Rickiesmom

She's on ampicillin because of the possibility of lepto - we should get the lepto titer results Monday. Jaynie was vaccinated against lepto when she came to me, and was scheduled to get the booster early next week. (Which is unlikely now, in view of what's going on.)

I spoke briefly with Jaynie's overnight vet this AM, as well as her tech. They are continuing to push fluids at a pretty aggressive rate and she is tolerating this well. Tech felt she was becoming more responsive (though I don't know how much of that is the Fentanyl). She is not eating much when food is left with her; will eat a little if hand fed. Vet said this was not unusual in kidney cases because the dogs often felt a bit nauseous. They just took blood to check her values - should have the results back early this afternoon. I'm going to go down there early in the afternoon with fresh food and hopefully her bloodwork will be back by then as well.

Just back from the clinic - it's an emergency clinic on the weekends so extremely busy. I had to wait 90 minutes to see Jaynie, and was then only allowed a few moments with her. (Though I got a few extra because it was time for her to go for a short walk.) I had a short conversation with a vet this AM who told me she's on Fentanyl for pain, and from her behaviour on the walk, I think it's working. She's also on ampicillin (sp?) but I don't know if that's speculative or they have found something - I won't be able to speak with a vet again til late tonight. She's very thin. I was also told in spite of the fluids she's still dehydrated - I guess if your kidneys aren't working you can pee out liquid at a very fast rate. I was told they were keeping track of that but I don't know how exactly - they aren't collecting her pee or anything like that. I took in some warm Basmati rice and some lean boiled meat balls, and was delighted that she wanted to eat - the meatballs especially. It was infuriating not to be able to stay because I wanted to see how much she would eat. Her name, breed and colours are taped to the rice and beef ziploc bags, so I hope she gets what they took from me. I also brought some dehydrated tripe and lung along as nice smelly temptations, but they don't want anything uncooked in the clinic, which in retrospect makes sense. More than anything I want it to be Monday, when she will see the internal med specialist and we can hopefully get to the bottom of this. Dr. Couto apparently knows him which is a good start. In the meantime, I am hoping a call tonight with the vet who admitted her yesterday will answer a couple of questions, and also update me on how her values are looking. I pray they are improving. Thank you all for your prayers, good thoughts, ideas and support. I am heartsick, they help me as well as Jaynie.

Jaynie is now at the e-vet for the weekend. Regular vet called at around 11PM Friday to say there was blood coming out of her IV line. He thought the port was leaky and said he would fix that, but as no one was going to be at the clinic the rest of the night, and only short hours the rest of the weekend, we agreed she should be moved. She will receive supportive care at the e-vet until Monday when she will see an internal medicine specialist at 10:45 (the e-vet clinic functions also as a specialty clinic during the week).

Just got the evening update - it's a mixed bag. I don't have the lab report (will get that e-mailed tomorrow) but her BUN has come down a bit to 59 and her Creatinine is down to 463 which is a real improvement. Phosphorus also coming down, don't have the number. She is continuing to eat in small amounts which is positive. The x-rays showed an unusual amount of gas in the stomach as well as the intestine. Enough that they are considering a barium series. I have mixed feelings about this as this doesn't seem to have much relationship to the kidneys but who knows. Because TBDs are uncommon here they do not have the snap test at the clinic, but will ask Antech to do it, and then follow through if it shows anything. The Lepto results take a couple of days so no news there yet.

I got the clinic to e-mail the lab report (ref range in parentheses). Here are the high values: Total Protein 89.8 (50-74 g/L) Globulin 46.8 (16-36 g/L) Bilirubin,Total 9.8 (0.0-5.1 umol/L ) BUN 65.0 (2.14-9.8 mmol/L) Creatinine 743 (44-141 umol/L ) Phosphorus 5.3 (0.81-1.94 mmol/L ) Hemoglobin 214 (121-203 g/L ) Platelet Count 64 (170-400 109/L ) (LOW)

To answer a few questions, and also ask some: - the surgery went perfectly and was done by a vet I totally trust, so I don't think the surgery per se is a causal factor - she did have a hard time recovering from anaesthesia after her dental; they made some changes this time and initially things seemed to be better after the spay; which doesn't mean anaesthesia isn't somehow implicated, just don't know how - there was bloodwork done after her dental and it didn't show these things, so the results now are indicative of a problem that has arisen very recently Tick panel - I had a basic tick panel done when I got Jaynie but I know they don't test for everything. If someone can tell me specifically what to have her tested for (or point me to a resource that has this info) I will certainly request to have the tests done.

