Mikie Won't Lie Down - Long

[Guest cjsgreys]

10 days ago Mikie & his mom Lorraine were attacked by another dog while out for a walk. Mikie had 4 hours of surgery repairing a 5" gash on his rump and putting in 5 drains. He stayed in the hospital for 4 days, the drains were removed and on day 5 Lorraine brought him home. He was miserable in the hospital and stopped eating all together. He's a very sensitive, high strung guy and IMHO the stress of being in the hospital was too much for him and the fentynyl patch was making him nauseous.

The first 24 hours home, he was pretty stressed and painful with huge edema in both his rear legs but then he settled in, started eating and was really coming along, even beginning to play bow again, until this past Tues when he went back to the vet for a follow up.

 

The 5" gash was healing up pretty well, the edema had come down some but one wound on his outer thigh had fluid build up so the vet aspirated it to see if there was infection.

 

Since Tuesday things have gone from bad to worse. After coming home (he's still on antibiotics, carafate & tramadol and getting the wounds warm compressed 3-4 times daily) it took him 2 hours every time he wanted to lie down. On Wed, it was about the same, Thurs it was around 4 hours of standing before he'd lie down, by Fri night he wouldn't eat so by Sat he went back to the vet. The vet felt he was continuing to improve but put another Fentenyl patch on thinking pain was preventing Mikie from lying down.

 

When he came home from the vet, he spent 3 hours before lying down and then got up at 6pm, clearly distressed. From 6pm Sat until noon today (Sunday) Mikie would NOT lie down and he still wasn't eating. He was whimpering and sometimes walking around aimlessly while other times he'd just stand, almost wobbling. A couple of times his legs went out from under him but he wouldn't stay down...just jumped back up. He was far worse than before the patch went on so at 8 this morning, Lorraine took the patch off.

 

I went over to Lorraine's around noon, force fed Mikie some canned food and physically lifted him up and lay him down. He isn't running a fever and we worked on the wound getting it to drain which didn't look infected. Around 3, his usual walk time, he got up and went out. When he came in he ate 3/4 food on his own had some water and then kept walking to the beds, pawing at them and walking away. He clearly wanted to lie down but wouldn't.

 

I lay him back down and slipped out while he was asleep. I reached my vet at home who said to start him on Metacam but to keep the food in him which all worked out fine. He's now eating and drinking but at 10pm, Lorraine called and he'd been on his feet another 5 hours and wouldn't like down. Over I went and physically put him down again and he was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

 

Of course they're going back to the vet tomorrow, but shouldn't he be getting better rather than worse 10 days after the attack? I've know other hounds who had similar injuries but didn't go through what Mikie's going through.

 

Anybody ever had a similar experience? My vet thought that maybe he'd developed celulitis which is very painful. What can we do to help Mikie?

Christine

[rycezmom]

When you get cut in a large muscle mass, it can be very painful during the healing process. The fentanyl may need to be changed to something different. Made my Ryce almost appear drunk, wouldn't lie down either until we switched the pain med. Maybe its making his world spin a bit which can also lead to the nausea. I'd try different pain med.

 

BTW - we use fentanyl drips on some of our patients on hypothermia protocols and a few have told me that it made everything wierd.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I went over to Lorraine's around noon, force fed Mikie some canned food and physically lifted him up and lay him down. He isn't running a fever and we worked on the wound getting it to drain which didn't look infected. Around 3, his usual walk time, he got up and went out. When he came in he ate 3/4 food on his own had some water and then kept walking to the beds, pawing at them and walking away. He clearly wanted to lie down but wouldn't.

 

I lay him back down and slipped out while he was asleep. I reached my vet at home who said to start him on Metacam but to keep the food in him which all worked out fine. He's now eating and drinking but at 10pm, Lorraine called and he'd been on his feet another 5 hours and wouldn't like down. Over I went and physically put him down again and he was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

Well it's a good sign that he slept once you physically put him into a laying down position. Maybe it's the actual squatting or bending to get supine that hurts him? If he will sleep after being put that way, I would just continue that. Sometimes you have to manhandle them a bit in these situations, which includes force-feeding, laying them down, carrying them around, etc. Can you show his owners how to lay him down like you did?

 

As for being worse 10 days later, sometimes the swelling and bruising gets worse before it gets better. As long as the wound does not look infected and he is still eating things should be ok.

 

I hope he feels better soon!

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

[greysmom]

I would second the suggestion for changing the fentanyl to something else. It's clearly not working and may be making things worse. Not all pain meds work on all dogs, same as with people. They all have different tolerances and metabolisms that change how the medication is absorbed. Plus, greyhounds can be weird with pain meds anyway.

