It has been 6 months since Tazzie's amputation so earlier this week she went to the clinic for xrays, bloodwork, and urine.  Luckily the chest rads were clear! I also xrayed her right rear stifle (knee joint) because she had some swelling there and I wanted to check for cancer mets to the femur and that was also clear.  I think she just played with her brother Loki too much this week and tweaked her prior ACL repair.

All of her bloodwork was okay except her heart enzyme test (pro-BNP) was still elevated so I will have to check this out a little better.  She seems a little too out of breath at times which is why I was worried about lung mets.  It might just be that it is hard for her to motor around on 3 legs when she is so big!  I was shocked to see that she gained 15 pounds (now weighs 195#).  She doesn't look fat to me but she will have to start a diet and get less cheese with her artemisinin pills at night (poor Taz!).

She does have another bladder infection and she is growing that bad Pseudomonas bug again on her urine culture.  I will have to stop the Cytoxan and give her 6 weeks of antibiotics to clear this up.  Tazzie has always been prone to bladder infections and though I would like to keep her on metronomics the Cytoxan can lead to hemmorhagic cystitis ( a painful and bloody condition of the bladder).  I intend to keep up with the Metacam and I will up her artemisinin to 300 mg every night.  Maybe I can find another drug to substitute for the Cytoxan later on.

I was very nervous about taking her for xrays but I can honestly say that even if we would have found lung mets that my husband and I have been very happy with how well she has done as a tripawd and we do not regret our decision to amputate one bit.  It is great to see her still feeling happy and playful, with that big Mastiff smile on her face.

Tripawds rule!!!!!

Pam and Tazzie