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Chancy's vet seems pretty responsive from what you have posted, so try to be upbeat with Chancy and patient with the meds. With a very low platelet count It does take a while, and that is what Chancy needs the Doxy for. Sending prayers. Thank you. Hope is exactly what I need right now.

We just got back from a nice long car ride. Hubby drove me & the girls around the city lakes for a couple hours. Tipper stayed home, since he'd already had an extra walk and I wasn't in the mood to deal with his car-space snarkiness. Chancy did not trot joyfully to the garage like she always has. That alone broke my heart. Once she was in the van she seemed mostly content. She did have a moment of queasiness, but that seemed to pass, and she didn't vomit up any food, thank goodness. On our way home we stopped and picked up some meat baby food, as I know Sissy was able to eat that when nothing else could tempt her. She has already eaten a small jar of baby ham with gusto. Tomorrow I expect I'll bring her in for a prednisone shot, or at least a quick blood test to see if her platelets have changed. Poor gentle stripey tigergirl is sacked out for now.

God I know that feeling. I'm sorry you're going through it too. I did read somewhere about changing the needle. I'll certainly mention that to the vet for future reference. Thankfully, he is pretty open-minded about the things I gather by extensive reading & surfing.

It's been just over 24 hours since the shot, and honestly I see no improvement in the symptoms that led us to try the shot. I know I shouldn't expect a miracle, but it's hard not to be disappointed when I hear how fast other dogs have benefitted from it. What it means to me is that Babesia is likely not Chancy's problem.

Thank you for your thoughts. The vet felt that Chancy is not currently a candidate for splenectomy due to her low platelet count. If we can get that back into a safe range, we might be able to consider that option. Frankly, I'm feeling sort of overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of doom this afternoon. I was able to get her pills in her via peanut butter, but she is still disinterested in her dogfood, and now has turned up her nose at the special meatballs she ate just fine this morning. She did eat another hotdog bun and a slice of bologna, but she ate them very slowly, hesitantly. Her eyes are still bright, but she has no energy or strength. Her abdomen is huge. The vet estimated that she's carrying around at least a five-pound spleen. It kills me to see her this way.

Chancy has spent the day mostly sleeping. She is still very uncoordinated and stumbly. She did enjoy Carole's home-made food though. : I've been offering her a little snack every few hours. She went outside a few minutes ago and did her business like the good girl she is. Had a nice firm little turd. Simple pleasures, right?

FWIW, I have faith that this vet is the right guy for the job. I've seen a lot of vets around town, and so far this guy has impressed me the most. ETA: ... I should add that I am not easily impressed.

Chancy normally has a "stomach of iron" and has never had a bowel problem, even during the worst of her worm infestation when I first got her two years ago. My vet feels that using the two in conjunction is the best way to go, and what I have read supports this as well. Just got off the phone with the vet, and we may try the shot of atropine before the next imidocarb inj, to minimize side-effects. The vet also said if Chancy doesn't seem to perk up at all by tomorrow, we may go ahead and add Prednisone to the mix, in case it's an autoimmune problem. I know it's a lot to throw at my poor ol' gal in a short time, but my vet and I agree that we must act quickly considering the state she's in. I did also ask the vet just now about subQ vs IM, and his feeling was that since the label said it could be used either way, and given Chancy's low platelet count, he didn't want to risk a bleed in the muscle. I just have to hope Chancy doesn't react the way Bailey did. Basically the vet re-confirmed that we are just trying to "hold the line", preventing her symptoms from getting worse (and if we're lucky, make them better) while we try to figure out what the actual problem is. Thank you everyone for your experiences thus far. I really appreciate the info.

Holy cow, that looks awful! Do you think that was an unusual reaction specific to Bailey? Like an allergic reaction? You scared me, so I tried to find Chancy's injection site. I watched it being given SubQ between her shoulderblades, but I see no sign of the spot now. Her fur is very thick for a grey. Of course it's been less than 24 hours too...

