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ZoomDoggy

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    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    My vet called. He heard back from the radiologist. The radiologist believes there is a soft-tissue mass on Marla's lung(s). He suggested an ultrasound. My vet said it's either cancer, or a mass of tissue, possibly scar tissue from the pneumonia (or something like that, honestly I'm so beside myself right now I don't recall his exact words after "mass"). The upshot is, if they do a ultrasound and biopsy the mass, they could determine if it's cancer. If it is, it's inoperable, and very likely to have metastasized already. If it's not cancer, then we continue treating with cipro as we currently are anyway, and hope it's just bad pneumonia.

     

    I currently feel there's no damned point in doing an ultrasound or biopsy. Why pay $500 for someone to tell me my dog is dying? BTDT, and paid more for the "honor." Why pay to put her through an unpleasant procedure only to crush my last tiny thread of hope that maybe this time my dog is not dying.

     

    I just want to crawl into a hole and hide from my life for a while.

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Thank you for asking. :)

     

    Marla seems to be holding steady. Her appetite is the same, which is to say, very reluctant. Her energy is the same, still low. Still not the way she used to be. I must confess I'm very frustrated and weary of trying to come up with novel foods to tempt her with. I really miss the eager little hoover who would drool profusely over the potential of any kind of treat. I miss Marla's little stuffie-tossing-squeeking and fuzz-plucking play sessions she used to do before each meal. I miss her deep yoga stretches in the mornings. She's just not the same dog anymore and I don't know what to do for her. :sad1

     

    I'm supposed to hear the radiologist's opinion of the xrays we took last week, maybe today. He is supposed to advise as to whether we should try aspirating a sample of the fluid to determine what it is.

     

     

    <sigh>

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Marla has eaten her last two meals very well (after snubbing the first two recipes I tried). I fear it's temporary, just because that's the way she's been lately. :rolleyes: But the stew of fresh boiled turkey and canned food seems to be pretty tasty for now. <knock on wood>

     

    She doesn't seem to show any increased energy yet, but I'm hoping that's just because her back right foot has been very very sore from where they hulled two corns from one toe on Wednesday. She's been three-legging it since then. :(

     

    She was a little restless last night, so I hoisted her up onto our bed to sleep between hubby and me the rest of the night. She seemed to like that (it's a rare privilege, as Sissy was the only people-bed regular here). :)

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by ZoomDoggy

    Sending lots of good and healing thoughts to Marla...how did they discover that was what was going on, fluid?

     

    Yes, there were pockets of fluid visible on her chest xrays. The films are being sent to a radiologist to determine if anything else is visible that my vet might've missed. The radiologist may or may not recommend doing a fluid aspiration to find out what exactly the stuff is. In the meantime: cipro, and now I can finally offer her anything her little heart desires to eat because now at least I know the not eating isn't behavioral.

     

    She still wasn't much interested in dogfood of any variety this morning, but did eat two scrambled eggs with gusto. And she came into the kitchen with the rest of the pups (full house with two additional hound-guests this week) to beg for a treat (which she even ate!). That seemed like a good sign. :)

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Marla ate 1/3 of her evening meal last night (after skipping her breakfast and afternoon meals entirely), and none of her breakfast today. I KNOW she's hungry. I keep putting her food down, she keeps sniffing it and walking away. But she came running when she heard the treat jar being opened. Then she stood there looking pitiful, wondering why she doesn't get a treat as Tip crunches happily away at his. So I offered her food dish again. She sniffed and walked away.

     

    :riphair:weep:headwall:weep

     

    I will not be outwilled by this dog. Not again. :angry:

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    What drives me batty and makes me think it's behavioral is that there are no other tangible symptoms. No fever, no increased or decreased drinking, no probs with elimination, no limping, no panting, no vomiting, no sore/tender areas, no burping, no gas... She just seems a little down. Doesn't play with her stuffies before mealtimes like she used to. Doesn't do her "yoga" stretches as often. I can tempt her to eat if I offer something really special (yesterday afternoon I added some leftover bits of ribeye steak to her meal and she wolfed the whole bowlful, steak, kibble and all!) she'll eat with no problems.

     

    The only thing I can see physically wrong with her is she has a corn on one toe of each of her back feet. They're not new, and rarely do they cause her to limp. I am treating them with duct tape.

     

    I really don't want to be forced to find novel foods for her every day (so far nothing I've tried has been effective for more than a few meals) when her normal diet was perfectly acceptable for months up until just a few weeks ago.

     

    If it were just a matter of changing the kibble, that'd be fine, but I just can't offer novel stuff every day indefinitely!

    Toe Issues

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Dislocated toes do not always heal or "pop back in" on their own. The longer a dislocated toe stays dislocated, the more likely you'll have permanent ligament damage, which will result in repeated dislocations and possible arthritis in the future. Do her toes look straight and in normal position? If she's still limping badly several days after the incident, I personally would want to have it Xrayed. Just my opinion.

    Marla Seems Slightly Depressed, Sometimes Won't Eat.

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Bratty brat brat!

     

    She ate yesterday afternoon, no probs. She ate about 1/3 of her dinner. She ate nothing this morning. She watched me fix the food as always, followed me to the feeding area, sniffed the food, and walked away. After several minutes of trying to coax her back to her dish, I dumped her food into Tip's dish to store for his afternoon meal. Then she came back to her dish and eagerly licked out the remaining gravy. So I put one spoonful of her food back in the dish. She sniffed it, walked away. :riphair:

     

    So if this is behavioral, how long do I let her turn up her nose at meals and starve before I bring her in to the vet?

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