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Thank you all for your caring hearts and loving prayers. Milo appreciates all the prayers

Milo is in trouble- Please I need all the help I can get
 

Hi all, well yesterday we had a checkup and the internist said after taking x-rays that his pneumonia is resolved but she wanted to continue his Clavamox for another week just to make sure everything bad is out of his system. Milo and I slept through the night and as often is the case unless we are up, he usually misses his middle of the night Dose and we pick up in the morning. This morning as I was getting up, it was about 9:30 AM and we were a couple of hours late for the middle of the night meds, he woke up and came crawling to me screaming and crying, and he would NOT let me touch him or pick him up, then a little later he let me pick him up and I ran down the hall with him and gave him Hydrocodone and flovent and Gabapentin and Trazadone. Now he is sleeping. I simply don't know what this could be. The doctor doesn't know either as he did not react at all after 48 hours of observation the last time I brought him in with those symptoms. I don't know what to do and I am going crazy. I need to find the cause of his pain or maybe just difficulty breathing. He has some loose teeth, he has some arthritis, he hasn't been groomed for a while so his nails might be very long. Could he have had a nightmare? What other things could cause pain like that and then go away and appear intermittantly and then disappear for awhile? I just don't know what to do. It's killing me that he has pain and we can't even treat it because nobody knows what it is. I am beside myself. Does anyone have any suggestions about who might be able to explore what this is? I don't know what to do. I am lost. Even my internist says she can't find anything. Any help would be appreciated
TIA Shellie:love:

Sounds awful. Sounds like a crazy mixture of drugs. I have NO idea. It all seems so confusing to me. You posted about pain and then all at once he was at the vet for breathing issues. Just because he did not have symptoms in 48 hours in a kennel is not a way to rule out a condistion.
Have any of these vets checked his spine? It really sounds like he may have some kind of neuro thing going on. That's about all I could think of.

I would insist on a thorough spinal exam and possibly MRI if they elicit painful areas on exam. Even a regular xray may show some spinal changes....just not the best way.

Well to be fair, I don't think the Vet ruled anything out, she just couldn't find anything except the pneumonia. He's had several x-rays and because he is so small they were able to look at his entire spinea and the Vet said they just don't know what it is.They never did an MRI though so I will ask for that. I'm not sure why he is sreaming. Although it is terribly disturbing, it does not happen often. I'm only assuming that the screams are because he is in pain. Several times it happened after he woke up and he had been in a deep sleep for a long time. It doesn't last very long and then he will allow me to touch him. I am so confused.
So when it does happen which is very seldom, it only lasts a very small amount of time. It is very disturbing-maybe the MRI will reveal something. Thanks LadyJane

Dogs with IVDD will do what you are describing. Usually a physical exam by the vet will give a hint about pain in the spine. They carefully turn the dog's head from side to side and run fingers down the spine. Often they can elicit a sign of discomfort from that exam. Usually a course of prednisone along with crate rest, the dog will improve. MRI is the gold standard to SEE problems in the spine that xrays don't show, but really not necessary in most cases.

Some helpful links. There are MANY if you google IVDD dog

https://vetmed.illinois.edu/pet-heal...-disease-dogs/

https://www.rover.com/blog/ivdd-in-dogs/

One of the saddest days
 

This is one of the saddest days. I may have to let my baby go. He is in the hospital again and in O2. They think he has further tracheal collapse above his stent. He is breathing heavily in oxygen. He is not eating. They tried giving him steroids just in case the area above his stent is swollen and inflamed and not a collapse but he has not yet responded to the steroids and they believe it is a collapse. . Nothing is working, he in having labored breathing while on O2. This is the 3rd ER visit where he needed O2 within a couple of weeks. Today they sent him home and I needed to bring him right back after 5 minutes. They say the only way they will be able to tell for sure whether or not there is further trachial collapse is to give him a fluroscopy (sp)? to view his breathing live and it is very expensive and could be dangerous and he needs to be put on general anestesia. They don't have the machine and would have to send him somewhere else by ambulance in oxygen. Ultimiately they are not sure it would be very successful in the long run and have been talking about putting him through so much with not a great chance of success placing another stent if he needed it. How do you make this decision?

I am SO very sorry. It is not an easy decision.

Flouroscopy would definitely be the best way to "see" what is going on but, yes, if he is having that much difficulty it would be very risky. I guess the question is what could be done IF it was another collapse. If nothing, then I think you are backed into a corner so to speak.

This is so heartbreaking. :( I will be thinking about you and Milo

I have been following this thread, prayers going out for Milo and you, to give you strength :love:

Thank you Linda. The answer to your question is that they are doing the Flouroscopy with the idea of placing another stent in mind. So far the doctors are not encouraging. They don't think he would benefit from it. They think that putting him through all that would be too much for his poor little body to take.

Thank you Matese we appreciate your kind thoughts? Shelie and Mio

Our thoughts are with you .

I will keep you in my thoughts. I know you will make the right decision for Milo.

:love: Matese the question mark above was a typo. I know you must know this but just wanted to say when I saw it

And thank u again Linda and Juliealfies mum thank you for your kind thoughts.
An update tonight Milo has started eating again he is breathing better in and out of oxygen. I have to call tomorro to see if he can sustain being out of oxygen

Oh!! So happy to hear this! Prayers continue.

Great news. YT prayers work miracles, if all the ppl that followed Milo's story would say a prayer for him, maybe, just maybe he will make it through this.
Please keep Milo in your thoughts and prayers :love: