[Dailydrool] Elsinore's tumor, part 1

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

Our Elsinore and I spent the afternoon at the vet's today. I went in with a list of behavior changes Ken and I have been concerned about, and I came out with another list, this time of approaches we can take to diagnosing and treating the lump on Elsinore's rump.

For most of the year Elsinore has indulged in a variety of new behaviors. She obsessively licks whatever bed she's on until the fourth or fifth time she's told to please stop it already. She acts as if she's feeling the heat of summer more than she ever has before, choosing to lie on the hardwoods, which is different, and panting more. For the record, this summer has been cooler than the previous four. She sleeps more often and more deeply, even snoring now, which she didn't used to do. She's grumpy at night, swearing at me if I pat her but then nudging my hand when I stop, so I get a mixed message.

Back in February she had back pain we successfully treated with ten days of Rimadyl and a chiropractic adjustment. But since then, she hasn't wanted to be locked up in her crate. She'll go and sit in it as a signal that I should feed her a snack now, but she doesn't want to be shut up in it anymore. Yet we must lock her in her crate when we leave because we must leave the alarm on, and the police weren't happy when she tripped it last year (for some reason Ken shut the crate door but failed to latch it). 

So I lock her in her crate with a treat, and when I come home she's all in a hysterical lather. The front of her dewlap is wet with slobber (and she's a naturally dry-mouthed basset), there's spittle all over the floor around her crate, her crate pad is wet with spittle (and from being licked, I guess), and she's panting, panting, panting. It's gotten so bad that I try not to be away from the house for more than three hours because I'm concerned she's going to get herself so worked up she'll have a heart attack.

When I let her out of her crate, she races to her water bowl and drinks until I pick it up (to avoid bloat), and half the time she'll then tear outside to take a long, wandering, rather loosely formed dump, even though I gave her the opportunity to take care of things before I left. 

I was telling the woman who sells me dog food about this, and her response was to have Elsinore's thyroid levels checked. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Especially since our late Jane Basset was treated for hypothyroidism for half her life (chronic ear infections caused by untreated allergies shot her thyroid function). Out-of-whack thyroids could explain her increased sensitivity to heat and the other behavioral changes. 

The vet did a thorough work-up on Elsinore. He took blood to run a full panel, including thyroid, and he did an EKG, which shows her heart looks fine. I brought him some videos of Elsinore sleeping so he could hear her breathing, and he said it sounds as if her sleeping respiration rate is good but wants me to take it more formally one evening. The vet said, depending on the results of the blood work, he can prescribe doggie Prozac to help take the edge of Elsinore's increasing intensity, especially when locked in her crate. She's always been a rather intense personality, so much so that I'll joke about her really having a terrier instead of a basset inside her skin. But lately her intensity has become more intense.

To be continued in part 2, because I'm afraid of this post being so long it has to be rejected……

Elizabeth