UPDATE 5/29/13: After the last culture, Jessie was put on a new antibiotic for 30 days to treat her sinus infection. It seemed that within 3 days of stopping the meds, Jessie's drainage came back. Frustrated, we tried another approach and decided to remove what we believed was a problematic canine. On the 29th, Jessie had her dental surgery and she lost all 4 canines (not just 1). Jessie was a trooper through her procedure and has some slick x-rays to show why it was necessary to lose these teeth now (she did suffer a bit of bone loss). The vet tooth fairy left Jessie with a new bandana and a prescription of clindamycin. In 3 weeks she'll have another checkup but we anticipate this will finally fix her chronic problem. She is already responding to the medication and is eating soft food (rice with ground turkey breast). Since the infection began, she has become a pretty fussy eater. The good news is that despite the change in diet, Jessie's albumin levels are within normal range so her PLE condition is being well managed.

UPDATE: 1/9/13 Well little Jessie has been bothered for two months now with nasal drainage. She has been on a combination of antiobiotics, none of which have helped. She had a dental and 2 nasal flushes on Jan 7 and we are waiting for the results of the culture of material that was removed to determine which antiobiotic should be used for her. The flush has helped significantly and although she is still sneezing, there is no colored mucus. Her appetite has improved which is good because her albumin level dropped to 2 which is .5 below the low end of normal. When the culture results are back, we'll know how to treat her going forward.

UPDATE - 10/19/11: Hi everyone, it's Jessie from Wisconsin and I'm still here and doing quite well. I just had two checkups recently for my eyes and a little sinus problem. My eyes are doing great thanks to my daily drops and I've got some antibiotics for a tooth problem that is probably making me sneezy. I weigh a sleek 6 pounds, 5 ounces and foster mom has to keep tightening up my harness. I now have an official pet sitter, Jenny, who comes each day and takes me and Buddy, Minnie and our new foster, Vanessa, out for walks and belly rubs. I let Jenny hold me and put my eye drops in when foster mom has to travel. I'm quite the good girl but still am afraid of other people when foster mom isn't around (yep, I still stress poop when someone else tries to pick me up). I guess it's a habit that is hard to lose. I do like Vanessa who has had puppies like I did. We are couch buddies and even though she is bigger, she is still very gentle with me. Well, I've got to go get dinner now...I do love my meals!

UPDATE - 05/17/11: Jessie has been doing extremely well in terms of managing her Protein Losing Enteropathy condition and her dry eye condition. Her most recent eye exam showed such marked improvement in her tearing readings, she is now able to have her eye drop meds administered only once a day as opposed to twice a day. The eye ulcer she had developed is actually filling in and is less visible. Jessie remains on her prednisone and lasix medications and will be going for a dental this week. She has made strides in accepting new people into the home and will approach for attention and chin rubs; but she still shies away if anyone tries to get closer to pet her. Jessie is very challenging to photograph; she always turns away and I have to catch her unaware in order to get a full face picture. She just had a bath when this latest picture was taken and was too tired after bathing, drying and nail trimming to fuss about the camera. She is snuggled on the sofa where she enjoys all the extra throws that make cushy napping spots.

UPDATE - 8/3/10: Jessie had another issue with her dry eye condition and needed some extra medication at mid July. Additionally, we discovered she had a urinary tract infection that required another course of antibiotics beyond the vaccination she received. Thankfully we asked to have a culture done and learned the bacteria she had was resistant to the antibiotic vaccination she was given. Jessie is a trooper and takes it all in stride although she was getting fussy about taking her pills. I now have to hide them in little bits of hot dog. Jessie decided she liked sleeping in a crate that was intended for her "sister", Minnie who had luxating patella surgery. When Minnie isn't using the crate for quiet time, Jessie goes in there to catch a few zzzzz's. Even though it's all open, she must feel it is a secure spot.

UPDATE - 5/2/10: Jessie just had her annual exam, updates to her vaccinations, a dental cleaning (woo hoo no extractions!) and had a mammary tumor removed. We hope this growth is benign. Jessie's bloodwork was much improved. Her albumin level tested at 3.4 (best yet) and her total protein was 6.0. The diet and her continuing meds are working well. Jessie's jaw lump resurfaced in January and she has been on two antibiotics for an 8 week period that took care of this. During her dental procedure, an x-ray was taken to see if the lump was related to a tooth or tooth root. The jaw bone is normal and nothing appeared suspicious with her teeth. So future lumps may be able to need only one antibiotic for treatment (unfortunately the one she likes least). Despite all the medicine she needs, Jessie is a good little girl who loves to catch sun rays and snooze the day away. She doesn't mind when Buddy snuggles into the same bed with her...in fact I think she likes it!

