Lucie Update :)

After Lucie's visit to Texas A & M, we were waiting on results of another tic panel.

Lucie Results Jan 23 10

They found something that they wanted to explore further so we sent Lucie's blood to North Carolina State University to run a PCR test. While that was being completed our Vet completed her two week check up blood work and no protein was found in her urine. This was excellent news!

On February 18 our Vet, Dr Johnson, called me with news about the PCR test. It was negative! So, whatever was in her system that was making her ill is now gone. This was the best news to receive! He asked if I had tried taking her off of the Rimadyl again. He said that I really need to try taking her off of it. So, she received her last dose on the morning of February 18th and she has been fine without it! I have been hesitating with making this post because I didn't want to jinx anything but things are looking good :)

Lucie has been acting like a puppy again! 100% playful all the time!

When she sits down you can still see where she favors one side or the other and when she is running around playing you can hear her legs crackle but that is it. She is careful when jumping up on things and still prefers to be lifted up at this point. Our spoiled little princess!

Her favorite thing to do now is to play with a ball by herself. She will keep herself amused for hours doing this! I just love watching her have fun and at times I can just hardly believe it. 

Lucie will stay on low dose aspirin and Plavix forever to reduce the chance of additional blood clots. Dr. Johnson is also taking a close look at what yearly shots she will receive. We don't want her to contract anything new but we want to be smart about what goes into her system due to her condition.

I looked into pet insurance to help with the cost of her meds, Plavix is not cheap when purchasing it for a dog, but what I found is that congenital defects are not covered so it would not be beneficial to us. Regardless of the cost, we will continue to do everything we can for our little girl!

A little taste of Lucie playing outside this morning!

We are looking forward to taking Lucie on a trip with us to Ouray, Colorado in July. If any of our blogging friends are familiar with this area or are from here we would love any tips you could provide!