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Do dog lovers put too much pressure on Vets?

Monday we are taking our dog to the vet.  What is special about this visit is that we are headed to a new vet, who specializes in dermatology.  Cleo, our senior German Shepherd-Husky continues to suffer from itchy skin, dark spots on your face, bald spots on both sides of her ears and hot spots in various parts of her body, and more.  

Caring for Cleo
We took her for an allergy test last year and that helped to identify several severe food allergies plus some environmental allergies.  However, she is suffering again with compulsive biting and because she knows we will stop her, she takes any unsupervised opportunity to bite herself silly.

Hoping to help her ourselves, we have tried tips from friends and what we have read online:

  • We've been brushing her more often to get any pollen off her fur
  • We add olive oil to her meal occasionally hoping it will help her coat
  • We have medicated shampoo that we have bathed her with
  • On bad days we give her Benedryl
  • We never leave her alone for more than a few minutes at a time

Still she suffers and we need a solution.  We need our life back where we can leave her alone for more than five minutes.  We don't want her to aggravate her skin problems to the point she is forced to wear the cone of shame. So through the recommendation of a trusted friend, we found a new vet specializing in dermatology.  Did we wait too long?

Will we be unable to keep our hopes and expectations in check and not put unreasonable pressure on this vet?  Honestly, I don't know.

Our appointment is on Monday, in a couple of days.  The vet asked us to bring the answers to three questions.  Right now I'm busy writing down the list of ingredients to all of the treats and foods that Cleo eats.  I am also listing out the shampoos we have used so that this vet has a place to start.  She also wants us to write down in our own words what we think is wrong with Cleo and any observations we have that might help.  I like that and am trying to be clear and concise, even putting it in bullet points so she can scan quickly and not waste time with a novel.  As much as everyone knows I could write a novel where Cleo is concerned.

Wish us luck.  Luck for getting closer to a solution for Cleo's woes, and luck that my husband and I will not apply too much pressure on this vet.  I'll let you know how it goes next week.

 

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