Guest LittleGreys Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I have a very sick foster girl. She is 7 years old, pretty uneventful life as far as we know. She raced in New England, was on a farm for a few years, and came into adoption in January of this year. All fine until about 2 weeks ago when she developed a painful rear leg. She then developed pitting enema in the 3 legs she was NOT painful on. She has been on 2 antibiotics, both of which she improved on for a few days, then relapsed. She is lethargic and anorexic. She became quite ill over the weekend, and was transferred to a different vet and hospitalized on IV fluids. She does spike temps of over 104. She is now on prednisone, doxycycline (she was checked for some tick diseases which were neg and then we did the doxy to cover any others rather than sending out other titers for now) famotidine, carafate and tramadol. Tuesday, the first day on steroids, she dramatically improved, she was brighter, happier, eating, and the edema had gone done in her legs. Today, she is dull, lethargic, not eating much again. This girl is baffling us. Her bloodwork was normal, xrays of legs and chest were clear. She seems to have trouble swallowing, so that will be our next area to focus on. May get some xrays of her neck tomorrow. Prayers would be apprecated for this super sweet girlie. Along with any advice from anyone who may have dealt with this. Both her vets are top notch, so she is in good hands, but she needs to catch a break here and feel better!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mychip1 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 No advice...but lots of prayers. Quote Robin, EZ (Tribal Track), JJ (What a Story), Dustin (E's Full House) and our beautiful Jack (Mana Black Jack) and Lily (Chip's Little Miss Lily) both at the BridgeThe WFUBCC honors our beautiful friends at the bridge. Godspeed sweet angels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Have they ruled out congestive heart failure? The symptoms you are describing could be from CHF. Hoping that things improve for her SOON! Sending lots of prayers your way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I know nothing about the TBD's but I always thought that they shouldn't be on Doxy and Pred at the same time but I'm not sure about that Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carronstar Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sending prayers for this little girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChasesMum Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 this is sounding too familiar, only my Chase is limping because of the edema in one leg. She is at the cardiologist this morning with possible chf and who knows what, still waiting to hear on that. she is on pred and doxy as well, from what my vets have said, its not ideal because the pred suppresses the immune system, and yet they need to mount an immune response to deal with the tbd, so its a balancing act. No words of wisdom yet but chf from edema seems to be what we are dealing with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 With what I've been bsuy with lately I have to ask "that wouldn't be the leg she was vaccinated in would it?" If ya'll vetted her and vaccinated her with what I've been through lately I'd be checking on a possible adverse reaction to the vaccine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LittleGreys Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 With what I've been bsuy with lately I have to ask "that wouldn't be the leg she was vaccinated in would it?" If ya'll vetted her and vaccinated her with what I've been through lately I'd be checking on a possible adverse reaction to the vaccine. She has the pitting edema in both front legs and one rear leg. She has not been vaccinated recently, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 With what I've been bsuy with lately I have to ask "that wouldn't be the leg she was vaccinated in would it?" If ya'll vetted her and vaccinated her with what I've been through lately I'd be checking on a possible adverse reaction to the vaccine. She has the pitting edema in both front legs and one rear leg. She has not been vaccinated recently, either. Well thats good it wasn't that. I'll be praying for the little girl! Very puzzling since she had such a healthy history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TeddysMom Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 It does sound like it might be a heart problem. I just hope that they can find out what the problem is and be able to fix it or control it. Prayers for this little girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lovemyhounds Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sending prayers for this little girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 (edited) Babesia is not treated with doxycycline, I would send a blood sample out to NC State and run a PCR, or at least a titer. Babesia can cause some weird symptoms. ETA: Symptoms of babesia in the chronic (final) stage (from this site): The most obvious initial signs to an owner are a cycle of: lethargy, loss of interest in food, and a gradual loss of body condition especially evident around the eyes and along the spine. Other symptoms are: upper respiratory problems - coughing or labored breathing, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, ulcerative stomatitis (sores in the mouth), edema (swelling), abdominal swelling (ascites), bleeding under the skin or a rash (purpura), low White Blood Cell count (thrombocytopenia), clotting problems, joint swelling, back pain, seizures, weakness, increased liver enzyme, low Platelet count, hyper reflective eyes, enlarged lymph nodes, enlarged spleen, septic shock, depression. Has your vet done bloodwork? Most dogs (but not all) with Babesia are anemic. It could be any number of other things I know nothing about, but I would definitely test for Babesia if I were you. It's not particularly expensive. Edited July 22, 2010 by NeylasMom Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heehoo Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest K9Cookies Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sending good thoughts for this girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kydie Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I too vote CHF,, please keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderPaws Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Sending prayers for the sick foster girl.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BellesDad Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Prayers for your little girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest isntitgreyt Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I am sending many many many many prayers for her. She's a fighter! Please keep us updated. I think of her every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LittleGreys Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 She is much improved today!! Tail has been wagging, and she ate almost all her breakfast. No more edema in her legs. Bloodwork, xrays and ascultation give no indication of CHF, my vet is not worried about that. She has no anemia and is not icteric, so babesia is not high on the list, but not completely ruled out. Right now she is tentatively calling it immune mediated vasculitis. She responded immediately to the pred. We have already decreased the dose and will see how she does as we decrease it over the next few weeks. So far so good, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Great news! Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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