Family Matters
TarponMonoxide
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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So sad about my dog...:(
I know this is the FM board but seems like nobody bothers with the Pets board anymore. I remember when this place used to be hoppin...it's now dead for 3 years now.
My poor dog is nearly 14 and back in July I was told he had early kidney failure. The vet told me to watch out for him around the five month mark...
And that mark is now.
I took him to the vet last Wednesday; he has a nice sized infection/abcess but we couldn't figure out if it was from one of his ole teeth or some other location there in the mouth or maybe the neck or jaw --- he got antiboiotics and it's now a week later and there still is a sizable lump there -- there is also one on the other side of his jaw/neck and I don't like that at all. Leads me to believe he's got another kind of problem.
he also has a dry cough that's not going anywhere-- he has had it since last Sunday -- and he pants a lot and coughs upon arising from a prone position -- plus he is not eating.
I suspect he's got some type of lung involvment. Nobody suggested a chest xray. They were thinking kennel cough but I don't think that's what he's got (I do not let him mix with the dogs that live by me)
He has lost 12 pounds since July.
None of this is looking good for him -- they want me to come back Monday and leave him there to flush out his kidneys for 4 days --- the problem will only return and I don't know how long that wuld keep him comfortable.
The vet is also suspecting a lymphoma.
I feel so bad for him.
The only thing he will eat is deli roast beef -- he is still taking the antibiotics and his pill is wrapped up in a little piece of it --- and maybe a piece of bread. He won't even eat the baked potato he managed to eat over the last day or so.
I don't know what else to say.
This has been a rough year overall and this is particularly bad news at Christmas.
My poor dog is nearly 14 and back in July I was told he had early kidney failure. The vet told me to watch out for him around the five month mark...
And that mark is now.
I took him to the vet last Wednesday; he has a nice sized infection/abcess but we couldn't figure out if it was from one of his ole teeth or some other location there in the mouth or maybe the neck or jaw --- he got antiboiotics and it's now a week later and there still is a sizable lump there -- there is also one on the other side of his jaw/neck and I don't like that at all. Leads me to believe he's got another kind of problem.
he also has a dry cough that's not going anywhere-- he has had it since last Sunday -- and he pants a lot and coughs upon arising from a prone position -- plus he is not eating.
I suspect he's got some type of lung involvment. Nobody suggested a chest xray. They were thinking kennel cough but I don't think that's what he's got (I do not let him mix with the dogs that live by me)
He has lost 12 pounds since July.
None of this is looking good for him -- they want me to come back Monday and leave him there to flush out his kidneys for 4 days --- the problem will only return and I don't know how long that wuld keep him comfortable.
The vet is also suspecting a lymphoma.
I feel so bad for him.
The only thing he will eat is deli roast beef -- he is still taking the antibiotics and his pill is wrapped up in a little piece of it --- and maybe a piece of bread. He won't even eat the baked potato he managed to eat over the last day or so.
I don't know what else to say.
This has been a rough year overall and this is particularly bad news at Christmas.
Re: So sad about my dog...:(
I am certain he's got something going on, due to the lymph node enlargement --- he still has that cough and usually with that condition you get coughing and difficulty breathing.
He also is not eating anything at all --- last night, I came home with some turkey sandwiches with a little motz cheese on it; he ate the cheese and the turkey and today, nothing at all. Not even his medicine wrapped up in cheese.
They can make him comfortable there. My fear is what if I get a call and they tell me to come down there because he is in bad shape; I'd rather he pass on to the next life and transition with me, right here....but what can I do??
Back in July when I took him in for his annual, the vet discovered the kidney problem. he told me to watch out for the fifth month...and the fifth month is now. On the way to the vet, I got stopped by a cop -- it was like the whole day was a bad omen.
His larger problem right now: he is not eating.
The only thing he ate yesterday was a few slices of deli roast beef --- not great for a dog but he had to eat something --- and even then, he was 2 slices and done.
A kidney flush will fix that...for awhile...but what about the not-eating problem? They cannot fix that.
And when a dog stops eating, the prognosis is poor.
He also makes odd noises when he sleeps and his respirations are shallow and he has that cough upon rising from a prone position --- suggests to me he's got a lung involvement, too --- they cannot fix that. I keep asking about the cough and they are suggesting it might be kennel cough. I don't think it is kennel cough.
Bro went through a lot with his dog --- it was suggested he hospitalize her at a vet's office about 25 miles from the doc's office -- and that poor dog went through a lot. She was there for 3 or 4 days and even then she had to be put to sleep. The emotional toll is awful -- and I am sure also that he's still paying off that vet bill, even now.
The cost is also it and yeah, they usually keep asking for more and more -- sucks; we are not millionaires and the majority of us are middle class people with not a lot of cash to spare. I asked about the cost and the vet said nothing much. I was not crazy about that.
As I said, they cannot fix the fact that he won't eat. No vet stay will repair that.
I suspect there is a lymph node pressing on a nerve or maybe the esophagus --- hence his coughing. (and I don't know why they didn't run a cbc and diff on him.)
He has a few other problems also. it isn't just the kidney failure.
I went back to the vet and I told her he is vey weak and not eating and that they couldn't fix the lack of appetite. The last time he ate was late Saturday afternoon --- he will not accept anything now and he is also violently vomiting.
As I said, when an animal refuses food the prognosis isn't good -- for that alone you should be advised to take an alternative route.
Tomorrow it is supposed to rain hard.
It always has rained when I have lost somebody close to me.
10:54 am eta He is barely ambulatory this morning --- I took him out to pee -- he was difficult to rouse and he let loose in the upstairs hall.
I ran out and got a muzzle just in case --- I may need help getting him into the car and I don't want anyone to be bitten.
I made the choice this weekend to let him go --- and even then I wondered if I was robbing him of his last days.:( No, I am not -- between Saturday and Monday he deteriorated a lot and now he's barely ambulatory.
Thanks for everybody's kind words.
I had him cremated --- there is a very nice pet crematorium not far from me; I discovered it by accident about 7 years back. They did a nice job.
One gripe about the vet's office: they do not have a pathologist or an oncologist on board. Those slides should have been reviewed by an animal pathologist; I am sure they have them. An ordinary vet may not be skilled at what is on a slide from an aspirate.:(
His larger problem: he would not eat. No stay in an animal hospital will get him to start eating again. I weighed him when we got to the vet last Tuesday and he lost 3 pounds in 5 days.