Wow! It has been a long time since I've posted anything about Sailor. She is still on the same meds although the neurologist said I could eliminate the supplements. I have cut back on the L-Carnitine only giving her 1500 mg. once per day instead of 2500 mg. twice a day. She gets the COQ10 every day, but I only give her the famotidine (like Pepcid) on the days I give her the steroids.
The best news is that finally the growth on her foot pad went away. It kept getting gradually smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared. What a huge difference that has made. Now Sailor and I have resumed our twice daily walks, which we have gradually increased in distance. Well, sometimes, for reasons only known to Sailor, she decides she has walked far enough and just refuses to budge. I can drag her along, but she is so resistant that I just give up and take her back home. Fortunately, that happens only occasionally. Today, as we were coming home from our morning walk, my husband was at the mailbox and I took off Sailor's leash and she actually ran to him for about 20 yards! We held our breath for fear of a stumble and a hard fall on the pavement, but she made it without a problem. I have noticed that she rarely stumbles when she is trotting along with her head up. The stumbles come when she has her head down and is ambling along checking out all the interesting smells. I think the joint on her left foreleg bends slightly when she puts her head down to get closer to the ground, and then it just collapses on her every once in awhile. That doesn't seem to get any better as far as occurrences, so this may be a lifelong problem for her. But, it is certainly one we can live with and doesn't seem to bother her at all.
Sailor continues to obsess about food, but the fat rolls on her body have all but disappeared. I wouldn't be surprised if she is over the Cushings disease. I took her by our local vet to get her weight and it is still 56 lbs. but I think she has lots more muscle and less fat. And muscle weighs more than fat. (I tell myself this, too, when I'm on the scale).
Sailor loves to play with all her toys now. She catches the ball in the air and actually jumps for it. She still doesn't run after one that is thrown preferring to stalk it and sneak up on it. We also play hide and seek with her stuffed toys. She waits in the kitchen while I hide the toy in the rest of the house, and then she goes to find it. This is her favorite game.
We feel so blessed to have our sweet Sailor back. Still not the same as she was before this awful disease infected her, but a long, long way from the immobile, pain-wracked puppy she was in February. Sometimes I become impatient and wish she no longer had to have these steroids that still affect her, but February 2017 will come eventually and we will begin to wean her from those.
