Molly

With our trip west, we started noticing changes in Molly, specifically her stools starting getting very liquid. We assumed that it was related to her tendency to get hyper with any new changes, which the trip west certainly was - a new "home" every night practically. When it didn't get any better and in fact got worse after we had been at Butterfield for a while, we decided to get help by taking her to the local vet - Benson Animal Hospital. We took her in the day before Thanksgiving and met with Dr Jo Valentine. She was very pleasant to deal with and offered us some things to do, specifically a prescription of Metronidazol which was an anti-biotic / anti- fungal treatment to rid her of anything that might have been affecting her digestive tract. She also took a stool specimen. Advised that it might be good if Molly had eggs added to her diet.  This course of treatment seemed to work for a while, but as soon as the 5 day prescription ran out, we were back to very loose stools again. After a few days we noticed that her abdomen started appearing "bloated".  We again called the vet in Benson and were lucky to get to take her right in. This time we saw Dr Ellen Grygotis. She was very pleasant to deal with. Her course of action was to do an x-ray to see "what was going on inside of Molly" as well as new blood work. The X-Ray confirmed what she suspected, which was that Molly's abdomen was filled with fluid- which meant she could not get a good look at what was going on. At this point, she could not determine what was going on, whether it was Liver related or some other thing. Her worst fears were that it could be a liver tumor. She recommended escalating and going to Specialist in Tucson to have an abdominal Ultrasound done. Mary called when we got back to the park and lucky for us, they had a cancellation of an appointment the next day and we could take advantage of that opening and go up. We did.

Off to Tucson and Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center and a visit with Dr Dawn Bachman.

Abdominal ultrasound on 12/10/14 revealed moderate ascites(fluid in the abdomen). Mild changes to the small intestines that can be associated with protein losing enteropathy. Lab work revealed low albumin. Based on her history, abdominal ultrasound, and lab work protein losing enteropathy(PLE) was suspected.  Molly was started on prednisone on 12/10/14.  Her attending doctor was Dawn Bachman. She wanted to see Molly again in a week to check progress. On 12/16 we headed back up to Tucson.  Examination findings:
Noted that she was quiet, alert, and responsive. We reported that her stools were starting to get back to normal. While still moist, they at least now have form instead of being completely liquid. She was noted to have generalized muscle wasting. She was noted to have a heart murmur. She had lost 1.4 lbs since last visit. Her blood pressure was normal. Her Albumin showed a mild improvement. All in all, Dr Bachman said she looks great. Decided  to continue with steroids, reduced blood pressure med, and recheck in 1 month or sooner if there are concerns.

We have both been impressed with Dr Bachman. What she has prescribed seems to be working. Molly is starting to act like her old self again, doing some of the things she used to do at home in Vt, like bringing a ball to play with, like barking at me if I wasn't paying sufficient attention to her. Hopefully we are on the right track, as this has been a trying experience, especially when we didn't know and could only suspect what her problem might be. The biggest worry we had was trying to figure out how we would deal with a serious problem. As it was, between the Vets in Benson, and the Vet in Tucson, we've spent in the area of $1500. We both know though, that she is definitely worth this.