Bingo found a home

i can imagine. Hounds need work. While grey and dull I was able to have the front door open and the storm door screen open to.

Well, the nice weather yesterday and today have done good for Bingo. He's been able to spend time outside and go for walks. He is a much happier dog.

I can imagine. Had the front door open, didn't have the screen open. Still it was a pretty day.

Monday was gorgeous compared to yesterday and today. I even had my patio door open to let the breeze in while I worked packing more boxes. Bij got to sniff a bit at the door when he escorted me out of the building.

It's still sunny, but today was chilly. Tomorrow will be too, and then it's supposed to rain. (sigh) We've been enjoying the nice, dry weather.

Time to break out the doggie raincoat if you have one.

No doggie raincoat. Just winter coat and fleece blankets. It's ok though. Bingo doesn't like to stay out long in the rain.

Today was bath day. It's so nice to have an unsmelly dog.

I can imagine that doesn't last nearly long enough for you. Has he rolled in anything yet?

He's actually VERY good about that. So far (a little over a year), he hasn't come in smelling like dead things. Since he doesn't wander, and we try to keep stinky things away, we are lucky.

Still smelling good!

Bingo's ear is bothering him again. I'm cleaning it like crazy, but it keeps getting nasty. The pollen is insane, so I'm sure his allergies are kicking in bad. We've been giving him Benadryl. It seems to help.

I had a Brittainy like that. Drove us both crazy.

I am working from home tomorrow. I'll call the vet. Maybe he just needs a shot to get through the season. I'm not thrilled with the idea of more antibiotic cream for his ear. We just finished a course, and too many antibiotics just make stronger germs.

The shot might be the way to go. I gather the vet has ruled out a yeast infection.

Well... No shot. He does have a really bad, sore ear with a pretty hideous infection from scratching it. He has a different kind of antibiotic drops (once/day), SMZ pills (twice/day), Prednizone (once/day sliding down to 1/2 every other day) for allergies, Cortizone cream for the ear (as needed). He takes more meds than Gateway! But... Even though he's only had one dose, the Cortizone cream seems to be making a big difference. He has brighter eyes, and he isn't constantly scratching his ear.

That's good. The meds can be a pain in the patootie still there is something to be said for better living through chemistry.

Improvement already. His ear is still swollen, but it isn't as hot. We're continuing with the Cortizone cream whenever he starts to scratch. He was a bit sneezy this morning, but that seems to have passed. We'll give him another generic Claritin tonight. That's once/day rather than the Benadryl, which is every 12 hours. That means fewer pills. Fortunately, he's all about the Pill Pockets.

That's good.

Pill pockets are great. I used to make my own with hot dogs for Nicki Sue's meds. She loved it.

Glad to hear the meds are starting to work for Bingo. Allergies are NO fun at all.

We used hot dogs, but we wanted the fancy ones for the yucky antibiotics. He is an expert at eating the hot dog and spitting out the pill. So far, the other things work great. I hate the smell of the duck flavored one, but the peanut butter ones are better.

As long as they work, who cares what it smells like? It's gone in a flash isn't it?

It is! He loves both flavors.

Today, he dropped to 1/2 a prednisone pill every other day. I am supposed to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't start scratching. After a few every other doses, I scale him back some more. We want to give him as little of it as possible because there are side effects. I hope we can stop altogether in a month or two. We'll be getting into heavy tree pollen here in a couple weeks. I plan to have enough prednisone on hand for that. It might not be the problem, but I have a feeling it is. His problems started about when the flowering trees bloomed and the other trees started to show fat buds/baby leaves.

I'm going to cut the prednisone quickly. Today, poor Bingo had to pee so bad that he was lifting his leg in the house. Two of the side effects are increased thirst and urination. He has those. When he has to go, he can't hold it. The sooner we cut the dose (and maybe stop it), the better.

I understand. I having taking some heavy duty stuff for my allergies.

It's also making him grumpy (another known side effect). He's barked at Mouski, and he NEVER does that. Time to cut the meds more!