Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2973909)

Lady Jane, they only gave her 175 mls of fluid since she she didn't appear dehydrated and had already received the subcut fluids earlier in the day. They infused quickly but I remember him mentioning the formula for deciding how fast to infuse. Seems like 40 mls hour per 1 pound of weight.

We were there for a little over 2 hours total. We only waited 5 minutes before he saw her. The rest of the time was spent on care for Abbie.

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2973930)

Sorry, I meant to post her weight. :)

She is a "big" girl and is normally 9.6 pounds when healthy. She weighed 9.0 pounds last night before fluids. Based on my calcs they should have infused in about 50 minutes and from my fuzzy sleep deprived memory this seems to be how long the infusion was running-give or take a few.

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2973956)

He said he wanted her hydrated since that is the mainstay treatment for both HGE and Pancreatitis. He also wanted to make sure she was hydrated since I am ONCE AGAIN withholding food and water (until this afternoon).

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2973889)

First, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the kind words and prayers. I really needed those this morning. Sometimes I just wish she could open her mouth and tell me exactly what is going on.

We ended up taking her to the vet at 11 PM last night. She never could seem to get comfortable, was not able to jump up on the couch or use her bed ramp like normal, and was really "freaking" me out for lack of better terms.

Vet took a LONG time getting her history from me. He did another CBC, Lipase, and Basic Metabolic Panel. The only abnormal results are listed below:

RDW% 16.7 Normal 11-16
Lipase was at the high end of normal at 1192 Normal 200-1800
WBC were in the normal range but slightly elevated at 13.8 Normal 6-17
PCV was high normal at 48.8 Normal 37-55

To make a long story short this is what he thinks is going on.
1. Contracted a virus or stress when she went to vet for yearly checkup last Monday as she was there for 1/2 day being exposed to who knows what
2. Stress or possible table food triggered the pancreatitis (vomitting last Tuesday) which in turn led to the bloody stool and possible HGE Wednesday night
3. Body tried to fight it off until Friday when I took her in for the inital DX of pancreatitis.
4. Was improving but suffered set back because of the new bland diet...this led to the constipation and need for enema.
5. Has no idea where the pain is coming from but thinks it is from her back. and suspects it is not related to the GI upset at all but a total coincidence.

He said Lipase may be in the high normal range because the dx was orginally made almost 5 days ago and she has been on Flagyl since then. Same theory with the high normal HCT.

They placed an IV and gave her fluids, injections of Gentamicin, Baytril and Dexamethasone (for the inflammatin/pain) and sent us home with instructions to stop the Flagyl and Clavamox. Hold food and liquid for 12 hours, start by introducing water at noon, followed by a small spoonful of I/D every few hours. If she tolerates that without vomitting tonight then I am to slowly transition her back to normal food by Friday (he was adamant-no more chicken breast). Once we introduce food, if she won't eat or drink for greater than 24 hours then we are to take her back to our vet right away.
He left the IV in place just in case she needs fluids again. He was a wealth of information, very caring, and seemed genuinely perplexed by all that she had been through. He did make comment that this was an "atypical" case of pancreatitis or she had the highest pain tolerance of any dog that he has ever cared for. He said he would expect her to feel much better by Friday and if she was eating and drinking well that I could remove the IV on Friday morning.

He doesn't want her jumping until the pain has subsided so I made a bed on the floor for Abbie and I since the fluids had her peeing all night long. We were all able to get a few hours of sleep last night. She is a little more alert this morning and not shaking but still won't go up her ramp to get on the bed or even try to jump on the couch (her favorite spot to patrol the neighborhood). I'm hoping for an huge improvement by tomorrow afternoon.

Keep us in your prayers.

Originally Posted by dwerten (Post 2973961)

Ok the HGE i am not buying it as your dog would have been dead if HGE what was the red blood cell count was it over the 55 on any test. HGE your dog would not have been active like you stated on prior posts the dog would be vomitting and diarhea and VERY VERY SICK and would have to be on iv fluids -my friends dog gets it alot as once they have it just like pancreatitis really easy to get again here is what vet does with her dog that gets it

this condition requires immediate treatment of fluids, no solid foods, and a course of anti diarrhea/antibiotic medication

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2974131)

Yes, this was a different vet that we saw last night (very experienced and well respected vet in our community who owns his own practice as well as the ER practice). I don't think they can figure out what the heck is going on with her.

To be honest he even said, "OK, I don't really know what is going on with this little one. I can tell you that something is going on GI wise and we will get her past this. It's not an obstruction and I'm still not sure about the pancreatitis dx. The SNAP cPL is a great test but there can be false positives. Amylase and Lipase aren't ALWAYS pancreas specific. She has no abdominal tenderness and in all my years of practice I've never seen a dog who WANTED to eat and BEGGED for treats during an acute episode of pancreatitis. Every dog I've ever treated for pancreatitis has been VERY sick with vomitting and is usually better in 24-48 hours."

I was near tears and he added, "I do not think this is something that is going to take her life. Here is what I'm going to do..." And he began the treatments as I described above.

WHATEVER it was she seems to be a little better today. I have offered a TBSP of water per his directions and she drank it slowly but willingly. I'm not sure I will ever find a definitive dx.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Dexamethasone. I wish I had known about relapse info before I allowed him to give it. There is nothing I can do now but wait and see.

Thanks for the website info. I'm so glad you suggested this as I was even more upset last night when we got home and I realized that I had exhausted my last resource. Not to mention we have paid out over $1000 in 5 days with no real answers. I'm headed to the website that was suggested.

She keeps chewing on her IV bandage and I'm afraid that she is going to ingest the fibers and get sick again. I rewrapped it in bandage tape but she chewed through that when I got up to get myself a drink. Any ideas on how to deter her from chewing on it?

I'm looking forward to the day when I can post good news on here. :(

I'll keep you all posted.

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2974162)

Thanks for the link. I found many vets at NC State which is less than a 2 hour drive from us and one I would willingly make.

If she isn't back to herself in a few days I will pursue this option. How would I get started? Do I call my vet and ask for a referral or would I just call the specialist first? TIA!

Oh and what kind of fees are we talking about? Just a general ballpark range. And what does it mean that they are at NC State University? Are they students doing their internship? Sorry, but I'm totally niave in this area as my husband is active duty military and I haven't dealt with civilian healthcare in 12 years :)

Originally Posted by HShanks (Post 2974176)

Forgot to add that I'll pick up a can of Z/D today. Thanks!

I don't have a cone. Is there a way to make one at home?