Smith Goes to the Vet
Smith is settling into Texas pretty well. She's an old dog and the trip across country was difficult for her. But we found a vet, and last week I took her in and had blood work done. She's twelve (average lifespan for a Golden in 12-14) and she takes pills for her thyroid and pills for her arthritis and all those pills can cause her problems. She also takes Pepcid AC and a vitamin supplement and glucosamine.
Her coat hasn't been right. And, for a lot of reasons I can't explain, I just thought something was wrong. The blood tests came back indicating she made have Cushings Disease. It's a disease where a tumor on either the pituitary or the adrenal gland causes a reduction in the production of cortical steroids. The good news is that there's a very good chance this will just mean another pill, and then she'll have more energy and be more her old self.
She goes to the vet for more tests tomorrow. My sweet old girl.
posted by Maureen McHugh at 7:17 PM
2 Comments:
I hope her prognosis is good. Golden retrievers are such wonderful dogs. I have fond memories of the golden that my nephew raised and trained for Guide Dogs for the Blind back in the late seventies.
I had always felt sorry for guide dogs but Milo absolutely loved being a guide dog. He would come in and gently grab someone by the arm and take them outside to lead around the back yard.
Stuart
What a wonderful golden! I rescued 2 goldens in 1997, they died at age 14 [female] and 13 1/2 [male]. currently dogless, but I help out with local Golden Retriever rescue. they are the greatest dogs.
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