Loki News

The boy saw the vet today, he was examined top to bottom (literally) by Ken. So let's start at the top. I asked him to look at his eyes as we had noticed changes, yes he has cataracts, not dramatically thick at the moment, so they won't be affecting his sight very much yet, but of course they will with time. Ken agreed his coat/skin condition is poor. I feel I've been mentioning this to different vets monthly and getting the reply of, "well it's the steroids," from each one without any suggestions for improving the situation. Ken suggested I add oil to his diet, (logical really, but I was scared of upsetting his stomach) I said I had salmon oil, but he said corn or sunflower oil may be better as they are also rich in calories which may help with his weight too. He is so thin that it goes through me to dry/brush him. Keeping him lean is important for his poor mobility, but no matter how much he eats he remains too thin. (He has an extra meal, so gets more than the other boys.) I'll try the oil, but the last thing an incontinent dog needs is diarrhoea. So now to the bottom bit .. Loki didn't respond very much to having his bottom examined, he seemed quite unaware that he had a finger up his bottom (Well say it as it is) though Ken said there was some response there. There is no feeling at all in his tail now, obviously we've noticed it just hangs, and has done for a long time. The only concern is that he is unaware of it so we have to notice for him, on the other hand, since it just hangs close to his bottom, it hasn't yet caused any issues. Loki was total unaware that Ken had put him to stand on his knuckles, so there is very little feeling in his back feet now, thankfully the front was better, he needs his front to be stronger more so than his back end to get up and get about. His worst time was when he was knuckling on the front. I think that's it, top to bottom, his heart is strong and steady .... and he weighs 39.2kg. 

So ask me "how is Loki?" Well, despite it all, Loki is a happy boy living his life to the full, yeah Loki is still doing amazingly well! 

(I also took Sammi with me today, I was curious what she weighed - 32.2kg - I think that's spot on really. I know she's a large female, but even at 34kg she did look overweight.)