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Xan

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    Jed - Keota Rhino

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    Ah Jed! He's at peace, but you are not. :(

     

    I read a quote I liked this morning. It went something like, we hold them in our arms for a short time, and in our hearts forever. He'll always be at home in your heart.

     

    :bighug :bighug :bighug

     

    If You Have Any Prayers Left...

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Misty gal, we know your tummy isn't happy, but you'll feel better all over if you keep eating, even so. Not to mention all your fans feelings, and your mom's!

     

    Chanting:

    *Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! *

    If You Have Any Prayers Left...

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Misty gal, we know your tummy isn't happy, but you'll feel better all over if you keep eating, even so. Not to mention all your fans feelings, and your mom's!

     

    Chanting:

    *Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! *

     

    Misty gal, we know your tummy isn't happy, but you'll feel better all over if you keep eating, even so. Not to mention all your fans feelings, and your mom's!

     

    Chanting:

    *Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! Misty's tummy is filled with happy hunger! Yummy food, get into her belly! Nom Nom Nom!! *

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    reluctant to feed her meat that might have developed bacteria sitting in a grocery store when she's already got problems. Which I can understand. He suggested maybe trying some of that once we had her more stabilized, back on Z/D and tylan powder, and at least the antibiotics she's already started on. He did explain that the corn etc. in the z/d is broken down so small it's not identifiable to the body as an allergen, so it's supposed to be okay. It's not a magic bullet; some dogs don't do well on it.

     

    FWIW, I agree with your vet. Z/D is cool stuff if the problem is allergy.

     

    Is she staying on the metronidazole, or is the tylan a replacement?

     

    Hugs and best luck for your girlie.

    Thanks. :)

    She's on the ceflo... uh, that other antibiotic, and Tylan, not metronidazole. We may be adding or replacing (?) one or the other with Doxy, too. I expect she'll stay on the Tylan for awhile, unless we decide it's really not doing anything.

     

    As of this morning, she's not a happy camper. Her front feet are swollen, especially on the left, and she didn't do any of her happy morning-dance, or even go outside. She just changed beds, all droopy. There's blood in her stool, too, which is new.

     

    Waaah!! :( It's all so frustrating and scary for me, and obviously uncomfortable for her! Well, we'll hopefully know more when we get more lab results back this afternoon.

     

    Any ideas how excessive anal licking might fit into all this? *blech*

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Just got back from the vet with Happy. He was in a big hurry, and was just squeezing a talk with me before something else, so we didn't pin down some loose ends, but we're sort of going on a presumptive diagnosis of IBD at this point. We also will probably hit her with Doxycycline because of her high risk for exposure to tbd. There are a few lab tests out that will come back tomorrow afternoon (urine culture, fecal, in which they saw some blood :unsure: ), and we'll talk more, then.

     

    I asked about a liver function test, and he agreed it would be a good idea. I asked about raw or home-cooked, and he said, if you can do FRESH raw ("like, you kill a chicken and give it to her"), he thinks that would be fine, but is reluctant to feed her meat that might have developed bacteria sitting in a grocery store when she's already got problems. Which I can understand. He suggested maybe trying some of that once we had her more stabilized, back on Z/D and tylan powder, and at least the antibiotics she's already started on. He did explain that the corn etc. in the z/d is broken down so small it's not identifiable to the body as an allergen, so it's supposed to be okay. It's not a magic bullet; some dogs don't do well on it. We'll have to see how it goes.

     

    She did fine on Z/D until the antibiotics wore off, so ....... We'll see.

     

    I did make an appointment to start Pogo on the blood donor program starting Sunday, to help defray the cost (and heck, that boy .... It's time for some PAYBACK!!! :rofl )

     

    Okay, I'm back to doing caricatures! HfH and I need the money! ;)

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I just called to check on Happy. The attendant said she was bright, alert, excited to go outside, and ate well, so that's great!! DH was more worried about her being in a kennel situation than I was. That girl is still all pro. When I walk her up to the scale at the vet's, she just steps up, and stand still. Kennel life is old hat to her, not that I want her to have to live like that any longer than necessary!!

     

    I'm definitely going to talk to the vet about a home-cooked/raw diet for her. :nod:

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Thanks, y'all, for coming along with me! :grouphug

     

    Ahicks, thanks. I'm collecting all this info to my notes! :)

     

    Tigger pm'd me with some questions to help get more specific comments from those with more experience. This is what I wrote back to her:

    The vet that was going to do the infusion (Dr. Sullivan) called me to tell me that he didn't think the blood values were what the other vet thought they were, and he didn't think it was a good idea to do the infusion. We talked for quite a long time, during which we covered a lot of ground, with the possible suspects focusing on IBD, bacterial overgrowth in the intestine, intestinal ulcer, tumor, infection somewhere from bladder to kidneys, TBDs, some combination of these, fungal infection ....