Update - 02/27/10: Jessie was diagnosed with a dry eye condition last November. She also had developed an ulcer on one eye so she got to visit a doggie opthamologist to take care of these problems. Despite Jessie's estimated age, she has no cataracts and her eyes are otherwise healthy. She had problems tolerating the cyclosporine and so she has been on a different tear medication for the last 4 months. Her last checkup tear tests were excellent. Jessie will need the eye drops for the rest of her life. She is still doing well with her special ZD diet and other meds and now that construction is finished at home, she is less stressed. Jessie is very camera shy so it is quite hard to get a nice picture of her. But we'll keep trying :-).

Update - 01/01/10: Happy New Year everybody.

Well I’ve had some health issues in the last 3 months. First, I developed an ulcer in my left eye. I was squinting all the time so foster mom took me to a doggie ophthalmologist. It turns out that in addition to the ulcer, I have that dry eye condition that Yorkies can get. So I’ve had to get eye drops twice a day for the last month or so. My ulcer is gone and my eyes look pretty good. I had to wear one of those nasty collars, but don't need it anymore. But I’ll need drops for the rest of my life.

Then, since I thought foster mom needed some excitement, I ate part of an onion on New Year’s day. Foster mom called the ASPCA hotline and they said I needed treatment based on the amount I ate. So we took a trip to the ER vet where they made me vomit and then stay overnight to get fluids and other stuff to be sure the onion didn’t get absorbed. I sure didn’t know that onions were bad…it seemed to taste ok. But I guess onions affect blood cells and I needed 3 blood tests over the next 5 days to be sure I was ok. Thankfully I am. My next adventure will be a dental procedure since my teeth aren’t looking too tip-top. I’ll let you know how that all comes out.

UPDATE - 10/30/09: We are doing a long taper for Jessie to reduce her need for prednisone to manage her PLE condition. She now gets 1/4 of a 5 mg pill. Her last liver panel shows Total Protein and Albumin levels in the low normal range. Jessie's life has been jolted recently with the death of her pal, Lexi. In addition her foster home is undergoing remodeling. Jack hammers, power nail guns and the traffic of workmen coming and going has proved stressful to her. During the day she must be confined to an area with her other pal, Buddy, listening to some "doggie anti-stress music" playing to help keep her calm. Needless to say, Jessie is very happy to see foster mom return home and jumps on her hind legs as a welcome. Soon, grandpa will move into the home and that will be another adjustment for Jessie. Thankfully grandpa isn't noisy and doesn't move fast, so she should be able to adapt to this change as well.

UPDATE - 04/23/09: Jessie's certainly doing well. Her last hepatic panel shows normal results for Total Protein and Albumin. She now weighs 6 pounds, 12 ounces and acting spunky. Her favorite job is to bark at the neighbors when they are in their backyard, or bark at the critters she sees in her backyard. She is always happy to see me when I walk in the door and she still enjoys laying near me when I'm relaxing. She still fears others, but doesn't bark if they stay seated. They just can't get up and move around :P. She got a bath for her vet visit and a little trim up. Check out her new pics.

UPDATE - 02/28/09: Jessie's last liver panel looks normal (third good test in a row now), so we are reducing her prednisone level to 2mg per day. She still is taking lasix. She will have another test in two months and at that time we may be reducing her prednisone dosage. The lump on her jaw is totally gone and there is no indication it will return. She is definitely feeling better and acting spunky :-). She's a little love bug (just with foster mom though).

UPDATE - 12/18/08: Jessie's last blood test showed an albumin reading of 3.0, so we have had two successful tests with improving and normal readings. Jessie is winding down on her antibiotic regimen for the lump on her jaw. The lump had decreased to the point it became moveable...a sign it was not connected to the bone. As of this date, it is barely noticeable to the touch. She is still on the 2.5 mg of prednisone daily and I can see she is feeling well and spunky again.

FOSTER MOM: Sandi Wendt: sandimwendt@yahoo.com