Things have taken such an unexpected, horrible turn, I am starting a new thread. The old one is Here. I am in total shock. The vet just called and said the bloodwork done yesterday is indicative of acute kidney disease. All the kidney values are way high, her platelets are a bit low, and her liver values are also high. This is in contrast to the bloodwork done just over a month ago, when everything was fine. They are trying to figure out what might have happened in between. Vet mentioned anti-freeze, but she would not have had any access so I don't think that's it. They are going to redo the bloodwork, do an abdominal x-ray, and also get a consult with the lab to get their opinion. Depending on what the x-ray shows, they may do an ultrasound but can't get that done til Monday. They will also do a lepto titer. Jaynie has been vaccinated against lepto and was scheduled to have her booster on Tuesday of next week. They need to do a urinalysis as well, but if I understood correctly, need to wait until she's off fluids to get a true result. Pending all the above she will remain in the hospital on fluids and on Pepcid to ease acid in her stomach. Please pray for my girl. She's only 4 years old - this just can't be happening.

This is verbatim from an e-mail from my vet: "I am emailing you cuz I suspect it's the first night you've got a good night sleep in a bit. Just wanted to let you know that Jaynie ate a bunch of the meatballs and rice from my hand around 10:30pm! Her heart rate is 84 and she seems MUCH more comfortable. No bloods back yet but thought I'd give you the good news" Anyone wonder why I love this man?

I spoke with the vet briefly when I brought Jaynie's bite-not collar up for overnight. He said they had given her fluids at a shock rate, then they ran the Addison's test (takes about 1h) then gave her a shot of a steroid that starts with "dex" I didn't catch the name properly. Her heart rate, which had been at 150 when she was checked yesterday and again today, is now down to 90. I don't expect any more news until tomorrow, but it sounds like the situation is coming under control, which is a great relief. Also heard back from the rehab clinic today and she has 2 massage appointments for next week, which, no matter what the cause of Jaynie's problem, should feel really good. ETA: her weight today was 57.x today when I brought her in - down again from yesterday, and from a healthy 65 on Monday. I hope she'll start to eat later tonight.

Jaynie is at the vet overnight, on fluids. In addition to the expected bloodwork, they are going to test her for Addison's The results should all be back tomorrow, the ACTH-stim test probably not til later in the day. I left behind some goodies for her to eat, which she will hopefully do once she starts to feel better.

Jaynie just vomited the water she had recently drunk, bile, and her meds. I called the clinic but can't see the vet til 3. I am sure they will want to admit her, put her on fluids and redo some basic bloodwork. She hasn't eaten since midnight on Monday, she's clearly miserable, and I think she's at a point where she needs more than I can do for her at home. I will continue the compresses until it's time to take her in, and will update when I get back from the clinic.

Jaynie won't even drink broth but the unflavored Pedialite might work. Depending on how much of a flavour it has, even if I have to dilute it with regular water, still better than nothing. I'll try to get some this morning.

No real change. We went out around 6 for a potty break and her front end is still a mess - I put a compress on when we came back in. I am praying the rehab clinic calls me back today and am going to ask my vet to book a neuro consult just in case. Yesterday the holistic vet mentioned they don't want to give her steroids because of the recent surgery but she definitely needs for the root cause to be found, and she needs relief from the symptoms.

No better, but we just started the Robaxin tonight so hopefully it will help. I feel so sorry for her - while I had the compress on her shoulder earlier this evening, the muscles along her spine above the tuck went into spasm. I immediately moved the compress there - it was so bad I could feel the twitching through the compress until it subsided. My poor little girl. Still not eating but still drinking water. I left voicemail a little while ago for the director of the rehab clinic I use for Rickie, to see if there's anything she can do - I'm wondering if laser treatments for example, might help. Please if you can, spare a prayer / good thoughts for my Jaynie. She's hurting and we don't yet know the root cause. Edited to add: I'll pick up some topical trameel - only have the tablets and since she won't eat, nothing to really crush them into. I'll check for dehydration next time she's up - they did have her on fluids in the hospital and she has been drinking, but perhaps not enough.

Vet has gone. Found a lot of muscle tension in Jaynie's chest and shoulder area as well as in one spot down her spine. Was able to observe the peg-legged walk I described. For now he wants her on Robaxin (muscle relaxant) and I am to continue with the compresses and gentle massage. I forgot to ask him about Rescue Remedy but will pick some up as soon as I can. I am to check in with him on Monday and depending on how she's doing, we will decide next steps. I really hope the muscle-relaxant makes her feel better. She needs to eat and feel good again.

