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Yesterdays vet visit
We took both boys to the vet yesterday. Thorin had a recheck on his lipase and it is back to normal, so happy for that!
Nanook, on the other hand, not so good. Poor little guy has been so, so bloated and developed a sore on his lip, one on his chin and a few on his belly. The vet we saw wasn't our regular vet (she's on vacation). As soon as he looked at Nanook he said "That's not good". I said what's not good? I thought he was talking about the bloat. He said "here, look.... you see how the bones in his head stick out?" I said yes, we've noticed that for months and even brought it up to previous vets but they never thought it was an issue, and we thought it was getting worse because of the malnutrition. He said no, that Nanook has masticatory myositis and opened his mouth, looked in it and said his eyes were sinking in and he was developing apathy behind them He then said that since Nanook was having seizures he may have myasthenia gravis as that affects the nervous system. Needless to say we were, again, devastated. The thought of our poor lil boy having to go through the horrid things the vet was telling us would happen, along with everything else he has been through, just broke my heart. He said the bloat is due to him being on such high doses of pred for so long and his body is just saying enough. He said the sores are due to his immune system being so suppressed and said he isn't going to treat the sores with antibiotics because his bloating and tummy upset. He told us to just stop the pred for 36 hours then start again on a lower dose. I told him we had been told not to do that as it could be very dangerous. He said in people it is, but not so much in dogs. DH and I weren't comfortable with that at all. I called our specialist but she was on holidays too until the 12th but they had another specialist review his file and talk to me. As soon as I told her what the vet said she laughed. I was thinking "why are you laughing?! This isn't funny..." She then said "let me guess, he thinks that because of Nanooks head, right?" I said yes. She then went on to explain that dogs who are on prednisone long term and high doses (he was on 60mg daily for 3 weeks, then 50mg for 2 weeks, then 40mg for 2 weeks, then 30mg for 2 weeks, then 20mg and we're now at the end of the 2 weeks and ready to drop to 10mg) have a deterioration of the muscle in the head, and it's known as "pred-head". She said alot of vets don't have experience with dogs on long term high dose prednisone so they often misdiagnose. I don't know what to think or who to believe. I really want to believe that she's right (in fact, I pray she is ). She said if it's pre-head the muscle will come back, but it takes a very long time. So... we're just so confused and anxious again Nanook doesn't seem to know there's anything wrong with him (except when he's really bloated). He plays, but tires easily. However, when it comes time to eat he barks, howls and does little twists in the air. It's so cute. So I guess as long as he still enjoys himself, I will try not to worry and just take things as they come. I'm just tired of getting different responses/diagnoses from every vet we see. It makes it so hard to trust that any of them know what they are doing.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 Last edited by Rgeurts; October 2nd, 2010 at 09:18 PM. |
#2
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Wow that all just sounds so stressful, and to have vets telling you different things would just make it even harder. I hope it's what the second vet said and that he gets his muscles back over time!
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Windy~Smoke~Buddy~Palomine~Fagan~Asker~Mickey Blue Eyes Venus “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” -Mahatma Gandhi "We're the renegades, we're the people; With our own philosophies; We change the course of history; Everyday people like you and me"- R A T M |
#3
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What a tough time you are going through with your little boy. I once and for all they will find out what is going on and fix him!! Stay strong.
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Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me. We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD! |
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Holy Crap, you sure have been through the ringers . That pred dose is very high, how much does he weigh?
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#5
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I have no experience with Pred but I would go with the second vet you spoke to. I wouldn't stop the Pred unless your regular vet says so.
I'm so sorry Nanook is not doing better than this |
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At 4.5 months he weighed 69 lbs, when he first started the pred. He lost 10 pounds, but gained most back the last couple of weeks. So he's back up to 68 pounds again. He hasn't grown at all in almost 2 and a half months. So instead of being a giant Malamute, he will be our mini Malamute
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
#7
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Quote:
Thank you Frenchy We did not stop it. I spoke with the specialist who is on call while our vet is gone. She told me not to stop, but instead of waiting until monday to drop the dose to 10mg, just do it that day, which was Friday. So that's what we did. He's not as bloated and he's so hyper and vocal. He's such a cute boy I really do hope it's the pred. I read the posts re: MM by lukkas'ma... so sad. I don't want our lil guy to go through that.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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Rgeurts , I just got an idea but maybe you already tried that.
Is there a Vet University where your vet can send Nanook's whole file ? Has he tried that ? To get a second opinion ? |
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There isn't one close. We actually contacted the vet hospital in Washington who said to email the neurologist and send his file. I emailed her but she said she wouldn't do it that way and we'd have to take him there. I have spoken with one in Las Vegas and we are taking him there at Christmas. I have to fax his files at the end of this month. The vet I spoke with was o knowledgeable and friendly. He seemed to be very concerned and has a lot of experience.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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If he had masticatory myositis, wouldn't he have trouble opening and closing his jaw? I don't recall that you mentioned Nanook had that problem? (But my memory has been worse than usual of late. )
I hope the specialists in LV can help him out! He's such a sweetie!!! I'm glad you at least got good news about Thorin!
