At the end of June, Bentley was back at the specialist for his followup. Sedation, joint tap, blood work. Going to the vet is an ordeal, but the good news is that his numbers came back strong: no inflammation in the joints and good WBC count. The doctor allowed us to reduce his prednisone dose by 25%. After that, he started improving dramatically– getting stronger and more energetic, and I started seeing signs of the old Ben Ben. He was active around the house, he pranced a bit to the park and in the backyard, his bark was back… Honestly, I had forgotten what he was like before (It already feels like ages ago), so getting glimpses of his old self really made my heart sing.

He was looking so good that we decided a mid-week getaway was in order. I found a spot on Groupon, and we did a road trip to the Sonoma Coast at a place that took dogs. Initially, he had some anxiety when he got left in the car while we grabbed lunch. His leg, which still had a skin wound from the very first joint tap in late April, was finally healing and then he ripped it open during lunch in just 20 minutes. Next began a series of bandaging, antimicrobial/antifungal spray, and the donut collar. After a day at the lodge, he settled down and we took him on some trails. He was so happy to be in a chilly climate and back on an adventure. It was a pretty good trip.

But then after we got back, I noticed hair loss on his snout and some discoloration. I reached out to both his primary vet and the internal med specialist. I spent forever researching online and thought maybe it was demodex mites. Regardless, I worried that his anxiety from the trip further weakened his immune system and somehow he picked up a skin issue. Ugh!

The vet examined my pictures and said it didn’t seem to be demodex mites, and it also doesn’t seem to bother him, but another visit would be in order. Meanwhile, I’m having some reluctance about another visit bc if they do a skin scrape, it’s yet another wound that needs healing. I worry about his body fighting too many battles on too many fronts. So I just sprayed his snout and kept it clean.

One week after (this week), I found him limping on the front right leg. I groom him everyday and that day, I found two foxtails stuck in the webbing of his paw. After I removed those, the next day he was fine. Then, another day later, he started limping badly on the other front leg. This is exactly what happened in mid April. What started as a mild limp, switched to a limp on the other leg, followed by a day of him being fine, and then bam, by the end of that week, he was hospitalized. I am so scared now of a relapse.

I called and emailed the vet. Of course, she’s out. I called the front desk asking that someone else advise, bc I was fearful of a relapse… they agree to have another internal med team review and call me back. The whole day passes without a callback. Finally, I dial in and they say, tomorrow. Well, that was the whole point: my doctor wasn’t in until tomorrow and I wanted advice today. Fucking place. I HATE THAT PLACE. But for some goddamn reason, we’re in a veterinary internal medicine desert. Then I tried to take his temp thinking it would be a helpful data point. No success trying to hold him and poke him by myself. Fucking A. John is back East, coming home today.

I decided to try the light therapy on the limping leg and by the afternoon, he was better. There was still some sensitivity but the limping went away. John got home at dinner time, and now I’m flying out on the red eye to Taiwan. I swear, this year will be the death of me. I’m so tired and Bentley’s condition just stresses me out to no end. John dropped me off at SFO and when he got home, Bentley was limping again. ARGH!!!!