Finally, More Info

The Internal Medicine vet was supposed to have all of Reyna's paperwork to me yesterday, but that didn't happen. The student called yesterday with an update, but I don't particularly trust her (we had something of a personality clash) so I wanted confirmation from the actual vet before I posted anything. After only a little harassment on my part today, the vet finally called shortly after 6pm. She apologized several times for the student and took the time to answer my questions, both of which I appreciated. So, here's the scoop, along with our next steps.

The spleen: The aspirate indicates that the nodule is benign, thank goodness. When I asked the vet how the spleen would go from "unremarkable" at the end of June to "moth eaten" now, she said that this type of change is actually fairly normal as dogs get older. She also said that the vet school's equipment is a lot more sensitive than what is normally used by regular vets and its possible Reyna's spleen didn't really look great in June, but the equipment made it hard to see the actual condition. She said its the same with the nodule - it might not have been there or it might have been very small and unnoticeable. I will be running all of this by Dr. L to see what he thinks.

The nose: An odd bump appeared on Reyna's nose Monday - I swear, it was not there Sunday. Dermatology thinks that its a focal bacterial infection due to mild trauma (darn that Kodiak and his roughhousing). They feel confident that the new antibiotics will clear it up. If not, well, what's one more thing?

The weight loss: There's some question about whether or not Reyna's weight loss is due to whatever is going on with these sores or because of the change in her diet. I had to point out more than once that she actually regained a bit of weight after her surgery and then lost it again after the mass reappeared. Which is a bit backward, if you consider she was a lot more active right after the surgery, rather than lying around like a slug. Anyway, when we realized she'd lost weight again, Dr. L had me start feeding her more. She hasn't lost more weight since then, but she's also not regaining any. And she's eating an obscene amount of food, especially considering her lower activity level. She's eating more than Duncan, for crying out loud. The vet wants her to go in for a blood test next week to run a GI panel and make sure she's actually absorbing the nutrients. If she is, but she's still not gaining weight, we'll set up a consult with the Nutrition department and see if we can come up with something that doesn't hurt her stomach or break my bank (Ha! Good luck with that!).

The follow-up: Reyna's on three weeks of antibiotics, and the vet wants her to do a follow-up with Dermatology in two weeks. Unfortunately, Derm couldn't fit her in their schedule until four weeks out. The Internal Med vet will do a follow-up first and decide whether or not she needs to stay on antibiotics longer while we wait for the Derm appointment.

So, next week she'll go for the GI panel and they'll make another attempt at getting a urine sample to check her kidneys (still not sure why they couldn't get it Tuesday - apparently my sweet girl can defeat multiple vet techs). The week after that, she'll see the Internal Med vet again. We'll discuss the GI panel, urine test (assuming they can get a sample), and current condition of her nose and belly, and consult with Nutrition. Oh, and according to the paperwork I received this evening, the Internal Med vet also wants to take x-rays of Reyna's hips so Ortho can make sure the implant hasn't been affected by whatever is going on internally. I can't say I'm too upset by that, considering the consequences if there is a problem with the implant. Two weeks after that (unless there's a significant change), she'll see the Derm vet. And then we'll see what comes from all of that.