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greyhead

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    How Long Should This Take?!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by greyhead

    She did mention pyelonephritis in the report as a possibility, and it's not the first time that has come up. So how does a UTI get distinguished from a kidney infection?

    Diagnostic tests and/or treatments performed:

    CBC: WBC 6.9k, hct 65% (historically normal for this patient), plt 175k
    Chem: BUN 40, creat 3,2, K 3.8, AlkP 129, rest wnl
    UA: slightly green in color, usg 1.015, pH 5.0, trace protein, RBC 4-8/hpf, WBC 0-3/hpf, no
    bacteria noted.
    Urine culture not started (pending at rDVM)

    How Long Should This Take?!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by greyhead

    We haven't got the discharge report yet -- they'll email it to me tonight -- since they wanted him to be able to go home. They ran blood work while we were still there, and his kidney values are high -- creatinine at 3.6 IIRC 3.2 and BUN at 40, both being significant increases for him. He was dehydrated, so they gave him sub-q fluids; we didn't think he'd do well being kept overnight for IV fluids. We'll give him more sub-q at home tomorrow. They were still processing the urinalysis, which she'll send me the results of tonight too, but we decided to treat him empirically for now with Baytril. The culture results will be available eventually, and then we'll see if anything needs adjusting.

     

    There's some hope that the kidney values have been elevated by the infection and could come back down with treatment. Natch, I hope it's mostly the infection, but he has had long-standing but slow elevation of his kidney values for years.

     

    Thanks *very much* for the information and for letting me vent earlier! (I'll post again if anything interesting comes with the discharge info later tonight.)

     

    ETA: I drove in the HOV lane with my sick *passenger* and I make no apologies! I was full prepared to hand any interested police the phone number of the e-vet to confirm that we were expected, and to pay whatever ticket might ensue. :seesaw It really does feel like that, doing the "wrong" thing for the right reason.

    I Know This Has Been Asked A Lot,,but Is It Close To Time?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I don't know, Ron, but I would suspect not permanently! Hopefully, it won't come to that.

     

    You might try grain-free, corn-free kibble, like Natural Balance venison and sweet potato. Spencer lived on that, plus raw venison, for four years. But until the immune system calms down, like with budesonide, you risk her developing a reaction to every novel protein you try, and then there won't be any more novel proteins -- except maybe kangaroo and emu. And frankly, those come in formulas that are too fancy (lots of additions like cranberries, kelp, etc. etc.) that create more complexity than IBD dogs can handle.

    What Else Can This Be?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    These symptoms could be several things. One thing is a resurgence of worms that have been dormant. Stress can do that.

    Sometimes when there's tummy gurgling, as opposed to just lip-licking, we give Pepto Bismol. Or if it's a less liquidy-sounding gurgle, we'll give Gas-X.

    I kind of doubt that stress itself would cause that much metronidazole-responsive diarrhea. But it might have set him up for physical problems to ensue. I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions here too, but I'd think you need to talk to your vet since he/she knows the history of this. I guess I'd just reiterate a caution I sometimes feel compelled to offer, which is not to over-psychologize the dog. Not that they don't have grief and other emotions, because they do. (We went through it last year at our house.) But if it segues into physical problems, we need to solve those physical problems, and then the psychology tends to improve when they feel better.

    I Know This Has Been Asked A Lot,,but Is It Close To Time?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    "Your paragraph about cognitive confusion was what started this , so far,,4 month process. Maybe we are on the right course finally."

    I don't remember what I said, but I hope I didn't bolster the idea that she had CCD. There are so many things that can cause poor cognition, and dementia is only one of them.

     

    Btw, I still have budesonide (in various strengths) from Spencer. PM me if you want them. We got them compounded at Roadrunner Pharmacy in Arizona. (They ship the first order overnight at no extra charge, or at least they used to.) But they're not cheap. You'll probably also need to try the prescription diet food with hydrolyzed protein. Until the inflammation is brought under control, if she has IBD, she'll develop an inflammatory response to each form of protein you give her. That's why they eat something new for a couple days and then won't touch it. Let me know if I can be of any help at all.

    I Know This Has Been Asked A Lot,,but Is It Close To Time?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by greyhead

    We knew that Spencer actually had low B-12, and we found that out weeks before we diagnosed the IBD (for which he took budesonide). He got two B-12 shots per week for the first month, IIRC. (We bought the bottle and the syringes/needles from the vet, which is much cheaper than having it done at the vet each time. But you can buy B-12 through Amazon, and we get syringes from Drs. Foster & Smith because they don't require a prescription in WA.) Before diagnosing the B-12 deficiency, Spencer was showing cognitive confusion, low appetite, and got to where he could barely get up! The B-12 worked within hours.

     

    After that first month of twice-weekly shots, we went to twice-monthly shots. In answer to your question, we could tell when the effect was wearing off at that point. So the vets said it was okay even though once a month was standard.

     

    I'm glad your vet will use budesonide if necessary instead of prednisone. It's the best for older greys with intractable GI inflammation. (ETA: Spencer, having IBD, needed both the B-12 *and* the budesonide. We were able to discontinue the budesonide after a couple years, but we never discontinued the B-12.)

     

    So glad she's doing better! :yay

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