Hello,
As with all of these cases they need fairly intensive monitoring and care for the first few weeks. They need the help and guidance of both a dedicated and devoted family and a vet care professional who can closely supervise and assist. In most cases in person every few days until things get settled. I would talk to your vet about which meds are best long term. In my opinion And in the extremely debilitating cases like this I use a steroid bs an NSAID. But this is something you have to discuss with your vet. You also have to understand what each drug does and how it affects your dog. I have to juggle meds for risk versus benefit and not eating might be due to one of the medications. It is also a discussion to have if you are considering a steroid as it can cause gi issues like the NSAID can. Also some of your medications cause sedation which might affect eating. I know how hard these cases are to manage and I wish you luck. Make sure you Keep your dog lean and muscular as this also precipitates back issues. Let us know. Best of luck again
We have a Puppie Shar Pie that has an enlarged heart, He is about 2 weeks old.. He is having a hard time eating and isn’t nursing very well, we are trying to supplement with puppy formula but it’s not seeming to work. He isn’t growing very much and has a real hard time with eating and resting he has to sleep with his head up or he doesn’t rest well.. He has a sister that’s almost double his size since they where born.. he was a lil larger than her to start. but we are just asking if anyone has dealt with this successfully.. we are trying just about everything we can think of.. we just don’t want to lose him.. and we can’t afford the vet bill to have them do what they can we took him in to start is why we know he has an enlarged heart. Anyways any help here would be appreciated..
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My 8 year old Dachshund, Ruben, was diagnosed with IVDD one week ago by an emergency vet after we weren’t able to speak or get an appointment with our regular vet. This was his second flare up but this time he lost movement and feeling in both his back legs. The vet told us he had no deep pain sensation. Surgery was not a financial option for us so we opted to bring him home and try conservation treatment. Living with a paralyzed dog does not overwhelm me but I do need him to get back his personality and not be in pain anymore.
We are so disappointed with our current vet and how everything played out the day Ruben had his flare up and became paralyzed. We have made calls to a new vet clinic and are waiting to get into their earliest appointment with an educated vet.
From the emergency vet, Ruben was sent home with 4 medications, Tramadol, Metacam, Robaxin, and Gabapentin. It has been one week and he appears to be in much less pain and his body is relaxed, the quivering has stopped and he doesn’t often cry. We stopped giving him the Metacam two days ago because he had all of the side effects that the drug prescribed and we didn’t feel that he needed it for pain management.
In the last two days his appetite has gone downhill, eating very small amounta but then turning away. Even his favourite foods like cheese he wants nothing to do with. He is still drinking water but only when I use a syringe into his mouth.
He has also become extremely lethargic and seems depressed/sad to the point where he won’t move or lift his head without our assistance. All he does is lay there and sleep. We move him around in different positions and he doesn’t cry in pain when we move him, he just doesn’t seem to care. We can flip him over from one side to another and he won’t even life his head. Nothing we do warrants any type of excitement from him. I am terrified he’s losing all his strength and have no idea if this is a normal part of the healing process or if there is something else wrong with him. He does not have bladder control but is peeing often uncontrolled. He also has semi consistent bowel movements, at least one small one per day. No diarrhea but there was some tarry black stool.
My vet appointment is Wednesday, 4 days away still, trying to get in sooner with them but I just don’t know if I should be taking him back to emergency. Please help.
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How do you determine if your dog needs a dental exam? My dog is over 10 years old and has always had bad teeth. He is a Yorkshire terrier mix. I knew he would need several teeth extracted but we were not advised that he must have this done by x date. It’s been about 6 months. He has now had two teeth fall out and has another big tooth loose. I do not mind paying for a vet visit if necessary but I wasn’t sure if this was simply part of old age. Should we switch from dry food to wet food? He has a little redness in his mouth, no swelling, no signs of pain.
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My 6 year old lab mix had TPLO surgery to repair a torn CCL on September 10. Prior to surgery, his liver enzymes were elevated but after 2 ultrasounds and bloodwork, they were unable to identify why. Because of this he cannot take anti inflammatory drugs to help with pain and took longer to be cleared after surgery. He was finally cleared on 12/11/19 and was doing really well. About a week and a half ago, he started limping again. We can’t pinpoint anything he did that would cause a limp. We haven’t let him fully run and don’t let him off his leash hardly at all. I do have another follow up appointment with the surgeon scheduled but wanted to see if anyone else experienced something like this. Thanks!
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Our 9 Year Old Border Collie the vet believes has Colon/Rectal Cancer. He did a rectal exam and can feel several large masses narrowing his colon. Our
dog started limping and favoring a back leg 2 weals ago, then 5 days ago has been unable to poop. Just little pieces of poop would come out, and he would
be trying to go for several minutes. The Vet believes the narrowing of the colon due to the masses inside are also pinching the nerves causing his limp, since
our dog did not injure his hind leg, and is not in pain.
He is referring us to a Vet that can image the area, and possibly due radiation.
Does anyone have and advice for us ??? Does anyone have and history to share with us???
We appreciate any feedback.
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My 5 year old golden retriever, Paisley, just received ultrasound results that observed masses on her spleen, bladder and rectum, and enlarged lymph nodes. Her blood work came back normal, and stool sample was negative for parasites – she’s been a healthy dog! In the past 3 weeks, Paisley has been very lethargic, sleeps most of the day, can no longer get into the car or onto the bed, and strains trying to pass stool (it’s mostly blood or small stool with blood). Her appetite is unchanged – she’s always gobbled up her food and never misses an opportunity to mooch, so this is good. Her water intake is lower than normal, but she is still periodically drinking throughout the day. We’re currently awaiting the full report on the ultrasound to determine what the next options are (x-ray, biopsies, surgery, chemo – depending). My question goes out to the Pawbly community – pet owners and veterinarians, anyone who may have personal experience or insight related to this. Have you had this sort of unfortunate discovery with your pet? Was it benign or malignant? Is surgery recommended for both benign and malignant masses, and what is the likelihood of it resolving things? The questions go on…We just got this news last night, so admittedly my head is still spinning and not sure how best to proceed. It’s already been $2,000 in vet bills to get to this stage. Without pet insurance, just preparing for whatever costs may lie ahead for anything we choose to do next. Otherwise, Paisley is a very happy girl and still has a great zest for life when she has the energy! Shocked that this is happening to such a young pup.
