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Beau- Things Are Heading In The Wrong Direction


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Last week it started with his left side affected. He was lame and tripoding holding the left leg up. That was a huge concern because of the weakness and lameness on the right side. We gave him a cordisone shot even though he is on steriods because there were not too many other options. It got a little better, but he is still having a lot of weakness. The bigger problem now is that he is not eating.

His weight was at 60 last week which means he has already lost 4++ pounds from the last time we were there which was not that long ago.

 

We can not offer him anything but the prescription food and fish so there are no options for Beau.

 

Vet is not sure if he is having a true flare of the IBD OR this is secondary to the discomfort. He had acupunture yesterday. He WANTS to do walkies which we are not allowing. I did let him walk on the grass strips for several houses just so he could get out. He is subdued but happy to wash your face with kisses.

 

We will have to switch him fro budesonide back to pred tonight which is really unheard of. But with Beau, most of the treatment we've had to do has been rather unconventional.

 

I am praying that the pred helps both his inflammation of his leg and jump starts his eating. This is so scary when you can not offer anything to eat other than one thing.

Edited by RobinM

 

 

ROBIN ~ Mom to: Beau Think It Aint, Chloe JC Allthewayhome, Teddy ICU Drunk Sailor, Elsie N Fracine , Ollie RG's Travertine, Ponch A's Jupiter~ Yoshi, Zoobie & Belle, the kitties.

Waiting at the bridge Angel Polli Bohemian Ocean , Rocky, Blue,Sasha & Zoobie & Bobbi

Greyhound Angels Adoption (GAA) The Lexus Project

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Might be time for radiographs.

 

There is nothing we can do if it's cancer. They don't feel it is but if GOD forbid it was, there are no options anyway.

 

It's the not eating that is the issue. If after 3-5 times of acupunture there is no improvement, then we will do that. But to do that Beau has to be very sedated which means he will be out of it for at least 2 days. He is over sensitive to any anethesia whereas 11 year old Elsie- you would never know she has had anethesia.

 

Beau has a lot of medical issues.

Edited by RobinM

 

 

ROBIN ~ Mom to: Beau Think It Aint, Chloe JC Allthewayhome, Teddy ICU Drunk Sailor, Elsie N Fracine , Ollie RG's Travertine, Ponch A's Jupiter~ Yoshi, Zoobie & Belle, the kitties.

Waiting at the bridge Angel Polli Bohemian Ocean , Rocky, Blue,Sasha & Zoobie & Bobbi

Greyhound Angels Adoption (GAA) The Lexus Project

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:(

 

I'm sorry he's not better.

 

It might be worth doing an MRI -- could be he has a bulging disc or similar, and that would give you something treatable (if with great difficulty).

 

Hugs and prayers.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest krystolla

Could you give him a vitamin B shot to improve his appetite? IIRC it's not a long lasting effect but sometimes if you can remind them that eating is good . . .

 

Wishes for all the best, Beau, I hope things turn around for you soon. :goodluck

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Guest Swifthounds

Might be time for radiographs.

 

There is nothing we can do if it's cancer. They don't feel it is but if GOD forbid it was, there are no options anyway.

 

It's the not eating that is the issue. If after 3-5 times of acupunture there is no improvement, then we will do that. But to do that Beau has to be very sedated which means he will be out of it for at least 2 days. He is over sensitive to any anethesia whereas 11 year old Elsie- you would never know she has had anethesia.

 

Beau has a lot of medical issues.

 

It sounds like whatever is causing the limp is quite painful. Pain often leads to greyhounds not eating. IF you can get the pain under control, you should see improvement in appetite.

 

I would second the recommendation for radiographs, especially if your vet can't pinpoint a specific muscle or muscle group as the situs of the pain (this is where a greyhounds trainer is worth his/her weight in gold over a vet any day, but I digress). I know everyone worries about the big C, but bone involvement could also be something as simple as a hairline fracture somewhere in the hock or a smaller bone. It would be a lot of pain, especially until it starts healing. The favoring of the right can lead to stress related fractures in the compensating leg.

 

Has Beau had a reaction to anesthesia or the light sedation they use for radiographs? I know a lot of vets heavily sedate for x-rays, but there's no reason to. Also, among the twilight sedations there are several options - a reaction to one of them doesn't mean a reaction to all.

 

For now, can you give him something for the pain? Something like tramadol? Or perhaps something injectable?

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Might be time for radiographs.

