Dylan x-rays

As the chiro improved things, but didn't seem to address the underlying issue, I took Dylan back to see the vet. Ian examined him thoroughly and found his back to be extremely sore and stiff (Dylan yelped too). So Flash had x-rays on Friday, 16th July. The result is that he has a lesion on the lumbar part of his spine that causes muscle spasms and quite some pain.
The x-rays have been sent to the Fitzpatrick Referral Centre and we should have an answer as to our next step by the middle of the week.

In the mean time I have put Dylan on Green Lipped Mussle Extract and Devil's Claw and he seems more comfortable. He shows no pain anymore in every day life, though I will of course not take him to agility anymore as I don't want to aggravate the lesion/damage in his spine.

Vaccination and limping

Dylan had lepto vaccination on 8th June. I decided to put him on a three-yearly schedule for the rest of the vaccs and as he was done last year, I didn't repeat it again.

Dylan has also been limping occasionally after getting up and has become reluctant to sit down and jump up, and he refused the jumps at agility. Mark had a look at his right hind and his back and couldn't feel anything. He asked me to take him to see the chiropractor, so we are off to Sue next Tuesday.
Since I have put him back on salmon oil again though (I run out for a week or so), he seems a lot more comfortable again. I shall test him at agility on Sunday.

Thyroid Levels OK

Got the results today when I went to see Mark with Benji. Dylan's value was 39, which is upper end of normal, so perfect. So glad that we have him stable as well now. He was so bouncy and happy this morning on our walk, it is great to see that I have got my Dylan back.

Thyroid Test

Dylan's thyroid test was due, so he came to the vets with Troy on Friday. Results are back, but I haven't had a chance yet to talk to the vet. I'll call Mark on Monday.

Dylan finally fine again

It is such a joy to see Dylan run again on walks! He is full of energy again and is enjoying himself! I am so happy!

Dylan is better

It has taken quite a while for Dylan to start feeling better. I have also found that the CSJ Senior/Lite food didn't help... in fact, that's what seemed to take his energy away. I have switched him back to the adult CSJ he was on before and he is much brighter, more energetic on walks and his coat is looking better. And now that his thyroid is sorted out, he is not putting weight on anymore by just looking at food... In fact, I have put his amount up a bit as he got to skinny.

Increased dosage

Now that all the blood tests are back (T4 lower than expected, but not that low anymore, no antibodies), Mark increased the Soloxine from 0.5 mg a day to 0.8 mg. We'll see whether that makes a difference! If not, then I think we will need to start looking further again.

Dylan still gets too tired on walks. On Monday, he went for a fox chase with Flash and was so knackered afterwards, I had to cut the walk short!

Follow-up Blood Test

Dylan has been better since being on Soloxine, however, not as great as I hoped. Today we went to get the 1-month blood test done to see what his T4 is doing. I asked for a comprehensive test as I would like to see whether he has the same type of hypothyroidism as Jesse, though I suspect he hasn't. But the antibody reading in the results will tell us. I also suspect that his dosage will need to be put up.

Feeling better, but not perfect yet

Dylan is now pretty much back to normal indoors, though still a bit sluggish on walks at times. He's been on Soloxine for two weeks now, it's another two weeks until we will do blood tests again. I suspect that we will need to up the dosage, but we'll see.

Talked to Mark

I talked to Mark this morning and he confirmed the dosage of 0.25 mg twice a day for Dylan. So I am on the right track and we'll see how we get on. Dylan was very playful last night when I came home, but still tired on the walk this morning. But it will take about a week or so, though he looks happier overall already - might just be my imagination though.