This girl!!! Photo taken around 5.5 months of age. She was a monkey.
I decided to write a blog on Miss Elsa’s update because it’s too much to put into a reel. Elsa and I were at the vet this morning and she went through a lot of tests. She had an extensive physical examination, an x-ray, a senior blood panel, urine analysis, and had her blood pressure taken. Our, Vet who I really love is leaning towards her high blood pressure as far as the cause of her recent episodes.
It is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing what because it is like the chicken and the egg analogy. So far what we know.
She had a spinal stroke five years ago, which caused a partial paralysis in her left back leg. Her front legs ankle area has stiffened up causing her to be much less flexible in the front; which may have been caused by the stroke or having her dewclaws removed at 3 days of age. She has something going on with her kidneys; although her last couple of test were better and have stayed the same for a long time now causing the vet to tell me to keep doing what I was doing. She suffers from chronic uti’s due to incorrect anatomy, has laryngeal paralysis, a heart murmur, high blood pressure, and a tumor in her lungs. It’s a lot, I know.
She is a trooper, there is no doubt about that. She never complains and is an amazing patient when having to have anything done. It is not lost on me that this is so much for her; I am constantly doing the “how’s she doing mentally” check ins.
The spinal stroke she has lived with now for over 5 years, crazy. There has been many modifications that have been made over the years to accomodate her physical issues with the fallout of the stroke. We’ve been dealing with her uti’s for about 4-5 years and seem to have them under control pretty much.
The laryngeal paralysis is about a year (I think); I do lose track of time with it all. And as far as I’m concerned, our biggest concern and a deciding factor in decisions to be made down the road. It has gotten worse but very slowly and again there are many modifications to help with this issue. She needs to stay cool, calm and relaxed. Which is one big reason I head out for our walks as early as I do. This coming summer will be a challenge.
The heart murmur and tumor in her lung are the newest issues; along with the seizure like episodes she’s had recently. So, the vet wants to lower her blood pressure immediately; which we’ve tried once, but the medication did not agree with her. Once we get the blood work back we will see if she can go on another type; but her kidney levels need to be okay for that. As I sat with her through her second espisode I knew that it was bad; she cannot do that often, it is far too hard on her with everything else she is dealing with.
And on top of all that she has a tumor on her lung which I shared last year. We found out November 2024 and planned to take her in for another x-ray in May to see what it was doing. Well, we were there today so I asked to have it done while she was having all the other tests. It is growing. Not fast but definitely growing. When you can see a visual difference in 4 months, it’s not good.
Now what? We try to keep her as cool as we can. She adores lying in the sun and warming her old body but that is kept to very short bits of enjoyment. Walks, as you know are done very early in the morning. The difference that the temperature makes for her is huge. We will get some of her results tomorrow and if everything looks pretty good she will go on blood pressure meds.
For her uti’s, our Vet recommended putting Dr. Reddy’s 1% Silver Sulfadianzine cream on her “privates.” This has really made a difference if it is done each night before bed. She goes out before bed, comes in and stands to be dried and applied. ;)
There are other things that we are dealing with but these are the ones that get the most attention, right now that is.