Annual checkups

Bear is officially old. I’ve had him for ten years, which means he is around eleven years old. He has hit that age when I start to worry about every little thing.

Yesterday was his yearly checkup and thankfully, it went great.

First, his weight. Last March, he was over 50 pounds and the vet suggested he lose a little bit to take the stress off his arthritic joints. I tried, but failed miserably when I started letting him eat all of Josie’s leftovers when she stopped eating consistently. When he returned in October, he had gained weight. I was failing at the one thing they asked me to do to help him.

“Wow, he’s lost weight. You’ve done a great job,” Dr K said as she entered the exam room.

“What?  Really?  How much does he weigh?” I asked, completely stunned. He looks the same so I had no idea he had lost weight. His long coat makes it really hard to tell.

“He’s down to 44 pounds, and it is a really nice weight for him. I don’t know what you did, but keep doing it.”

I was completely stunned. To be on the safe side, we went and weighed Bear on another scale in the office – 44 pounds.  Bear had officially lost almost ten pounds since his last visit.

She went on to speculate that maybe it was River – new dog to play with has Bear up and moving around more. It isn’t. Well, maybe partly. But there is one big difference. Bear is on new food. I feed him some awesome food that he loves, eats consistently and is full of good stuff and no fillers. It makes a huge difference. Dr K agreed – it works so I need to keep feeding it to him.

“And his coat is amazing,” she went on to say.

“He gets fish oil – that helps his coat a lot.”

She then checked out the rest of him – including the one thing that had me worried. Bear has had a tiny lump, about the size of a pea, by his ear for a little while. It had her concerned – because it was in an odd spot. She aspirated it and thankfully, it was just a cyst. She drained it, but warned it will come back.

He had a great checkup with one exception, he tested positive for a tickborne disease, but hopefully antibiotics will take care of it since he isn’t sick from it yet.