I'm new here -- actually never even posted to any forum before -- but my heart is just aching and I'm just so desperate for answers that I thought I would reach out. There's just so much information out there but I can't find exactly what I'm looking for.
My Demi is 10.5 yrs old and I've had her since she was 22 months old. She's had regular greyhound issues like SLO and corns, etc. but relatively healthy. When she turned 8, she started to have hind-leg weakness so we just adjusted our daily walks, started an anti-inflammatory diet, and added plenty of glucosamine/msm/chondroitin. In January she had a stroke and that about almost killed me. She was lame, non-communicative (eyes were just glazed over -- you know the look), and dead weight. For 3 days I waited on her hand and foot and did anything I could think of to get her back -- water therapy, PT, massage, aspirin, repetitive speech, etc. If it worked for humans I assumed it would work for her. She was back to tip top shape at the end of 5 days.
This past Friday, I took her out to the yard for potties and I turned my back for a fraction of a second to pick up the cat who apparently wanted to join us and I heard the scream -- the scream you never want to hear. And I just knew. Vet confirmed osteo in right shoulder. Gave me tramadol, gabapentin and rimadyl to keep her comfortable until we can sort things out. She's not putting any pressure on it and has spent much of this weekend immobile and panting despite my exacting dose schedule.
The problem is that her shoulder is huge -- swollen with fluid building. What fluid? I'm not sure. She's a fawn and has always bruised easily but I'm not sure if she's bleeding out into the joint or if this is just edema. The swelling has spread up and down -- up into her chest and down to her wrist. I'm at a loss. And the on-call vet this weekend said -- without seeing her or knowing me -- to euthanize. I'm not a selfish person but I don't intend to simply give up.
She's been peeing/pooping (with lots of help), eating (4 scrambled eggs with chicken this morning for breakfast and 3 smaller protein-based meals since), and drinking (actually lots of water . . . ). In addition to the rx meds, I've been giving her rescue remedy and yucca intensive. I've also been rubbing arnica gel on her -- which as far as I can tell has done nothing except mat up her fur . . . I have been elevating the leg (within reason) to see if it will drain. I haven't done compression or an ice pack. I asked the on-call vet about that and he just sighed and said no. ...
Does anyone have any thoughts? What is this swelling and how can I decrease it? This a link to photos:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iMaWcs6l6n9qL-3QeIW1WtgiUt6SEJFw
I thought it would be better than trying to figure out how to post media.
Thanks in advance.