Ear Re-check #2
Another $28 office visit fee.
Another $20 culture swab, which I had been hoping to avoid, having worked with him to get him to sit still for the internal ear exam, which didn't go well last time and resulted in that visit's swab/culture. He did so much better, too! Sitting very still so she got a good look at each ear- and she still decided to do the dang swab, anyway! At least he was also really good for that...
No inflammation. Just a few yeast organisms, which is normal, but "given his history..." she wanted to sell us the $20 bottle of antifungal ear wash-to be used 1-2 times/week, in order to avoid a full blown overgrowth again.
I really wanted to say "no" to the ear wash. There are plenty of other, better, more holistic products out there that I would try, given the opportunity. I was really hoping to get in and out of there for only the $28 office visit fee.
I agree, however, with the rationale of using it to prevent coming in again.
But, Jesus! Vets and their ongoing cash cow of "ear infections"! There are other ways to deal with this, and I truly believe that, now that he is on another food, it won't be an issue. I mean, we pretty much GAVE him a full-blown, all-over, full-body yeast infection by keeping him on that food (one DH picked out, not one I would have gone with) for SIX MONTHS!
At least, whether I use it or not, I don't have to go back again (knock on wood), and when it runs out, I don't have to buy more...
He had a good time, at least, and the whole ordeal (almost $200, all told) has been good socialization for him. The clinic cat was hanging out atop the front desk, looking down at him, and he saw her, but was neither excited nor interested.
Walking is going better. If I have misgivings about taking him, we just play in the yard, and that works well, other than that he whines for a while when I leave the house with the girls. It really should make no difference, walking them vs. walking him, but between their older ages and ailments, they take a shorter walk, so we avoid a lot of the areas that now give me pause. DH has been good about sussing out new routes, too, so that helps.
The bite marks are still healing- not growing hair yet, but the shaved areas are filling in and helping to cover them.
The scab on my knee is almost gone. It's just a giant, pink spot against my otherwise tan body, now.
Other than that, he had two intermittent bouts of diarrhea last week. He actually slept through the night, not waking til 4:30 or 5am four nights in a row, then was up EVERY HOUR the next night, lots of mostly unproductive straining, with only two real puddles and two solid piles. Slept through the night the next night, up again every hour the night after that- with the same result. Other than it being something he ate in the yard, no real explanation. Airlie had two mornings of explosive diarrhea instead of her morning poop at about that same time, but no issues otherwise. I cut his food back by 1/2 cup, just to see if that would help. His body has been struggling to process the greater amount of food, anyway, and though he'd been off his antibiotics for a week and a half by the time this started, that could have played a role as well.
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