Blood test results are in

Last week we received the eagerly awaited results of Blues blood test, to see if an allergy was responsible for his ongoing problem with scratching itching and biting himself.

Sadly it has not pointed to one specific thing, 

Blue has shown a positive reaction to the following (Scores of 100+ are positive)

• Grasses

1. Ryegrass
2. Meadow Fescue
3. Cocks Foot

• Weeds

1. Sheep Sorrel
2. Lamb's Quaters
3. Yellow Dock
4. Ragweed

• Trees

1. Oak
2. Beech
3. Willow
4. Olive

• Fungi

1. Aureobasidium pullulans

• Foods

1. Lamb
2. White potato
3. Tomato
4. Carrots
5. Duck

• Insects

1. Mosquito

The highest scores sit in weeds and grasses ranging between 115 & 178

As we had previously changed his food, we have had to change it once more, as his previous food contained potato and lamb.

Blue is now being fed James Wellbeloved, Turkey & Rice, which also has coconut oil and Bionic Biotic powder on top, which sounds more like a preparation for a chemistry experiment.

So poor Blue is still itching,scratching and nibbling, making many parts of his body sore and open wounds, he still has his daily walks in the park, along with the usual road walking.

His much loved swimming at Aquadoggies is still on hold until further notice, though we may resume this some time soon.

The hard plastic buster collar was very unforgiving on us and Blue, so he has now been fitted with a much softer user friendly version, in fact he seems very much attached to it, occasionally we will put his muzzle on, though he is still able to lick through the gaps.

Blue seems reasonably contented when he is not scratching, but once he starts it is difficult to get him to stop, to the point he now has open wounds on the elbow joints of his right foreleg. The wife puts Sudacream on to prevent infections getting in.

We do hope the change in diet will turn this around, but if not, we will return to the vets to see if there is anything else to consider as a remedy.

Night vision

Blue is still out and about, here he is in his hi-viz coat in the early evening sunshine

Blue meets the vampire vet

Special privileges

For a while now Blue has been suffering with hot spots and constant itching, today was our biggest step forward, to seek some answers.

Since the end of November Blue has had a few hot spots, some longer lasting than others, but increasingly he has been scratching nibbling and biting. He has not been swimming for two months, and is one itchy dog.

We have changed his diet, provided him with Yumega oil, and coconut oil, alas to no avail.

Today we took Blue to the vets to see if they could help discover, what the cause could be, a time was booked for Blue to attend, to gather samples for testing.

When I say samples, we are talking blood and skin scrapings, neither would be given up without resistance, so sedation would be essential.

Leading up to today, my wife Sue and Blue had been making regular visits  to help remove any stigma or anxiety that Blue had developed in attending the vets.

We had the entire waiting room to ourselves upon arrival, after a five minute wait Blue was greeted by the vet, Nadine, and in return Blue gave her the Blue greeting, barking and prancing, no less than we had experienced in the past.

Weighing Blue in at 48.6kg we joined Nadine in the consulting room, conversation was difficult with Blue's barking. At this point I took Blue out of the room to calm him down, a walk around the waiting room and back into the consultancy room, it worked, and after repeating this several times we were able not only to enter the room without Blue barking, but walk past the vet and back out again.

So we had a plan, I would repeat this three times, and on the third visit, the vet would administer the sedative by injection into his hind leg. On cue me and Blue walked in, and the barking began and he was agitated, the vet had been joined by a veterinary nurse, so we did a few trials and agreed the next time we enter the room we would do the deed.

Blue is a strong dog and as well as that he has a determined attitude, despite our best efforts it was not working, he was winning this battle. The vet was concerned that an excited agitated dog would resist the sedative. So this time we went for it and bingo, the deed was done.

The plan now was the vet and the nurse would leave the room and we would sit quietly without any interaction with Blue, to give the sedative chance to work. In his face he was fighting the effects of sleep, but slowly loosing the battle.

After ten minutes the vet returned, to be greeted by Blue barking and showing his displeasure, she quietly exited, and a further ten minutes elapsed, and he was under, sleeping soundly.

Nadine the vet, checked to see if Blue was asleep, calling his name touching and moving him, peace was confirmed, time for them to do their thing.

The first thing was to shave a section of his front leg to draw off the blood samples which would be sent for analysis to seek conformation of any allergy, being the root cause of his scratching.