     

    He said that her total protein was "low normal" at 5.2 (I think; he has my copies of the labwork right now), with ALB at I think 2.1. The question of where is the protein loss coming from is key. We're trying to get at that bit of info from the least invasive means possible, working up if necessary to true cut biopsy.

     

    The antibiotic is (urgh! something like ...) ceflodoxine. She had done a round of that and metronidazole already, and done much better, 'til about a week after they ran out.

     

    She was wormed about maybe two months ago with off-brand Drontal, so I'm pretty sure that's covered, along with the metronidazole more recently. The fact that the antibiotics did seem to help is encouraging. After all, tumors wouldn't react to them, right?

     

    I'll remember the [Tigger's suggestion of] zantac 150. The first vet did see a lot of gas in her stomach and lower intestines (in an x-ray).

     

    Her poop seems to have improved on the W/D food and two or three doses of antibiotics, but it has run the gammut from pudding, to snot-wrapped goo, to pureed kibble with extra liquid, to formed but not firm, to quite firm (on the Z/D food with antibiotics). It was the snot-wrapped goo that got this whole circus really spinning about a month ago. :rolleyes:

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    So, raw feeders, since Happy only has her bottom teeth, and won't have them much longer, will bone meal do in place of bones? I assume so, but does it have what marrow provides, or .... ??

    Not saying I'm going raw/home cooked, but I do consider it a very good idea, and do have to think about it harder each time it comes up.

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Ahicks, um, good question! Maybe they like sawdust?? I know mine eat it when it gets kicked out of the catbox (we use wood pellets for litter)! :P

     

    She can't live forever on just meat, can she? Especially a narrow range of meats, right?

     

    Trudy, that's weird about Ryan! I left all my records at the clinic for them to look at, but it was 500 ... something. Units? Percent of something? He said, at that level, he suspects the GI, more than the kidneys, which would be much higher.

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Thank you for reading and caring, you guys!! :grouphug

     

    Ahicks, that's good info. I saw that corn starch in there, too, and thought, "Corn is in an ultra-low allergen food?" :blink

    I'll talk to my beLOOOOOOVEd vet about the low/no carb diet. Raw has been something I've thought of for years, but my vegan soul keeps cringing away from it. :unsure: I'm sure raw or home-cooked would be better for all the critters than kibble, though.

     

    Just got off the phone with Dr. S, who had a lot to talk about, and did so at length. His reading of the blood values did not add up the same as Dr. B, to the point that he did not want to give her blood products at all. He thinks she's in the low-normal range for total protein in the blood! YEAY! But, she's obviously got at least one thing going on, and maybe more. He wants to culture her urine, keep her overnight, and test her blood again in the morning, probably putting her on the tylan powder (anti-bacterial).

     

    As we talked, we considered the possibilities of tick borne diseases, fungal issues, and maybe a few others, from her former life. Oh, and even a chronic bloat, which he described as being a precursor to a torsion, and which can cause discomfort, nausea without being able to vomit, or with vomiting, big D ... but I hadn't seen her vomiting or trying to, so we pretty much ruled that one out.

     

    He even said he'd call Dr. B and talk to him directly about all this (but you could tell he wasn't looking forward to it! :P ), and keep Happy overnight without charging me! :kiss2 I told him to be careful, that I was going to fall in love with him (but, not really, since I'm a very happily married woman! :wub: )

     

    Anyway, Mama Happy is hanging out with the nice staff at Bellingham Vet. Clinic tonight, and we'll know more tomorrow.

     

    Oh, and you all get a big Gold Star!! :D

    istockphoto_1803807_gold_star_2.jpg

    Poor Happy!

