Meet Oliver

[olliesmama24]

Hello everyone,

I know I joined last year and sorry for not introducing us sooner. I joined because I love how supportive you all are, this is truly a blessing and wonderful Sheltie community.

I would love to introduce you to Oliver. He is 6 year old male who has had quite the adventure since we brought him home in 2019. Little guy (I say little but he is a big boy from his litter, currently weighing 39lbs), is light of our life. The first two years of life he struggled with stomach issues, vomiting almost weekly, after putting him on Royal Canine Gastrointestinal dry food, he stopped vomiting and put on weight. Surprise, Surprise the endoscopy done during this time also revealed Oliver was born with one kidney.

Reactive little guy that is full of life, stronger than most realize and has a bark that will stop grown adults in their tracks Lol.

October of 2024 our vet found Oliver had a hernia on his right rear side. This was moment the rollercoaster ride began. The surgery consult revealed that not only did he have a hernia, he had one testicle that was larger than the other, gallbladder mucocele, and node on his adrenal gland. Surgeon did a UCCR to rule cushings and it came back negative and proceeded with a triple surgery in November. It was the biggest fight little guy had to go through but it got through it all beautifully. January 2025 recheck showed he was healing incredibly well, another UCCR was done just to be sure, again came back negative.

We had noticed he was eating better than he was prior to surgery and drinking a tad more, plus he had a UTI, and elevated liver values and we decided to meet with an internal specialist who after reading all of Oliver 90+ medical records suspected cushings and we agreed to ACTH test and it also came back negative. Remember, I said Oliver is reactive, well he likes to jump against doors and pull with all his might while on a harness, this led to should injury. Orthopedic surgeon recommended electro shockwave therapy and PRP. Oliver went through 3 rounds March-May. Along the way he had another stubborn UTI that required a long dose of Calvamox. UTI was gone but there was still protein in the urine, we got second opinion from another internal specialist because our primary one kept insisting he had Cushings, even after 3 negative tests. Second opinion didn’t believe he had Cushings because of two negative UCCRs. He’s on telmisartan to reduce the protein in his urine.

We’ve noticed that he doesn’t have much of an undercoat, some hair looks dull or wispy, not sure what’s the cause. Planning to take him for a full bloodwork but it’s always hard to see any changes in our little guy.

I know this is a longer introduction than expected but Oliver’s story is one that I wanted to share because when you look into his happy, silly face I’m always in awe about what he’s been through and what a fighter he has been.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

Been through the wringer but he looks like an awesome guy.

 

[Margi]

Hello Oliver! Welcome to the group!

 

[Ann]

Oh my, you aren’t kidding about Oliver having a story! Poor guy, and poor you, what a health rollercoaster. Oliver is very lucky he landed with someone as caring as you are to so diligently pursue these issues. I really hope he’s through them and has good health ahead.

You mentioned three negative Cushings tests. Other than loss of fur, does he have any symptoms? I’m asking because my Ruffles, age 12, has developed classic Cushings symptoms— hair loss, excessive thirst and hunger, etc. Her bloodwork doesn’t indicate Cushings which is puzzling so my vet is running a test next month for atypical Cushings, which is apparently a different form of the disease. It might be worth asking your specialist about that.

Best of luck to you and Oliver and we’re glad you’ve joined us here! Please keep us posted on how he is.

 

[Sharon7]

OH MY! Poor little guy, my heart goes out to you and him for dealing with issue after issue. One thing that caught my eye was his elevated liver numbers. He probably needs to be on ursodiol and Denamarin after his gallbladder removal. Two of mine had that surgery and we tried to stop the meds 30 days after their surgeries, but both had elevated liver enzymes. Once we put them back on the meds it all went back to normal. This is not uncommon after choleycystectomy (gallbladder removal). So they will stay on these meds lifelong.

I've never dealt with Cushings so no advice on that, but I hope you can get his health straightened out so you both can move forward with a happy future.

