Zoe Is In The Hospital

[Guest argolola]

I will pray too.

[4greyhounds]

Sending lots of prayers and hugs....

[MandysMom]

Sending prayers for Zoe.

[Guest MZH]

They need to remove the tooth; the toxins in that are bad. We did that on a very sick 16 year old cat with kidney and bladder issues but it was the tooth making him sick,not the other issues. He was so much better after the tooth was removed. Zoe probably won't eat because her mouth is killing her.

 

I have to wonder if Zoe has a bladder or other urinary stone too. An xray will show that. They can deal with both things at once if need be.

 

Best wishes! I know what you're going through is very stressful for both of you.

 

Marcia

[Guest 4baddogs]

Well, it's 11:40 and we just got home from the hospital after going over there at 5:30 to drop off Zoe's favorite blanket.

 

It was awful. She was pacing, panting and crying like bloody mad. She'd pulled apart her IV and there was blood and fluids all over the floor of her kennel; she was shaking so violently she couldn't stand and the inside of her E-collar was soaked from her slobber. I immediately opened her kennel door and jumped inside with her. Glenn ran to get a vet tech and by the time they got to us I'd already reconnected her IV. I was LIVID. Once my head stopped spinning, they reassured me that she'd been very calm and quiet all day and this must have just started. I didn't believe them but they let us watch the security video and it was true. She'd been resting and suddenly started acting like a wacko. The vet techs said it may have been from the pain meds.

 

Glenn drove home (we live only 5 miles away) and picked up a piece of brand new carpet left over from our family room remodel. He cut it to fit her kennel, which is at least 6x6. Once that was in place, and the E-collar was removed, she was a lot more calm. I sat and laid inside her kennel with her until we left at 10:30.

 

The doctor finally gave her Metacam injection through her IV to help take the edge off because even though the mass hysteria stopped, she was still really, really irritated and wouldn't rest. She's on regular fluids (lactated ringers), Ampicillin and Buprenorphine, in addition to the probiotics.

 

Now about the tooth - the two doctors want to wait until at least tomorrow afternoon to see if she's going to eat on her own before we discuss removing her tooth. So far, they've only been able to feed her Science Diet A/D via a syringe. She has been drinking more water than she was prior to being admitted to the hospital. And her bitchy, bossy attitude is coming back.

 

Of course, the biggest concern is sedating her for the extraction. Her age being the biggest issue. The doctor tonight said outright "after getting her through all of this, I'd hate to do a dental and then lose her". So we're really torn on what to do. If the antibiotics can rid the infection for good, then maybe we'll go that route. It's not an abscess that you can even see, if that makes sense.

 

 

And one more thing - as we were sitting there with her an emergency came in. A cat had been hit by a car. After his surgery the doctor carried him to his kennel and his people came back to see him. The doctor told them they could visit as long as they wanted. They only stayed a few minutes, asked a few questions and the woman was crying. The man said something about leaving his credit card number after paying for the surgery so that they could put all of the cats future costs on the card. The people left and we asked what injuries the cat received. The doctor said he had a fractured pelvis, nerve damage in his spine and was dragging his rear leg. She said that she hoped he would be able to walk. He had no other marks on his body. But get this, the people were NOT his owners. They'd been driving along and saw him get hit by a car and stopped to save him!! They called 411 until they found a vet hospital that was open 24/7 AND they were not even from this area!!! I started crying my eyes out, again, and thought wow what a lucky little cat.

 

I'm completely exhausted from the long week and am going to fall over. Hopefully my little girl perks up tomorrow. Thanks again for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

 

 

[4greyhounds]

Sending more thoughts and prayers... That would have been very upsetting finding her in that condition,. I am happy you were able to see the video and she was going to be ok... :grouphug :hope

 

 

Those people with the cat sound like angels, God Bless them...

 

I pray the cat will be ok too.

[Blaidd49]

I have to agree on the tooth removal, the odds are the abscess will return. Having had dentistry done on 16 and 17 year-old terriers and surgery done on 13-14 year-old sighthounds, I admit it is downright scary.

It is generally the pre-meds and any pain meds that are the issue not the actual anaesthesia gas - you could talk to your vet about "masking her down"

This simply means administering enough gas via mask to "knock her out" then intubating really quickly (and I mean quickly).

This is incredibly safe (though it requires a very dexterous vet or vet-tech) only downside is that dogs handled this way also come round very fast and need the owner or someone who can be calm and collected when they do as they are wide awake and usually a "tad" upset.

Pam

QC Canada

 

 

They need to remove the tooth; the toxins in that are bad. We did that on a very sick 16 year old cat with kidney and bladder issues but it was the tooth making him sick,not the other issues. He was so much better after the tooth was removed. Zoe probably won't eat because her mouth is killing her.

 

I have to wonder if Zoe has a bladder or other urinary stone too. An xray will show that. They can deal with both things at once if need be.

 

Best wishes! I know what you're going through is very stressful for both of you.

 

Marcia

 

[Guest MZH]

Here's a good explanation of abscessed teeth (a carnassial tooth, to be exact) and why they should be removed.

 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2089&aid=382

 

The article states that infection may be controlled by antibiotics but not likely cured.

