Dehydrated, wobbling, vomiting

[danniko]

I'm waiting to hear back again from the vet. My husband answered the phone and didn't ask questions. Just relayed the message back but I want to talk to the vet myself.

That's when I will be asking about her standing and general well being. My husband said the vet told him she was acting okay and comfortable just wasn't interested in the food.

I am hoping we can go see her and see if being with her perks her up but it depends on my husband's mood. I am not allowed to drive for another week and the vet she is at is 30mins away. I want to find out if the vet would be okay with us bringing her usual food she loves or some boiled chicken.

She was in boarding for a week and home two nights and back at the vet, I'm kind of hoping her food issue right now is more related to being in a cage away from home again. I want to see her for myself to see how she reacts to us.

I might be requesting an X-ray regardless at this point.

Would her being on fluids affect her appetite? I know when the hospital pumped me full of them I wasn't hungry. Is that the same with dogs? I also want to ask if she's urinating okay and if she passed the feces the vet could feel in her still last night.

I am so scared right now but just want her healthy and safe.

[buddybear]

Bless your heart, what a trying time your going through. I would call the vet and ask those questions you want answers to.

Can you get a ride with some family member. I think a taxi would be horribly expensive. I understand your stress.

[danniko]

Update.

Still waiting to talk to the vet but the tech told us that she ate her 5:30 meal but doesn't want to eat her meal now (9pm).

Is that a good sign or does it mean she's still getting nauseas after she eats?

I want the vet to call because everyone around me is pushing to have her put down but I can't do that if there's any hope in her being ok.

As of right now my husband said the vet told him our quote was for her to stay until 8am so she wants to keep her to continue to observe.

Apparently she said she could probably go home at midnight but our quote and her preference would be to keep her until they can get her eating better.

Does this all seem as scary to people on the outside as I am seeing it? Point notes of the vet updates:
-seemed shaky/stoned in the cage
-blood tests came back fine and gave nausea meds
-hasn't thrown up again
-still not interested in food, seems okay, could leave at midnight but would prefer to get her eating better
-ate her dinner but isn't eating again

When I talk to the vet I am going to ask:
-is she steadier on her feet than before?
-has she been urinating okay? Bowel movement?
-is she still on iv and nausea meds?

[ladyjane]

For sure ask about the meds. Is she on anti nausea...and ask if she is on an appetite stimulant. Sometimes that will help.

No, being on IV's should not really affect her appetite.

I wish I knew what to say. It is so sad when money is such a huge issue. I feel for you getting the pressure to euthanize...I wouldn't want that either. Many prayers....

[ladyjane]

Oh, and yes, I think it is a good sign that she ate something!

[danniko]

Money issues are horrible. But we will do as much as we can at this point. My husband seems more confident than I am.

I would spend every cent to my name and max out all credit cards if it meant she would be healthy but unfortunately, that's not logical. If I spend all our money to help her, we have nowhere to live or anything for future emergencies. She's so important to me though that I am hoping that she will be okay in time and be home but it is killing me to know at some point if she doesn't get better, I have to make that call. I have been crying since we left her there last night!

[ladyjane]

Try to think positive. I really think it is a good sign that her labs are ok and that she did eat something.

[danniko]

Just got back from talking to the vet. So nothing really new but feel a little calmer.

She hasn't had a bowel movement, but vet is not concerned as she hasn't had much to eat since Thursday night. But she is urinating fine and has perked up a little. She is still a little wobbly but we will decide if it is her normal wobbles or not when we see her. She has had a weird gait and balance since her knee surgeries. But she did say she does wake up fine and barks when she wants someone to take her out.

We weren't able to go see her. They gave us the option but we decided since she was asleep when we got there and apparently had barked all night last night, we didn't want to upset her and cause stress. Her blood pressure was a little high earlier this afternoon but the vet didn't seem overly concerned about that and was checking it again tonight.

She is still on fluids, anti nausea, antacid and pain meds still. The vet said they don't know what happened but it is definitely something gastro and possibly from the chew we gave her on Wednesday. She said they are basically just treating symptoms at the moment.

Doesn't feel X-rays are needed at this time as her labs were fine and she hasn't thrown up since being there, had any sign of belly distress or weird bowel movements/diarrhea and she has not had a fever any of the times they have checked.

She said she had gone over to her bowl willingly and sniffed and attempted to eat it twice without prompting so she said hopeful it's a sign her appetite is coming back. No one had to try and coax her to eat and she showed interest on her own terms. Didn't eat it but at least went to it.

As of right now the plan is she will be coming home tomorrow morning. We should get a call after the doctor has done all the morning checks on the patients and if the doctor gives her the okay, we get to pick her up. Fingers crossed!

I asked her outright how concerned I should be about losing her and she said at this moment she puts that idea fairly low and I should try and get some sleep. She promised to call if anything changes for the worse through the night.

I hope her appetite comes back and she gets the clear to come home tomorrow!