I've read that the Dimenazine is for B. gibsoni (which I understand to be more rare), and that Imidocarb is for B. canis vogeli. Chancy is also on Doxy as of this am. We don't have test results back yet, but due to Chancy's condition and platelet count, we opted to treat as though positive for now. My understanding is Dimenazine is an even more dangerous injection than Imidocarb. Either way, the shot was awful, and I can't tell if Chancy's declining in general, or if she's having an adverse reaction to the shot. She's panting harder today than yesterday, and is more wobbly on her feet. The vet is due to call me any time now. Thankfully no vomiting, but Chancy had almost immediate diarrhea after the shot. I couldn't believe it could even affect her that fast! It was better this am, but not "normal" yet.

Chancy got a subcue injection of Imidocarb yesterday. I'm asking this because today I've read that this shot should be given in the muscle. What have been other folks' experiences with this injection? Subcue or IM? Also, I've read about the possible side-effects, and was wondering how many others's pups reacted poorly to the shot...

We successfully peed outside. : well... Chancy peed outside. I just watched.

Chancy is sleeping, more or less. Intermittant bouts of panting. She had another hotdog bun and a slice of bologna a little bit ago. I really think she must need to pee soon, but I hate to get her up. It's so much work for her. Just yesterday we were able to walk three blocks. Today I worry about her getting to the back yard. I'm wondering if some of this exponentially increased wobbliness is from that awful injection yesterday.

She made it back up the five steps into the house on her own. I was hovering over, in case she needed help, but she did it. My tough ol' tigergirlie. She had a squishy little poo, which was a massive improvement over yesterday's yellow sulphuric acid squirts. Sorry to be so graphic. : She keeps wanting to tank on water, so I'm a little concerned that she hasn't peed since 11 last night. I don't let her drink too much at once as, again, I'm trying to minimize risk of vomiting. I'll offer another "sandwich" in an hour or so. She's relaxing for now. Panting less. Why are nights always so much harder than days?

Not a good night. I'm staying home today. I just can't face leaving her when she's this weak. She panted and drooled throughout the night. Different than the previous nights' panting. More rapid and shallow. The kind of panting Sissy did near the end. She's extremely wobbly on her feet this morning, surt of bumping into doorways and furniture. She can see the obstacles, but just sort of wobbles uncontrollably... I haven't tried to get her out in the yard yet. I may need hubby's help getting her back up the stairs to get inside. She wanted nothing to do with her kibble mush, no matter how I watered it. But thank goodness for peanut butter, hotdog buns, and bologna. : I hate to throw her off her regular diet, because of the diarrhea yesterday, but I don't want to give her medications on an empty stomach. She ate a few of her special meatballs too. I think she would eat more of the above items, but I want to let the first round settle a bit. I absolutely want to avoid her vomiting, as it's the number one cause of aspirate pneumonia (a potential complication from the tieback surgery. I'll try another hodgepodge meal in a couple of hours. Hubby's back from walking Tip and Marla. I'm going to try and get Chancy outside now...

Thanks Karen. Chancy's finally seeming to relax a bit, pressed up against the AC vent on her flat bed. I haven't decided if I'm going to work tomorrow... I'd rather stay home and just watch her.

Hindsight is always 20/20 right? After reading up on Imidocarb, I see that the side-effects can be minimized by an injection of Atropine first... I wish I'd known that a few hours ago... She's resting now on her "flat bed" next to me. It's one of two thin baby crib mattresses I bought for her last week when I realized she prefers to lay flat and sprawled due to her uncomfortable swollen belly. I keep telling her "I'm doing everything I can, sweetheart. Everything I can..."

I forgot to mention, on a nice note, that when we arrived home, there was a little gift of Carole's home-made dog food awaiting us. Due to Chancy's tummy upset, I think we'll save that for later. Thanks Carole, that was very sweet!

