FFHT - Phod's Annual Check Up

Today is Murphy and Stanley's FFHT. For this post you have to use one sentence, it will be in red in the story.

Yesterday was Phod's annual check up at the vet. Step one was getting him into the car. He went outside with me happily enough, but when he realized Hailey wasn't coming too, he went by a tree and made himself as flat as possible. I had to carry him to the car. I couldn't lift him all the way in, so I put his front paws in and stood behind him until he jumped in. This took about 5 minutes and I wished I had someone tape it.



He did well on the drive. He was happy to look out the window. He drooled but was not sick. It was the first time he ever had eaten that day and not thrown up in the car. Mind you I only gave him half his breakfast.

Phod was a champ at the vet. He was a little nervous, but in control. Friendly to others and cooperative during his exam.

Here is the summary of Zaphod:

Weight: 75 lbs (34 kg) - he is perfect and needs to maintain this
Teeth: A little wear but great (Man was worried)
Ears: Has a yeast infection again. We will clean it up and then make sure we are cleaning his ears at least 2 times a week. Shepherds have a lot of ear infections.
Joints: I have noticed some stiffness, especially in his hips. Woody did a full exam and didn't notice anything.  He said it is hard to tell just from feeling and listening in a large dog, but he isn't too worried. He suggested that since it is an always occurrence we don't do any more tests on it now. He said to try some glucosamine. He said it may or may not work, but there are no real side effects so worth trying. He gave us the dose and said to go to Costco because it is cheaper.  The Man wants to take some, so we will pick some up for the boys in our house!
Overall: He is great!

Now on to the Hailey talk:
First, I had noticed that a lot of foods say adult to age 6, so my first question was, should she start senior food in the winter?  He said no - she will be fine until she is 8 or 9.

Next anxiety - we talked about our options and ended up with prozac. We will pick that up tomorrow (hopefully our little drug store will have it) and try it for 30 days to see it if it helps. The main side effects are weight gain and overeating. We will watch her carefully.


This visit was very much a dog focused visit, which is totally different from Hailey's visit in the spring where we just chatted about the family. (Woody and I have been friends for 21.5 years now, so my visits are social and medical).

Tomorrow cousin Emma and Uncle Chris are coming for a visit, yay!

Catch up with you all soon!