what ever Gail says. Ticks suck. (get it??)
ReplyDelete-Otto
Bertie we hope the meds will help and you will be feeling better
ReplyDeletehugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel
Praying for Bertie. I do hope better days are ahead
ReplyDeleteBertie -- we so hope you are okay and feeling better today, and all better soon. This is worrisome. Sending much love and gentle cuddles.
ReplyDeletexo
Tootsie & her humans.
OH Bertie!! I hope that you will feel better ASAP. You chill and let Gail wait on you. You will be getting a gifty from me that will hopefully make you feel better. Yam Aunty has it and will be getting it to you soon. Hang in there my sweet Bertie
ReplyDeletewags
Addi
We're crossing our paws that you feel better really soon, Bertie!
ReplyDeleteWe are sending positive healing vibes your way Bertie!!
ReplyDeleteSmileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Dear Bertie,
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound very bouncy... We hope you feel bouncier soon!
Many wags and licks and much good energy,
Cobi + Ojo