Dog Community

Poor Gingerbread!

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:02:33 AM

He got neutered yesterday and starting last night he had diarrhea. He woke me up about 5 times during the night and is using his puppy pad again as I type this. [

] He's obviously not feeling well at all. The vet opens in 10 minutes and I'll be on the phone with them asap.

I'm worried about a couple of different things.... when I took him to be neutered about 5 months ago (when he was 7 months old), the bloodwork before surgery showed that his electrolyte levels were off and he had a heart arrythmia. The vet held off on doing the surgery and we retested his blood a few days later. The electrolytes were still slighty off, but the vet thought it should be okay to go ahead with surgery.

I was just recently able to bring myself to schedule that surgery (he just turned 1 year old).... so yesterday his heart and electrolytes were fine, but his liver values were a little off. The vet went ahead and did the surgery, but said we should monitor it every 6 months or so. Well that brings me to his current situation; he was given injectable Rimadyl after the surgery yesterday and I think that might be related to the diarrhea. I hope nothing is seriously wrong. [

]

I'm planning to start adding milk thistle to his diet asap, rather than take a "wait and see" approach with any liver problems.

So basically, I'm just worried about my little guy. He's my whole world and I'm terrified of losing him. This is just like deja vu with my Persian cat, Blitzen, who was a very, very special pet to me and I lost him at 2 years of age due to multiple genetic defects (including liver and heart issues). Please send prayers and/or good thoughts our way!!

kennel_keeper

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:08:10 AM

Sending good thoughts Gingerbreads way [

].

willowchow

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:21:06 AM

I really hope Gingerbread is OK. I think he just might be having a reaction to the anesthesia but I'm not a vet. Good luck.

Luvntzus

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:28:01 AM

Thank you both for the good thoughts and encouragement. I called the vet and even though they open at 7:00, apparently the vet doesn't get there until 8:30. So I have to wait 1 more hour... At this point, taking him to the emergency vet would take just as long, so I'm going to wait for the regular one.

I'm near tears right now because this reminds me so much of what happened with my cat.... it's also similar to what I experienced with my Shar Pei. With him it was familial shar pei fever, swollen hock syndrome, vomiting, diarrhea, etc and he died of kidney failure at age 3. [

] I'm just so tired of going through this heartbreak! [

]

Paula Diffenbaugh

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:39:53 AM

So sorry to read about what poor Gingerbread is going through, and you too. I will say a prayer for healing for Gingerbread and for strength and piece of mind for you. Hope the vet can ease your mind and that maybe Willowchow is right and that its a reaction to anesthesia. I don't do well with it and I'm sure its the same with dogs too. Post later and let us know how Gingerbread is please.

jessies_mom

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:51:48 AM

I hope Gingerbread will be okay; Rimadyl can cause an upset stomach so maybe it's causing the diarrhea? Poor Gingerbread; I'll say a prayer for him.

dyan

Posted : 7/21/2006 7:29:41 AM

By now its close to 8:30 so you should be feeling a bit better knowing you can take him in soon to be checked. I have a feeling its either the anesthesia also,, or as Jessies Mom says,,,Rimadyl can cause problems. Try not to worry too much and think bad thoughts...your baby needs good thoughts..and we will send some your way.

Luvntzus

Posted : 7/21/2006 8:22:00 AM

Thank you for the good thoughts! It's definitely a comfort to me right now.

I agree that the Rimadyl could be causing this. Either that or the anesthesia..... my biggest concern is that it's related to liver disease. I definitely am not giving him anymore Rimadyl, and I don't want him put under general anesthesia again unless it's a life threatening emergency.

Anyway, I ended up taking Gingerbread to the vet as soon as the opened. I talked to the vet (a different one than did the surgery yesterday) for about 10 minutes. She looked him over and had us leave him there. He's hopefully going to be able to come home around 12:00.

I didn't realize this until looking at my receipt from the vet yesterday, but Gingerbread has gone from 9.5 pounds to 8.5 pounds in the last month. That is not good. [

] Deep down I really do believe something is wrong and I think it's hepatitis (liver disease). I plan to give him only purified water, milk thistle and Eagle Pack Holistic Duck (as luck would have it, it's a relatively low protein and low fat food, which is recommended for liver disease). I just hope that this is a condition that can be managed and still let him live a long life. I am worried though since he's only a year old and these problems are already showing up. I'm trying to stay positive, but this really is very similar to what I went through with my Persian cat and Shar Pei. [

]

bragg1120

Posted : 7/21/2006 9:04:10 AM

Sending prayers & good thoughts to you and Gingerbread! Trixie & Gracie are sending him puppy kisses too!

Try to stay positive. I know what it is to worry that something bad is going to happen all over again but it's going to be different this time around! Keep us posted!!!

Missy

Luvntzus

Posted : 7/21/2006 11:11:11 AM

Thank you all for the prayers and good thoughts! Huge sigh of relief here! Gingerbread is home- I was actually able to pick him up around 10:30. [

] I've only been going to this vet for about 6 months, and I just love them! I feel very lucky to have found such an awesome place!

So the vet spent a lot of time talking to me and she said that it was only one of his liver values that was elevated and not by a whole lot. We're going to re-check his blood in about 2 weeks and see what's changed. So it looks like I may have overreacted a bit! [

] Right now he's supposed to be eating canned EN 3-6 times a day to help with the diarrhea and they gave him another injection (not Rimadyl) for the pain. They didn't even charge me for any sort of exam or office fee, only for the food and stuff. I thought that was really nice and I just wrote them out a long thank you card!

Thanks again everyone for the support; I really appreciate it!

dyan

Posted : 7/21/2006 11:47:31 AM

I think its great that you have a game plan in how to take care of your dog.
I'm glad he is home where you can watch him. Since you started with the Milk Thistle, if I were you I would continue it for a few days especially if he got another pain injection. Do you know what that injection was if it wasn't Rimadyl?

bragg1120

Posted : 7/21/2006 12:53:58 PM

Yay! Glad to hear Gingerbread is back at home and things are looking much better! I can't give any sort of advice (but I like to read it) so I'll just give moral support!

Luvntzus

Posted : 7/21/2006 6:11:58 PM

Dyan- I looked at my receipt and the the injection was Buprenex.... it's one I've never heard of before. I actually haven't started giving him the milk thistle yet. My husband came back from the store with a soft gel version (no way to dose that accurately!) and it also had soy oil and several colorings... eek! Then after we got back from the vet my husband had to go to work, (we only have one car) so we can go to CVS tonight after he gets home. I'm actually going to start a whole other post about milk thistle- there's a lot more to it than I thought!

Sorry for another long winded post! Thank you both for checking back on Gingerbread and I. I reeeally appreciate the support! [

] We both took a long nap this afternoon and when I woke up he rolled over for a belly rub- good sign! He's still in some pain, but seems to be feeling a lot better.

jessies_mom

Posted : 7/21/2006 7:42:38 PM

I'm glad Gingerbread is going to be alright; try to get some rest this weekend.

willowchow

Posted : 7/21/2006 8:34:22 PM

I was just checking in on GB. Glad he's doing better.

Isn't it funny how all the vets do something different? Willow got spayed really late, she was 2 and they didn't send her home with pain meds at all. They gave her an injection at the office and that was it. They said they actually didn't want her to think she had no pain or she wouldn't rest.