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Poor little Happy!! We're still trying to figure out what's wrong with her, but it could be bad. Kidney disease or maybe something worse in her intestines .... :unsure:

     

    She came to us last year at 8.5 years old, skin and bones, not much appetite on and off, with the most horrible teeth (and breath! :blink: ), a skin rash, an unidentified lump, and very dry skin. And nasty poop. And worms. Oh, and her front feet were puffy in the mornings. Oh, and some kind of unpleasentness in her hoo-hoo, which occasionally requires some ointment. :rolleyes: We got rid of the worms, biopsied both the lump (fatty) and the rash (indeterminate), worked on the food/poop condition, got rid of about half her teeth, and started brushing her teeth every day, putting various lotions on her rash, keeping a shirt on her to cut down on irritants, monitoring her puffy feet, and just loving the heck out of her pretty little self! :wub: What a dear!! :kiss2 At one point, she seemed to be limping a bit, so we watched, waited, and eventually got x-rays from neck to toes. No cancer, but there was some minor compression in her neck vertebrae, and some small abnormalities in one "wrist", and some fusing in the bones of her hock consistant with the break that ended her racing career. Nothing conclusive.

     

    She's a girl of light and dark. Her name is Happy, but she has an alter-ego we laughingly call UN-Happy, who can put up quite a whine. :lol She likes to chase the other dogs when they get to running in the yard, and will just prance and bounce up to you for love and kisses. She loves attention, and will shove right in for it, standing on or over another dog if necessary ;) but is unwilling to get up on the couch for cuddles, so I have to get my Happy-fix on the floor. :wub:

     

    So, about a month and a half ago, her usually funky poop got pretty bad; mucus-y and wet. So, we fasted her for a day, and started her on white rice and white turkey meat for a several days. No improvement, so off to the vet. On the possibilities that she's basically an allergic dog, who might also have some intestinal bugs, we put her on Z/D ($$$$ :blink: ), metronidazole, and ceflopadoxine (or something like that). The big D cleared up over night (yeay!!), and she liked the food. Great.

     

    Three weeks later, or so, after the drugs are done, major big D! We were up all night taking her out, and she was obviously uncomfortable. Fasted her for breakfast, back to vet. Vet says, try this other food to stop up the D, and let's take some blood and urine. Values are not good. There's almost no protein in her blood, but a lot in her urine, along with some blood and leucocytes. Since the antibiotics helped, let's put her back on them, then we'll have to figure out how to stabilize the protein situation. This means plasma protein IV, possibly for 2 or three days. Could be kidneys, could be intestines, could be cancer, could be IBD, could be ......... How to know? Maybe ultrasound will tell us, maybe have to do a biopsy of her intestine or kidneys (or both??)

     

    Now, I wish it weren't an issue, but DH and I are both self-employed, and it's been a tough year. Neither one of us is taking care of our own (small) medical issues 'til things turn around. But, here we are. :unsure

     

    The new food did help with the D, but the first night she was still very uncomfortable, up whining and pacing every hour or so. I called the vet. Time to set up the IV before she crashes.

     

    Brilly is a blood donor at another vet, whom I LOOOOOVE!!!, but who is 2 to 3 times more expensive than the vet we've been working with recently (whom I also like). The expensive vet also seems to be a little more grey-savvy, and noticed that Happy's platelets were low for a grey (but in normal range for other breeds). Because Brilly is a donor, I get some credit for blood products through that vet, so we decided to bring her down there for the infusion. Dr. Sullivan (did I say I LOOOOOVE him??) even offered to make the bill low enough that we can even pay it off with credit on Brilly's donations! (I'm going to see about bringing Pogo in for donations, too! Put that hooligan to work, for pete's sake!! :lol )

     

    Dr. S had some thoughts about what could be behind all this, which included IBD, a chronic bacterial overgrowth which could be treated simply with a drug she can take for the rest of her life (this one gets my vote!), cancer (NO!!), a chronic upper GI ulcer. He wasn't as concerned about the possibility of a kidney issue because he said he'd expect to see way more protein in the urine.

     

    Anyway, right now, my little mama dog is settling into her new digs, getting tubes stuck in her.

     

    Anyone have any helpful thoughts?

     

    Other than that, just maybe send on some positive thinking/white light/prayers/comfort in her direction, if you have any to spare.

     

    If you actually read all this, you totally get a gold star for listening!! :lol

     

    Here's my little gal, to focus your loving thoughts on.

    DSCF2587JPGcopy.jpg

     

    DSCF2588.jpg

     

    HPW-star.jpg

    So Far No Luck Wth Eating- Day 4

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    What PiagetsMom said was just booming in my head, too! Maybe she's not eating while you're watching 'cause you're making her nervous with your own stress, or just because you're watching? If you lay out the food like you don't care, and leave, maybe she'll eat on her own. If you can make sure no one else is eating it when you're not looking, then you'll have a better idea of what's actually being consumed.

     

    Good luck with all this! How incredibly frustrating/scary!! :bighug

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