Thank you for bringing Lucy in today. She is such a sweet old girl! She has a severe moist dermatitis infection on her ventral chest area and is very itchy….
So began last week’s report from the vet.
Lucy came home with two types of pills and a shaved chest. After the first round of medication, she was already scratching less. And she slept better.
And then the side effects set in.
The antibiotic she is on, Cephalexin, has a list of possible side effects
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Panting
- Drooling
- Hyperexcitability
- Skin rashes
She vomited twice. Her appetite is off and as each meal rolls around, I have to get creative.
Each meal starts with two bits of naan, each spread with peanut butter, then rolled up to conceal the meds I have hidden inside. Knock on wood, but, so far, these have been well received. Her bowl of food is a different matter. When she first turned up her nose at her bowl of kibble, she deigned to eat it when I sprinkled small bits of turkey jerky on top. I usually reserve the jerky for positive reinforcement on walks, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
After a few doses of the meds, she turned away from her food, so I tried chicken and rice. It worked for one meal. I tried sprinkling probiotics on top. One day, I got a spoonful of peanut butter and scooped some onto individual kibbles in the hopes it would encourage her to eat. It did not. Today, when she turned up her nose at my offerings, I looked in the fridge, grabbed the bag of shredded carrot and sprinkled some on top. Success!
She has three more days of Cephalexin. I am hopeful that I have enough food toppers in the fridge to get her through.
booksandbassets 
Oh no poor Lucy – and how creative! I hope the next three days are filled with more eating and less worrying.
Hang in there—to both Lucy and you! I do love the verb “deigned” as I often feel that applies to the reception my animals have toward food: “That kibble again, you can’t be serious!”
The look in her eye as she turns away is truly regal.
Your post conveys humor, as you try different “toppings” but also your deep concern and love for your old lady Lucy.
It really works to include the medical- starting with the vet report, and later including the list of side effects. They play off of your daily efforts and struggles.
Here’s hoping one course of meds takes care of it! Good luck to you both 🙂
Annie grabs at carrots so fast, she almost bit me the other day. I’ve had to stop giving her food from the hand and put it directly in the bowl. From me it is usually carrots and cucumbers. From Sean it is usually peanut butter or meat scraps!
Hope you are doing well. I thought I’d give you a call later today. Lois is meeting me in a bit so we can go for a walk. I’m up to 2+ miles now (with my foot taped and my hiking poles). Still, progress!
Diane
Here’s hoping Lucy is healed with one treatment. And then goes back to eating her usual kibble.
Prayers and love coming for Lucy. My Janie Anne had a similar condition and lived a strong 2 years longer.
Three more days…you can do it Lucy! My father-in-law used to feed our Golden Retriever ice cubes from his Scotch glass. Once when Sam was on antibiotics he too refused food. He was having difficulty with some dizziness so he had trouble leaning over to drink from his water bowl and I was more worried about this than the food. We don’t drink alcohol but had a bottle of Crown Royal in the cupboard for family visits so I started putting some in a glass with ice and feeding Sam the ice! It worked and kept him going until the dizziness passed. Taking care of sick pets is much harder than taking care of sick kids.
The cure seems worse than the problem sometimes, doesn’t it.
Poor Lucy. It is hard, make that impossible, to explain to an animal how important it is to take medicine. Having a cat that was an expert pull sputter-putter I know the difficulty. There more days – Lucy can do this.
I’m so sorry your girl is struggling. Medicating a pet can be a real challenge. I recently had to give my canary oral antibiotics with a medicine dropper! But first I had to catch him. After the antibiotics he got a creme on his naked neck (loss of feathers).
I wish you and Lucy well.
Omg that sounds really difficult!