Rudy's Health

Rudy has a long history of allergies which manifest themselves as skin problems. His coat has been sparse; he itches a lot, and often gets skin infections. To alleviate this, Rudy has been on steroid therapy for years. A blood test recently revealed significant Cushing's disease, a liver condition created by the steroid use. We were concerned about the long term damage to his body so we jumped at the change to try a new drug. We are using Cyclosporine, an anti-rejection drug usually used by persons after receiving organ transplants. We started a gradual transition from Prednisone to Cyclosporine earlier this summer. At this point, he is completely off the steroids and on 150 milligrams of Cyclosporine daily. It is a very expensive drug but seems to be working on his coat. He has a full healthy looking shiny, coat which is darker than it has been and he is not itching.

We have, however, noticed other major changes in Rudy. He has had loose bowels throughout this entire process. He is taking an anti-diarrhea medicine that may or may not be doing some good. His stools are still runny some of the time. This is better than earlier this summer when they were runny all of the time.

He is reluctant to eat. Before the new medicine, he bolted his food. Now he is reluctant to eat and when he does eat, he eats very slowly. Ken has had to hand feed Rudy his meals on many occasions, or he just would not have eaten. We have discovered that Rudy LOVES tuna and we put some tuna on top of his kibble to encourage him to eat. Of course, Emme has to have tuna on her food also and she has turned from an indifferent eater to a voracious eater. The power of tuna.

Rudy no longer will do steps except for bed time when he does go up to the second floor to sleep in our bedroom. If he goes downstairs to the family room at the lake house, he will not climb the steps to come back upstairs. We have to take him outside and walk him up the hill to the kitchen door. If he goes to the basement in the Wooster house to be "shop dog" with Ken, Ken has to help him walk up the stairs one step at a time to get him upstairs.

Rudy doesn't play fetch any more. He used to live to fetch, but now he has no interest in getting his little red football. Ken takes him outside and throws the football. Rudy just sits and looks at it or walks slowly over to it and then sniffs.

Maybe both of these things are an indication that he is having some pain in his hips or legs. The vet has checked him over, but has found nothing to indicate why Rudy is no longer doing stairs or playing fetch. He thinks it might be the start of some arthritis, but this has come on so suddenly. Ken thinks that what ever is going on has been there for a long time and the steroids masked the pain. Other than not doing stairs or running, he evidences no pain. Somethings he plays with Emme just like in the old days, rolling over, kicking his feet, and play growling. I have no idea what is going on.

Rudy is much more lethargic, lying on the rug and sleeping, much more than in the past. He spends most of the day napping as close to Ken as he can get. We hope we are doing the right things for Rudy and hope that in the near future, he will get back to something near normal.