Hi everyone!
I am new here to YorkieTalk, but I felt the need to come on and share a little about my baby and his health issues. I have spent hours scouring this site and the forums to find any additional advice I can add to what I've got from my vet.
My baby is Binky and he is 8 years old and only 3 lbs. Last September he got very bloated and started acting less interested in his food. I took him to my regular vet who diagnosed him with pancreatitis or a stomach virus. She gave us metronidazole and cerenia and said he should get better. Fast forward a week and my baby was more bloated and started having seizures. His first one lasted quite a while. I was with my mom at the time, so the closest vet to her house was the one she sees who is unfamiliar with Binky and his health.
After running some labs, they told us his seizure was likely caused by hypoglycemia, but they gave him dextrose to bring it up. They also told me he was likely in liver failure because his albumin, globulin and calcium were extremely low. They decided it would be best for me to take Binky to a vet hospital where they could keep him and run additional tests.
After 4 days at the hospital, we were thankfully able to rule out a lot of things. We ruled out liver failure, insulinoma, liver shunt, etc. We were sent to an internal medicine vet who also has an ICU in her office. He spent 3 days there, and we finally discovered he has protein losing enteropathy secondary to inflammatory bowel disease.
I was heartbroken over the diagnosis, but hopeful that it was one that can be treated with meds to add to their quality of life. It's been a long year, but for the most part, Binky has been doing great. He has required no other hospitalizations, and while he has had the additional flare up where we had to adjust medication dosages, he's been super stable.
This week I took him to fly out of town with me for Christmas after he had a lab check that showed he was having another flare up. Adjusted medications, and the vet OK'd it and sent me on my way with all his medical records should we need to see a vet out of town. She had me make an appointment for her to see him once back in town. I came back in town tonight and Binky had a seizure as I was pulling up to my home. I was able to stay calm enough to get him upstairs and administered Karo syrup and calm him until he was alert enough.
He isn't interested in his food, but he is eating plain chicken (the vet OK'd this if he isn't eating his food). Now, he's acting much better (I'm just happy he has an appetite), and he's sleeping next to me right now. I am worried the trip just added stress to his little self and it all caught up to him.
My appointment to see the specialist is Friday, she is out of office on Thursdays (tomorrow) so I am wondering.. do I stay home and nurse him myself tomorrow as long as he's stable? or should I take him in to see the regular vet or call them to see what they think since I can't get in touch with the specialist until Friday??
Thanks for taking the time to listen to my LONG story.
Amber