Searching for a new vet

So, Dr. N and I decided to part ways for this portion of Reo's treatment.  This meant I needed to find a vet who would be willing to do hormone injections.  Dr. P suggested that I contact NVDS and have them send me a list of veterinarians in my area who have submitted blood for the EI-1 panel test previously.  I did so, and there was only *one* vet in my city who had done so!  The other vets were predominantly in two other states.

I picked up the phone and started calling.  Most times I had to leave a message.  In order to try and get the vets to call me back, I told the offices that I had a dog with "atypical Addison's disease".  I explained that I got the vet office's name from NVDS as one who had submitted blood for an EI-1 panel, and I wanted to speak with the doctor about the treatments undertaken for these animals.

This was a long and frustrating process.  Many of the doctors never returned my calls - how disappointing!  Some doctors who did return my call, either didn't remember the patients for the EI-1 panel, or the patients didn't have similar issues as Reo.  My list of about 50 veterinarians was quickly dwindling.

I had a great conversation with one vet about 3 hours (one-way) from me, who was also a holistic vet.  He had had good success with Dr. P's treatment, and I was impressed that a holistic veterinarian would proceed with such a "radical" treatment as hormone injections.  He told me that in one case he used Caroline's injectable suggestions, and in one case he used Dr. P's.  In both cases the dogs recovered both their health, and some functional vision.  This was really encouraging for me!  He agreed to treat Reo if we could not find someone closer to us.  But, I easily would have driven the 3 hours, even in hindsight.  I was only becoming more and more determined to get Reo the help she needed!

Fortunately, the vet in my city called me back.  Dr. O spent several minutes speaking with me about his personal experience with Dr. P's methods for his (human) family.  He agreed that IM DepoMedrol injections are somewhat "unorthodox" according to traditional veterinary medicine, but that (to paraphrase) "I'm only human - I can't claim to understand everything, but am willing to try - let's do this!".  I honestly could not believe the relief I felt.

But, before we got the hormone injections, we needed to make sure that Reo was doing better.  Her liver needed to heal, and she needed to complete her round of Baytril.  If we could repeat the CBC and see some improvement instead of decline, then we would proceed with the injections.

04/20/11 - Upped Reo's Medrol dosage to 1.0 mg, on the recommendation of Dr. P.  I began to notice some  problems with Reo's bowel movements.  She seemed to be straining quite a lot, but not much waste being produced (of course, she hadn't really been eating very much).

04/21/11 - Reo went back to Dr. N for more fluids and a Baytril injection.  We confirmed our mutual respect for each other's position, and I told Dr. N that I was actively looking for another vet to help us with the injections.
Dr. N taught me how to do a sub-cutaneous injection, so I could give Reo her Baytril shot once a day for a couple more days.
Fortunately, Reo was back to eating again - she was definitely liking the Wellness canned food, even though I felt guilty for giving her canned.

04/22/11 - Reo had an accident in bed last night.  Again, just sleeping in a puddle of urine and didn't seem to be aware that anything was amiss.
On the advice of Dr. P, I switched Reo to 4 small meals a day, comprised mostly of carbohydrates.  This was to be easier on her liver.  Remember that the liver is responsible for breaking down protein, so if she were to get only 2 meals per day of mostly protein, this could be overloading her liver.  Based on her last CBC, I definitely wanted to go as easy as possible on Reo's liver.
I got some tilapia and cod filets, and some white potatoes and cooked it up for Reo.  She was not impressed!  I eventually figured out that Reo didn't like the white potatoes, so I switched to white rice instead.

Dr. P suggested a supplement called Nutrimin, which is a 100% natural, calcium montmorillonite clay.  I myself have taken bentonite clay in the past while on a nutritional cleanse, so it wasn't completely foreign to me.  I read the information below, and decided to order some for Reo.  I was particularly interested in the digestive/GI tract soothing, immune system support, and liver support that this product could offer.

You can find more about Nutrimin here:  http://healthypetnetwork.net/?p=900 and here:  http://www.healthypetnetwork.org/nutramin.htm

Reo's meal plan became 4 meals/day of 2 Tbsp white rice, 1 Tbsp canned food, and 1/4 tsp of Nutrimin (in addition to her hormone pills).  We had still abandoned all other supplements.

04/24/11 - Mood seems to be improved, and she even played with one of her toys today!
I was still noticing Reo straining when she tried to have a bowel movement.  Her stool was quite soft, but not runny.  Sean and I started calling it "soft serve", which may prevent me from enjoying such a cone again in the future!

04/26/11 - Started to notice Reo becoming very restless in the evenings.  She would just wander around the house.  She didn't need to go outside, have any water, etc.  She was just restless.
We went back to see Dr. N today to get some blood drawn for another CBC to check Reo's liver.  Over the past week, Reo's appetite definitely improved and she was eating, so I was hopeful that things would look better.