Blitz At Vet

[dmswartzfager]

I looked at the radiographs, and I also think they are surgical clips. Our surgical nurse was absolutely unfazed by them when she pointed them out to me (not that they were difficult to see). Definitely not a size of paper staple we use around here. Dr. Elise basically forgot we had that exploratory done on him (elsewhere) and so was a bit startled to see all those little bits of metal on the radiographs.

 

So we're home, Blitz is resting on his bed. Still belching, so I gave him 20mg of famotidine just now. I'll try to get him to eat some z/d a little later since it's been 24 hours since his last meal. I'll cook up some turkey meat for him for the next few days. We also have Baytril and metronidazole and a probiotic to give him.

 

The plan is to keep an eye on him overnight, then I will take him to Highway tomorrow morning around 8:45 and have a repeat of the packed cell volume and the total protein done to see where his hydration level is and make decisions from there.

[Patsy]

Have a good night, all of you, and I hope tomorrow provides some answers.

[Guest GiJenn51]

Oh Deanna-- I'm so sorry sweetie. I hope he does well overnight.

[dmswartzfager]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that he indeed has NOT had any more diarrhea since this morning. No sign of perforations on the radiographs, either, and his temperature has been normal - in the 100's (as in not 101, not 102, etc.).

 

No interest in food right now, not even warmed up, but his tummy has to be more than a little upset, I would think. I'll try again later.

[patricia]

Sending more prayers.

[Lilysmom]

Hope you get a good rest tonight Blitz. Feel better soon sweety.

 

Deanna, hope you are able to rest as well.

[iluvgreys]

Hope Blitz finds his appetite tonight and gets a good night's sleep.

[dmswartzfager]

A little orange, very mucous-filled diarrhea a little over an hour ago. He seems to be settled for a couple of hours, then he gets pant-y for about 20 minutes (and that's when he went outside), and then settles again. I think the gas is moving around and causing him some discomfort. Still did not eat anything, not even Burpdog biscuits, but I just finished cooking some turkey meat and will try that next time he wakes up. I'm about to set up the pull-out couch in the "media room" to sleep on - he will have to pass through it to get to the dog door, which is in the laundry room right next to the media room, and I just finished rigging some wind chimes to the dog door so I will hear when someone goes out overnight.

 

G'night and thanks for your well wishes; I will update when I can.

[Guest argolola]

Sending prayers.

[nyGreys]

Sending lots of prayers for your sweet Blitz.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Hoping you guys had a good night.

[Guest LolasMom]

My goodness, I'm just seeing this now and sending many well wishes and prayers.

[lovinggreysslp]

Sending prayers that Blitz is feeling better soon.

[Guest greytexplorer]

Holy Smoke!!! Hope y'all had a restful and uneventful night!

Post an update when you can, we're an anxious bunch, you know!

[carronstar]

Hopefully you had a quiet and uneventful evening.

[4greyhounds]

I am very sorry I am just now sending this, we are sending lots of prayers and white light. We hope that you had a restful night and things are starting to improve.

[dmswartzfager]

A tiny bit more orange mucous-y liquid stool with 2-3 flecks of blood in it this morning around 5:30. He did finally eat some cooked turkey this morning - maybe 3/4 cup. I didn't try last night because he was so zonked. As far as I know, he did not get up last night - or at least did not go through the dog door - so other than the fact that I was sleeping on a pull-out sofabed and getting kicked by Carrie as she dreamed, we had a quiet night.

 

Hydration level looked good this morning - maybe slightly on the low side for a grey, but about where he's run in the past, so we opted not to give fluids today. He is also drinking a fairly decent amount of water. The Salmonella culture results will take a few more days. I left him at Highway in the surgery room again for a few hours so they could watch him while I tried to take care of a few more things at the University of Maryland before I start classes/training next week, and they said he was much more relaxed today.

 

Dr. Elise suggested sending out blood for a comprehensive CBC since the basic CBC we do in-house does not always spot anemia, but she didn't say it was something that HAD to be done - just something to get a little more information, especially since I said that I felt he was a little more lethargic today. Dr. Patty then called Highway looking for an update on Blitz from Dr. Elise, so I took the call and chatted with her for a bit. She said the orange stool is to be expected, and also suggested sending out the CBC to make absolutely sure he's not anemic or dehydrated, but also said when I gave her a little more information that it was not absolutely necessary to do. But since both vets suggested it, I went ahead and drew the blood and it should've been picked up by now. Results will be back either tonight or tomorrow, and while Dr. Elise is off this weekend, the nurse who's been helping does work tomorrow, so she said she'd keep an eye out for the results and would be sure to let me know how things looked. Dr. Patty also said she was available most of tomorrow if I needed her, and I will certainly be letting her know the results since I don't trust the other vet that will be there tomorrow to interpret the values in light of greyhound norms.

 

So he's back home, and he ate maybe another 3/4 cup of turkey before he started eating too quickly and had a little bit of regurgitation, so he decided he was done with that for now. He's sleeping in the media room last I checked, and I'll move myself out there in a few minutes so I can continue to keep an eye one him. Carrie is snoring away next to me here in the office - I'm so jealous.

 

Dr. Patty thinks Blitz managed to find his way into something he should not have - dietary indiscretion. I think, and Patty agrees this may be a possibility, that he got stressed from the trip to my parents' new house this past weekend (we went out to help them move in) and the fact that we had them closed into the living room area (with French doors so they could see us) for the vast majority of the time we were there. I was not aware that Dad's friend Walt would have his 3- and 8-year-old daughters with him pretty much the whole time we were there, and I just didn't trust those two not to let the dogs out, so they stayed cooped up longer than I had anticipated. I wasn't happy about that, but there wasn't much I could do.

 

So that's what I know at this point. I'll continue to try to feed him small meals throughout the day and wait to see what comes out the other end.

[carronstar]

I hope Blitz feels better soon.

[Guest paulamariez]

Your poor precious Blitz!! Pooping blood is one of the scariest things! I hope this is just the result of a food discretion and Blitz heals up quickly for you! I will keep your sweetheart Blitz in my prayers for a quick and pain free recovery. Thanks for giving us the regular updates. I know I read the original posts and get all worried about the hound and it's nice to check back and hear that they're progressing rather nicely. Tiger, Bueller and Domino are sending Blitz lots of get well doggie kisses too!

[Guest crazy4greys]

Maybe seeing young children didn't help his stress either. In his former home he lived with a 3 yr. old that wouldn't leave him alone, which is why he was returned.

 

Hope he starts to feel better soon.

[krissn333]

Awww, I hope Blitz is feeling better soon! We had a dog at the kennel come down with a severe case of HGE brought on by stress (we had moved him to a different crate in the kennel and it stressed him out terribly because he couldn't see us), so it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that that's what could be the cause of Blitz's problems.

 

We gave our guy at the kennel some lemon lime gatorade for part of the day, and also some pedialyte. Initially he went to the vet for IV fluids as his electrolyte balance was so off, he was cramping up...but when he returned to the kennel that's when he had the pediayte and gatorade.

[patricia]

Sending more prayers.

[Guest LolasMom]

More well wishes and prayers for an easy recovery. Blitz

[Rickiesmom]

Just seeing this now - poor Blitz. Hope he's turning the corner on this and all the test results are normal or show something completely innocuous to treat. Sending prayers for your boy.

[TheFullHouse]

How's he doing today?