Harley Boo – Boo

Sigh. Old Harley Boo -11 years old!

Normally when Harley is at the vet (or anywhere with people really) he’s our joyful, wigglebutt, tail wagging bundle of love. Nope, not today. Somehow we managed to get him on the scale and YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! he  lost eight pounds since his last visit -in October, maybe November? HUGE win since we need to get him moving a lot more – and moving a lot more is much harder with arthritis and joint issues on a tripod with the body of a hippo. Just like his mama (used to be) he is on a pain medication twice a day for inflammation.

We went to the vet because Harley Boo has been having accidents. Several in a row. Is it because it is painful to go downstairs? Or something else (likely – infection.)

While Harley was laying on a blankie getting checked out by the vet – she noticed hard mass on the back of one of legs. I hadn’t noticed, bad mama – it’s not visibly swollen or painful. She said it felt like it was on the bone and could be a break, inflammation, or —- a tumor.

Uggggggggggggggggg.

The good news? The x-ray didn’t show anything wrong with the bone. No tumor. No fracture. Just inflammation in the soft tissue. The vet did a bunch of range of motion tests, and Harley didn’t seem bothered. Best guess is inflammation from the way he shifts his weight to manage the arthritis pain.

I hate this for him.

Blood tests came back normal. Urine tests showed infection. So now antibiotics twice a day with prebiotic along with anxiety calming chews and carprofen. He really does take after his mama.