Worried About Cougar - Sudden Odd Behavior

[Guest FLT]

Sending healing thoughts for Cougar! Glad the surgery went well :-)

[Guest greytkidsmom]

What an adventure you have taken your Mommy on Cougar.

I hope getting that yukky spleen out does the trick and you are on the mend.

Hugs and scritches to you from the lot of us.

[Magdalyn58]

What wonderful news! I was really fearing the worst and couldn't be more thrilled that things turned out so well!!

[Remolacha]

[4My2Greys]

Keep praying, it's working!!! My only dog is now spleen-free!

 

Just got back home and the vet called to say it went as well as it could have. He said the mass was all confined and limited to the spleen and they were able to remove all of it.

 

We were worried about him bleeding out and/or having a reaction to the anesthia, but he said he did great with that. And came out of it well. His job tonight is to rest.

 

They'll call me around 9am (EST) in the morning, but it will probably be Tuesday before he can come home at the earliest.

 

After all day of each step becoming worse than the one before indicated, I was preparing myself for the worst. Thank goodness, the tides appear to have turned.

 

Please keep the good thoughts flowing.

 

I'm just seeing this now and so glad to read that things are making a turn for the better for Cougar. Sending lots of white light for continue healing and improvement.

 

[Burpdog]

Sending lots of prayers!

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

Sorry to leave everyone hanging, but I had connection problems this morning with my phone. Vet said cougs is doing great. Will post more this pm from home.

[Guest argolola]

Thanks for the great update!

[Ullaluv]

Looking forward to your update this evening.

[greyhoundlov]

Greyt news. Freddie died from cancer of the spleen/liver so I was really nervous about this thread.

[Guest Ohiogreymom]

Thank goodness he's doing so well!

[Guest Gingergrey]

Praying that Cougar is all right.

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

Ok. Clinic called around 9:00 this morning and said he was doing great. That he had walked around inside some and he went for a short walk outside and went to the bathroom outside. They would continue to monitor him and the vet would reassess in the morning. I guess that is when they'll decide when he can come home. I asked if they were sending his mass off for testing and she indicated they were and that it could be 5 to 7 days before the results came back. They had offered him some food, but he wasn't interested.

 

I called back on my drive home this evening just to see how his day went and they said he was resting comfortably, actually was asleep at the moment. He was still receiving fluids and pain medication. They really made it sound like he was in pretty good shape.

 

Just a couple of minutes ago, I got a call from animal control since vet clinic #2 had to report the bite. He is not in our county but wanted to know his rabies expiration date and had said the vet felt it was in Cougar's best interest not to be held in their county for quarantine. They would be turning it over to my home county. Now I started getting worried because my backwoods county isn't known for making the best decisions.

 

I was able to call one of the girls I work with as her dog bit her shortly before he passed away a couple of years ago. He had surgery and was displaying doggie alzheimer's symptons. Anyway, she said that since it was associated with his illness, they let her quarantine him for 10 days at home. She had to call in every day and report on his demeaner, but other than that there wasn't much to it.

 

Surely, since he bit while his blood-filled belly was being mashed on as they attempted his 3rd ultrasound, they'll let me keep him at home. He is still crated while we are gone, so the crate has to work in our favor, right? And of course, we only take him out on his leash or he is let out in our fenced-in yard so he wouldn't have the opportunity to approach anyone.

 

I'm a little nervous because our son is only 6 years old. Of course, he and Cougar have never shown much interest in each other and I doubt they will have hardly any interaction when he returns, but who knows what the animal control folks will say about a child living here. Our county is riddled with pit bulls that people bred and fight and neglected dogs, but it wouldn't surprise me if they pick on a 12 1/2 year old greyhound that has been with us since 2000 and had a reaction to intense pain. Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

I'm just glad I get to worry about things of that nature opposed to the worries we had to deal with yesterday.

 

Hopefully, I'll have good homecoming news to share soon!

 

[macoduck]

Here on the other side of NC one of our adopters was allowed to do a home quarantine after biting(nipping) a neighbor. AC was happy so long as they knew where the dog was.

[Guest SusanP]

*Any* dog can bite when in pain! I can't believe they're even treating this as a "normal" dog bite.

[NevadasMom]

I would think that you could ask your current Vet to intervene & talk to AC. He's been under constant observation by a Vet for several days. That should hold some weight.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

In our county they do not quarentine if dog is UTD on shots. I was just bitten last week by a loose dog, so I am sure of the ordinance. I thought most counties were the same.

 

Good luch keeping Cougs at home if they do decide to quarentine.

