Meet Pippin, she's nine today and I'm glad she's still here.
She was discovered by my son in a pet shop a little over 2 years after our last dog had passed away. James was 16 at the time and learning a lot of responsibilities and at just 8 weeks of age she became one of those responsibilities. James could hold her in one hand and she was an adorable little white bit of fluff that was ALL terrier! Or TERROR as we have come to equate it. She is named for one of the Hobbit companions of the Lord of The Rings. James named her after a Hobbit because of her pointy ears, bowed (back) legs, and hairy feet. And the name is perfect!
When we moved to the Airstream in May 2008, I knew that of all of us, she would be sacrificing the most, she was 8 years and had grown up with freedom and full range of yard, home and patio. Now I would be asking her to live in 30 feet of limited space with unpredictable temperatures and long hours by herself while I attended school. I considered fostering her with my parents in Georgia, but Pippin wouldn't hear of it, and she gave it her all and explored and made the best of it for over 4 months.
In late September, Pippin was unable to jump up on the couch and I took her to see her vet who diagnosed her as having pulled/strained a muscle in her lower back, he prescribed an anti-inflammatory and stated that if it did not heal we would need to look further and worst case would be a ruptured disc in her back. Two days later (on a Monday), I awoke to her throwing up and running a slight fever. I cleaned her up, she perked up, went outside did her business and begged for a treat before I left for work, but she was still running a fever. I went to work, but could not stop feeling like something wasn't right. I left work around 2:30 and by the time I got back home she was lying on the floor having thrown up everything, she was unable to keep water down and was unable to stand, I scooped her up placed her in the car and headed for the vet's office. She was seen by the associate of her regular doctor, who gave her antibiotics, anti-emitics and ran lots of tests. There was no definitive diagnosis by the time we left, we would have to wait for the lab results to come back. Over the next 2 weeks Pip waxed and waned, the lab results showed no bacterial or viral infection.
A month after the onset Pip was having difficulty getting her back legs up under her, I would pick her up, massage the muscles of her back legs and carry her outside and we would walk slowly. I called my vet and explained the problems she was seen and they were more concerned about elevated liver panels from earlier in the summer because of steroid use for her skin condition. Additional examination by these vets revealed no problems and they wanted to hold her for a day and do extended testing on her liver and xrays to rule out a ruptured disc. I had a friend who does mobile xray take the films and took them to my vet where they stated that they did not see signs of a ruptured disc but still needed to their own xrays to rule out other problems and they kept insisting that liver panels needed to be done. Things escalated and I began considering putting Pip down, she was unable to stand on her own, her appetite became non-existent and the vets still insisted on doing liver panels. In conversation with my vet he agreed that her liver was not the cause of her muscle weakness and we agreed to set up a day for me to drop her off to do extensive xrays and he would prescribe her an anti-inflammatory. I called the following day to arrange to pick up the rx, and was met with resistance from the other vet about the rx because of her elevated liver panels. I explained to the vet that the liver was the least of my concerns, and that I had spoken with the other vet the day before and that at this time the liver was not the cause of her muscle and leg problems and was therefore the least of my problems. My vet came on the phone line and yelled that since they could not make me happy that I need to pick up Pip's records and he hung up on me. I sat in my office in shock and began to cry. I could not believe that they would just dismiss Pippin like that, I felt like they had just given up on her. That was in December.
I set out looking for a new vet, talking with friends and looking online at various vets in the area. Someone told me how his vet had saved his dog from dying of diabetes and had kept him alive for over 3 years by using innovative and aggressive methods to treat and control the diabetes. I was sold and I made an appointment for Pippin with the a group of vets in St. Augustine that not only had a full hospital/surgical services, but boarding, a pet shop and grooming. After the first visit Pip was diagnosed with an severe bladder infection with 2 different bacterial organisms and a possible diagnosis for the muscle weakness. Her vet set out to aggressively treat the bladder infection which took a month to cure, once that was cured we could concentrate on the cure of her muscle weakness. After just 5 hours and a test costing less than $100.00, Pip was diagnosed with Addison's disease. Her medical therapy? Prednisone, 2.5mg per day - the same drug that caused her old vets to panic about her liver. Pip has had her first check up after a month of taking Prednisone and she's fine - electrolytes are good, and her liver panels are fine.
That was in March, friends and family are amazed at her recovery, many state that they were sad just watching her struggle and they felt that I had not faced reality and that I was going to have to put her down. She is back to being the terror, Pippin the Pest, Stink Rotten, Peepers, Princess Pippin, our fuzzy heart.
Thank you Dr. Deckard!
