During Trudy's first few days in foster, she slept a lot. Walking was painful and her swollen feet kept her down. Her foster mom massages and ices her feet to improve circulation and reduce swelling. Pain medication and skin creams are used to ease the itching and pain, and allow her to rest. Oatmeal and Epsom salt baths also soothe her skin, enabling the scabs to fall off, and reduce the odor of her inflamed skin. Fish oil in her food also helps, but Trudy isn't too interested in that. Avoderm treats with ingredients that are good for skin and coat further supplement her treatment...and she LOVES those!
Trudy stays in a large playpen that takes up almost an entire room. In there, she can rest and relax away from other dogs in the house, but still has room to explore and play as she begins feeling better. She gets sunshine through the windows, which she really loves. And little by little, a sweet playful puppy is emerging. In fact, Trudy now regularly rolls around with her toys, exposes her belly to her foster mom and visitors for belly rubs, stands up easily to walk around, wags her tail, and has even shown a bit of her voice by barking when her foster mom comes home from work.
