GreyPoopon

I'm so sorry. It was far too soon for him to leave. Godspeed Keota.

Just a quick one this morning: She's coming back. She's walking on her own--even trotting--with the sling "just in case" and for stairs/ramp and pottying. She can turn (carefully), slow down, and stop. She's still unstable if the right hind gets into the wrong spot. She did four walks yesterday (down from five), partially due to schedules (mine and her pottying) and partially because I overdid it on the lunchtime walk. She seemed pretty flat yesterday after that, but she's recovered. She didn't poop again until this morning. After she managed it, she did a little happy dance. She's coming back. :)

Saturday am update: Cora had 5 short walks yesterday, but just 1 pee at 7pm. She isn't dragging her right rear foot as much, although it's a little hard to tell because I've been trying to keep her on the grass to protect the nail that has opened up. She's a bit more stable when turning, slowing, and stopping. She can also stand well as long as she's square. However, she still often gets her rear legs crossed or in otherwise unstable positions. By late yesterday afternoon, she was starting to help on the ramp from the deck to the yard--both up and down--by placing her front feet. She has not gained the same confidence on the stairs: she doesn't really help on the way down, and won't even consider trying to go up. She was much less distressed yesterday than Thursday afternoon and evening. For the most part, she is lying quietly instead of standing and panting. When she does move--a lot less frequently--she is still hitting the sides of the crate, but not quite as often or as hard. She ate all of her dinner last night and breakfast this morning. On her first walk today, she covered 1/2-2/3 of the regular distance, and peed (twice!) and pooped once. She did scream when I helped her down the stairs and and again on the ramp, but I think that was probably due to her full bladder. Last night she wanted to come up to bed. This was a wonderful sign, because during her previous confinements (for the injured hip and then the broken femur), she has chosen to stay downstairs in her crate even when I was ready to have her upstairs. This time, though, I'm not: there is too much slippery flooring, and too many other dogs to fall on during the night. As soon as she is better at shifting positions, I'll get some mats for the floor and let her join us. I don't know whether the improvements are due to healing or just adaptation, but she definitely isn't worse, and may be starting to get better.

Well, at 3:30 in the morning, you should be in bed. I'm glad she ate something. I hope it's the start of a trend.

That is great news! I hope he's continuing to improve.

I think Judy has said what I think better than I could have, but I do have one thing to add: I had an MRI done on a cat. The sole and only reason was to ensure that she did not have a tumour, because I didn't want to treat her for months only to lose her. I would not have subjected her to surgery. The MRI showed inflammation of unknown origin; I put a stop to further tests (and the second general anesthetic that would have been needed) because we weren't likely to learn much more, and it would not affect our treatment plan. I'm not at all sure I would do an MRI again under those circumstances. Yesterday, with the encouragement of the senior vet, I decided against an MRI for Cora, since he did not expect that it would add to what we knew. Please please don't feel guilty. You are doing what you can. Just love her as much as you can for whatever time she has left.

Tramadol seemed to put Cora off her food too, but she started to eat when I pilled her first. I don't think it did much for her pain, although she didn't seem stoned. I hope Hannah feels better and regains her appetite soon.

What a handsome boy he is. I hope he tolerates the chemo well, and has a lot of good time left.

Glad you found us. And surfaced. :)

Poor Soul. Poor you. IBD is hard enough without having to deal with lupus as well. It doesn't help that it takes a while for the impact of the wrong food to show up. Have you considered allergy testing? Blood testing for food allergies has a dubious reputation, but it's really helped me with Minnie (IBD) and my other food-sensitive girls. My vet uses the SPOT test from Spectrum Labs. Another thought if you prefer to use food trials instead is to select a food with the same main ingredients as the i/d, less what you think is worsening his lupus. i/d seems to be mostly corn, rice, and chicken. If the corn is the problem, maybe a LID chicken and rice like California Natural would work. I hope you can find--or make--a food that gives you and Soul the right combination for his special needs.

I am so very sorry. What a wonderful tribute to a special boy. Godspeed Kenny.

She's no worse, which is a very good thing. She might even be a tiny bit better: she managed to turn in her crate this morning without toppling into the side. She also ate a bit. She drank some water last night. Not enough of either, but it's a start. She managed to have her morning poop at about 6:30 last night, plus her second pee of the day. She did five short walks. So far today she's had one short walk; no output. She was quite distressed yesterday afternoon and evening. At first I thought it was the poopal issue. After that was resolved, I thought she must be in pain (from her femur, not the FCE)--I was told to stop the Metacam, which she couldn't have in any event because she didn't eat. She seems a bit more settled this morning, and is sometimes willing to lie quietly. The senior vet called for a progress report yesterday afternoon. This morning, I spoke to one of the vet assistants at the clinic, who passed all of this along to him. He's pleased that there hasn't been any further deterioration. I'm to call and give him another update tomorrow. Cora will go in for a follow-up late next week.

