Could use some good thots...Snickers has IMHA

I've been reading and I've tried a couple of times to post something, to tell you that we're hurting with you and for you (my hairy kids and I), but everything I type comes out weak and lame.

Out thoughts are with you.

I just got a call at work (10:04 a.m. e.s.t.). After a 2 hour exam of Snickers by her regular vet, She's on her way with Snickers to Portland to a veterinary specialist.  Her vet was as 'mixed' as Outdoorschik was as to what to do.  He said it would be fully his thots to euthanize her because she's not eating.  BUT AT THE SAME TIME he also feels she could have a darned good shot at the specialty vet who could give her things to settle her stomach and help her feel better AND GET BLOOD.

In the car, Snickers is wanting belly-rubbs.  THAT was the sign **I** needed to hear about.  Snickers wants to try.  She wants affection.  THAT is something to work with.

Please -- big I-Dog good thots and prayers.  Snickers needs us and so does outdoorschik!!!

BIIIIIIIG belly rubs, for Miss Snickers. Keep asking for them, girl. Belly rubs make you feel better.  We're praying for you to feel better, and feel HUNGRY! Your mom has LOTS of yummy things, just waiting for you to eat them.

((((((hugs)))))))) for you, outdoorschik.

Hang in there, Snickers! We're rooting for you! 

I am praying for you and Snickers.  Good thoughts and vibes being sent your way.

We're definitely sending belly rubs and healing vibes to Snickers. Hang in there, buddy.  

Keep trying Snickers!  Wish I could come and give you some belly rubs personally, but your mom will have to handle that part for all of us.  Sending out tons of good vibes for you.

Outdoorschick.....don't feel pathetic!  It's natural for you to be sad and hurting seeing Snickers so ill.  I couldn't even imagine having to go through this, I'd be a teary wreck too.  {{{{HUGS}}}}

IMHA is such a horrible, unfair disease--do NOT feel guilty or silly or weak (or whatever term you used); I understand that you want to put up a good front for Snickers, but maybe you also need her to comfort you--and maybe she needs to know that you need her, too.  I tried to "be strong" when I was with Ems, but it was hard at times.  And when I got the call that they'd given her 1 1/2 units of blood that one time and her levels had dropped even lower, my knees buckled.  But EMMA MADE IT, and so can Snickers!  We're still praying for her, here.

As for eating--the vet had me give Ems Hills Science Diet AD (which she called "cat candy";)--anything to keep her eating, basically.  She was able to lick that off of our fingers, and it kept her appetite stimulated enough to keep her eating.  (Her loss of appetite had been the first sign that something was wrong, but I didn't pick up on it because I'd changed her food--by mistake I'd picked up the "wrong" kind of Canidae--and thought maybe she just didn't like it.)  It comes in little cans the size of tuna cans, and it's a bit over a dollar a can, I think. 

Good sign that she wants belly rubs! :)  The wonderful techs at Florida Veterinary Specialists would love on her whenever they had a spare moment, so she was getting affection even when I wasn't there.  She wasn't even seeking anything like that when I took her in, so Snickers may very well be in better condition than she was. :)

C'mon, Snickers--you can do this!  We're pulling for ya! <3
 

Hang in there Snickers....and you too outdoorschick!

My prayers and best wishes are with you!

I just want to say thank you all from teh bottom of my heart for posting and for thinking of us. I'm here by myself with DH in another state and it makes me feel a little less alone in dealing with this. I appreciate it more than you all know.

... she has made it through her first transfusion with OLIVER's blood (thanks little buddy ) She is A- She is sleeping lightly, has kept all meds down and is comfortable, everything the vet wants.

This morning I brought her to my vet and her levels were 6. She was jaundiced, etc. He said if it was his dog he'd euthanize. I sat in that "special" third exam room for two hours crying and trying to make a decision... quite the embarassing scene. I talked to DH on the phone and while we were in that room she rolled back for a belly rub and jumped up on the couch with me and curled up. That was it, I coudln't do it and decided to take the "less than likely" shot at hope at the closest intensive care hospital in Portland Maine. 

There the vet gave me slightly more hope than the "pretty unlikely" my vet did... she's board certified, got tons of letters behind her name, said she wins more than she loses and she was going to give Snickers all had had, "guns blazing" and go into it assuming she'd pull through, not assumiing the worst but knowing the risks. She was very honest, has treated many many of these and I liked her level of experience and that of her colleagues (one does lectures all over the country on tick disease so she will be looking at slides for signs of that with Snickers) She found that Snickers was jaundiced and had pancreatitis but felt it treatable and likely due to Snicker's body conserving blood for important organs. The pancreatitis likely explains Snickers' vomitting... she just wasn't getting enough blood to either organ, not digesting and in pain in general. She gives a TON of meds straight up in this case (snicker's is the most severe variety) and then backs off prefering to throw "everything she's got" at it.

I know she may not live through this, but I feel calmer knowing that I'm giving her the best shot I can. I'll hope for the best and feel secure knowing that I've tried. After she received some of the transfusion she lost that panicked look and finally looked peaceful.

I'm going to the funeral in NJ tonight and will be back tomorrow night. there is nothing I can do here to help her and it will keep me from having to go to work and distract me/make my family feel better. Then, on Wednesday, it is the earliest they could release her.

Good update; thanks!  Snickers may have been looking "panicked" because fewer red blood cells=less oxygen.  I'm glad you found a vet who makes you feel more confident. :)

We'll keep praying! 

You and Snickers are in our thoughts and prayers.  Lots of belly rubs and puppy hugs coming Snicker's way.  Hang in there Snickers.

We'll be thinking of you ALL NIGHT here, *and* I've told the girls I work with at doggie day care about you baby, and they're ALL thinking and praying and hoping for you! You've got a whole fan club in Flooriduh, between me and Pirate and our friends, and Callie and her crew, and Emma's from FL too! We're sending you lots of warm sunny feel better vibes

I came to look on my lunch for an update.  We all understand how you feel about Snickers.  Get well soon, good dog.