Thanks in advance for any and all feedback! Very much appreciated.
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Am I house training properly? We adopted a 6 month old rat terrier/collie mix 2.5 weeks ago. Monday-Friday I come home during lunch for water and a walk. He’s left without water for 4hrs at a time (8:30-12:30 and 1-5:30). I’m being very patient with making sure he has as much pee time as we can give him. Are the options to either continue walking him myself or hire a walker? I’d like to end the midday walks, but can’t leave him without water for 9 hours, right? What are my options for keeping everyone happy, keeping him hydrated and also keeping his crate and my apartment as urine-free as possible? Dog walkers can be expensive. $15/day means ~$300/month. I’ve debated asking the older (seemingly) retired ladies in my apartment complex to walk him for a fee.
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Hi, my female torti Dusty has bumps on her tongue… The vet had me give her doxycycline liquid and prednisone for 2 months… the bumps didn’t change, but while I was there, she also told me to stop giving her wet food. About a week or so ago I stopped her wet food (which is Sheba Perfect portions) and just gave her the puro a one sensitive stomach hard food she has been eating for 2 years (I was doing 50/50)… I noticed she is having issues peeing… no pain, but she takes me to see she is only peeing about a teaspoon or so and she does it very often… she isn’t showing any signs of pain or lethargy, and eating fine. I tried to feel around but not sure if I found a bladder or not, nothing feels hard and she only complains as much as usual so I don’t think anything hurts.
I’ve watched videos on expressing a bladder and catheterizing a male, but I can’t seem to find any info on females (still looking)… my mom’s dog had 3 bladder stones for over a month just peeing a few drops every time and then all of a sudden they just popped out so I’m trying to weigh the cost-benefit with the local vet. Today is Sunday and I wasn’t about to go emergency if she wasn’t in pain, but I’m still afraid they’ll want $500+ to do anything since just a physical with no blood tests or shots is over $100 and I’m sure they’ll want xrays, etc. I’m in Florida and I know vets here charge 2x-3x more than other places.
Any info will help
Female
Indoor
Shorthair
About 10 yrs young
No signs of sick/injured/pain
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Hi I just recently became a mommy to a blue nosed pit bull. The person we got her from lied to us about her age. I came to find out she is only 4 weeks old. She was already weaned off of her mom’s milk for the most part when he got her. The “breeder” was feeding her an entire can of wet pedigree dog did with kibble mixed in. I knew right away that was horribly wrong. I went to pet smart and bought the ready made formula to start her back on. I went home and immediately tried to get her to drink it. She refused to drink any formula. She was starting to act lethargic and I wasn’t sure if it was due to the car ride home or her lack of eating so I added a small spoonful of wet puppy food and mixed it in with the formula. She immediately began to devour it. When I brought her home that same day her poop was normal and formed. The next night she began to have dark diarrhea. It was squirting out of her poor little butt. She’s been doing that for 2 days now. I called JV yesterday(Saturday) and spoke to a receptionist. She recommend continuing the formula and adding puppy kibble in and letting it soften for her to eat. I went out yesterday and bought Purina pro plan puppy food. She began that around 4 pm yesterday. She wasn’t drinking water up until yesterday but she is now. So de starting the kibble and formula mix her diarrhea is not so runny anymore but in 2 bathroom breaks back to back I did notice some blood spotting in her poop. It’s not a lot, it’s literally a few spots mixed in. Is that something I need to be concerned with? Do I need to bring her in to the walk in clinic today or should I wait longer to see if her poop begins to become normal again? She is sleeping a lot but I was told that she will do that for her age? When she isn’t sleeping she will run around and play, wag her little tail, she has 2 stuffed animals that she will playfully bite and drag around.
My question after giving you this info is should I bring her in to the vet? I know she can’t have any shots yet but I’m worried she is sick and don’t want her to die on me. ????
I think with such a precarious situation, you should consider making a plan with your vet- be upfront with your budget and explain that you both want to help this puppy, but it has to be an affordable plan. I am quite sure that they will help you in that regard. If not, I personally would find another vet. I do not know the chances of survival, but I’m guessing they are unfortunately low, since there really is no cure.???? I know in older dogs, meds and diet play a huge roll. Being that this puppy is so young, I really would speak with the vet and see if there is something more that can be done. Best of luck????
I think that these cases are almost impossible to manage without a big price tag attached. This is most likely a congenital defect and without surgery or radical intervention the prognosis is often very poor. I’m sorry about this. I would reach out the every person and university you can find to see if anyone will take this case on. I would also recommend that you offer to give him up for the chance of saving his life. Maybe someone will invest the time and resources needed to give him a fighting chance. I’m sorry again.
Update. I’m sorry, I have bad news. He passed away last night.. ;( My wife is very sad, she was very close to him. We tried very hard to do what we could. Thanks, everyone for the comments. Where we live in Central Oregon, there isn’t a lot of options. We called most of the vets here in our area, no one was willing to do anything without a huge price tag to it. But thank you again, it is very much appreciated.
????I’m so sorry. Know that you have him the most comfortable hit of time you could while he was here.