kudzu

Oh, Trevor. You were such a class act, a distinguished, elder gentleman. Farewell. We will miss reading about you.

Was terribly sad to read of Rocket's passing. Your posts make him seem so special and full of personality. Farewell, Rocket. Run free on legs made strong and painfree.

A lurcher, half Greyhound, was 15 yo. Agree with suggestions for xrays, if not already done. Also, it could very well be something else. Considering the age, I think I would be pursuing diagnostics. Hoping very much it is not osteo. Good thoughts for your boy.

He's gone. He had been improved last night and ate dinner, but he was sick again during the night and this morning. Called vet to say I was bringing him in. Then he crashed. Got him to vet. His temp was low. Extremities were cold. CBC showed what I feared. Platelets very, very low. RBC & HCT dropping. He was nearly comatose when we eased him out of this life. Despite the emergency, the vet's office made it a calm, quiet & peaceful departure. Am heartbroken, but am at peace with the decision. Thank you for your support through this.

Yes. We continued the doxy, but the vet added on clavamox because of the rising WBC's. Probably should have called the vet today, but he only vomited once in the morning & he appeared to be resting okay. Unfortunately, this evening he vomited again. This was almost all bile, a lot of it, with a few bits of Pill Pockets. This morning I used a couple Pill Pockets to get his meds into him this morning, even though it still required pilling him. Then I got a few more empty Pill Pockets into him so his stomach wasn't completely empty. That was after his morning nausea & 7-8 hours before he vomitted a second time. At this point, I've nothing to treat the nausea & he's not interest in food. So there will be not evening meds tonight. That's far from ideal, but I don't know what else to do. He was on an appetite stimulant but after a couple days of the prednisone he was ravenous. Even with no appetite stimulants & two antibiotics he was still voracious. That is until this morning. It wouldn't surprise me if the anti-b's were causing the nausea. So the meds he is currently prescribed are as follows: Prednisone Tetracycline Clavamox Famotadine Gabapentin (for pain) Today is when we were to start tapering his prednisone down so he wouldn't have gotten it this evening anyway. Am not happy about skipping the antibiotics, but if he was just going to barf those back up anyway... ?? I guess it's less hurtful to skip this dose.

Cachexia... Am watching it happen. He is visibly thinner each morning and again in the evening. Had a rough night and then vomited once this morning. It was mostly liquid but did contain what appeared to be some of his "midnight snack" form last night. He has zero appetite so I won't offer any more food until this evening. Won't reintroduce added snacks. I don't think I could get enough into him to offset the weight loss by much. Feeling like we're doomed. He's mostly sleeping & am hoping I can keep him reasonably comfortable for the next few days as we await test results.

Yes, my girl Venus had this. It was a horrible time for us while going through the initial nail shedding. There are a few different treatment regimes. We used the combination of tetracycline, EFA's, niacinamide and Vit E. The hardest part about treatment is waiting to see if it helps. Nails are very slow growing so you have to wait a frustratingly long time to see if it is effective. In the meantime, nails continue to fall out. You judge the effectiveness of the treatment by how the new nails grow in. My girl lost all of her nails over the course of two months. Managing her pain during this period was the hardest thing. We primarily used tramadol and gabapentin. At one point, she could barely walk. All she did was go outside to potty and come right back in. We had the vet remove a couple nails, but that seemed just as bad or worse than letting them fall out naturally. The whole thing was horrible for her. And none to easy for the rest of us. The good news is that after the initial flare up, we had few problems. We continued treatment as her nails grew back. In time stopped the tetracycline, but continued the rest. I had to keep her nails as short as possible. She had the shortest nails of any Greyhounds I'd ever seen. Any time I got slack on nail trimmings she would lose a nail. Grinding her nails, as opposed to using clippers, was the most effective method for us. Hang in there as the initial process plays out. For most of us, it gets much better as time goes on.

Back from vet. Short(ish) summary: CBC today shows everything is now well in the normal range except WBC, which remains unchanged since Monday Blood & urine samples collected to be sent off to IDEXX PCR panel results should come back early next week Aspirate from spleen pulled to be sent off to UGA Cytology results expected last next wwek Vet said mass on spleen appears noticeably, but not dramatically, larger. (somewhat of a paraphrase) Despite now having a ravenous appetite & eating heartily, Sol has lost 4 pounds since last Friday Our next appt is a week from today. We'll repeat both CBC & blood chem then. Didn't do chemistry today. Right now my thoughts and feelings are turning very dark. I think we're headed down a road of no real return & little hope. Sorry for sounding so pessimistic. Can't help it after that visit. And yet, for now he is, for the most part, holding his own. Will just hold onto that & wait for test results. So what is the current thinking on feeding & maintaining weight with a cancer dog? Will do research but am curious how folks these days are handling this. Is high protein, low carb still the recommendation?

The name of the panel surprised me. I went & looked it up because I thought I'd misunderstood or misinterpreted. The hooks could certainly be a contributing factor.

