October Shenanigans

October was a hectic month for us with the increase in Halloween tourism in our city. Our adventures included shopping with Grammy Kohl's for a new bathrobe, Costco with Grampy for a new Fridge, Home Depot for a metal sheet. Joann Fabrics and luncheon with Grammy at Kelly's.

It also landed me in the Urgent Care Clinic when our regular vet had no available openings for over a week for a sick visit. This turned out to be rather fortunate for us when we discovered our former Vet Dr. who left the practice was now working here and was familiar with my whole medical background and history already. Thank our lucky stars. PHEW!

Sven got a complete workup, Ear infection with two strains of bacterial. Yikes. He had his ear cleaned and flushed out, and medication administered straight into the ear. He had bloodwork taken, and a cyto-point injection for allergy & inflammation. We also came home with an additional round of antibiotics and a new prescription for therapeutic treatment of low-thyroid hormones, which may be an underlying cause of why my skin was so slow to clear up from allergy-related hyper-sensitive pyoderma.

Plus, he has been gaining weight without eating more or having very many treats. Male Great Danes can get up to my weight, but usually it's seen a bit more with the European Danes, I'm mostly American Great Dane, with a touch of European. I currently weigh-in at 212.5 lbs. with my gear on, so closer to 210 lbs. without it. Sven is very big boned, his ribs and pelvis bones still show, but his body is a lot more rounded out and not quite as svelte as he used to be, especially after neutering. He is often mistaken for being a Mastiff.

Due to the ear pain, I took him out of working service in public as he really needed to rest. Also, we really couldn't trust the reliability of his bowels on all this medication while in public places. We are treating this with a round of ProViable and FirmUp pumpkin bars. We have to go a little at a time, as the fiber helps him a lot, but pumpkin is still sugary and starchy and can lead to yeast overgrowth, so we go with just half a bar at a time. Usually does the trick.

We're looking forward to the upcoming Holiday Season. Check us out next month!

Below are a few photos of our travels. Left to right Home Depot, Pet Medic, Halloween Costume, Kohl's, Topsfield Coop, Kelly's Roast Beef.