We're home. It's been a long afternoon. They drew more blood, determined her platelets have fallen through the basement floor within the last 19 days. They are sending off samples for TBD testing, results in 5-7 days. In the meantime, we're going forward assuming positive TBD results, because if it is positive, and we wait for confirmation, it may be too late at the rate her platelets are falling. So they gave her an injection of Imidocarb (for possible Babesia) and we'll start Doxycycline tomorrow (he wanted to wait on the Doxy in case Chancy had a reaction to the injection) for possible Erlichia. I don't recall the protocol for RMSF... I seem to recall it's a combo of things. We are taking her off the Previcox, switching to Tramadol and possibly adding gabapentin in a day or three if the Tram doesn't help her LS pain enough. Once the Previcox is out of her system, we have the option down the road of trying Prednisone (in case it's Lupus or something similar). This also means we can't try the Depo-Medrol shot any time soon. While at the office, I noticed bruising on Chancy's thighs where they had held her up for the blood draws. I was present, so I know they did not manhandle her. The bruises are due to the low platelets. So now we must bubblewrap (figuratively) our girlie, insuring that she doesn't bump into things, fall, etc. And watch for any additional bruising or nosebleeds, which could mean requiring a transfusion. Due to the low platelets, Chancy is not a candidate for splenectomy at this time. Too high a risk of her bleeding out on the OR table. The injection was painful, causing Chancy to flinch, twitch violently, and defecate where she lay. Then after we left the office, Chancy had terrible diarrhea in the parking lot, in my car, in my yard, and all down her own backside. She didn't want to eat her food at first, but willingly ate it once I watered it down into more of a chowder. : I don't recall what else the vet said about her blood values, because my head is full. I'm aware all of this sounds absolutely terrible, but I must say that she is still herself (in a more subdued way). She still stomps my feet and wiggles and grins her gummy grin at me when I touch her leash. She still bounces as well as she can muster toward the garage for car rides. She still begs for treats with the best of 'em. She's not done yet.

I guess my mind wasn't working correctly when I calculated how early I needed to leave work for Chancy's appt. I had an extra 30 minutes at home before we should leave. So we really are leaving for the vet in five minutes this time. Her tummy is bloated as ever, and she's panting non-stop. She parked herself in front of the AC vent. I think the cool air soothes her. She didn't have a fever this morning (101.5), so I suspect the panting is a pain reaction. My poor tigerdog, how much more can a sweet ol' gal be expected to take?

Carole, that's so sweet of you. It's not that I don't spoil Chancy (Oh how I spoil her! ), it's that I'm trying to keep Marla from becoming a fussy eater out of jealousy of all the goodies Chancy gets. Leaving in a few minutes to bring Chancy in.

Taking her in to the vet again today at 3:45. He sounded concerned.

Today's update... Chancy continues to breathe very well, and shows no signs of complications from the tieback surgery. The not so good news: Her spleen appears to be enlarging even more now. It has become painful to her, as she has difficulty getting comfortable, and pants frequently, despite the pain meds she's on. Her temp is normal, so that at least is a relief. But her poor tummy is so bloated-looking, she almost appears pregnant. I think it's putting pressure on her stomach as she is starting to show signs of not wanting to eat solid food again. I'm not sure what else I can do for her. The ultrasound and needle biopsies a month ago were inconclusive. Not cancer that anyone could see, but also no explanation as to why her spleen is in overdrive. After her chest Xrays, we thought her heart was slightly enlarged, possibly also causing the spleen to react, so Chancy's been on Enalapril for a month. The idea of a splenectomy occurred to me, but putting my poor ol' lady through another major surgery, esp so soon after the last one... Ugh. :

I'm happy with my latest vet too. After Chancy's surgery, he even gave me his private home phone number in case anything came up with her recovery over that weekend. That has never happened with any of the other vets. A toast to great vets! : :

Dang, now what am I going to worry about? <sigh>