Taking blood was difficult, because of the sedative, the veins were not pumping blood at their normal rate, and there were three entries required to gather enough blood for the eight sample phials. Stage one completed. Not a murmur or a twitch from the big fella.

Now came the skin scrapping samples, in order to check for mites etc, an affected area has to be scrapped to remove skin, tissue and blood, this was done from three sample areas.

While under the vet gave him a check over, and as she touched the top inside of his hind leg, he kicked out, she explained this was the muscles reaction to the high sensitivity of his skin, and she said the poor thing must be beside himself with the itchiness.

Mission accomplished regarding the samples, now Blue had to be brought around, a reversing agent was administered, and once again Blue, Sue and me sat quietly waiting for him to recover from his enforced slumber.

Blue took about fifteen minutes to fully come around, with a few false early dawns, he was back with us although very subdued.

By the time we left the vets, it was confirmed there were no mites in the skin samples, but results from the blood samples will take about seven days.

Blue spent the rest of the afternoon drifting in and out of sleep, but struggling to get settled, but after a dinner of turkey and rice, as recommended by the vet, he is much more settled.

So next time you have an itch or a scratch, think of poor old Blue, who will be waiting patiently, as patient as Blue can be for some answers that will relieve the itchiness.

Below are a few pictures of Blue resting, nice and snug at home.

Bless him!!!

Itchy, touchy, scratchy and limpy

No not anything from the Simpson's, but a summary of Blue this week.

Itchy

Blue had been a bit itchy in recent weeks, so for a while after his shower we decided to omit the body lotion spray, which helps to reduce the wet dogie odour after his weekly swim.

As it turns out this has made little difference, though it is amusing when you touch his side, without effort you get his "itchy spot" and the back leg comes up in response. Even when he is being blow dried, as soon as the air touches the itchy spot, he lowers his back and raises his rear leg as a reaction.

Touchy

This week is my turn for taking Blue out on his inaugural morning walk, I used to call it a dawn walk, but the sun is still not up when we return home, not at least for another hour this time of year. As we exited the front garden, spinning like a top, back arched and doing a rat-a-tat machine gun bark, the scent of foxes, got Blue's juices going, he was then re-acquainted, with an old foe, the "Milk float" which Blue had calmed down a bit, but out of nowhere he decided that it was a mortal enemy that must be warned off, and as we walked along the bottom alley on the way home, a black cat appeared from nowhere, and tore off down the alley, with Blue eager to follow in hot pursuit, though the lump holding the lead was not as sprightly as him or the cat, and soon the alley was feline free.

Scratchy

Though not related to the "itchy" saga above, Blue has been scratching his ears a lot recently, what is also noticeable is that he has made his ears sore and lumpy. We will keep a close eye on this, it may be that the central heating is making him a bit warm, and the ears are getting scratched both out of a reaction but also habit. Blue normally likes to have his ears massaged.

Not sure how we ever discovered this, or what his last slave died of, but it does come in handy keeping a watchful eye on his ears. If they get worse or show no signs of healing over, it will be a trip to the vets, that will be interesting with Blues bedside manner at the veterinary clinic. Blue has no longer got the temperament for up-close, manhandling.

Limpy

To complete this set, on arriving home from work yesterday, as is customary, unless he is being taken out for a walk, Blue likes to play his favourite game in the garden, football.

Running catching, chasing, jumping are all part and parcel with the ball in his mouth or fetching it to parade around, so very proud of himself.

As is quite often the case, two or more balls are required, and in this particular incident it was in pursuit of a ball that went under a shrub, that Blue came out without a sound, but a limp.

Mortally wounded he made his way to me with the limp getting worse each and every step. Arriving at my side he collapsed at my feet, summoning enough strength to lift the injured paw for me to inspect, no bones broke, no penetrations could be felt, he would survive. But it meant the game had finished, and he was ushered back into the house where he was given bed rest.

In the past when Blue has had a similar incident rest for  24hrs or 48 normally gives enough time for a full recovery, and this was once again the outcome.

So Blue has had a varied week, and continues to be a great companion, and a pleasure to share our lives with;

Below are a couple of pictures involving Blue this week

Blue 1-0 Football

You can shower me but I will not let go of the ball!

I'm still not letting go!

Blue leaves some of his fur in the pool

Blue find "Ironing" boring!

For more pictures of Blue check out my Flickr photo-stream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rod1871/