Please start eating Hannah. Chicken is good stuff, especially by hand. You need food as well as good drugs.

From Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Consult: "Methylprednisolone sodium succinate--may be beneficial if given within the first 8 hours after the onset of signs according to studies of acute spinal cord injury caused my spinal cord impact...[dosages and administration]. Controversial." Also: "Nonsteroidal analgesics--do not administer with methylprednisolone sodium succinate; increases probability of gastrointestinal ulceration" The vet was not convinced that they would help, and would not administer a high dose due to the Metacam.

How terrifying. I'm glad she's home. I hope the rest of her recovery is much smoother.

that your handsome boy stops limping very very soon.

FCE [FCE=Fibrocartilaginous Embolic Myelopathy; basically a clot in the blood supply to the spine--sort of a stroke in the spine.] During the night, I heard some grumbling. I barked at the girls, and it subsided. Sometime later--I suspect very shortly thereafter--I heard more grumbling. I looked up to see Cora circling as if to lie down. I got up to see what the problem was, and Tally (the little stinker) stole Cora's spot. I directed Cora to Tally's place (adjacent on the diagonal), and when she stepped off the beds with one back foot, it slipped on the hardwood. I grabbed her and straightened her out, and she leaned her head on my lap for a bit--most uncharacteristic. As I tried to get her settled, I realized that she didn't seem to be able to use one back leg. The good leg. The one without a lot of expensive hardware holding the femur together. I got her settled and stayed with her, stroking her face. When she seemed calm, I went to the bathroom. I was gone less than a minute, heard her, and raced back to find her standing. I got her settled again. After a bit, I took a couple of steps to grab a pillow, and she was up again. I stayed with her until about 6, then moved less than three feet away to get dressed. She got up again. I abandoned that plan and carried her down to her crate. I got organized and walked the others and as soon as the clinic opened at 7, I called. We were given the first appointment at 8am. Cora was examined by the senior vet, who did the surgery on her femur. He found that she had very little control of the affected (right) hind leg, and diminished control of the right front leg. Her left front is fine. Her left hind is not affected, but is still recovering from the surgery just 3 1/2 months ago. She is, for all intents and purposes, a one-legged dog. The one-sided nature of the symptoms suggests FCE; a lower-back disk issue would probably compromise both hind legs. As well, a disk issue that affected the front leg would have to be in her neck, but her neck seems pain-free. In fact, she appears to be in very little pain. She is alert, albeit distressed. We discussed doing a bunch of horribly expensive diagnostics, but he feels tests would only improve the confidence in his diagnosis. He is 95% sure (+/- 3-4 percentage points), so we wouldn't gain much. The usual treatment (steroids) is controversial, and very risky for her because she's been on Metacam (an NSAID) for months. He thinks the prognosis is fairly good because she does have deep pain response. (Watching him test for that was very disturbing.) At the very least, he wants to give it 24-48 hours to see if her condition stabilizes and--we hope--improves. Cora has has a very difficult retirement since she joined us less than two years ago. She spent four months recovering from a deep soft-tissue injury to the right hip, endured two bouts of infected anals during that time, broke her left femur, and now has FCE affecting her right side. (I'm having trouble keeping straight which rear leg is her "good" leg; not only does it alternate, but each further insult leaves her with a weaker "good" leg.) Just a few days ago, she was finally freed from her post-surgery crate rest, and now she's stuck there again. She is a wonderful sweet 10 year old retired racer and broodie who deserves better. Please keep her in your thoughts. Here are a few pics so you can see who you're rooting for. Back in jail (I've left her Ruffwear harness on because she can't hold herself up while I put it on): Eating a bickie: The next two are from a couple of weeks ago and show her face better (I can't get a good pic today without the flash because we're having thunderstorms):

Oh no! What a terrible shock and horrible loss. I am so sorry. Godspeed Smokey.

I hope she feels better by tomorrow. You too.

I'm sorry.

I am so very sorry. It's good that he found you. Godspeed Crackerjack.

What Judy said.

What an awful, horrible shock. I am so very sorry.

Oh crap. I hope the cause and a quick and effective solution are found right away. My 6 brindle (and two woolly) shadows join me in hoping for the best.