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

Talked to vet this am and cougar is doing well. He ate a little. I get to pick him up after work. Yea!

 

Now to wait on biopsy results...

[Ullaluv]

We'l be waiting with you for the biopsy results.

[TheFullHouse]

I can't believe the vets office even reported it. Geez, vets and the people who work for them must get bitten quite often. Any animal in pain is likely to bite when hurt again by probing hands! Didn't the vet try and muzzle him before pushing and prodding on him? Wouldn't that have been the smart thing to do?

 

I'm so glad he gets to come home tonight!

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

And I paid them $970 for a couple of ultrasounds, xrays, some fluids and about six hours of waiting around. I think I might go bite them! Anyway, I am very pleased with vet CLinics no. 1 & 3. His sat. overnight stay and treatment was $600, $200 less than estimated. And surgery vet (no 3) estimated at $2,500. I sure do love my boy!

 

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Checking in for an update. GLad Couger is with people you like and trust.

 

I hate the pathology wait. Know that I am waitng with you

 

When do you get an answer about the quarentine? I'd say his days at the vet office should count.

[Guest gnevins]

I am pretty sure from that last picture of Cougar he wants to take dance lessons when he is better!!!

 

Hang in there....he will be home soon!!!!

 

Sending good thoughts!!!

Edited June 16, 2009 by gnevins

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

HE'S HOME! And I'm almost shaking.

 

I wasn't quite prepared for his condition. Medically, he's probably doing wonderful for 48 hour post-op with major stomach surgery. I know he's in intense pain, but he doesn't even seem to really know who I am. When they brought him out, he didn't even look in my direction.

 

He has lots of burgundy bruises on his sides and underbelly. He also has staples all down his belly. He doesn't look great, but considering what he's been through, he looks fair. His feet and legs are real swollen. He attempted to jump into the back of my car when we left the vet (I was backed up to a curb) but he didn't have the strength/coordination with his back legs. I'm a wienie, so I went back inside and asked them to send out someone to help. He gave it another attempt only made it up with the front legs. The tech said he was trying to bite that time. I didn't see it but I imagine it was like the snap-snap I'd seen between him and Coach on occasion. Anyway, she ran inside to get a muzzle and lifted him in. She said he was growling (again I wasn't close enough to hear it, but I believe her). At least at this place, they take precautions before something bad happens!

 

I'm a nervous nelly driving the hour home in the rain, but Cougar lays down and then within 15 minutes he lays flat over on his side. I'm worrying the whole time on the way home because DH won't return home until about 9pm tonight. I do talk to him on the phone and he lines up our next door neighbors to help me get Cougs out of the car.

 

The rain had let up by the time we get home. I run inside to change into tennis shoes and get his muzzle and dog ramp. Never used the ramp before, but I figured with the neighbors we could steer him down it. Fortunately, the ditch beside our property that I back up to to let him load now is tall enough that we decide to just try letting him jump out (not really jumping down). He comes out pretty agreeably and without incidence. He stopped again to empty the bladder in the yard, but he didn't have quite as much as he left outside the vet office.

 

He made it up the 4 steps into our house pretty well considering. He accomplished it all by himself and I'm just hoping he can get down by himself later. I'm starting to feel a little better at this point since we are in the house. He just kinda looks around the living room like "This place looks familiar but when have I seen it before." Instinct takes over and he heads over to his bowl and water dish. I remove his muzzle so he can get some water and he take a few laps of it. I re-muzzle and leave him inside with my awesome neighbors while I pull the car around to the garage. At this point, I don't want to any chances but I knew he'd do ok.

 

I bring his bed in from the car and feed him a very small scoop of kibble with warm water over it. He wanders over to his bowl and starts lapping up the water. He ate all that I had put in there! While he is finishing up his handful of kibble, I run back into the bedroom and pull the box springs out from under the bed. When he finished eating, he stood a minute in the bedroom. When I walked back into my closet and back, I caught his back legs barely making it the step up onto the king-size mattress (which is lying directly on the floor). That's where he's been while I've been writing this epistle.

 

I have almost overcome the shaking feeling. And I'm so relieved that he will eat so I can get his pain meds in him.

 

I'll just have to be patient until he is feeling up to some snuggles.

 

Thank you all for the support. I feel like I've now bottomed out on the emotional roller coaster. Crossing my fingers that recovery will be uneventful. Going to sneak a look in to check on my beautiful boy. I'll try to get a pic posted soon.

 

[Guest TaraCoachCougar]

Here's some post-op pics:

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4852...p;id=1316075151

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4852...p;id=1316075151

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4852...p;id=1316075151