expiration date 

koda has been on allergy diet for the past month. right after we came back from our trip to Jakarta, we brought koda to the vet. she’s been chewing herself up again. the fur on her muzzle and all of her legs are pretty much gone from being chewed. she has no eyebrow and her eyelid is fur-less and red. at the time, we could see that her belly is all red and spotty. she was itchy all over…

the doctor gave a mites test on her skin, which came back negative. so she said it might be food allergy. that’s why for the past month, koda has been on diet. she can only eat the food given by the doctor, and nothing else. no snack, no fruit, nothing. koda was a little sad. she was also on steroid medication and antibiotics for two weeks.

it all seemed well for a while. after three weeks on diet and medication, she stopped chewing and scratching. the fur on her legs and muzzle has started to grow back. it went well… she’s probably allergic to some kind of food… or so we thought.

started about five days ago, koda’s appetite went bad. she doesn’t finish her food. and she scratches herself like a madman (maddog?). the fur that’s just started growing on her legs are now gone again. last night, we saw a large scratching wound on her belly… it was her old spay stitch. she scratched it so much that it was swollen and bleeding. and this morning, there is another scratching wound on her armpit.

this is getting worse and worse… she can’t even stay still without scratching for more than a minute… poor koda.

so, we took her to the doctor again. it turns out that it wasn’t food allergy. it’s something else, and we have to figure out what it is or else koda will stay miserable and itchy.

so, currently, the plan is:

• feed her a medicine that targets her skin immune system for the next 7 weeks. it will reduce the itch and hopefully makes koda less miserable. the medicine costs $100 per week.
• seven or nine weeks from now, koda will have to go through a one-time skin testing, which will cost us $250.
• koda will have to be injected by a customized vaccine that is based on her skin test result for the next one and a half year. it will probably cost around $700 to $800 for the whole vaccination period. that does not include the doctor fee per visit.

she’s an expensive mongrel… a cute, lovable, expensive mongrel… and we love you very much, koda :)