Happy Birthday Pip!
She was discovered by my son in a pet shop a little over 2 years after our last dog had passed away. James was 16 at the time and learning a lot of responsibilities and at just 8 weeks of age she became one of those responsibilities. James could hold her in one hand and she was an adorable little white bit of fluff that was ALL terrier! Or TERROR as we have come to equate it. She is named for one of the Hobbit companions of the Lord of The Rings. James named her after a Hobbit because of her pointy ears, bowed (back) legs, and hairy feet. And the name is perfect!
When we moved to the Airstream in May 2008, I knew that of all of us, she would be sacrificing the most, she was 8 years and had grown up with freedom and full range of yard, home and patio. Now I would be asking her to live in 30 feet of limited space with unpredictable temperatures and long hours by herself while I attended school. I considered fostering her with my parents in Georgia, but Pippin wouldn't hear of it, and she gave it her all and explored and made the best of it for over 4 months.
In late September, Pippin was unable to jump up on the couch and I took her to see her vet who diagnosed her as having pulled/strained a muscle in her lower back, he prescribed an anti-inflammatory and stated that if it did not heal we would need to look further and worst case would be a ruptured disc in her back. Two days later (on a Monday), I awoke to her throwing up and running a slight fever. I cleaned her up, she perked up, went outside did her business and begged for a treat before I left for work, but she was still running a fever. I went to work, but could not stop feeling like something wasn't right. I left work around 2:30 and by the time I got back home she was lying on the floor having thrown up everything, she was unable to keep water down and was unable to stand, I scooped her up placed her in the car and headed for the vet's office. She was seen by the associate of her regular doctor, who gave her antibiotics, anti-emitics and ran lots of tests. There was no definitive diagnosis by the time we left, we would have to wait for the lab results to come back. Over the next 2 weeks Pip waxed and waned, the lab results showed no bacterial or viral infection.
A month after the onset Pip was having difficulty getting her back legs up under her, I would pick her up, massage the muscles of her back legs and carry her outside and we would walk slowly. I called my vet and explained the problems she was seen and they were more concerned about elevated liver panels from earlier in the summer because of steroid use for her skin condition. Additional examination by these vets revealed no problems and they wanted to hold her for a day and do extended testing on her liver and xrays to rule out a ruptured disc. I had a friend who does mobile xray take the films and took them to my vet where they stated that they did not see signs of a ruptured disc but still needed to their own xrays to rule out other problems and they kept insisting that liver panels needed to be done. Things escalated and I began considering putting Pip down, she was unable to stand on her own, her appetite became non-existent and the vets still insisted on doing liver panels. In conversation with my vet he agreed that her liver was not the cause of her muscle weakness and we agreed to set up a day for me to drop her off to do extensive xrays and he would prescribe her an anti-inflammatory. I called the following day to arrange to pick up the rx, and was met with resistance from the other vet about the rx because of her elevated liver panels. I explained to the vet that the liver was the least of my concerns, and that I had spoken with the other vet the day before and that at this time the liver was not the cause of her muscle and leg problems and was therefore the least of my problems. My vet came on the phone line and yelled that since they could not make me happy that I need to pick up Pip's records and he hung up on me. I sat in my office in shock and began to cry. I could not believe that they would just dismiss Pippin like that, I felt like they had just given up on her. That was in December.
I set out looking for a new vet, talking with friends and looking online at various vets in the area. Someone told me how his vet had saved his dog from dying of diabetes and had kept him alive for over 3 years by using innovative and aggressive methods to treat and control the diabetes. I was sold and I made an appointment for Pippin with the a group of vets in St. Augustine that not only had a full hospital/surgical services, but boarding, a pet shop and grooming. After the first visit Pip was diagnosed with an severe bladder infection with 2 different bacterial organisms and a possible diagnosis for the muscle weakness. Her vet set out to aggressively treat the bladder infection which took a month to cure, once that was cured we could concentrate on the cure of her muscle weakness. After just 5 hours and a test costing less than $100.00, Pip was diagnosed with Addison's disease. Her medical therapy? Prednisone, 2.5mg per day - the same drug that caused her old vets to panic about her liver. Pip has had her first check up after a month of taking Prednisone and she's fine - electrolytes are good, and her liver panels are fine.
That was in March, friends and family are amazed at her recovery, many state that they were sad just watching her struggle and they felt that I had not faced reality and that I was going to have to put her down. She is back to being the terror, Pippin the Pest, Stink Rotten, Peepers, Princess Pippin, our fuzzy heart.
Thank you Dr. Deckard!
Happy Birthday Pip!
