It has been 6 months since Tazzie's amputation so earlier this week she had xrays, blood, and urine checked.  Luckily all of her chest rads were clear!  I also took a film of her right rear stifle (knee joint) because it has been a little swollen but luckily no cancer there either. I think she just overdid it playing with her "brother" Loki and irritated her prior ACL repair.  Her bood tests are still normal although I am waiting for her heart enzyme test to come back (Pro BNP test).  She seems to be panting more and still tires easily so I want to make sure that I am not missing anything.  She is a big dog so most likely she just doesn't have the energy to motor very far on 3 legs and that is okay with me.

She does have another bladder infection so we are going to have to stop the Cytoxan (part of her metronomic protocol).  She is growing Pseudomonas bacteria again and that is a very resistant bug!  Now she needs 6 more weeks of antibiotics (ciprofloxacin).  I do think that it is secondary to the Cytoxan since some dogs have a sensitivity to the metabolites of this drug.  If left untreated a bloody and painful bladder condition can occur.  I might try Cytoxan again if lung mets show up on her future chest rads but for now I will just do the Metacam and up her level of artemisinin to 300 mg daily.

I am so glad that she is still doing well and feeling good. I was very nervous about her xrays but even if she would have had lung mets I would have been happy with the amount of time and quality of life that she has had since the surgery.

Tripawds rule!!!

Pam and Tazzie