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One of the tests they did at the vet school showed that one of the chambers in Reyna’s heart is enlarged and one of her valves is a bit leaky. The vet said he couldn’t hear a murmur, so he doesn’t think its going to be a problem for her for a long time, if ever. He did say its something to be checked at each yearly, and if she gets to a point where the vet can hear a murmur, it should be looked at again. Or if her activity level suddenly drops drastically, her heart would be the best place to start testing.

Oh, and the shaving wasn’t for the MRI, but for the spinal tap. Which makes more sense, really.

Reyna’s getting 90 mg of Pb, twice a day. That’s a pill and a half each time, which sucks, because the pills aren’t scored, and they’re stinking hard to cut exactly in half. When I get her refill in a month, I’m going to ask for 30 mg or 90 mg pills, so that I don’t have to stress over whether or not I’m over or under-dosing her.

The only reaction I’m seeing to the Pb is that she is extremely clumsy. I’m guessing that any normal-energy dog would be snoozing, but when has she ever been “normal” anything? She’s slipping, sliding, and tripping a lot, but it doesn’t seem to bother her nearly as much as it bothers me... I keep reminding myself that it’ll be a few more days before she gets used to the meds. Until then, I’m giving her the full dose of pain meds, because sooner or later, she’s going to realize that her hips really hurt. Mine hurt just from watching hers slide out from under her. I actually feel bad about having the wood floors. Poor girl. She can’t even catch her ball, because she keeps tripping over her own feet.

Duncan is officially the graceful dog of the house now. Not only can he run without falling (usually), he can also catch the red bouncy ball in mid-air. He’s even been jumping for it, and catching it while all four feet are off the ground. Its really cute, watching him drop the ball so that it bounces and he can catch it again. He doesn’t understand why I’m not letting him play rough with Reyna, though. Part of it is because she doesn’t have the fur on the back of her neck to protect her from his teeth, and part of it is that every time he bumps her, she falls over, and that’s just not a good thing.