Thanks for joining. This is indeed a very supportive and special community.

 

[olliesmama24]

OH MY! Poor little guy, my heart goes out to you and him for dealing with issue after issue. One thing that caught my eye was his elevated liver numbers. He probably needs to be on ursodiol and Denamarin after his gallbladder removal. Two of mine had that surgery and we tried to stop the meds 30 days after their surgeries, but both had elevated liver enzymes. Once we put them back on the meds it all went back to normal. This is not uncommon after choleycystectomy (gallbladder removal). So they will stay on these meds lifelong.

I've never dealt with Cushings so no advice on that, but I hope you can get his health straightened out so you both can move forward with a happy future.

Thanks for joining. This is indeed a very supportive and special community.

Hi Sharon, thank you so much for the warm welcome.

Oliver has been on Denamarin for about a year now and his liver enzymes went back to normal fairly quickly early in the year. Ollie is going to be a Denamarin lifer too but everything has been pretty good for his so far.

 

[olliesmama24]

Oh my, you aren’t kidding about Oliver having a story! Poor guy, and poor you, what a health rollercoaster. Oliver is very lucky he landed with someone as caring as you are to so diligently pursue these issues. I really hope he’s through them and has good health ahead.

You mentioned three negative Cushings tests. Other than loss of fur, does he have any symptoms? I’m asking because my Ruffles, age 12, has developed classic Cushings symptoms— hair loss, excessive thirst and hunger, etc. Her bloodwork doesn’t indicate Cushings which is puzzling so my vet is running a test next month for atypical Cushings, which is apparently a different form of the disease. It might be worth asking your specialist about that.

Best of luck to you and Oliver and we’re glad you’ve joined us here! Please keep us posted on how he is.

Thank you for your kind words Ann, they truly are appreciated. Hopefully there’s good health ahead.

I’m sorry to hear Ruffles is going through these puzzling times. Oliver goes through times of what seems like excessive thirst and hunger but then goes months not showing those symptoms. It’s these recent changes in his fur that has us thinking about cushings again but it has been a mystery. We are thinking we want his thyroid checked next, along with full bloodwork.

I wish Ruffles the best and please keep us all posted.

 

[Ron Atkinson]

It's always a challenge to take care of medical issues since they can't tell you what's going on He is definitely lucky the you are willing to address them head on.
Hopefully you can get to a point where you both can relax a bit with those issues behind you.
I know how upsetting it can be. I just recently had Teddy in for gallbladder removal surgery and I was a nervous wreck. The folks here helped me get through it.
Thanks for joining and sharing your journey. You will find everyone here on SN is very supportive of each other, and help share their knowledge. Welcome aboard.

 

[olliesmama24]

It's always a challenge to take care of medical issues since they can't tell you what's going on He is definitely lucky the you are willing to address them head on.
Hopefully you can get to a point where you both can relax a bit with those issues behind you.
I know how upsetting it can be. I just recently had Teddy in for gallbladder removal surgery and I was a nervous wreck. The folks here helped me get through it.
Thanks for joining and sharing your journey. You will find everyone here on SN is very supportive of each other, and help share their knowledge. Welcome aboard.

We wish so badly that they could speak to us and help them beyond what we do now.

Thank you Ron, Teddy is lucky to have you too. I’ve been reading on Teddy’s gallbladder journey and wish him a speedy recovery and hope he’s feeling no much better now. We were a complete mess when Oliver had his removed, along with removing his testicles and repairing a hernia all at one time.

 

[Sandy in CT]

Oliver is one handsome boy! We have a bi-black as well and just love him; reactive, jumps like a mexican jumping bean (new trick - he jumps on command ), ours does not have a heavy coat either - he has more undercoat though and less of an overcoat. Our bi-blue has a massive overcoat and not much of an undercoat.

I hope you find some answers. Glad you shared your story of Oliver; I hope to hear more!