Continuing with the bitter theme, our own Disgruntled Whistle Pig has a gripe or two of her own.
My dog is a portly fellow. Ever since we had him neutered he has had issues with his weight. Early last spring, I began to suspect his thyroid might be the culprit. When I took him to the vet on an unrelated issue, they immediately landed in the middle of my back about my “morbidly obese” dog.
Ham dog was 70 pounds, which is WAY overweight for his breed. I’d cut him back to two cups of food a day and a couple of slices of very thin lunchmeat turkey. His weight hadn’t budged. When I suggested to the vet he had a thyroid problem, the vet insisted it was my fault and said I should put him on a vegetable soup diet.
No. I’m not kidding.
I’ll spare you the details except to say, it REALLY didn’t work.
Just after Christmas he started drinking an obscene amount of water and having accidents in the house. This is totally unlike my dog so I took him to the vet, a different vet.
Within moments of having a urine sample taken, I was told they suspected he was diabetic but a blood test was needed to confirm. I agreed and asked if a thyroid test was in that round of blood work. The vet said no, but that he could run that test if I’d like
Oh yeah. I’d like.
Sure enough, now diabetic, Ham dog also has a thyroid problem. I can’t help but wonder if this simple test had been done months ago when I’d asked if he might not have become diabetic. The vet tells me that once we get his weight down he may be able to go off his twice daily insulin shots.
On the positive side, I’m now taking Hamish to the Grant Avenue Veterinary Clinic and I’m thrilled with them. They couldn’t be nicer and have taken very good care of my baby.
Grant Avenue is located at 1037 S. Grant Avenue, 417-869-1581, if you’re in the market for a vet.
While I’m not naming the vet who suggested the soup diet, because my hope is that all the staff at that office aren’t that daft, if you want to know where not to go please email me. I’ll be glad to share the details.
Hammy is now doing quite well with his shots and his thyroid meds. He's biting the disease that bit him He's lost two more pounds since has last vet visit a week ago. He's also my happy, peppy, bouncy puppy again and I couldn't be more relieved.
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1 comment:
1) Not to sound like a total fangirl geek, Disgruntled Whistle Pig, but I'm so glad to have found you again. Your previous blog helped me stay sane when I moved back to Springfield a few years ago and felt overwhelmed by how conservative and small, in ways, my hometown felt after I'd been away for 20 years.
2) Grant Avenue is the best. Dr. Rund has gone above and beyond to help my little dog, doing lots of research to figure out her weird little issues. She's happy and healthy now, and I love that I can truly trust them to take care of her.
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