Doctor day

Zachary in the van on the way to the vet

Zachary and me, waiting

Monday was doctor day for both Zachary and me.  I had to carry Zachary upstairs last night and downstairs this morning.  He was extremely stiff and sore this morning and was bearing no weight on his back left leg.   I took him outside this morning and he didn't move, didn't pee, didn't do anything.  He hobbled back in and laid down on the carpet in the front room, stretched out, immobile, obviously in pain.  We had stopped giving him Carprofen as an anti-inflammatory on Friday and he was clearly feeling the effects today.  He wasn't moving so he wasn't drinking either, and he showed no interest in food.  I gave him his pain pills and called the vet, making arrangements to drop him off before I went to my own doctor's appointment.

A couple hours elapsed before I left and by that time the pain pills (tramadol) had kicked in and at least he had moved himself around, he got up when I asked him to, and hobbled out to the van, though I had to lift him in.  I dropped him off with instructions to make him better and then went to see my own doctor, thinking it would much more convenient if we both saw the same vet. 

My weight was down and my blood pressure was down.  I've lost 24 pounds since I started, constituting 10% of my body weight.  That's the magic number that he had said would probably make my blood work all return to normal.  I expressed frustration that my weight loss seems to have slowed or stalled, and he said that at this point I should be happy to be dropping 2-3 pounds per month.  All I know is that I need to lose another 10 at least to be able to wear all the pants I had bought a couple years ago. 

I went back to the vet's office to collect Zach.  He was glad to see me and seemed perkier, having gotten another bag of fluids under his skin.  He has a temperature with no obvious explanation.  He may have a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee.  More xrays did not show any signs of a tumor on the bone at least.  I got him home and started him on the new anti-inflammatory drug, Previcox, plus some antacids in a spoonful of peanut butter.  He will get another pain med this evening and then hopefully will feel like eating.  He looks better and he made his way over to the water bowl a couple of times for a drink.