Thought I'd post an update on Riley.
First of all, he had a very good stretch with no accidents. From 12/30 until yesterday he was accident free. All good things must come to an end though and yesterday was the end. He had four accidents in the house - three while he was asleep and the other when he woke up. This is the pattern that we've been seeing for the past couple of years now. He has had many ups, but also many downs when it comes to accidents. This may sound bad, but in a way I was glad to see that he had accidents yesterday because his first appointment with this specialist was rescheduled for today.
At noon we met with Riley's new doctor at the Angell Memorial Hospital and he was very nice. Actually, everyone at the clinic that we spoke to was very nice and caring which was nice. When the Dr met us, his first comment was 'Wow, he's a BIG boxer" ... which he is. He was weighed and the scale showed 89lb. He's not overweight, he's just big boned and has a larger frame from what the breed standard is. Still, the Dr. was impressed with his overall appearance. He said that he has good muscular structure and from the outside he appears very healthy which was nice to hear.
After asking some questions and going through his chart from our old vet with the help of another Dr (a woman), he was ready to perform a more thorough exam. Everything checked out fine there as well. Riley was very alert and although very nervous, he was cooperating nicely. I pointed out to the Dr's that Riley has developed some cloudy spots (1 in each eye) which they also noticed. They shut the lights off in the examinating room and shined the light from their eye tool (I'm drawing a blank on what's called) and they determined they were just lipid deposits and that they were harmless, but that it could be a sign of a thyroid issue.
After the exam the Dr. started to share his thoughts. He thinks there's most likely some incontinence, but there may also be something else going on. He started talking about the tests he can run to start ruling things out. As a first step in cases like this he does a full blood panel, tests for thyroid problems, and also does urinalysis along with a urine culture. He wanted to take some urine straight out of Riley today, but since he's still on Cephalexin (antibiotic) he decided to wait until next week. He wants me stop giving it to Riley starting tonight so he'll be off it for a full week when we go back. He did take some blood for those tests and I should have the results Tuesday. He also wanted us to come back next week for an ultrasound, but then he realized he had an opening today that they could do it. Since we were already there, I agreed to let them do the ultrasound today. Luckily no anesthesia or sedatives were necessary. The restuls of the ultrasound also came back clean with no tumors or cysts inside.
My "homework" assignment from the Dr this coming week is to keep up with my log of Riley's accidents and also start two new logs. One to show how many times Riley goes outside to urinate and if it's like an urgent request from Riley (if he's asking to go out, pacing, etc.). The other is to actually measure the amounts of water that he drinks. This is going to be difficult because I'll have to keep him and Mason seperate when water's out. I'll find a way to do it though.
Overall it was a great visit with some great results. At least now I know that he's in good condition from the outside, he had a full clean thorough exam, and most importantly his ultrasound came back clean. Right now, Riley's resting comfortably on his bed after experiencing such a "tramatic day".
I apologize for posting such a long update, but we went over so much info and I wanted to provide as much info as possible in case someone else finds themselves in my shoes. I'll post another update on Tuesday because the blood work should be back by then.
