Choya Cleared Another Annual Medical

Took the dog to her annual medical. I completely forgot about the spleen ultrasound and fed her a tiny bit of breakfast. So obviously that spleen ultrasound couldn't be done. I would probably schedule it at some point, but looking at her bloodwork, I felt a tad complacent. Maybe we'd skip it this year.

Her titer test reflected that she still has antibodies for distemper, parvovirus and adenovirus. She wouldn't need these vaccines for another year. Yayyy. I'm anti-vaccination. I'm just not for over-vaccination. She got her essential leptospirosis vaccine renewed — there're no antibodies against that. Leptospirosis is bacterial. There's also no cure for distemper either — that's viral.   

She took the two needles (one for blood draw and one for leptospirosis vaccine) like a champ and came back out all gleeful. Had to stop her from bothering the bandage on her hind leg. I didn't give her a full dose of Gabapentin in the morning — only a quarter. The weather was fine, so I didn't want to over-dose her. 

She weighed in at 7.2kg. Haizzzzz. It's so tough to get her to 7.5kg even. I don't really want her to get to 8kg. She has patella luxation on both her hind legs. It's through a combination of fascia release, muscle building, and movement exercises that I've managed to keep surgery at bay. I hope her CCL never ruptures so that she wouldn't need to do surgery at all.

After we were done at the clinic, the husband and I had a quick bite at the kopitiam next door. Then took Choya home to have her lunch. Gave her a big fat mussel to boost her iron and omega levels. She was hungry and was very pleased with lunch. After all that, she was so fatigued that she took a loooong afternoon nap. 

Sometimes I get more nervous than the dog does about this annual medical thing. I'm more nervous about Choya than my own medicals. She'll be eight this year, and that's almost half her potential lifespan. By next year, she'll be a senior dog. That isn't lost on me. She might not feel it yet, but she'll be slowing down soon. That might give her angst. I'm trying to ease her into the ageing process, and to keep her as healthy as possible. 

I'm thankful that at 47 years old, I'm not in peri-menopause yet. I thank my fitness regime and diet. Maybe a bit of alcohol too. If I'm so attentive about my own wellness and health, then I'm equally fastidious about Choya's.