Okay, so I've moved his appt up to tomorrow. They will do the FNA of spleen. Will also sound out to IDEXX for a tick panel. The vet stated, "for the anemia PCR panel". When I looked on the IDEXX site, in their list of tests there is the "Anemia RealPCR Panel-Canine" which tests for Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Canine Hemotropic Mycoplasma, Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., Leptospira spp., and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Interesting that it doesn't include Lyme. He seems really uncomfortable tonight & that is scary. However, his energy level is the best it's been since this started. So I'm hoping this is a side effect of the pred & not the beginning of another bleed. How does anyone with children survive all the scares? The pet health scares are as much as I can handle. If I had kids I'd be having constant anxiety attacks!!

Yep, got it bookmarked and check it every week.

He is much the same as yesterday but with a little more energy. I've stopped checking him every few minutes to make sure he is still breathing. [Wrote that to be funny, but it is a bit too close to truth.] Appetite has now kicked into overdrive. Quit giving him the Entyce as the prednisone increases appetite plenty enough already. To look at him, anyone unaware of the full situation wouldn't think him very ill at this point. He's definitely not his usual self, but really not too bad. I'm just fearful he'll have another bleed. At least, we assume he had a bleed. NeylasMom, he did start doxy Friday, which would be 4 days after he first started acting ill. Also started deworming that day. (3 days of dewormer; repeat 3 weeks later; then again in 3 months, I think) Lepto didn't even cross my mind. He doesn't really fit the typical descriptions. Lepto is in our area but he doesn't get exposure to areas of higher risk. Not sure how much any of that means. These vets do have a lot of Greyhound clients & know how Greys differ from other breeds. Guess that's not a guaranty they'd be positive when a Grey's spleen is enlarged. I think the mass was their biggest concern. They didn't offer any strong opinions on what the fluid in abdomen was. Bleeding was one possibility. They would have examined the fluids during exploratory surgery. The surgery would have been down at a specialty hospital because of the likelihood of splenectomy and the ICU that could/would require. Since I declined surgery they didn't do further diagnostics that late on a Friday. They actually left his IV catheter in, since we feared I may have to rush him to e-vet over weekend. We honestly didn't expect him to improve. They took catheter out yesterday. If I ask for the FNA of spleen while we're there Friday, it would be done in conjunction with ultrasound. Vet told me they'd be happy to do that sooner if I wished. They could check status of fluids in abdomen and try to get a sample for examination. (I'm speculating on the latter. Vet didn't specify that.) Xtrawld, he has not had a fever. They did offer that the enlarged spleen could explain his response when I touched that particular area. Thanks, Remolacha. Have lost one dog to a ruptured spleen from hemangiosarcoma, confirmed on necropsy, I'm still very scared but a bit of optimism is trying to sneak in. Never thought I would be praying for a TBD.

Am going to try to insert his bloodwork. This one is from Wed, It was run at the Idexx labs. These are the subsequent tests. Note: Didn't bring home copies of kidney values from 9/26 & 9/27 but those were normal. Those values were not run today.

Am not sure where to start. So much seems to be going on. My boy Soleil is 11 yo but acts more like 5-7 yo. Mon., 10/22, seemed to start fine for him. Later in the day my BF saw Sol shaking. We'd never observed that before. By late evening he had lost his appetite. Tue., 10/23, morning he was more subdued than usual and had little appetite. Decided to get him to vet the next day. Wed., 10/24, he was moving sluggishly, was shivering some and seemed quite uncomfortable. Still no appetite. Loading him into van for vet visit, he yelped & flinched when I touched his abdomen. Saw a new vet who did exam, pulled blood and stool sample. Based on area he seemed painful they decided to do xrays. There was a little spondylosis at a couple lumbar vertebrae but no likely IVDD. They prescribed carprofen & gabapentin. Sent us home to await lab work. By late evening, Sol was moving a bit better. Thu., 10/25, Sol woke up seeming better. He was moving better & ate some breakfast, though admittedly slow with a bit of food left. Early AM, vet called with bad news. Sol was anemic with low platelets and elevated kidney values. His retics were only high enough to be "mildly regenerative." Vet mentioned possible IMHA. This scared me badly as I'd lost my first Greyhound to immune mediated thrombocytopenia. and subsequent kidney failure. Took him back in immediately & they started him on IV fluids to flush kidneys and recheck some bloodwork. However, the recheck showed platelets had improved. So vet said it was less likely to be immune mediated. His kidney values were better. "And by the way, he has hookworms." (Where insult meets injury.) Brought him home for the night. Will add, no parasites were seen in blood. I asked for a SNAP4DX test and it was all negative. Vet mentioned tick panel but didn't actually suggest it. Fri., 10/26, early AM returned to vet to resume IV fluids. Saw a different vet, one I really. We had a discussion about situation. Gave her my guidelines but let her choose how to proceed with diagnostics. Later got news that kidney values looked good so were backing down fluids to "maintenance" level. Got a call mid afternoon with bad news from xrays & ultrasound. There was a lot of fluid in abdomen, spleen was enlarged and had a mass in or on it. There was also something in/on the bladder. He'd also started showing petechiae. I rushed over. By then Sol's abdomen was showing a lot of bruising. At that point it was suggested that the next diagnostic was an exploratory with likely splenectomy. The thought was this was likely neoplasm that had already spread, something like hemangiosarcoma. My heart was breaking but having gone through this before I was not inclined to opt for the surgery with long recovery only to buy a few months. Decided to bring my boy home for the weekend and keep him as comfortable as possible. For some reason I asked about doxycycline, even though TBD was most unlikely. Vet immediately agreed. We headed home with doxy and Entyce, an appetite stimulant. Vet called soon after and suggested I not give any more carprofen as she wanted to put Sol on prednisone. Sat., 10/27, Sol seemed a little worse but not awful. His bruising had spread though. Went back to vet for recheck. Retics were way up. Sol was no longer anemic. Kidney values were good again. We went home with pred & famotadine added to regime. Sun, 10/28, we were in holding pattern. Sol was feeling... not bad. Appetite was good. All very encouraging though a bit baffling. Waiting for other shoe to drop. Mon, 10/29, Sol is clearly better. Bruising is resolving. Went to vet for recheck. All good or moving in right direction. However, his WBC is high. Looking at bloodwork, I can see it's been steadily rising for days. Vet has added clavimox. Did ask vet today if there were other diagnostics we should consider. Was worried I am being too cautious. Vet mentioned FNA of spleen. Am seriously considering that. Next recheck is Friday. Crossing fingers we don't need to go in before then. Anyone want to speculate on what is going on? Could it be TBD? Should I opt for the tick panel? Do something else?

