hopefully the final dog bit for now

before the title brings you down, keep in mind i re-used the smiling budnik banner for a reason…

…because while he might not be perfectly happy, at this writing he seems to be on his way!

we left off with things sounding pretty dire, which is why the note at the end made me add to the title of the bit.

(i can also tell i was under duress by the way i made so many typos in the note but those should have been corrected by the time you see this!)

so, let’s address the three things at play in order of appearance in our world:

the spot (last year at some point to current) – we’re not sure when this sprung up, but i show purchases trying to mess with it going back into early last year. then it got worse and worse until i finally found a human-grade medical solution that seems to be working. i found out both nik & i had the same fear – that a vet would see it and seize budnik like some cps worker protecting a child and scold us for being such shitty parents for it looking so bad. turns out, these things are more common than we thought and we’re doing an excellent job of healing it. he sold us some antibiotics to help it from the inside, and recommended one product change we’ve since implemented to help with the outside, so it appears to be trending in the right direction!

the hop-a-long (last month at some point to current) – while arthritis in dogs will happen, and the shoulder discussed in the link above will still be addressed with some exercise, i’m hoping, the pain seems to be, for the most part, under control. not “gone, per se, but managed. again, keep in mind that these things are written sometimes weeks in advance (on this one just under forty-eight hours since his vet visit on the sixteenth so meds haven’t had the full chance to kick in) but all seems to be heading to well. he’s still limping severely, but not whimpering about it. i figured once the pain went away maybe he’d walk more because it didn’t hurt and the ensuing exercise would help build muscles to aid in walking? time will tell!

the gut (last weekend at some point to current, possibly gone?) – as mentioned, this is being written less than forty-eight hours after his vet visit and us starting on meds. but while he had bloody diarrhea in the exam room (which allowed them to do a parasite scan which came back negative) it turns out the weather has been doing this to dogs guts and he came in “just in time” for that, so he’s been on antibiotics and anti-nausea for that. as of this writing no more liquid out of either end, but no poop either. if that hasn’t changed by the time you read this there should be a “second vet visit” update below this, and if there’s not, consider no news good news!