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"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."

--Napoleon Bonaparte

Monday, June 13, 2005

Champ Update

Last week Champ returned to the Vet for a one month checkup. He had a rough start with Prednasone. The high dosage originally suggested by the Vet made Champ incredibly thirsty. His excessive drinking caused some other problems, like six or seven nightly trips to the back yard and a few accidents. I could tell that he felt bad and I was losing lots of sleep. We cut the dosage back to 40 mg, two pills each night and hoped for the best. Kay and I agreed that we would just enjoy what time we have with Champ, give him a dosage that would allow him to be fairly normal and still give him give him some chance of recovery, and hope for the best.

Champ has improved. The muscles in the top of his head have started to return. The vet expressed some amazement at the level of recovery on such a small dose. I attribute Champ's recovery to pig's ears and walking. He loves those ears and chews them enthusiastically. I think it was good for his muscles, along with the exercise he got by walking 1 to 2 hours every day.

It's been a special month. I enjoyed each and every walk and often took the time to go out twice a day with both dogs. The thoughts of losing Champ helped me to enjoy the moments we could spend together. He's a great dog. I'm happy to see him improve and get back to his old self. He's even wiping his mouth on Kay's pants after he gets a drink. He'd stopped doing that for a little while. It makes Kay happy to have this little ritual restored. Now that's progress...........

10:21:16 PM