My poor dog... :(

No she hasn't died.  Not yet anyways.  She is older (8-10 years).

But for the last 3-4 years, I (and my boyfriend) have been battling some serious health issues that came out of nowhere.

It's kind of a long story.  Needless to say we've gone through 3 or 4 different vets.  We have seeked out medical opinions online.  He has done EXTENSIVE research on her conditions.  We've changed her food, diet, habits, etc.

We've been battling a reoccurring yeast infection that covers her entire body.  Which then causes bacterial infections on her skin and in her ears.  Her face gets puffy.  Gums are inflamed.  Skin is hot.  Skin is red.  She gets hives, boils (which get pus covered), scabs, excessive dandruff (yellow colored), foul odor, skin turns black, fur loss...  The works.  "It's allergies" is the main reason we're given.  We've done so much to change her environment.  We even MOVED!  Lol.  Not for her exclusively, but still...

Needless to say she's miserable and the vet bills are getting annoying and breaking my bank account.  I probably spent about $2000 last year on vet bills and meds.

My boyfriend recently took her to yet another vet, but one that the pet boutique we frequent recommends because of their holistic approach.  They did some testing (the first vet who ever did!!).  Results came back late last week.  Her condition cannot be cured.  She's stuck with living on antibiotics, steroids, allergy meds, and yeast killing meds to help manage it for the remainder of her life.

I guess the good news is that we could stop fighting this.  This situation has put a strain on our relationship.  Bad news is that this will never go away.  Good news is that she's already an older dog, so it won't be for much longer.  Bad news is for the same reason -- and she'll live out the rest of her days in a controlled misery.

So now I'm left with the option of getting an allergy test done to find the root causes.  Unfortunately, this test costs $400 and I'm already on a tight budget.  At first, we both were like "Why bother?  She's old anyhow."  But now he's thinking we should so then we could find a few more answers.  That price tag sure hurts.  And I haven't paid for her antibiotics & steroids yet.

Poor dog...  She's my girl, my buddy, my pal, my sweetheart...  Here I am trying to fix myself and I find out that I cannot even fix my dog.  This gets me to wondering if I'll ever really get fixed.