 

There is nothing we can do if it's cancer. They don't feel it is but if GOD forbid it was, there are no options anyway.

 

It's the not eating that is the issue. If after 3-5 times of acupunture there is no improvement, then we will do that. But to do that Beau has to be very sedated which means he will be out of it for at least 2 days. He is over sensitive to any anethesia whereas 11 year old Elsie- you would never know she has had anethesia.

 

 

Beau has a lot of medical issues.

 

It sounds like whatever is causing the limp is quite painful. Pain often leads to greyhounds not eating. IF you can get the pain under control, you should see improvement in appetite.

 

I would second the recommendation for radiographs, especially if your vet can't pinpoint a specific muscle or muscle group as the situs of the pain (this is where a greyhounds trainer is worth his/her weight in gold over a vet any day, but I digress). I know everyone worries about the big C, but bone involvement could also be something as simple as a hairline fracture somewhere in the hock or a smaller bone. It would be a lot of pain, especially until it starts healing. The favoring of the right can lead to stress related fractures in the compensating leg.

 

Has Beau had a reaction to anesthesia or the light sedation they use for radiographs? I know a lot of vets heavily sedate for x-rays, but there's no reason to. Also, among the twilight sedations there are several options - a reaction to one of them doesn't mean a reaction to all.

 

For now, can you give him something for the pain? Something like tramadol? Or perhaps something injectable?

 

Beau can have tramadol. We have that and every other med in the house. As far as asnethesia, my vets who are extremely GH savvy go exceptionally light on Beau. It's just how Beau is with any anesthesia. He winds up getting x-rays every 4-6 months because of the hind weakness.

 

As I said, we will give acupunture a few rounds before we subject him to that and we will start the pred tonight which should help.

 

 

ROBIN ~ Mom to: Beau Think It Aint, Chloe JC Allthewayhome, Teddy ICU Drunk Sailor, Elsie N Fracine , Ollie RG's Travertine, Ponch A's Jupiter~ Yoshi, Zoobie & Belle, the kitties.

Waiting at the bridge Angel Polli Bohemian Ocean , Rocky, Blue,Sasha & Zoobie & Bobbi

Greyhound Angels Adoption (GAA) The Lexus Project

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sending prayers and ((hugs)))Is he on the dry or can prescription? The reason I ask is cause lexie is on both and when she wouldn't eat i took the can stuff and put some in ice cube trays, froze them and she thought it was a treat.

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sending prayers and ((hugs)))Is he on the dry or can prescription? The reason I ask is cause lexie is on both and when she wouldn't eat i took the can stuff and put some in ice cube trays, froze them and she thought it was a treat.

 

Wayyyyy ahead of you! We put the canned in the cow hoofs and freeze them so he thinks those are treats! yesterday he had 3/4 of a can in hoof form but that is not enough to sustain him. We try giving the kibble in kongs mixed with is cookies. We know all the tricks here! been going though this a very long time. So frustrating.

 

Just saw him on the cam. Happily JUMPING on the bed and is currently eating a stuffed hoof (1/4 can). Its just that he isn't eating enough to sustain him.

Edited by RobinM

 

 

ROBIN ~ Mom to: Beau Think It Aint, Chloe JC Allthewayhome, Teddy ICU Drunk Sailor, Elsie N Fracine , Ollie RG's Travertine, Ponch A's Jupiter~ Yoshi, Zoobie & Belle, the kitties.

Waiting at the bridge Angel Polli Bohemian Ocean , Rocky, Blue,Sasha & Zoobie & Bobbi

Greyhound Angels Adoption (GAA) The Lexus Project

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Guest MyCody

Cody was diagnosed with protruding discs when we took him to a neuro surgeon in Boston who did an MRI. He was our gentle giant and would tremble uncontrollably just pulling up to his own vet so the neuro surgeon let me go in with him and only sedated him enough to calm him but I was still a nervous wreck. We opted for no surgery and kept him on tramadol and Rimadyl. We were already using a harness on him and the neurosurgeon said that was what she would have recommended as collars can cause damage. He had complete bed rest for two weeks and we could not let him run or go for walks except around the yard. He did fine with that and lived comfortably until the age of 13 when we had to let him make that journey a year ago.

 

Good luck with Beau, and I know he's on a special diet but if he's losing weight perhaps you could ask his vet if he can have Ensure or Boost. We had a little girl with lymphoma who could not keep anything down except Ensure.

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No advice, I've never been in the situation you are in so I'll just send prayers and wishes he's feeling better soon.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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