Oh, good grief. Please don't let that happen in Georgia. It wasn't the case a month ago at my last visit. Wonder which drugs. Gabapentin seems to effect opiod receptors in a way that reduces the opiods pain relieving qualities. Not sure if it actually binds to the receptors or it's some other method. Guess I just assumed that would also reduce the chances of getting high, not the opposite. Come to think of it, I don't even know the neurological cause of a "high". Seems it could be different with different chemicals.

Love the most recent comic. It's so very true. https://noodlehorsecomics.tumblr.com/image/172960994778

Very enjoyable. Love the name "Noodle Horse".

Victor High Energy is working very well for my dogs. It's available at my local feed store. They used to carry Diamond and Taste of the Wild. After the various Diamond recalls, they decided to discontinue any Diamond products. Over the years I've used a wide variety of products. My first Grey had a lot of GI problems before I started her on grain free food. Though she seemed to do generally well on several different grain free formulas, every single one I tried gave her gas. This rendered her lovely to look at but difficult with whom to share a room. Over time I experimented and discovered the she could tolerate some grains, it just depended on the amount & type used. Wheat, corn and rice were all problems for her. Rice and potatoes where the cause of the gaseous emissions. Another complicating factor was getting a food high enough in calories to maintain weight without having to feed large quantities of food. The Victor foods both with & without grains seem to have struck a good balance, with their High Energy formula being the best overall despite the fact that is has grains as the 2nd & 4th ingredients listed. Go figure.

Wonderful news. Am very glad all is well now.

Wonderful update! Keep it up, Taylor.

Hope he's doing well & improving.

If you haven't had a vet look at it yet, I would suggest you do. If it is not changing, you may wait to the next vet appt, if that isn't too far in the future. With that disclaimer, will say that it reminds me of a hemangioma, but not quite the same color as ones I've seen. (Perhaps just a photo or computer monitor thing.) Both Soleil's & mine are shades varying from red to purple, with a tendency to larger & smaller over time. Sol's tend to disappear completely after a few weeks or months. Mine very rarely burst, but Sol's are more prone to it. One of my hemangiomas is much too big to be removed. If it bleeds repeatedly, it is cauterized. That usually takes care of the problem for years. Sol's are very small. If repeated bleeding happens with one of his, the vet removes it by freezing, The first few I noticed these on Sol, the vet checked them out. Now, the guideline from the vet is to wait a few weeks. If it doesn't continue to grow larger & isn't bleeding repeatedly, then we don't worry about it. If one were to hang around for a long time, grow quite rapidly or get quite large, I'd have the vet test it. PS My huge hemangioma is a birthmark. The others on my skin are small. I also have subcutaneous & visceral hemangiomas. Those were incidental findings on MRIs.

Crossing fingers & toes that he heals quickly without further complications. Even without complications it will feel like a very long road. Hopefully it's nothing but continued improvement from here.

Have heard snake bites can get nasty. Sorry that's what happened. Hope surgery goes well & the yuck is fully cleaned out. Did the vet prescribed antibiotics last week at the first visit?

Is it too late to try antivenom? Or maybe those puncture marks were from something else? What a mess, poor boy. Good luck with the appt this afternoon.