Dandi - Good Update 1/3/2012

[Batmom]

Poor bug. He must've tried to get up -- or got up and fell -- and then panicked. Hoping his new bruises and wounds heal well, and that you can figure out what's going on with his innards.

[tbhounds]

If there is a silver lining (ok- trying to be an optimist here) the Buprenex will slow his gi tract down (typical side affect of narcotics).

Poor little bugger- must have been so scared.

[3greys2cats]

Oh Jordan, I am so very sorry for you and Dandi, you have been through so much this year and now this. I will be praying for Dandi and hoping he has an incident free night back home w/you and his family. He is a big boy, I can only imagine how helpless you must feel trying to get him upstairs, why are the babies sick on Holiday weekends, not fair Sending lots of healing thoughts for Dandi and many for you.

[Remolacha]

poor boy I hope he has a quiet weekend!

[GreyPoopon]

Poor guy.

 

I hope the rest of the weekend goes a lot better.

[greyhndz]

If there is a silver lining (ok- trying to be an optimist here) the Buprenex will slow his gi tract down (typical side affect of narcotics).

Poor little bugger- must have been so scared.

 

Ah, why didn't I think of that? That's one side effect I'm fond of at the moment.

 

Batmom, I think that he probably tried to stand in his cage, but (despite having about 3 huge blankets) he slipped and splayed, and was unable to get up, and then panicked. Most of the wounds are on the inside of his legs and on his ventral chest and belly, which would make sense with that type of injury. He looks incredibly painful - I'll grab some photos when I can. The worse sites are his thighs, both knees and elbows.

 

He ate 2 bowls of turkey and rice, and took his pills with cheese like the good boy he is.l I just pulled his IV because his leg was becoming quite swollen. Also redressed one of his wounds as the bandage was all macerated. I found him standing in the living room (where his beds are), looking confused, Didn't want to go outside or even pee on the floor, and it took him a bit of time to get back down again, but hopefully he'll stay down for a while. If he gets up, the dogs upstairs will let me know but I'll be checking on him regularly anyway.

 

Thanks again, everyone, for caring.

Jordan

Happy New Year?

[heartdogs]

Here's hoping Dandi turns around & 2012 is better for you.

[lovinggreysslp]

I am sorry you and Dandi have been having such a rough time. Sending healing prayers for Dandi.

[phall]

Jordan,

 

I'm so sorry that Dandi and you have had such a time. I'm glad he's home with you and hope that today he's better. I'll bet being home with you and the pack will help him a great deal. I'm thinking of you.

 

Pat

[dante2zoe]

Poor guy! I hope being at home eases him enough to heal. Here's hoping 2012 will be better for you and yours!

 

How's credentialing going?

[Sheshe]

Just reading through this. I sure hope Dandi gets better soon. He sounds like a fighter and a Mama's boy, good things to be. Will be keeping you in our prayers.

Sheila

[4greyhounds]

I am so sorry Bless his Heart!!!!!!!!!! Sending many prayers that he has been able to settle down and he is feeling better!!!!!!!!

[galgrey]

Jordan, both of you are tucked into my heart.

[greyhndz]

Poor guy! I hope being at home eases him enough to heal. Here's hoping 2012 will be better for you and yours!

 

How's credentialing going?

 

Finally making progress. Everything is in except the HR confirmation from Concord Hospital that I worked when I said I worked. The credentialing officer has sent 2 requests so far. Ironically, the rehab hospital is on the Concord Hospital campus. My director e-mailed me Friday to let me know that the other HR confirmation had arrived. Everyone is closed tomorrow, so she'll be in touch with the credentialing officer Tuesday to see if everything is tied up for me to have temporary privileges. So I hope sometime next week I can start. But not before Dandi gets what he needs down at the specialty care hospital I'm taking him to on Tuesday. I doubt they can do a whole workup on him the same day, so I have a feeling he may have to stay overnight. Oy.

 

Definite improvement today! Last night was musical beds. If there were any question of him being able to get on his feet, it was quickly silenced when, everytime I went downstairs to check on him, he was on a different bed. This morning, I found him on a bed which is up on a small platform, so he's finding his way. He's still a little unsteady but more because his feet and hind legs hurt. I was expecting puddles on the floor but it seems that he did go out, I watched him walk outside onto the deck, and then go down the stairs which was NOT good, as he slipped and fell down the last 2 steps. That was not needed - I have to put up a baby gate so he can go on the deck but not down the stairs. He ate 2 bowls of turkey/rice and hamburger/rice and took his pills with cheese. I also gave him a tramadol which he's going to need today. He was ripping and gnawing at the bandages so I took most of them off - I'll try to redress his hind paws later, as they're in pretty bad shape. The other wounds look OK. The good thing is that he growled at iggy Buddy. The real Dandi is emerging!

 

He;s walking around downstairs so time to check on him.....thanks, everyone, for youf loving thoughts!

[Remolacha]

so glad to hear he doing better!

[TheFullHouse]

My gosh, what an ordeal! I hope he starts on the road to recovery soon.

[greyhndz]

Quick update: He didn't do so well yesterday - the tramadol did him in, and he was out of it all day and evening. He ate but wasn't drinking or peeing enough. Fiona came over around 5 and gave him a litre of fluid SubQ (which sloshed around his neck for quite a while ) and he started peeing again. She redressed his wounds, though he doesn't care for bandages and just whips them off again. The wounds are dry so for now they can remain open to air, as he's not licking at them. He'd also left a typical Dandi-sized river in the kitchen, which I was relieved to see.