We came back in from a potty walk at around 10:15 and Jaynie had an episode similar to the first, except this time more limbs were affected - it was as if she didn't have full control / didn't know what to do with her legs - wouldn't put weight on the right rear leg. I've never seen anything quite like it. I gently massaged each leg, then hauled her up to the regular vet, by which time the episode had pretty much passed. He did think she was walking somewhat stiffly, and her heart rate was way up (150) so felt she was in pain. Checked everywhere, could not get any reaction. So, the working assumption for now is that she may have refluxed again during anaesthesia (this would also help explain the not eating) and we are going back to the sulcrate / losec regimen. As well, I am to discontinue the Tramadol and give her Metacam. Her weight is down to 58.x On the up-side, the spay incision looks great. She's back in her crate resting. We will see the holistic vet at 3:30 and his examination may provide some complementary conclusions.

Jaynie is slow to fully come back after anaesthesia. Her crate door is open but she is choosing to spend all her time there, except for getting up for a drink or to pee. I will try to walk her around a bit more today if she is OK with it, and I am also hoping she'll eat (next on the agenda). So yes, she's been less active than usual. She's on Tramadol 50mg twice per day. She was supposed to be on Metacam but I can't give it to her until she eats. We have an appointment at 3:30 with a vet we love who does house calls. He is very good and I have faith will get to the bottom of this and treat her in whatever way will help (he does accupuncture, massage, chiropractic, etc. as well as traditional vet medicine). I don't have any Rescue Remedy on hand, but will try to get out to pick some up today.

Last night when she came out of her crate Jaynie stumbled and cried out. I thought she'd somehow pulled a bit on her spay incision so I held her for a bit, and then we went out for a quick potty trip. I didn't notice anything unusual about her movement, but it was dark. This morning we went out at about 5:45 and again, things seemed OK. But I noticed she hesitated going up the 5 or so stairs to the kitchen, but attributed that to the bite-not collar, which she was still wearing from overnight and finds awkward. However, once we were upstairs it was clear something was wrong with her left front leg - she was swinging it out rather than bending it in any way. And when I felt the big muscle on the top of her shoulder she screamed. It feels hard to me. I've got a warm compress on it right now, but if anyone sees this and has additional ideas, please share. I don't think the bite-not is responsible - she wears it overnight but had it off all day yesterday since I was home and able to watch over her. Also, since her spay on Monday she's been pretty much in her crate even though the door is open, i.e., not moving around much. maybe she spent too much time in one position?

Thanks everyone! I couldn't get anything to work, not cream cheese, liverwurst, bits of boiled chicken liver, and not a retry of all the things I tried earlier. She just doesn't want to eat. So I finally wrapped the pill in the smallest amount of cream cheese I could to get it down, and pilled her like you pill a cat. Not my preference, but I needed to make sure she wasn't in pain. On the up side, she has gotten up to go out twice (once to poop - pudding) and once to pee, and she is drinking water occasionally. So for now she can sleep as much as she wants, and when she's ready, there's lots of food for her. The other dogs have been really enjoying little pieces of all the things we've tried

Thank you! Now to figure out how to get the pills down - hate to do it, but guess I'll just have to "pill her".

Jaynie won't eat this AM and I am afraid to give her Metacam on an empty stomach. I have Tramadol to give her, but I can't remember if it can be given on an empty stomach or not. My concern is that she won't eat because she's in pain, but I can't relieve the pain without food in her stomach. I've tried boiled beef, roasted chicken (skinless), cheese and homemade chicken broth. I haven't tried scrambled eggs yet, but last time we went through this, they didn't work either. Worst case, I suppose I can bring her up to the clinic for a shot, but hate to disturb her.

She's resting well, wouldn't eat but has pottied a couple of times. Still pretty zonked. I forgot to mention, her weight, was was as low as 59.x after all her travels and then her dental, vs. a racing weight of 62 lbs, is now up to 65 lbs, which is probably about where she should stay - I was so pleased when we weighted her this AM. Looks like it will be a peaceful and restful night.

Jaynie is home. She's pretty out of it, but not like after the dental, she's definitely had a better recovery this time from the anaesthetic. The incision bleeding has stopped but we are to monitor the incision, in particular tonight, and should it show signs of bleeding again, we are to take her to the e-vet. She's in her crate resting. I washed all the bedding today, and she has on a bite-not collar which is hopefully not too uncomfortable. I'll sleep downstairs with her for these first few days at least, until it seems clear everything is happening as it should. She's on Metacam and Pepcid for the next 3 days. The stitches are self-dissolving, hopefully she will have a smooth and quick healing process. Thank you for your answers, experiences and good thoughts. After the dental experience I was a basket case today, and your messages helped me a lot.

I am so sorry.