[Lou]

I feel so bad for our gsd, Ivan. I think some of you know about him already but I will recap.

Ivan is 8 years old and has severe hip dyplasia for which we are giving him 75mg of duramax daily. It has worked up until recently but we have had to add another med for breakthrough pain. Ivan also has severe seborrhea which we have been able to keep under control with salmon based dog food and medicated baths. For the past few months it has gotten consistently worse. It was strictly on his back but we noticed two weeks ago that it was really bad in his arm pits. He had scratched so much it looked like raw red chicken skin. When we had him groomed this past Saturday the groomer showed us a spot on his groin that for all the world looked like a car had run over him. It was horribly bruised-looking. So off to doggy doctor who pointed out that Ivan also has little ulcers on his gum on one side and a fairly large on at the back of his tongue. We had an ultrasound done to make sure the dark area is seborrhea and not a blood platelet deficiency as well as blood work. ($475.00)

Now we are waiting for the doctor to call us to tell us what to do next. We started him on antibiotics. I hate to see him so miserable. If he isn't in pain he is itching although I have a spray they gave me to use on his bad spots which is really clearing up the small areas on his back and one of his underarms. The skin thickening on his groin area is also thinning. So maybe we are on the right track here. My husband is getting closer to deciding to put him down but neither one of us really wants to do that. He is my husbands dog but I am the one doing all the doctoring and mothering. Ivan is starting to avoid me which makes me sad. He is such an affectionate dufus.

Thanks for letting me let this out. It is really rough right now.

Please say a prayer for our gentle giant.