[ladyjane]

Maybe she doesn't like what they are offering her in terms of food! It sounds like she is going to be just fine.
Get rid of the chews! They don't have to have treats and chews. The only treat my pups get are pieces of baked sweet potatoes and that is an occasional thing.
So happy to read this update this morning!

[danniko]

Definitely no more chews for her!

I hadn't heard from anyone so I called them. They said to come in at 5:30pm to pick her up and the vet would go over everything with us then.

If they had concerns, would they send her home or would they have told us she needs to stay?

The receptionist can't answer questions but said she is doing okay. Wasn't sure if she had been eating yet but I am hoping since they are planning to send her home, she must be somewhat wanting to eat.

Still nervous and 5:30 seems so far away right now but hoping for good news when we get there and a happy monkey when she comes home.

This er vet is also a regular vet with normal appointments and they triad emergencies and give appointments so I'm not sure if maybe that's why her pick up time is so late. We have to speak with the vet when we get there so maybe that's the first time available.

I hope she started eating last night and they wouldn't send her home still really sick.

[ladyjane]

I am sure she is fine! If she wasn't, I am sure the vet would have called you!!

Keep busy today....5:30 will come faster! I know you will be happy to see her....and
her you!

[danniko]

Update

Vet called to talk to us about everything. Good news and bad(ish) news.

First of all...she is eating!! Will be sent home with tramadol and we have to get her Pepcid.

But her blood pressure spiked last night to 220 and they said normal is 160. Her last check it was 190. The vet gave us two options because she said her organ are looking okay and she could just be overly stressed. She said we can leave it alone and recheck it again in a week or so or we can try some medication for high blood pressure and recheck in a week and see if it helped. She said if it was stress related from being at the vet it would normally acclimate by now.

She mentioned that sometimes it causes vision issues, but normally seen in cats, and my husband pointed out that I've been mentioning that sometimes it seems like she can't see the water in her bowl so maybe that's part of it?

If she was your (or anyone reading this) dog, what would you do? Wait and recheck or medication and recheck?

She said she's not diabetic, her kidneys are functioning, she's not overweight and aside from the blood pressure she is doing well.

Maybe her food is too salty? She eats natural balance potato and duck and I know some reviews said the sodium levels are high. They've got her eating I/d low fat but it is chicken based and she had had issues with chicken in the past. Should we try and make the switch again and see if that helps.

I'm happy she's eating but not sure if I like the wait and see approach. So if anyone could tell me what they would do it it was their dog I would appreciate it. Meds? Wait and see? Wait and see and food change? Food change and meds?

We have a call with her regular vet to find out what they think and we were asked to see if she has ever had her blood pressure done before and what it was. Thankfully our vet is open on Sunday's so hopefully will hear soon.

[ladyjane]

I might go ahead with the meds and then follow up with my regular vet. 220 is high...but, I do wonder if it is due to the hospitalization. She has been through a lot. I doubt it is the food. Did you mean LD or is it ID? If ID, I would keep her on that for now...mostly because of her stomach. You wanted to take her boiled chicken, so I am assuming she likes it??? ...so whatever food she had in the past that caused an issue may not have been due to chicken.

Your vet may not have ever checked her B/P .. has she ever had her urine tested? You might want to do that to be sure there isn't protein in it..which might indicate some renal issues that would show with an elevated B/P. I have two pups who have PLN .. one is showing protein loss in the blood, the other is not; but, they both have hypertension and are on meds.

[danniko]

I meant I/D, sorry!

We spoke with her usual vet and she said the last time it was checked was June 2015 for her dental. At that point it was 125 but she said she is a lot more comfortable with them because they carry her around all day when she's there and she knows them all, so she possibly is just really nervous at a new place and not being spoiled. She recommended to follow up with them and see before starting meds unless this doctor really thinks she needs something for right now.

I don't think she has ever had a urine test. I'm not sure why no one has ever done one or mentioned it, but will ask our regular vet at the follow up. I guess I've just always assumed if they thought she needed one they would have brought it up, but will definitely ask myself!

The only "abnormality" that was found on her abdominal ultrasound last year was that her adrenal glands are really small but tested negative for addisons and Cushings.

Only one more hour to go!

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by danniko

i meant i/d, sorry!

We spoke with her usual vet and she said the last time it was checked was june 2015 for her dental. At that point it was 125 but she said she is a lot more comfortable with them because they carry her around all day when she's there and she knows them all, so she possibly is just really nervous at a new place and not being spoiled. She recommended to follow up with them and see before starting meds unless this doctor really thinks she needs something for right now.

I don't think she has ever had a urine test. I'm not sure why no one has ever done one or mentioned it, but will ask our regular vet at the follow up. I guess i've just always assumed if they thought she needed one they would have brought it up, but will definitely ask myself!

The only "abnormality" that was found on her abdominal ultrasound last year was that her adrenal glands are really small but tested negative for addisons and cushings.

only one more hour to go!

yay!