Updates on Elka and Mali.

... not to leave Kayne out, but he's in great health and doesn't require me to discuss how great he is. He knows how great he is.

Elka is finally done with her medication. She had worms when I got her for the shelter but she finally tested negative. Yay.

Now, Mali... I asked Dr. Huff if we could do some serious diagnostic work. We still have no idea what is causing all her problems; we just treat reactively and hope. I'm sick of that - I want to know what's going on and either deal with it or accept it.

So, she had a biopsy and ultrasound. Her kidneys are small and malformed; we knew that. They're working fine currently - all levels normal.

Her liver is in bad shape. High ALP and that's what is causing all of this. It appears she has an infiltrative disease; and the antibiotics are really masking things. Apparently, her white blood cells think there is an infection there and keep sending more out to fix it - but there's no infection. We're doing food allergy tests this week to see if that is a cause, and she started b12 injections to stimulate her appetite (once a week, I do the injections). We're hoping that a series of steroids will help fix up her liver once and for all. So, she'll be on these meds for a month and tested. Once her liver is cleared up, she'll come off these medications. If the problem stays gone; then yay! If not, we still have to figure out what is causing it. Hence the food allergy testing, in case it is a food allergy.

I am really hoping that we can get this thing under control. But to do that, we have to figure out what "this thing" is.

I did some weeding in the yard today, with Elka on a 30' leash. It was not fun, but it had to be done. I don't think I have a penchant for landscaping or gardening.

More pictures of the tank coming tonight or tomorrow hopefully. Elka graduates from Puppy Obedience on Wednesday, so we'll be back down to one class a week for a little while; after which she'll move on to Intermediate Obedience.

yawns I need a nap.