Simba
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Simba
aged 13
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Simba came to us from Southridge RSPCA rehoming kennels in South
Mimms Hertfordshire. His previous owners had been evicted from their
home and were unable to take him into rented accommodation.
He is by far the quietest member of the pack and spends most of his
time curled up sleeping. The only time he shows any real activity
is when it is time for a walk or he is offered the chance to play with
a ball. This is a dog that could walk for England and is regularly
borrowed by a friend of ours to join them on their rambles through the
countryside. Other than his tireless play with a ball or playing fetch
with a toy Simba does little else to make himself noticed.
He does have the occasional nasty habit of peeing against the
leg of geoff's breakfast bar, a habit that countless efforts have
failed to correct. He has these illusions of grandeur thinking he
is alpha male, a point he has never managed to impress on the rest of the
pack. He shows little interest in attempting to join in the
play with the other dogs and is far happier believing he is the only dog
in the house.
At the end of July 2007 Simba
was suffering noticeable problems such as hair loss on the tips of his ears,
around his eyes and the top of his head. Simba has always had a dark
pigmentation in his ears and on his underbelly and has suffered from itchy
feet for as long as I can remember. He also has suffered form numerous
ear infections. Our previous vet had always told us it was nothing
to worry about. After consulting our veterinary practice Simba was
referred to a Professor Lloyd at the Royal Veterinary College at South Mimms.
After the first consultation he was placed on an elimination diet,
antibiotics, a topical shampoo and an ear cleaner.
On his second consultation five weeks later skin biopsys were taken as
Professor Lloyd was of the opinion that areas such as his ears were due to
Vasculitis which was later confirmed at the biopsy results. He was
later put on Trental tablets to curb the further deterioration of the blood
vessels which may occur in any part of his body. Blood test showed
no effect to his vital organs at this time which was reassuring to say the
least. As his elimination diet was for a period of eight weeks he
will shortly be able to revert back to his previous diet and hopefully regain
the weight he has lost over recent weeks.
Simba's Ear Infection has refused to clear up so it was suggested that he
may be allergic to the Epi-Otic ear cleaner. The Epi-Otic was changed
to Clean-Aural and an improvement was seen immediately.
Unfortunately one of the areas where the biopsys were taken has become
infected so he is also on a course of antibiotics. This is just one of those
things as his immune system is compromised and will continue to be so for
the rest of his life. We will have to be more vigilant in picking up
on every noticeable deterioration in any or all parts of his body and
general demeaner.
He is due to return to the veterinary college in late November 2007.
November 2007
All of the Biopsy sites have now healed well and Simba is adjusting relatively
well to the elimination diet. His skin is better for it but there is
still room for improvement. We have been advised to continue with the
diet and shampoo Simba's whole body every week with the Malaseb shampoo, plus
a conditioner. A return visit to the RCVS is scheduled at the end of
January.
February 2008
Unfortunately our January appointment had to be postponed as Simba has
been rather naughty. Both Tala and Simba broke into the dog food cupboard
which incidently was locked (they ripped off the door) and ate themselves
stupid. The end result two very fat doggies with smiles on their faces!!!
This act of rebellion has set Simba back on his elimination diet as within
24hours of the event his skin was red raw and very itchy. Whereas usually
the diet plan lasts aproximately 8 weeks we had to start all over again.
We did try the shampooing of the whole body but as Simba does not enjoy
water he became very distressed and this resulted in him having a fit. (petit
mal) This seizure lasted aproximately 3minutes untill he came round
and was lucid again but the after effects (continued shaking) lasted 3/4
hours. This happened again the next week when we tried to shampoo him
so it was decided not to put him through any more trauma.
On our return to the RCVS it was discovered that Simba has difficulty opening
his mouth and a disease called Masticatory Muscle Myosotis
was suggested. I had originally thought he was just being difficult
because he was fed up with having all these tablets on a 3x daily basis. We
were immediately referred to the Neurology department where Simba underwent
a multitude of tests, MRI, Ecocardiogram, Ultrasound, Lumbar Puncture and
a plethera of blood tests. They came to the conclusion that he may be
suffering from Addisons Disease so an
ACTH test was done and sent off to France for analysis.
Eventually all these test came back and every one of them was negative.
So we are still non the wiser as to why he had the seizures, why he
cannot fully open his mouth or why he is so down in the mouth with life.
I cannot stress enough how relieved I am that all his life Simba has been
insured. He is insured with Tesco's pet health insurance and they have
been very helpfull regarding his claims. With all the work that Simba
has undergone the vet bill to date stands at £5000. Had Simba
not been insured meeting the cost of his veterinary care would have undoubtably
caused financial difficulty.
At the end of February Simba began some weekly sessions of Spiritual Healing
administered by a friend of the family. This certainly appeared to improve
his demeanor. Overnight he became a much happier dog, so much so that
he took a keen interest in Bess who had come in to season the week previous.
It certainly put a smile on both their faces.!!! After the second
session Simba readily comes out on walks again and is chasing his ball. Something
he has not managed to achieve for a very long time.
We are due back at the RCVS in March and I am sure they will all be pleased
with his progress.
