Patrice - 70. page

[Patrice]

Sheena,

Hey, great news! Wow, those Sight-hounds with their revved up circulatory system: PVC 60%.

I can’t even imagine what the therapeutic value of 1 x 50mg azathioprine per week would be, what did you vet say? Is can’t possibly be immunosuppressive at this dose? I don’t know that much about aza, except to say it is often used in chemotherapy so it has strong cytotoxic effects to quickly developing cells (like WBC, RBC) that is why it is used to knock down the lymphocyte population.

No, you don’t need to keep renewing the core vaccinations. But you may want to satisfy yourself and your vet by having Jean Dodds do a vaccine titer panel. I do that for my dogs. It can’t tell you if your dog could actually mount a defense if exposed, but it can tell you whether the titers fall into a general accepted value.

I don’t know what your laws are in France and your locality for rabies, but you need to find out. Here in Western NYS where I am there is just no way I can avoid that one, the legal fallout from a reported bite or tangle with wildlife would lead to any un-vaccinated dog (rabies) to be immediately removed from the owner and either destroyed to examine the brain (for rabies) or to be put in strict quarantine for about 6 months. That is approximately how long it can take for rabies to develop in the brain.

In NYS, as is the case in many states, a dog that has lapsed in their rabies vaccination is considered “un-vaccinated” the day after the lapse, no exceptions, not even for dogs with waivers from their vet. So please check carefully in your locality with your vet about the application of the rabies law where you live.

Babesiosis is more prevalent and potent in European countries. But here is the skinny, the spleen is known to be a strong fighter against this disease. A healthy animal or human can probably fight off babesiosis solely in the spleen. It’s not so much contact with other dogs with this disease, this is a blood borne disease and can be transmitted by ticks.

my best, patrice

[Patrice]

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/aloe-vera/

“Poisonous to: Cats, Dogs”

[Patrice]

Megan,

I just emailed you, please check your mail.

my best, patrice

[Patrice]

Erica,

Good question! You can just upload them. I get an email that tells me “there is an uploaded image that needs to be approved.” It doesn’t tell me who uploaded it or what it is. So it helps to save the photo with a very descriptive file name like: chancepatricewoods2008.jpg. If anyone doesn’t know how to do this, they can email me and I will help. polockhart@sprintmail.com

I can understand your vet is reluctant to have his picture taken because he has no idea -where- it will end up. But here is a suggestion. Ask him if he would agree to a photo taken in an exam room with you holding your dog on an exam table and your vet’s back to the camera with his hands on your dog. We wouldn’t be able to see his face but we would certainly know that he is caring for your dog!

Have him approve of that photo before we use it. It will be only used on this website to help show how caring your vet has been and it will not be used to advertise any product or sell anything. Perhaps you want to wait until he can actually see the new website so he will worry less?

I am reluctant to lift images off of websites. Most sites are protected by copyrights. I am going to have to be very careful.

my best, patrice

[Patrice]

Ok, so this is an abnormal value. Neutrophils are a type of white bloods cells that are in the greatest number in our body so when their value is high, the total WBC value will be high. When their value is high it generally indicates that the body is fighting an infection.

However, it is possible that immunosuppressive doses of prednisone can raise the WBC value.

In addition, when there is a state of high regeneration in the bone marrow, there can be a surge of the production of WBC.

Abnormally high levels of WBC, especially lymphocytes, can indicate a form of leukemia.

If this is a true value then the first thing that should be explored is to find out if there is an infection. In dogs, I would always think of a UTI urinary tract infection, especially female dogs. The use of high dose Prednisone can influence this.

Dogs can be very resilient and stoic about this kind of thing. I have a good friend who is blind and has used Seeing Eye Dogs for many years. Her guide dog developed a UTI that was quite serious and she was distraught that she didn’t know there was something wrong because she couldn’t see, but also because her dog was highly trained and would not neglect her duty.

So this might be a good question to start with your vet.

my best, patrice

[Patrice]

Well, the first thing I would want to know is if they think this value is correct or not. There is always a chance that things can be inaccurate on a test.

So the first thing I would do if this were me is look at the last 2-3 tests and compare those values with this one. Was there a gradual rise in the values over that period of time? Or was it perfectly normal or slightly elevated before and then suddenly out of the blue it is high? Did they perhaps use a new, different, lab this time?

So, let’s make sure this is an accurate value first.

my best, patrice

[Patrice]

Rosemary,

That is great that Tempe’s HCT is 47! That is right smack dab in the middle of normal.

You probably should begin decreasing either the prednisone or the cylosporine (but not both at the same time) if your vet agrees that it is time.

The platelet count is a tiny bit high and that is usually due in most cases to a combination of dehydration when the sample is taken and stress excitement in the dog. If your vet did not say something then I wouldn’t worry.

Soloxine is a thyroid hormone, as you have probably figured out. The thyroid certainly plays a role in the making of blood, but it would not be directly responsible for the production of more white blood cells than are normal.

If your lab’s range for WBC is 4.0-15 and the value for WBC is 43.5 I would like to know what your vet said to you about this? I can tell you a few things, but I want to know what they said first. In other words, is this an aberration? If they didn’t say anything, then it would be good to call and ask.

my best, patrice

 

[Patrice]

Linda,

It’s got to be either a filler ingredient or perhaps there is too much Vit C in her supplements overall. That is the best indicator when you reach too high of a dose. Look at the label and tell me what is in the ingredient’s list.

I know that Consumer Reports always seems to like Costco brand vitamins and supplements. I don’t have a Costco here, which is annoying, but they are building one. So you can just get the MSM separately.

My friend, who owns Willie’s grandfather, and I have been using tumeric (curcumin) on our dogs and ourselves for a bit now. There are many excellent properties of tumeric. One is mild pain relief and that is why it is in the BJ’s glucosamin/chondrotin supplement.

my best, patrice