Puppy Capers, Penelope goes to the vet.

Last night I rolled Penelope over, to scratch her belly. She loves that, because she is a very itchy dog. She has been itchy since we got her, but I assumed it was just because she had been out, wandering for weeks possibly. Who knew what she had been into at that point. I figured a few baths with some anti-itch shampoo would help. It however, has not.

Mid scratch

(Picture NOT taken by me.)

Anyway, I rolled her over, and saw, to my horror that her puppy armpits were covered in red spots. Really itchy looking spots. No wonder she was trying to get cooled off. The poor pup was so uncomfortable that she couldn't help it.

It makes me itch just looking at it. Her underside is nearly covered with this rash.

This morning, I took Penelope with us in the car to drop Rhayn off at chess camp. Then we headed to our local veterinaian. He only does walk-ins. And I have to say, I heart that guy. He is awesome.

We walked into the vet's office, and there was no one else there. We were taken back within minutes. First Penelope was weighed- twenty-eight pounds. Then the vet and his assistant came in, gently lifted her onto the table and started looking at her. The assistant held her and petted her reassuringly while the vet took her temperature, listened to her heart and slowly checked her skin.

After that they rolled her over onto her side to check out her legpits. He said, "Its an allergy, and a staph infection." He gave her her vaccinations and a steroid shot to help. Then he gave her two prescriptions, one an antihistamine, Temaril-P and the other an antibiotic, Cephalexin. She will take the antihistamine for fifteen days and the antibiotic for twenty. Hopefully this goes away, but chances are that it won't.

Lily's dappled skin.

You see, white (or unpigmented) pitties are likely to develop skin issues. Lily doesn't have any, but she has very little white skin, mostly she is dappled. Lily is basically bald besides her back. It talked about that in this article, that adding fish oil to their diet is a good thing. But then again, Lily is not the pup with an allergy. It may take awhile to figure out if her allergy is food related, or environmental. I will keep her on the food she is currently eating, at least until it runs out. Then I will research dog foods.

Remember our cat Beckham, otherwise known as the best cat ever? He had allergies and would get similar lesions on his back. We would take him in for allergy shots every time it would get bad. Poor kitty. Maybe Penelope is his reincarnation? They both chose us and they were both strays. Maybe I should avoid strays from now on? They seem to be racked with ailments. Oh well, I think Penelope is turning into an awesome dog. Even though she digs, she is a beautiful, sweet girl.