 

Today he was alert, sitting up and ready for food, and ate his burger and rice, though he doesn't care for the rice stuff. Time for mom to get more turkey and burger to make him a new batch. No tramadol today, thank you. He had another slip on the steps. This time, I was walking right next to and in front of him, but the steps were slippery and he went partially down again with a leg getting caught below the side rails. I got him up and straightened, and guided him back up to the deck (he'd only gotten down a couple of steps).. He was so intent on getting to his yard, but even with my supporting him, he's not ready to do it right now. He came away with a few superficial wounds and a little panic attack, but decided it would be best to pee inside, then went to bed.

 

This is the first time I'm *relieved* to see him peeing inside! The gate is up so he can't get to the stairs. He can either potty on the deck, or in the house. At least he's more alert, is drinking and peeing. My biggest concern now is getting him into the car tomorrow to get him to the IM vet. He also has to go downstairs to the garage, but at least these steps are carpeted. I wish I were strong enough, or had someone with me who could carry him up and down the stairs.

 

I'm off to the market to load up on burger/rice, and will make sure the gate is securely in place and blocking off the stairs.

 

Will try to get some photos of the big guy when I get home.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Can you get a towel around his middle to use as a sling to help support his weight if his foot slips or his leg starts to buckle? The towel might slow things down enough that he'll have time to recover from a near-fall.

[greyhndz]

A good update:

 

The king has returned to his usual surly, snarly self, so all is well with the world. His appointment with the internal med vet was today, and he had to fast prior to then, so I tried to slip the other dogs yummies upstairs where he wouldn't be aware of the subversion. Yup - 10 seconds later, the boy who has been laying prostrate on every dog bed downstairs was now upstairs at the door to the bedroom, ready to party. By the time I turned around to close the jar and turned back, he was on my bed. Have I been hosed all this time?

 

He's almost back to himself, still a bit weak in the hind, but going up and down stairs safely and steadily. He's eating, drinking, alert and barking at Buddy, all of which make me happy. His IM vet (who is awesome, if anyone in NH/MA needs a good IM vet) had an abd. ultrasound done, sent TLI/PLI/cobalamin/folate panels out to rule-out liver or pancreatic dysfunction, and did the bile acid testing while we were there. The U/S showed changes in the jejunem suggestive of lymphangiectasia (a type of PLE). She felt that we should go ahead and treat him empirically for lymphangiectasia rather than doing endoscopy because the area involved in the jejunem is not accessible by scope, and would require a surgical biopsy. He is a poor surgical candidate right now given his nutritional state so while the labs are cooking down in TX, we'll start a treatment program right away.

 

Steroid injections x 7 days (guess who gets to have the pleasure?), then going onto oral steroids with a gradual taper. Dandi on steroids: this strikes fear in the hearts of us mere mortals. The canines here ain't too happy about it, either. He has to go onto an ultra-low-fat diet, or if he won't go for that, one of the hydrolyzed or novel protein diets. . The kind with "corn starch" as the first ingredient. (Or if he's lucky, rabbit.) With lymphangiectasia, there's a chance he can eventually be controlled by diet alone, but he'll be on steroids (possibly cyclosporine too) until he stabilizes. It will take a week for the lab results to return, but the bile acid results will be back tomorrow; we won't start the steroids until the vet reviews those results.

 

I'm thrilled to have my big bad boy back. The rest of the pack is not amused. And Dandi seems to be in a state of denial:

 

[JJNg]

He has to go onto an ultra-low-fat diet, or if he won't go for that, one of the hydrolyzed or novel protein diets. . The kind with "corn starch" as the first ingredient. (Or if he's lucky, rabbit.)

Great to hear a good update!

 

I'm not a fan of the hydrolyzed diets. I do like the Royal Canin/IVD line of novel protein diets which come in rabbit, venison, duck, or whitefish, and have pretty good ingredients for a prescription food.

[jamngrey]

Ya glad he is almost all the way back

[tbhounds]

Yea- glad he's acting better. The IM Dr ran every test they did for my boy (IBD/PLE). Initially I started with immune then, added pred but, eventually what worked best for us was switching to Budesonide (no systemic side effects).

I did feed a low fat novel food diet . I agree- I like the IVD over the Hills Z/D (too fatty). Actually, I was eventually able to feed an OTC food-- Natural Balance Duck and Potato.

Dandi sounds like a real character!

[TheFullHouse]

Great update! Glad he's feeling a bit better!

[kudzu]

Great update. The IM vet sounds wonderful & it seems you have a good plan of action while waiting for the test results. I had a dog do well for a couple years on a canned prescription fish & potato food. It wasn't what I wanted to feed but it was the only thing he managed to be able to digest. An option for treats when on these diets is to use the canned food to make cookies. Just open both ends of the can. Push it out in one piece. Then slice & bake. Or you can drop it by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet & bake. Treats weren't pretty & the smell was not appealing to humans but all the dogs went nuts for the results.

[3greys2cats]

Jordan, so glad to see Dandi is doing much better and that you have a diagnosis and plan, there is no better mommy for him than you w/your medical background.