Roscoe has been sick. He had diarreah on Thursday night and then again Friday late night into Saturday morning. Friday about 9pm, I noticed he was holding up one of his back legs, and would not put it down. Saturday morning, John and I took him to the vet, but the office had been broken into overnight and the cops were there and stuff. So we left and took him to one of the emergency vets.
He had ex-rays and pain meds and blood tests. They told us they thought it was his back again, and could find nothing wrong with the leg he was holding up. It also seemed from the initial bloodwork that he was likely diabetic. They did tell us it was possible, but not very common, for his glucose levels to have been abnormally high due to the stress his body was under. John and I were just a mess.
We transferred down to the other location of the emergency vet in Cincinnati where they have all the specialists - the same place he had back surgery in 2005. We had some difficult choices to make ahead of us. If he was indeed diabetic, then his life expectancy would be reduced. Do you try for a major surgical procedure that is 85% successful on a dog that may only live another 2 years and has disk disease and arthritis as it is? Would he have quality of life? At the vet's reccomendation, we opted to keep him in ICU and treat him with medication, at least for the weekend to see if he improved at all. But I signed a DNR on my dog. It was very emotional.
He was treated with Lidocaine via IV to help calm the spinal nerves and something about free radicals. It was like magic. Within 18 hours, he was putting that leg down again. He still does not want to fully bear weight on it, but he will use it walk. Also, his further blood tests showed normal glucose levels, so he isn't diabetic! These things were good news. The vet is very comfortable with trying to avoid surgery as long as he is improving on other treatments and is able to be kept comfortable.
He is now being treated rather traditionally with steriods, muscle relaxers and pain meds and strict crate rest. We brought him home last night. As long as he keeps improving and not regressing we can continue this treatment course. I'm also going to call around and talk to some area vets about adequan injections which might help. I'm exhausted and emotionally spent. We are so glad to have our boy home. I hope and pray that this works.
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This blog started out focused on my TTC Journey(trying to conceive) with our first child. We succeeded and I blogged my way through pregnancy and I've been blogging about motherhood and life in general since then. I'm sharing my innermost thoughts here along with notes on day to day life. One day I know my written words will mean a lot to me when these days are but a memory. I've come full circle and now I'm back on the TTC rollercoaster again, hoping for a second baby someday soon.
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- Krista
- I'm just your average 33 year old married chick. My husband and I were married 13+ years ago and we have an amazing daughter, Brooklynn, who was born in December 2006. I work full time outside the home, but I love spending time with my friends and family more than anything. We have 3 dachshunds a rabbit and some fish in our little family. I'm also a research nerd and read way more non-fiction than can possibly be healthy in my quests for new information.
1 comment:
That's such good news! Glad he responded well to the treatment. I hope he doesn't have to go through surgery again and that the meds help him through this. Poor Roscoe! And poor you guys too! Hope things get a little less stressful here soon :)
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