Sweetie’s Progress- September 2009

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

SWEETIE BLOG FOUR: September Report

She’s lost four pounds! And her blood values continue to be excellent as we approach the first anniversary of her diagnosis, December 15, 2008. She has responded remarkably well to low-dose, alternate day Prednisolone combined with CEENU administered orally every 21 days. I see her only every third week now to examine her and check her blood values. Her weak right hind leg continues to be her biggest problem, but now that she has lost a little weight, we have started a very simple fitness program. Ron, an athlete himself, will ask her to do a five Sit-to-Stand commands twice daily. I have asked Ron to be sure she has her right side against a wall so that she can’t cheat, letting her weak leg wing out to the side. With all Ron has done for Sweetie, I know that she’ll be building up her quadriceps well over the next three weeks until I see her again in October.

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Sweeties Progress-April and May

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Everyone at Pleasant Valley Animal Hospital is very pleased with how well Sweetie has done since we decreased her prednisolone dose. There has been no evidence of any relapse of her leukemia, and all of her liver enzymes have returned to normal values. In fact, it seems her biggest problem is one common to many of our older pets – arthritis and lower back pain which is limiting her enjoyment of spring and her hikes at Vanderbilt Mansion. As reported in March, we are using acupuncture and Adequan, but, if her blood values stay in the normal range, we may add other pain medications to see if they help her more than the Adequan and acupuncture have to date. Nevertheless, we have been very happy with her response to treatment so far, and are eagerly anticipating her exam and blood test results at the end of June, since that will be her six month milestone.

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