Ollie’s Vet Visit Today

~ beetleypete

***Another update following Ollie’s illness last week.***

Ollie had to go back to see his regular Vet today. Fortunately, he had a better day yesterday, and didn’t seem to be so distressed. He slept well and was eager to get into the car this morning.

The Vet looked at him in the car first, (social distancing) before taking him inside for an examination. A little while later he returned with a provisional diagnosis. Ollie’s chest and heart were all fine, and his temperature in the normal range. The Vet concluded that he may have developed a reaction to the steroids he is often given to control his skin problems. That reaction is well known, and often causes hyperventilating, and breathing issues.

His advice is to immediately stop all remaining medication, and wait to see if Ollie improves dramatically in the next 48 hours. If he is no better by the end of this week, then he will have to go back for blood tests to try to find out if there is anything more sinister causing the problem. If he makes a full recovery, then it will prove it was the medication, and he will need no extra tests.

So once again, we have a couple of days watching him closely, and hoping for the best.

72 thoughts on “Ollie’s Vet Visit Today”

    1. Thanks, Karen. He has a ‘special’ hypo-allergenic shampoo, which we leave with the groomer. Once his breathing calms down completely, we will arrange for him to have a soothing bath. 🙂
      (And I agree, oatmeal couldn’t hurt)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  11. Steroids are horrible. Duke, the mastiff cross next door, was given steroids for a skin problem and he was permanently hungry. He spent his days wandering between our two back doors looking for food and became quite nasty to the other dogs if they were near any food he’d laid claim to (a potential nightmare with a big dog. Two of the ‘other dogs’ are terrier pups.)
    Fortunately he returned to his usual dopey self almost as soon as he came off them, although it takes two weeks to get them out of his system.

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    1. Ollie has had steroids on and off for years, Cathy. Other than being hungry, they don’t change his mood, and have never affected him previously. If it is that, at least stopping them will sort out his breathing issues in time.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth. If the Vet is right, at the very least it will save us a small fortune in additional tests, x-rays, and scans. Not that we would hesitate to pay for them if needed.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. As has been commented by many of your other followers, Ollie is the epitome of every lovely dog, every beloved pet – we are all united in love and good wishes for him and his humans.

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  26. Sorry to hear Ollie has been unwell, Pete. Glad he had a better day yesterday though. One of our dogs, Molly, a border terrier cross Jack Russell, experienced something very similar last year. Like Ollie, it was throughout the night that she was struggling, hyperventilating and sometimes making a choking sound. I apologise I can’t remember what the exact cause was, but she too was prescribed steroids, which also helped with her arthritis. I remember it happening during the warmer weather, we made sure she had a fan nearby and one of them mats that can help keep pets cool. This did help significantly. Sending Ollie big hugs and wishing him a speedy recovery.

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