 

Hope this helps with your decision-making.

 

Marcia

[sweetdogs]

I'm so sorry Zoe had such a rough time. I hope she had a calm night & that she feels better soon.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Keeping Zoe in my prayers and hoping she's comfortable.You must be exhausted!!

[Batmom]

Thinking about your sweet girlie this morning.

[Burpdog]

Which tooth?

 

Sending prayers!

[Remolacha]

[Dawnnziggy]

Sending prayers for your beautiful girl!

[4My2Greys]

Just letting you know that I've got you and Zoe in my thoughts today. Hope she can relax more. I'll be checking back to see what decision you make about her tooth and how things are going.

 

Judy,

Mom to greyhounds Nadir & Beanie,

and American Bulldog Bruiser

[crazygang]

You're all in our thoughts and prayers.......human, hound and cat

 

God bless the people that rescued the poor pussycat

[Tallgreydogmom]

Our soon to be 15 year old has terrible teeth. I keep her on antibiotics. She is well, eating and happy. Dances for her food.

[Guest 4baddogs]

It's now 1:40 pm and I just got back from visiting Zoe. She ate 3 cans of Science Diet A/D, which she normally HATES, between the time we left last night and this morning. She's eating SD treats and other treats that I took over for her. However, they're still giving her a mild sedative through her IV because she get so agitated by all of the normal commotion and gets herself so worked up. The hard part of that, for me anyway, is that I can't tell if her being unbalanced and her rear leg issues are from the sedatives or something else. I took her outside to go to the bathroom and when she squatted to pee, her legs slid out from under her on the wet grass and she couldn't get up without my help. When we came back inside to her kennel she was so exhausted and her rear legs were so wobbly that she finally just collapsed. Both doctors were in surgery so I didn't get to talk with them, but one of the vet techs I talked to didn't say anything I wanted to hear. Her take on it was "well, when they get to be this age you just have to make the decision when to know it's time". Uh, bite me. And before you make comments like that, read the patients chart to see what you're dealing with. Moron.

 

Burpdog - it's the last molar on the top right side.

 

The doctors said they want to get the infection under control first and then wait a week or two before removing it. IF that's what we decide to do. I'm really torn about putting her under. My husband is ready to do it NOW. I've been trying to get in touch with my sister to see what she says, but she's on vacation and I can't reach her. I just need concrete reassurance that I'm doing the right thing if I go ahead with it. To this day, I've never forgiven myself for putting Flashy down on the spot, spur of the moment, even though in my heart I knew it was the right thing and had to be done. If we let them take this tooth and anything happens to Zoe, I'll die.

 

 

[Guest MZH]

The reason I'm for removing the tooth is that back in 1992 we removed an abscessed tooth from a 13 year old lady greyhound who had had severe atrial fibrillation controlled by medications for three years. I was a wreck and was sure she'd die while under, but she did fine; she came home that afternoon. Chances are Zoe would be OK too; it just depends on her overall health.

 

The risks of dying from infection vs dying from anesthesia are a tough call but I suspect they'd be super careful with the anesthesia, if that's any comfort to you.

[CaliforniaGreys]

It's now 1:40 pm and I just got back from visiting Zoe. She ate 3 cans of Science Diet A/D, which she normally HATES, between the time we left last night and this morning. She's eating SD treats and other treats that I took over for her. However, they're still giving her a mild sedative through her IV because she get so agitated by all of the normal commotion and gets herself so worked up. The hard part of that, for me anyway, is that I can't tell if her being unbalanced and her rear leg issues are from the sedatives or something else. I took her outside to go to the bathroom and when she squatted to pee, her legs slid out from under her on the wet grass and she couldn't get up without my help. When we came back inside to her kennel she was so exhausted and her rear legs were so wobbly that she finally just collapsed. Both doctors were in surgery so I didn't get to talk with them, but one of the vet techs I talked to didn't say anything I wanted to hear. Her take on it was "well, when they get to be this age you just have to make the decision when to know it's time". Uh, bite me. And before you make comments like that, read the patients chart to see what you're dealing with. Moron.

 

Burpdog - it's the last molar on the top right side.

 

The doctors said they want to get the infection under control first and then wait a week or two before removing it. IF that's what we decide to do. I'm really torn about putting her under. My husband is ready to do it NOW. I've been trying to get in touch with my sister to see what she says, but she's on vacation and I can't reach her. I just need concrete reassurance that I'm doing the right thing if I go ahead with it. To this day, I've never forgiven myself for putting Flashy down on the spot, spur of the moment, even though in my heart I knew it was the right thing and had to be done. If we let them take this tooth and anything happens to Zoe, I'll die.

Moron is right!!! Keeping your girl in my prayers

[carronstar]

Keeping your girl in my thoughts and prayers.

[Remolacha]

I can understand why they want to get rid of, or at least control, the infection before they take the bad tooth, but if it were my dog, I get that tooth out of there as soon as possible. for you and Zoe

[Charlies_Dad]

Sending more good thoughts and prayers for Zoe. It's a tough call on what to do but getting that tooth out is something that needs to happen from the sounds of it.

[Guest SoulsMom]

Tons of good thoughts for you both

[TheFullHouse]

Good thoughts and prayers for both of you.