Guest trevdog Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending more prayers to Alex.....keep fighting sweetie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gr84me Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending more prayers. Brody got an infection, too, after his obstruction surgery. I think it's always a possibility when the intestines are opened up. He was on some pretty powerful antibiotics, and it didn't progress to the septic stage or where he needed surgery, but I was still scared to death. When he could finally eat, things started to improve really fast - I am hoping that the same thing happens for sweet Alex. I'm so glad you're able to be with him - it does help a lot! He knows you love him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaina Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending more good thoughts your way. :hope And a big hug for you: Quote Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ola Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending continued vibes to you and your boy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tiegra Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending many thoughts and prayers for Alex. I'm so sorry Alex and your family are going through this hard time. Lots of white light as well. Dani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending good thoughts. Have you heard from the vet yet on how he's doing since this morning? Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfish Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Still thinking of him and sending prayers .. Quote The plural of anecdote is not dataBrambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sassichari Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending prayers and white light. I am so sorry for your family and your baby to be going through this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PiagetsMom Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Sending prayers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CyndiW Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I hope Alex gets to the point soon where he can eat soon. That is encouraging that Brody started to improve more quickly after he started to eat. He is licking some baby food from a spoon about every other time it is offered. I am currently fixing him some white rice and boiled chicken just to try to entice him with some real food. The clinic really encourages families to bring items such as this. Hopefully it hasn't been too long since he has had food and he vomits it up. My husband just called and said that they have put back in the urinary catheter because getting up and down is just too stressful on him and that his other catheter is leaking so they are trying to find a new place to put it in. Unfortunately our vet here blew most of the good spots. The bad thing is that his veins are leaking fluid due to the low protein and his legs are really swollen. Things are looking down again so I hope his status gets a little better this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trevdog Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 If the chicken and rice doesn't work, keep with the baby food or something else smelly. Sometimes when they are ill, stinky food is more enticing. continuing to send lots of prayers to Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remolacha Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LolasMom Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gr84me Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 (edited) I hope Alex gets to the point soon where he can eat soon. That is encouraging that Brody started to improve more quickly after he started to eat. He is licking some baby food from a spoon about every other time it is offered. I am currently fixing him some white rice and boiled chicken just to try to entice him with some real food. The clinic really encourages families to bring items such as this. Hopefully it hasn't been too long since he has had food and he vomits it up. My husband just called and said that they have put back in the urinary catheter because getting up and down is just too stressful on him and that his other catheter is leaking so they are trying to find a new place to put it in. Unfortunately our vet here blew most of the good spots. The bad thing is that his veins are leaking fluid due to the low protein and his legs are really swollen. Things are looking down again so I hope his status gets a little better this evening.) Good that you are taking him something to eat. I sat right down with Brody and got him to eat a tiny bit about every fifteen minutes. I think I cooked everything I knew how to make. He spiked a temp of around 103, he was so dehydrated, and he was so weak that I had to lift his head up to feed him. I gave him water through a medicine dropper. His IV incision opened up (from when he thrashed around coming out of the anesthesia) and he had an open sore on his leg that I had to dress, too. I was so terrified and exhausted; I fell asleep on the floor next to him. I didn't even worry about him going outside to pee - I figured that's why I have vinyl and laminate floors. I just made sure he stood up and walked around every now and then. I can only imagine how you feel right now! However, once he got enough strength to eat, his intestines started "working" which is really really important, as you know, and he got better very fast. I am praying the same thing happens for Alex! I really believe that my pretty much constant attempts to feed Brody saved his life, because he wasn't strong enough to eat on his own. My vets are wonderful, but they just didn't have the time to sit with him constantly. I even put things in the blender and fed him with one of those baby spoon/syringe things so he could just have a little bit in his mouth at a time. Trevdog is right - baby food and smelly things work. I even sprinkled a tiny bit of garlic powder (not too much) on Brody's food and it worked. Even something like Ensure or cottage cheese or ice cream or anything mushy to get those innards moving. Hugs for you, and lots more prayers! Intestinal surgery is not fun. Edited August 20, 2007 by gr84me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CyndiW Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 When I first got to the hospital tonight, it was very hard to take in the physical changes since yesterday when I saw him. The surgery yesterday to remove all of the infection and dead tissue is giving the antibiotics a chance to work. However, his protein levels are continuing to drop so his veins are leaking and causing extremely swollen legs. Also, his skin is now oozing blood. He has received 3 plasma transfusions so far but nothing is helping on this end. He didn't want anything to do with the chicken and rice. In fact, it seemed to make him upset. He started whimpering and moaning and moved his head away from it. However, I waited a few minutes and then asked for some baby food. She gave me a jar that had about 1/4 left. I had to literally spoon it with a tongue suppressor on his tongue (sliding it between his teeth). He did move his tongue around and swallow. It took awhile but he finished off that small amount. I waited an hour and then asked for a new jar. He ate about 1/3 of it before he finally just let the last spoonful sit on his tongue. I then asked for a syringe and