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"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
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__________________
"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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I hate it when we get plausible but different diagnoses from different sources.
Well, hopefully the vets at the LV clinic will be able to sort through everything and finally figure out what's going on. Do you have an appt all set up with them already?
__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
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We do. We are taking him in on Dec. 23. They are going to do the gastropexy at the same time. I have to fax all his files down sometime at the end of this month. It's not a vet hospital, it's a specialist center. Both vets I spoke with were so very helpful and said if we have any questions to call. I think I may call them and just give an update and see what their thoughts are.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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I'm hoping they'll be able to answer all the questions once and for all , and find a treatment to make Nanook better ! I feel your vet is missing something |
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I feel they are too! And I feel there are just too many involved and just making educated "guesses" at what is wrong. We are going to the states to spend Christmas with my family and will be there a couple of weeks They live less than 2 hours from Vegas, so it will be easy! We are having it done before Christmas so if anything needs to be taken care of, or he has complications, hopefully it will happen before we head home, then we're close enough to take him back
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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Don't forget to look up pharmacies (the human ones ) if they prescribe new meds. Sometimes you can get those same meds for much cheaper at the pharmacy , and this will give YOU a break with $$$.
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Anything we can save at this point would be a blessing lol
__________________
"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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A customer where I used to work would bring his old blond Lab with him all the time. We got to talk and he told me his Lab had epilepsy and was on Phanabarbitol (sp) as most dogs that have seizures. He was paying $60.00 per prescription at the vet hospital. I told him I knew that pharmacies were carrying this med , so he had the prescription transferred at a pharmacy and came back to tell me about it. It was now $27.00 instead of $60.00 !!
I did the same for Chloe's cushings disease meds , I don't remember the exact price difference , but , there was a big one ! |
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Quote:
__________________
"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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I just read this now .....it just never ends for poor Nanook and I bet Dec 23 won't come fast enough for you.
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Rgeurts, you sure have been having a difficult time with your furbabies, I hope that the LV vets will be able to help you out more than what you are getting here. Have you thought of sending the reports to the Vet Hospital/University? in Calgary? I understand that they are very good there. here is their website http://www.vet.ucalgary.ca/departments patti
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It Is What It Is |
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We did think about doing that at one point, but the hospital/specialist centre in Calgary is owned by the same people who own the ones here. We had a huge problem with the SS here, they did a transtracheal wash so they could get a culture of his lungs, charged us $700 then forgot to request the culture So we don't have much faith in them. There have been a few screwups, but that was the worst. If we take him anywhere other than Vegas, it would be to the Washington State University. It's supposed to be one of the best in North America.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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The last visit he was SO bloated that the vet (not our vet, she was on holidays) stuck a needle in his tummy to draw out fluid and make sure there was no blood in the abdomen, that was a week ago. The puncture area is now all red with a huge bruise around it. I don't think it's infected as there is no oooze or hard lump, but we're monitoring it. I thought it was normal practice to sterilize the area first, but he didn't. He just jabbed it in 2 different spots and took fluid But on the upside... 3 nights later he pooped out a WHOLE rope chew toy Talk about completely surprised!! He must have gotten it from daycare because we threw his old one away a month ago when we noticed he has eaten the ends off it. Since the rope toy came out, he's been perky again
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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A whole rope chew toy all at once.
I just can't understand how the ultasound or barium xray didn't show any of the stuff that he's pooped out. So does his daycare know to make sure he is closely supervised with toys now? |
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When he took monster outside he peed for over a minute, then pooped... twice! They had him in a crate and obviously hadn't taken him out at all. Hubby said he was weak and he asked the girl. She said ya... he wasn't feeling good and didn't want to come out of the kennel, so they didn't make him 9 hours he was there! Then we he got home, he fed him and poor monster puked... 4 times within an hour I don't know if it was because he held his poo for so long (he always poos within 10-15 minutes after eating), or it could be the new antibiotic he's on (sulfatrim). But either way, we aren't taking him back there again.
__________________
"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
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That is just total neglect on their part .....certainly don't blame you for not taking him back there. I'd be letting them know how much trouble they've put poor Nanook through too.
Is there any one in your area that will come to your house to look after Nookie while you're working? |
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We've thought about doing that, but after reading all the horror stories of how people seem so sweet, caring and love animals, then neglect or abuse them while the animal is in their care, we just aren't comfortable with that either. I've found another daycare and am going out today to take a tour. I just found out about them, but I guess they have been around for a few yrs, no bad reviews I could find.
My MIL, bless her soul , has offered to babysit on her days off. So we may only need daycare 2 days a week.
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"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu "Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life! R.I.P. my sweet, handsome Thorin. You are missed dearly Dec. 25, 1999 - Mar. 4, 2012 |
#28
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How wonderful of your MIL to offer, Rgeuts!
__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
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