Poppy Update–Good News

I cannot tell you all how much your care and concern means to us.  I am truly humbled when I think that people, many of whom I have never met, would care enough to read my blog in the first place, but then go out of their way and take their time to leave a word of encouragement or a suggestion.  WOW!  It really does help and it means so much to us that others care and understand.

We had the mobile vet (Dr. Bonnie) out this afternoon and her assessment was a bit different from Dr. X.  Dr. X is suppose to be an eye expert but he has not even bothered to check Poppy’s eyes the last two visits even though we have told him how goopy they are.  Dr. Bonnie did a real thorough check and said there is an active infection and gave us some antibiotic eye drops, without steroids.  Dr. X said he couldn’t give her any antibiotic eye drops as they all have steroids and that raises her blood sugar.



Dr. Bonnie found full anal glands;  Dr. X never even checked.  She found arthritis in Poppy’s back; Dr. X never checked.  I feel that Dr. X gets tunnel vision and all he sees is an old dog with diabetes and senility who probably needs to be put down sooner rather than later.  I can’t say he is not a good vet, but I kinda feel as though he has distanced himself from Poppy as she gets older and has not provided the best of care.



We did not get that feeling from Dr. Bonnie.  She said Poppy may have some old age senility but her discomfiture is more likely from having lots of changes in her environment lately – kids and dogs and company at Christmas time and then the loss of Punkin.  She prescribed Prozac for Poppy and an arthritis drug other than Rimadyl (which Poppy won’t take). 

Dr. Bonnie also did not see the harm in traveling with Poppy in the motor home, since Poppy loves it and is comfortable in its environs.  Dr. X said we should not take Poppy anywhere.  I almost felt he was asking us to make a choice between Poppy  and traveling…almost like another push to put her down. 



So we are supposed to just sit at home and wait for Poppy to die???  I don’t think so.  As long as she is happy and comfortable, we should be living life to the fullest and enjoying the time we have left together.  I didn’t feel that way with Rusty as travel was very hard on him and so we willingly postponed trips while he was still with us.  But Poppy is happiest when she is in a vehicle and so travel we shall!  If we have a bad night from time to time, we’ll deal with that if it comes up.

I don’t know if the Prozac will help.  Dr. Bonnie said it would take a couple of weeks to take effect but she gave us enough for 90 days to get us through any travels we might do.  Poppy is so much better today that we are feeling more hopeful.  She is a completely different dog than she was a couple of days ago.  She slept through the night with 1/4 tablet of tranquilizer and awoke refreshed this morning.  She even managed a few rounds of “run, Poppy, run”…her favorite indoor running game.  She won’t run outside but will race through the house while I clap for her and shout “run,Poppy, run.”  What a smile she gets on her face with this game…me too!!

So even though we may still have a bad night from time to time, we are feeling more hopeful.  Poppy is the last of our pets and is more like a child to us than anything else.  We want to keep her around for as long as she wants to stay and as long as she is not in pain.  I think we may be on the right track here with trying some new meds and different perspective from a new vet.  Dr. Bonnie has agreed to be our primary caregiver for Poppy and we couldn’t be happier with her.



Thanks again for all your care and encouraging comments.  Plans for a February trip *WITH POPPY* are full speed ahead.