Tag: Monty (Page 5 of 6)

More than 2 weeks later Monty’s cold is FINALLY gone, and we are no longer giving him Metronidazole as his bowel issues seem to have cleared up so he’s down to from 5 to 3 medications daily. We’ve noticed more improvement in overall activity and personality in the last few days than in the last 2 week combined. I’m pretty sure that the severe lethargy he was experiencing was mainly due to both being sick and to the Metronidazole causing bouts of nausea. He continues to eat and drink well and seems to be more of a presence in the apartment again. With the increased activity however we’ve noticed a weakness has developed with his hind legs in that he can’t quite control them with certainty so they sometimes splay out to the side while sitting, stairs are more difficult, and generally just seems a little unsteady at times. This may or may not be related to the Prednisone side effect of muscle wasting. He does seem a bit more gaunt than his normal “brick” self, appearing to have visually aged another few years over the last weeks. He’s also had a few accidents within the magic 2 hour time frame but again could just be due to the Prednisone and increased activity level meaning more water consumption.

Our follow up with the neurologist is Wednesday morning so hoping she has positives for us, but until then here is a video of a happy Monty in the bone zone…

We’ve been in the zone with our daily routine the past few days – morning walk, morning meds, every 2-3 hours a quick trip outside, evening walk, evening meds, trip outside between 3-4am, rinse repeat. He seems to be getting stronger and many times during the day his personality and attitude will shine through. He’s taking his internet fame in stride but will often indulge with a quick peek at this site for himself.

We went back to see Dr Naugler last Wednesday to get him a B12 shot which seemed to do him good, so will probably continue. He has had a cold now for over a week and a half, and it’s just so stubborn! He’s on his antibiotics, and Dr Wolfe reduced his cyclosporine (immuno-suppressant) to only once per day to help him fight it off. He’s not getting worse, nor is he getting better. He has been getting saline drops to keep the mucus on the move, steam treatments in the bathroom, and anything else we can think of to try to keep him comfortable. A week from tomorrow will be our neurological follow up, next chemo treatment, and determination if we can start to step down the prednisone so we are crossing our fingers.

Monty seems stable right now – we’re managing the side effects of all of the drugs and not seeing any worsening symptoms. He still appears congested but it has only been 48 hours with the antibiotics so we remain hopeful that he can get past this without any setback in treatment. Follow up appointment a little more than 2 weeks away to assess neurological status.

Monty seemed a little nauseous after this morning’s dose of medicine, and has been pretty lethargic through the day. He showed some interest in his toy box at one point, but he has seemed pretty mopey for the most part today. We’ve worked out a consistent pee schedule that seems to have cut out accidents, so every 2-3 hours during the day we head downstairs to the sidewalk so he can water the same light pole. At night he can usually last 4-5 hours so I only have to get up once overnight to race out to the patio potty. Had a few pronounced breathing issues that seem to be phlegm related, and have seen some discharge from his nose more pronounced than normal. As a Frenchie this isn’t the first we’ve seen of this with him, but to have a few in a day after not having any recently is a little scary. Hoping this is not the first sign of a cold, which in his current immuno-suppressed state would not be welcome.