bowl of water. I rinsed his mouth out good and tried to get him to swallow the water. Most of it (but not all) drip back out. She put the rest in the refrigerator with the chicken and rice. The had another dog being admitted to into the CCU plus they said from 9-10 they would be working on Alex. So I came back to the hotel and will go back after 10. Does anyone know if getting some food in him will help his protein levels? The plasma nor nothing else seems to be helping. Tomorrow at 6pm will be the end of the first critical 48hours after the surgery to remove the infection. I am just concerned that if his protein levels don't start to pick up soon that his prognosis tomorrow evening will not be good. The surgeon told me this morning that we can be cautiously optimistic at this point but this is very hard when I know his veins and skin are leaking. His urine is also a very dark orange/brown. Does anyone have experience with this either? His liver enzymes are still elevated and his eyes are slightly yellow. However, she says this is consistent with the type of surgery and trauma he has been through. He is just so agitated despite various pain meds and sedatives. He lifts his head up and looks at all the tubes coming and going from his body, moans loudly, starts breathing rapidly, and then throws his head back down. I know he wants to go home but we just cannot provide this type of intensive care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scouts_mom Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onrushpam Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I'm just now seeing this... We dealt with a badly injured dog (100s of sutures) who was leaking protein like crazy! Her entire body was oozing. First, we brought her home, put her in an X-pen and stayed with her round the clock. Just getting her out of the vet clinic made a HUGE difference! Second, we ground up high-protein kibble (Nutro High Energy) in the food processor and mixed it with High Protein Canned food and water, to make a thick gruel. We sat with her and offered little handfuls of it. She would eat it out of our hands. This was an around-the-clock deal for several days. One of us was with her 24 hours, sleeping beside her, offering food and water whenever she woke. Also, she had a Fentanyl patch, which helped with the pain a lot. But, it also killed her desire to eat. So, we took it off after the first day and went with lesser pain meds. I truly believe she would've died had we left her at the vet clinic. Having her at home, with 24 hour care, made a HUGE difference. Of course, I don't know your situation... your experience with medical issues... or your dog's current prognosis. You need to trust your vet. But, you also need to trust your instincts with your dog. With ours, we KNEW she needed to be home and we were willing to commit to 24 hour care. And, we took her back to the vet for daily checkups the first few days. Our vet told us he thought she would die and was amazed she lived. I think she would've died, had we left her at the clinic. Just my experience... don't take it as gospel... Quote Pam GPA-Tallahassee/Southeastern Greyhound Adoption "Fate is unalterable only in the sense that given a cause, a certain result must follow, but no cause is inevitable in itself, and man can shape his world if he does not resign himself to ignorance." Pearl S. Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Sending many prayers, for strength and hunger and healing. Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lothianjavert Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Sending lots of hugs and prayers for you and Alex. :hope :grouphug Quote In vino veritasRachael with Rook, missing Sully, Sebau, and Diesel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CyndiW Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 My concern at this point with taking him home is that we don't really have the capabilities so support his IV drips (3 antibiotics, plasma transfusions, and Reglan.) He also has 2 drains coming from his abdomen to make sure we don't have a repeat infection. There is quite a bit of fluid coming out of those. He also has a urinary catheter since he is so weak and was getting so stressed getting up to go out. He does get up to change positions every now and then but it is very painful. He is in a critical care unit in an emergency and specialty hospital. He has a vet tech assigned to him 24/7 and there are doctors in constantly evaluating and making minor adjustments to his treatment. It is such a hard to call. His temp, blood pressure, and heartrate continue to remain good. I am just afraid should we try to take him home and something go wrong, it is almost 2 hours to get him back here. I will not let his local vets touch him at this point after the "could be fatal" wrong decision they made to open him up in the first place. My husband and I are taking shifts driving back and forth so one of us is always here. I am so glad to hear that a greyhound can bounce back after all this seaping stuff that is going on. Maybe I will have my husband bring some of Alex's dog food back and we can soak it in water and try it for more protein. It is the fish variety for Eagle Holistic and Alex usually loves it. The baby food jar said it had 8 grams of protein. If he would just eat some of the chicken I brought he would be getting lots. Thanks so much for any and all suggestions and encouraging stories. Between those and all of the prayers, I am still staying upbeat and I think it is important for Alex to see this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chigal950 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Thinking of you and Alex. I am sure every minute you are able to spend with him eases his discomfort and reassures him. Hoping for good news tomorrow, hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beerdogs31 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hang in there! Sending positive thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Winterwish Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 (edited) After reading onrushpam's post,how about puree'ing the chicken? And maybe try again with the tongue depressor,with Alex's head and shoulders propped on 2 pillows,lifting his head if you want also,and with a biteful of the chicken,puree'ed,place it on the back of the tongue,more toward the side of the tongue-- still way toward the back,but be VERY careful not to push it down. Then lightly stroke the front and sides of his neck to help encourage his swallow. I'd leave out the rice altogether,and just go with the chicken. How about cooking up a couple of little pieces of chicken livers and see if he'd try that. I don't think you can puree' that tho'. Chicken livers are very hard for almost any dog to resist. Thinking of each of you and saying prayers for your boy Alex to please get better. Edited August 21, 2007 by Winterwish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vahoundlover Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I don't know how I missed this! *head must be in the sand* Sending lots of prayers your boy will pull thru and be home soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neighsayer Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hope he had a good night and is ready to eat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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