A Week of Good News!

Both Maisy and I received great news this week! (Finally. Last month was hard.)

Maisy's Health

Maisy on her 7th birthday earlier this month.

Maisy had a follow-up appointment with the neurologist at the U of MN on Monday. He saw her during her first hospitalization for immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the spinal cord. Although Maisy really, really, really did not want to enter the vet clinic at the U (and really, who can blame her?), she was a good dog for her exam. Perhaps a bit more drama-queen-y than usual, but she didn't try to bite anyone, so I'm calling it a success.

The neurologist was pleased with her quick recovery and said that I could treat her the way I normally do- no activity restrictions! She does tire a bit easier now, but that's largely because she isn't in the same condition as she was before all this. She will continue on daily steroids (down from twice a day) for three weeks, and then will take 5mg of prednisone every other day for 4-5 months.

Maisy has had no appreciable side effects from the steroids. Some dogs get thirstier (and thus need to pee more); this hasn't happened with Maisy. Some dogs will have behavioral effects (heck, I get incredibly grumpy when I'm on high doses of steroids), but Maisy hasn't. If anything, she's friendlier. About the only thing I've noticed is that she wants to lick my face more than usual. I have no idea if that's related or not, and while it's annoying, it's also manageable. The only side effect that might yet show up is muscle wasting. I hope we don't get that!

Of course, Maisy had two issues last month, the other being her bladder stones. She is still on her very restricted diet, and she will need regular UAs and other monitoring. However, this is a highly manageable condition, if expensive. I now have three jobs. It sucks, but what can I do?

Crystal Thompson, CPDT-KA
 That's right! I got my exam results back this week (hey, I took the professional dog training exam the first day Maisy was sick, remember?), and I passed. I am now officially a CPDT-KA. I am thrilled to report that I got a 97% on it! Yay me!

Wait. I missed one on learning theory?

All in all, it's been a great week. Hopefully things continue going this well!