Pogo's Surgery Appointment

[EllenEveBaz]

_{Hoping he's feeling better and will be home soonest.}

[Newgreymom]

Just checking in to see how Pogos doing?

[Annette]

Pogo is back home and eating the Prescription ID food they sent home with us. We are able to hide his meds in the food. He finished off the chicken I baked for him, now he will be getting the left over turkey breast I made on Saturday. I did mix some dry dog food in and he also ate that.

 

He has a UTI and is receiving antibiotics for that.

 

The diagnostic impressions on his discharge papers report the following:

 

Primary problem: elevated temperature,, urinary tract infection, hyporexia

Secondary problem: elevated total bilirubin, CK and AST

 

He really wants to lay on the couch, but I am keeping him off it for now.

 

Overall he is looking much brighter.

[Beachbum1]

[XTRAWLD]

Keep at it.....sounds like he's coming around!

[MP_the4pack]

awwww. Good boy!

Where are pix of your handsome young man?

[Annette]

awwww. Good boy!

Where are pix of your handsome young man?

 

Here's a picture from when we first adopted him just over a year ago. He was still unfamiliar the little "flashy box" back then and I could take a picture of him. He absolutely hates to have his picture taken. Soon as he sees a camera he literally runs away from me.

 

[ramonaghan]

Good update! and continued good thoughts for your handsome boy.

[Neighsayer]

Love a good update!

[MP_the4pack]

On! He's so handsome.

[45MPHK9]

Great update.

[Newgreymom]

So glad he's home and doing well. Make sure you get some much needed rest also Annette.

[sarabz]

Thinking of you and hoping that your boy continues to improve.

[Annette]

Pogo will be getting his stitches out on Thursday but no chemo until the UTI is gone.

 

UW-Madison vet school is good, but it really is a pain that Pogo does not have a "vet-in-charge" for him. The oncologist I met with initially is not his primary doctor. Eventually the person in charge of the Rapamycin study will be his primary oncologist, but until then there is no primary anything. The vet who did his amputation is not his primary and the e-vet we saw on Friday (who released him on Sunday) prescribed clavamox for his UTI. She said she would be contacting me on Monday regarding the urine culture that was done to determine if the clavamox was the appropriate antibiotic. She never called to let me know that the official results were not ready. I called today to see if the results were received and I waited for her to call. In the meantime I called to verify Pogo's appointment to have his stitches removed. I spoke with the person in charge of surgery dept and she verified his appointment, and since I had her on the line I asked her if there was record of the "official results" of the urine culture. She said that they were in and that the clavamox would not get rid of his UTI. After I spoke with her, the e-vet finally called. She asked if there was a Walmart, Target, or Walgreens that she could call in a prescription to. Told her to call Walgreens as they have a drive-thru and that way Pogo could come along. As she was ready to hang up I asked for the name of the drug he would be getting. I was wondering why the antibiotic (I cannot remember the name off hand) sounded familiar, so I went and looked in the cupboard and found a bottle of the antibiotic that was prescribed for Pogo when he got some kind of object lodged in his paw. He did not do well on the drug and since Pogo's paw looked fine, we just did not give him anymore of the drug. I immediately called the school to speak with the e-vet about his reaction. Couldn't get a hold of her and left my phone number for her to call. She called Roy's phone and he works 2 1/2 hours southeast of here. I again tried to get a hold of her. The receptionist said she would page her and have her call me back instead of keeping me on hold indefinitely. When she did not call, I called again and the receptionist seemed surprised because she had given her my name and phone number to call. Well anyways, she left for the day and no one there can help me. I have to wait until morning and hopefully she will call. I think I will try calling the surgery student that helped with his surgery and see if that will get the e-vet to call me.

 

When we lived on the Illinois side of Terre Haute 20+ years ago we always took our critters to the vet school in Urbana, Illinois for anything major. We never had this problem. Our second greyhound had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tick Paralysis, and ultimately ended up having hemangiosarcoma. We had a primary vet on each occasion, and if we had any problems, any qualified vet on staff was able to help if the primary vet was unavailable.

 

At the UW, even though the surgery vet that I spoke with when verifying Pogo's appointment knows the results of the urine culture she could not help me. I have to wait until sometime tomorrow for the e-vet to call me. This is extremely frustrating. I am not going to give Pogo a drug that will upset his stomach when he is finally eating and taking all his medications.

[MP_the4pack]

I hope Pogo gets the right medicine and can stomach it ok.

 

I have had similar issues with the large hospitals sometimes. Red Bank is notorious for not returning calls. If the doctors weren't so darn good I wouldn't go there.

[XTRAWLD]

Thinking of you during this frustrating time. I have learned that we are their best advocates, so keep on them for proper meds, and help and info.

[Annette]

I picked up new antibiotics for Pogo. The er-vet called the new script into Walgreens yesterday but never called e back to let me know.

 

It is so good to see Pogo eating that I may have fed him too much this morning. He has been basically eating Prescription ID canned food, chicken, and a couple satin balls. I have gotten so excited seeing him eat that I added 1 cup of his usual dry food and a bit of store bought canned food. Well he vacuumed up the dry food, store bought canned food, the chicken, satin balls and some of the ID. He started sniffing at the food and decided not to eat the majority of the ID food that contained his meds. He did get at least one of his pain pills.

 

I guess I will have to leave him a bit hungry so he doesn't have time to smell the food he is eating.

[carronstar]

Yay for eating!!!!!

[Annette]

Pogo had his first chemo treatment today. He was even "pogo'ing" for the staff in oncology.

 

I was sent home with a bunch of "if needed" medications: Metronidazole in case he has diarrhea, Mirtazapine if needed to stimulate his appetite, and cerenia if needed for nausea.

 

The pharmacist went over the drugs with me and he told me that one of the drugs is supposedly more bitter than the tramadol but I have already forgotten which one that is. I have a call into the oncologist. He was busy when I called the school. I expect an email from him later but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the folks on this board.

 

Thanks

[schultzlc]

Fingers crossed that none of those additional meds will be needed. Thank you for keeping us updated on your boy. Continued good thoughts are being sent your way!!

[XTRAWLD]

Kasey felt pretty icky 3-4 days following his chemo session and his appetite dropped at that time. Keep feeding pogo, but don't be surprised if he decides to stop eating again. If you got Mirtazapine, that's the bitter stuff that encourages them to have an appetite. I'd say give it to him as soon as he starts refusing since it takes a couple doses to kick in. Poor guy. His stomach must be churning cuz of all these meds! If you can, ask for Fortiflora (its a probiotic). it helps keep his stomach stay in regular balance and has a taste dogs seem to like that also encourages eating. Kasey only had the cerenia once and it was at the end of his cocktail regimine. The stuff for d might come in handy tho!

Edited December 5, 2015 by XTRAWLD

[Charlies_Dad]

I'm glad to read Pogo is doing so much better and he's eating. Hope the chemo does not affect him too much.