Guest knitkass Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 So, a little background to start off: My 8-year old girl Callay was seeming a little stiff and acting off, and just so happened to have an appointment for a dental cleaning anyway, so I decide to talk about it with the vet. His first concern, seeing that she'd lost about 6 lbs, was that she had cancer, so before sedating her they did a bunch of x-rays, all of which come back clean. The dental goes fine, and they send us home with some rimadyl, and instructions to see how she does on rimadyl and come back if she doesn't improve. She didn't improve over the week, so I took her back. The vet took a couple more x-rays and found a less dense spot in one her 5th cervical vertebra. So off to a specialist to see what it is. A neurological exam reveals she's in a lot of pain (3/4 on the pain scale and has been hiding it from me) has a narrowed disk space between c6 and c7, an MRI reveals a lesion in C5, without conpression of the spinal cord. A spinal tap reveals elevated neutrophils (inflammatory cells) which may have been because of blood contamination. So the diagnosis is there's a lesion in her 5th cervical vertebra, but the "clinical significance is unknown" it's a small hemmorrhage, fluid or fat in the vertebral body, but it's not doing anything obvious that should be causing her pain. No one thing that's wrong with her can deifnitively say it's causing her malaise. A complete tick panel has ruled out all tick diseases. She's currently on 50 mg rimadyl 2/day, 200 mg gabapentin 3/day, and 100 mg tramadol 3/day. She weighs around 64 lbs (down from 70) After going on these three pain meds she started getting pickier about eating. It's almost like she's forgotten that food is yummy. She used to be a total chow hound, but now I put food in her bowl and she'll turn her nose up at it. We started adding wet and that worked for a while. We added cooked burger, and that worked for a while, I've been sprinkling Bil-Jak on it, and that sometimes works. Sometimes I'll shove a couple pieces of damp kibble plus wet food into the space between the teeth, and she eats. Today that's the only way I could get her to eat her breakfast, but sure enough she ate it all. Then she'll all of a sudden be completely ravenous and eat everything out of her bowl, licking the bowl clean. There's no consistency to what or when she'll eat. She has another neuro appointment tomorrow, and I'm hoping they'll tell me she's not in much or any pain anymore, so I can take her pain meds down a notch. I think she's feeling better, pain wise, but the meds are seriously screwing with her nose. Then again I had no idea just how much pain she really was in to begin with. Any advice? Anyone been through this, or something similar? Any other ideas for how to entice her to eat on her own, without me having to half force-feed it to her? positive vibes are also welcome, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest budsmom Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I don't have any experience, but I know that sometimes pain meds cause upset tummies. You might want to ask the vet about something for her tummy. Hugs and hoping for a good report! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest knitkass Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 oh yeah, forgot to mention she's also on 10 mg Pepcid to prevent an upset tummy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdogs Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Let us know how she does at her appointment today - is she still on doxycycline? ( from ravelry ) Quote Deirdre with Conor (Daring Pocobueno), Keeva (Kiowa Mimi Mona), & kittehs Gemma & robthomas. Our beloved angels Faolin & Liath, & kittehs Mona & Caesar. Remembering Bobby, Doc McCoy, & Chip McGrath. "He feeds you, pets you, adores you, collects your poop in a bag. There's only one explanation: you are a hairy little god." Nick Galifinakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomDoggy Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Sucralfate (Carafate) is another tummy med that may help if the pain meds are making her uncomfortable. It's more potent than famotidine (Pepcid), helps coat the stomach. Might be worth asking your vet about. A dog not eating is always sad and stressful, believe me I know. As long as her stools are okay, go ahead and keep offering whatever she'll eat. You can always resort to syringe-feeding if need be, if her weight and appetite diminish further. It's not as drastic as it may sound. Good luck. Quote ~Aimee, with Flower, Alan, Queenie, & Spodee Odee! And forever in my heart: Tipper, Sissy, Chancy, Marla, Dazzle, Alimony, and Boo. This list is too damned long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan41 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Treating pain is always tricky. Please update after today's vet visit. Sending prayers and healing light. Quote Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p> ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest knitkass Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 So far the vet's visit gives a grim prognosis. They listened to her heart and did pick up on a heart murmur. An echocardiagram indicates it may be endocarditis, caused by a vegetative lesion on her valve. Or she may have sepsis, a whole blood infection. So they're adding 3 more antibiotics to her regimen, no idea what they're doing with the pain meds, and doing a test for Bartonella to see if that's what's causing it. If she does have endocarditis, we probably only have a few more months with her. They're drawing blood for the Bartonella test and the blood plating to see if shes septic (and what with). I go pick her up in about an hour and a half, and we'll have actual answers on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Oh, I'm so sorry!!! Sending prayers for your precious girl! I went through a cervical disc op with my Canyon last week, but it looks like you guys have a lot more going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdogs Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 This may seem like a dumb question, but does she seem that sick? I would think a septic greyhound would be deathly ill... And your vet knows about big greyhound hearts, right? From greythealth: - The greyhound heart is normally much bigger than the heart of other dogs. - There is a huge left ventricular hypertrophy (thickening of wall) - same with marathon runners. - An ultrasound can differentiate normal from diseased if in doubt. - Low grade murmurs (I & II) are common in greyhounds - they are almost always benign. - Take a chest x-ray if concerned (where you will see a "big heart!"). I feel so badly for both of you. You've gone from slowing down a little to cancer to tick disease & now heart disease. Callay is full of meds & tests, your pocketbook is a lot lighter & still no answers. We'll be thinking of you tonight.... Quote Deirdre with Conor (Daring Pocobueno), Keeva (Kiowa Mimi Mona), & kittehs Gemma & robthomas. Our beloved angels Faolin & Liath, & kittehs Mona & Caesar. Remembering Bobby, Doc McCoy, & Chip McGrath. "He feeds you, pets you, adores you, collects your poop in a bag. There's only one explanation: you are a hairy little god." Nick Galifinakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest knitkass Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Yeah, we talked about the greyhounds' large hearts, and the echo did show a lesion on her mitrovalve. So she's on a fistful of antibiotics, but has come off of all her pain meds. So she doesn't seem in pain anymore, but she's still tired. I would be too if my heart wasn't working right. I went to the farmer's market and discovered a vendor there selling B.A.R.F., so I picked up a couple of packages of it for her. I figure it can't hurt and if it's tasty and she does well on it, it's easy enough to switch to a totally raw diet. She has a III grade murmur, so more noticeable than what is normal in greyhounds. The confirmed lesion kinda cinches it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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