Apollo's Going To The Vet This Afternoon

[Guest bigorangedog]

Some of you remember our tripawd Apollo, who had his amp in mid-February. He had his last chemo treatment 8 days ago. That day at the vet he seemed to be a little less mobile than usual and in fact fell on their slippery floor. The vet palpated his legs and spine, but could not find any painful places. Decided to watch and see.

 

The next day, Wednesday, I saw a big ol' bruise on the inside of his thigh. Had to be back at the vet on Friday anyway, so brought him along. He had also been having liquid poop, but that is not uncommon for him on a Friday after a Tuesday chemo. Usually goes away after that. The vet said it looked like he had strained a muscle on the inside of his thigh. Question is: was he moving funny and fell on Tuesday because he had already injured himself, or did he injure himself at the vet because there was already something underlying wrong?

 

Well, Apollo does not xray well (he FREAKS OUT) so we decided to give it another few days and see how it went.

 

Through the weekend, his liquid poop did not get better, despite being given Immodium and Metronidazole. He was still moving funny, although none of us can put our finger on exactly HOW he is moving funny. Not as simple as limping on one side or the other.

 

Yesterday, I was messing around with him, and found a spot at his iliac crest (between his hipbones) that, when pressed, causes him to get weak in the rear legs. Conclusion: Either spinal metastasis or lumbosacral stenosis. Need to xray. I can't tell whether it is bone pain, nerve pain, or muscle pain.

 

This morning, he threw up his morning meds. He hadn't previously been vomiting. Called my vet at home at 7:45 AM (I love my vet). She said she has been seeing a streak of TBD with her clients, and that it may be responsible for his diarrhea and vomiting. Suggested we come in for bloodwork today and do the rads at the same time. She is looking for low platelet counts. (Note that we have NOT been Frontlining him, because he has been on chemo, and were told not to mix them, so a tick is a possibility especially since we live out in the woods.)

 

What I'm wondering is whether the two things (diarrhea and the lower back pain) could be related somehow. And whether there are specific things I ought to ask the vet to do today. Apollo is going to be sedated for his xrays, so we could do whatever we needed to do.

 

Unfortunately, it's the "other" vet at the practice that we'll be seeing, as my good vet is at home with a foot injury (otherwise she would come in for us on her day off). We can call her though.

 

Thoughts?

Thanks!!

Jen

[Wonder]

Good thoughts for Apollo today

and for you

[Batmom]

Checking for updates and keeping up the prayers for your sweet gallant boy.

[4greyhounds]

Sending lots of prayers and Good Thoughts....Please keep us posted. :hope

[Guest bigorangedog]

Well, there is no evidence of bone lysis on the xrays (although I'll have my regular vet look at them tomorrow), which of course is great news. There is also nothing abnormal in his bloodwork and the in-house tick panel came back negative. His WBC, RBC and platelets are all the same as they have been throughout his treatment (which has been normal).

 

He is tender in the muscles on his lower back and lower belly (both dorsal and ventral). No tenderness in his legs.

 

So! The upshot is that we don't really know. Vet's best guess is that he has strained muscles in his back, and that the GI upset is still from chemo and should resolve soon.

 

They gave him a cocktail of morphine and ace to take the rads, so he's still pretty dopey and I'm hoping he will get a lot of rest tonight. I'll chat with my regular vet some more tomorrow, but at least it does not seem to be related to metastases.

[duncan41]

That's wonderful news! I'd take a mystery dx over just about everything else any day! Will pray for speedy resolution of the liquid poops and the funny movement. Hopefully he will be back to normal soon!

[Batmom]

Keeping fingers crossed! With any luck, the morphine will slow his innards down a little, too.

[GreyPoopon]

FWIW, when Piper's gut was in an uproar, she seemed to have back pain and weakness, and she moved badly. One of her symptoms at the time was gas, which was visible on the x-rays.

 

I hope whatever is bothering Apollo resolves soon.

[Guest Smiley]

I'm so glad that there was no metastisis in his spine. Hopefully he'll feel better soon and it will resolve quickly!

[Guest greymama002]

to Apollo & hope the mystery will resolve and he'll be feeling much better soon

[EllenEveBaz]

All paws crossed here.

[queenwinniesmom]

Apollo, please feel better soon! Your Mom loves her sweet brave boy, and so do we.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Update??

[sabrina]

for Apollo