Michigan Backyard Journal

Observing & Reporting from our backyard

  • Welcome – Discover Topics
  • Barn Hunt
  • Library
  • The Backyard
  • About us
  • All Posts

Update on Chip

April 24, 2014 Elizabeth

I’ve obviously neglected this blog pretty bad. Steve and I were talking about it today as the bill came due for hosting and I thought I should work on some updates. I realized a few things.

1) When I got my smartphone, I stopped using my camera and I stopped importing my photos.  That’s terrible!  I need to get back in the habit of using my real camera, it takes much better photos.

2) It’s good to document what happens in your life. It helps you to keep things in perspective and also to be able to look back and read about what really happened instead of relying on my not-so-great memory.

So, an update about where we are at with Chip. We determined last year that Chip truly has some sort of seizure disorder.  He went on phenobarbitol in the summer of 2013.  His partial seizures have basically completely stopped. It is working for Chip.

However, in addition to the seizures, he still has some serious allergies.  We aren’t sure what he’s allergic to exactly, but it’s probably a combination of food, indoor and outdoor allergies. So, basically, he’s allergic to planet earth.  I have opted out of most of the allergy studies as it seems expensive and has a relatively low rate of success. We are treating his allergies with a regular dose of Atarax, Omega 3’s, a carefully controlled diet, regular baths with a medicated rinse, and prednisone. We’ve been able to get off of prednisone during some months of the winter.  He did great during a trip to my parent’s house during the winter. They heat with wood and their house is really dry. He was the best he’d ever been in terms of his allergies. He also did really well during the deep freeze of winter 2013-2014.  However, as soon as there were a few warm days, he was back to itching.

Here’s a few pics of my buddy, Chip.

. At his vet appointment in April 2014, he weighed 60#, the same as Quincy.  His favorite treat is carrots. It’s one of the few things he’s allowed and he is just so excited about carrots.

Overall, we are happy with his progress. It is VERY expensive to have him on all of these medications. We have tried getting him off meds by controlling with diet, but it just hasn’t been possible.  He seems to be allergic to some indoor allergies as well.  His health generally is good though and his spirits are high. 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Dogs Chip, Medical Nightmare

Popular Now

In Defense of the Brown Headed Cowbird
Squirrel eating buds from maple tree
Red Winged Blackbird washes a peanut!

Categories

April 2014
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Mar   May »

Archives

Backyard Wildlife Journal

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 43 other subscribers

Follow Us on YouTube

  • YouTube

Show me . . .

#polarvortex2014 American Toad Barn Hunt Basset Hound Basset Hounds BHROM Bird Bath Bird Feeders Bird Feeding Bird Photo Booth birdphotobooth Bird Photos BirdWatching Bufo americanus chickadee Chip Coonhound Covid Dogs dove Duke Feature Friday football Hummingbird Insects June Morel Mushroom Nest Cam New Cat Nuthatch Pandemic Peanuts Quarantine Quincy Red Winged Blackbird Rescue Robin Squirrels Team Tilda Tilda titmouse Toads Video Wild Turkey Woodpecker

Join us on INaturalist

iNaturalist
Thumb View hilaritee's observations »

Check this out!

VIDEO: Ruby Throated Hummingbirds Return!

Blizzard Day!

A visitor!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 43 other subscribers

Featured Category:

Read all about the monarch butterfly population in our backyard

Read all about the monarch butterfly population in our backyard

Check out our monarch caterpillar posts

View Term Archive

Copyright © 2025 · Backyard Wildlife Journal · Privacy Policy

%d