 

greysmom

[duncan41]

Re: cellulitis. Don't know if the symptoms in humans translates exactly to canines, but my daughter had cellulitis that started in her eyebrow (ladies, use clean tweezers!) and was migrating down the side of her face toward the ear. From her description (she's in MI, I'm in FL), not only was it extremely painful, but there was a pea-sized bump at the initial site and as the infection spread, the area became red, warm and swollen.

I'm guessing that Mikie needs new pain meds, too. If he has been on antibiotics, question if they would be appropriate to head off cellulitis.

Let us know how he's doing.

Edited February 9, 2009 by duncan41

[Burpdog]

Had the same problem when Rob Roy & Austin got into a fight. Rob Roy couldn't/wouldn't lay down when I brought him home. I was fortunate in that I had both a chiropractor and acupuncture vets come to the house. He got treatments and immediately layed down. Is there an acupuncture vet that makes house calls?

 

Sending prayers.

[sweetdogs]

My first thought is the fentanyl patch. My Faolin had a similiar reaction. The vet told me to leave it on & let it work, but that didn't happen. I couldn't wait to get the thing off & it still took 24 hours for it to work its way out of his system.

 

It could very well be cellulitis, but I wouldn't use fentanyl on Mikie anymore. He must be exhausted. Is the vet offering any other suggestions?

[patricia]

Sending prayers...I second a change in pain meds. Please keep us updated.

[Guest cjsgreys]

I heard from Lorraine that Mikie slept until 4am. He's eaten well, peed & poo'd but is still standing now...7 hours later.

The fentenyl patch has now been off over 24 hours so should be getting out of his system.

 

Lorraine & DH had tried to get Mikie down after being shown how to do it by a vet tech. They were unsuccessful and now intimidated by the process. Mikie knows it too because when they approach him he tries to scamper away (not that he can go far).

 

He's on 50mg Tramadol 3x daily and now we've added the Metacam.

 

I'll post again after they've seen the vet.

 

[Guest TBSFlame]

When you get cut in a large muscle mass, it can be very painful during the healing process. The fentanyl may need to be changed to something different. Made my Ryce almost appear drunk, wouldn't lie down either until we switched the pain med. Maybe its making his world spin a bit which can also lead to the nausea. I'd try different pain med.

 

BTW - we use fentanyl drips on some of our patients on hypothermia protocols and a few have told me that it made everything wierd.

The Fentanyl patch doesn't work well on every hound. It made my frist gh, pant and pace and he would not settle.

[Hawthorn]

This is just a thought, but could your vet consider adding in a sedative, such as valium, to see if it might help Mikie rest?

[CaliforniaGreys]

No advice here Christine, but please know Mikie is in our prayers and will hope for a good update

[sweetdogs]

Is he able to get around well enough for some exercise? Maybe his muscles need to be loosened up a bit. Is his bed all the way down on the floor? Could they stack a couple of dog beds on top of each other for extra cushioning?

[Guest CorbysMom]

A combo of Tramadol and Rimadyl put Adam into orbit when he was attacked. You could have dropped a bomb in the room and he would not have moved a muscle. He was decidedly NOT in pain. I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of Rimadyl for various personal reasons, but this combination was outstanding for his post attack/post op pain. I would do it again with a pup in severe pain. Hope that helps a little.

[RobinM]

he sounds very, very stressed. That's how my Polli was after her amputaion. She did not have a patch.

 

I did get valium 10mg to help her and it worked wonders. It's also an appetite stimulent after it wears off a bit so there is an added benefit.

 

Hope Mikie is feeling better soon.

[MandysMom]

No advice, just lots of prayers for Mikie.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Any word on Mikie?

[momtogeorge]

My George had this same reaction to Tramadol.....paced and paced and paced some more.

[RaineysMom]

sending prayers for Mikie!!!! :hope Poor guy :(

[Rickiesmom]

Just reading this thread now and hoping Mikie is better able to settle down. FWIW, I would stick with Metacam vs. Rimadyl - consensus among the vets we see seems to be that it's safer.

[PAWsPups]

OH, poor Mikie (and Lorraine)! Any updates on how he's doing CJ?

[Guest cjsgreys]

Mikie is doing MUCH better. Since I force fed him & got the carafate & pepcid on board, he's been eating regularly. The vet agreed with my adding Metacam (thank goodness) and when they got home from the vet on Monday afternoon, Mikie managed to lie down by himself. He napped for a couple of hours, was out for a walk & dinner and then put himself to bed sleeping through the night for the first time in a WEEK!!

He's continued to improve a little every day. The edema is decreasing, the wounds are still open and draining which is a good thing and he'll have his sutures removed on Sat.

Lorraine is going to begin decreasing the Tramadol tomorrow but she's prepared to up it again for a couple of day after the suture removal on Sat.

Mikie is so much like my first greyhound Parris. If he had a hangnail, he wouldn't settle down and relax. He would fight any sedative and the Fentenyl patch was out of the question for him. Live and learn.

Thanks for all your support!

Christine