Oliver Update

Just got home from the appointment to chat about what's going on with Ollie.  As we suspected, he does have a pretty significant urinary tract infection.  They gave him a time release antibiotic injection last Friday - it works for about 10 days and is similar to giving them a pill twice a day.  He seems to be feeling better in that regard - haven't seen any of the symptoms he was exhibiting in the last few days.

Now - on the the other lab results.  Seems that Ollie's thyroid level is right at the top of the range.  Technically its not abnormal but given his age it could indicate that he has hyperthyroidism.  Dr took another blood test today and we should know more in the next few days.  Isabel had this for the last year of her life - she eventually died of kidney failure.  Thyroid is pretty easy to treat - we can use the same thing we used for her - a gel you rub on his ear.  We will see what the test results show.

Heart murmur is also present.  This apparently does not seem to be related to dehydration as we had hoped.  It could, however be related to hyperthyroid.  Evidently the hormone the thyroid produces can irritate the heart muscle if the levels are high and cause the heart to be inflamed which can then cause the murmur.  So - if the tests confirm hyperthyroid - it could correct itself if we get his levels back in line.

If the murmur does not go away or the hyperthyroid is not confirmed, then heart disease could be the culprit which we can treat with medication and diet.  We will likely need an echo-cardiogram to confirm.

So - long story short - we are addressing the urinary tract infection with the antibiotic shot.  We are holding on anything else until we get results back on the thyroid.  In the meantime - Ollie is feeling good - active and ornery like always.  :)