The Pointy One is at the vets, am very very worried... handholding please...

[BehindLockNumberNine]

On Friday and Saturday our lovely rescued whippety cross, Sam, had a bit of diarrhea. Still playful and eating, drinking etc.
On Sunday he started to be a bit lethargic and felt sorry for himself. I had decided to starve him for 24 hours from Sat night as diarrhea was not clearing but he was off his food anyway on Sunday. Had rang lady at rescue where we got him from for advice (she is fab like this, always ready to help and was a vet nurse so a bit knowledgeable too). By Sunday night there was a steak of red blood in the diarrhea. Rang emergency vet who said Sam had probably burst a blood vessel due to contstant pooping. Keep up giving him water and keep an eye was the advice.

Early Monday morning Sam was pooing pure blood and looking very very unwell. We rushed him to the vets.
He was admitted, put on a drip and IV antibiotics. Severe Gastroenteritis or Hemorraghic Gastroenteritis was the diagnosis.

On Tuesday morning he was still no better. They decided to put him on a second type of antibiotics as well as the first one.

This morning he is a bit brighter and whilst he still has diarrhea there is no more blood.
However, his liver enzymes have rocketed to over 1000 and he is jaundiced.

We are going to visit him this evening and the vet will tell us more then.

Please please knowledgeable mumsnetters, can you give me an idea of what is happening to my lovely boy. Am very very worried.

We only adopted him from the rescue centre two months ago but we love him to bits.

poor Sam,poor you - much love xxx

So sorry to hear about the terrible time you are going through. With regards to Sam I have been through a similar thing recently and know how that feels but in conjunction with your greater loss it must be indescribable. Sending lots of un-MN-ish hugs and sympathy.

I'm so, so sorry...poor Sam, and paws crossed all over again for him here. Maybe it will just take longer, I do remember another poster saying something about a dog with liver damage and how it took a few months for him to get better?

What a horrible time you are having Big hugs from across the Channel.

Oh no Much much love to you xxx

Hi have been thinking of you all today. Lots of love xxx

Hello all, we are back home

Well, I can honestly say that has been the toughest 11 days of my life... But we survived the funeral (just) and will now have to adapt to life without dad (and he was a huge huge presence so that is going to be hard) and to supporting mum as best we can from across the channel.

Rang the vets to get an update on Sam. They blame his relaps on the fact dh could not get all his tablets into him. But seeing as Sam was not eating we feel he should not have been sent home in the first place.
The thinking now is a severe infection which is taking longer to clear up due to inflamable / irritable bowel disease. They want to keep him at the vets on a drip and plasma and IV antibiotics for a while longer. Jane wants him moved to her vets in Guildford asap. Will see what is going to happen. I just want him well and home. Missing my cuddle monster!

Thank you all for your continued thoughts. When I started this thread I never for one minute thought Sam would be unwell for this long and dad would pass away on top of it!

Petra xx

Hi. Glad you're back. It must have been so so tough for you. Sorry Sam is still a concern Hopefully he'll perk up soon and be back home for the cuddles.

BTW - did you mean to sign off with your real name?? xxx

Sorry, no, not thinking straight. Oh well, there must be 100 Petra's in the UK [eek]

Could get MN to delete that message if you're worried? They might be able to shave off the name bit...

Just caught up on your thread OP. I am so sorry for the loss of your Father. May he rest in peace.

Poor Sam, my 2 hounds send lots of dog hugs. I understand how hard this must be for you all and what a horrible time for all of your family.

I will be thinking of you all and keep paws and fingers crossed for Sam.

Hello all, just a little update on Sam;

We went to visit him last night which was nice but awful - he looked like a cruelty case Painfully thin, a bold patch on his neck from where they have drawn blood, 4 red raw patches (one on each leg) from where each of the various cannulas went in, a raw bald patch on his shoulder from where an abscess popped and a completely bald tummy as it was shaved to enable ultrasound.

They are keeping him in for a few more days but if he begins eating and if his poos harden up they may release him soon.

The diagnosis is still a (rather bad!) case of gastroenteritis and they are now saying he may now have Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Will need advice on a good dog food for this but will start a new thread.

Hope you are all ok.
x

Oh poor little Sam, how awful for you having to see him in that state, everything is crossed for his recovery. I'll watch out for your food thread with interest.

Just rang the vets for an update. No more diarrhoea but no normal poo either, and he is not interested in food.

I really really don't know how much longer we should let this go on. It has been over 3 weeks now and there is just no improvement, at least, no significant improvement.

Am getting really fed up.

Sending you lots of hugs - you are having a horrendous time. Still keeping fingers, toes and paws crossed for Sam.

Give him time. After what he's been through, his appetite may take a while to get back.

Thank you scuttle. Jane is saying the exact same thing. In fact her incredible optimism that things will turn out just fine has been one of the things keeping me going although I must confess I myself have had my doubts...

We are seeing Sam tomorrow afternoon and will have a chat with the nurse looking after him.

The vet has re-run bloods this morning and sent them away for analysis. Will get results tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, if bloods show signs of improvement he may come home. Perhaps being home will tempt him to eat. (although he was home briefly last week and then was admitted again after 4 days so being home is obviously no guarantee of a recovery )

Realistically though, he has been so ill for 3 weeks now. Is this ever going to get better? Very worried about my doggle but want to be realistic...

((Behind and Sam)) what an awful three weeks for you. FWIW, my brother's dog (pointer) suddenly got dreadful food allergies at around 6 months old - seriously ill, in and out of the vet's, much like Sam. Eventually he stabilized and they found a food he could eat - he is fine now, beautiful dog, although will never be allowed treats of any sort or food other than his special one. I'm crossing paws and trusting in Jane alongside you - it must be horrendous seeing Sam in such a state, but not being interested in food (when food has 'hurt' recently) doesn't surprise me at this stage.
Good luck tomorrow, xxx

Sending love to all of you. Poor Sam is going through the wars, but if the vet is happy to persevere then they must think it's worth it. Horrible to see him like that though xxx

yes, hang on a bit and let him rally -thinking of you and Sam and wishing for the best xxx

I agree with you all, am just an impatient person and really could have done with Pointy One at home to snuggle up to these last few days [selfish]

Jane has said that once the vet discharges him she wants Sam to come to her to finish recovering. She said she will be better placed to monitor food intake, ups and downs and medicines whilst he is with her.
Of course she is right but it has sent me into a total meltdown thinking that she feels I am not able to look after him properly.
So big tears again (from me) last night.

Sigh.

Oh my what an awful time you have been having.

Don't give up on him - dogs are amazing and when things are all corrected they can bounce back really quickly (although I do understand your emotions must be shot to pieces right now).

I expect Janes view was it is something she can do to help you by nursing Sam. You may find being with other dogs may encourage him to eat. Fingers crossed for a glimmer of good news soon.

I think Jane might just think that you have had such a lot to deal with that she wants to lighten the load a bit- she wouldn't have let you have Sam in the first place if she wasn't sure you'd be a wonderful mum to him- I know you are x

Oh bless you! I'm sure she's just trying to take away some of the worry from you and protect you a wee bit while Sam is still so unwell. Also she can try different types of food in a controlled environment and monitor how things are going, rather than your having to take that responsibility. MAS is right, Jane would not have let you take Sam home if she didn't think you were the right people for him! xxx

Please, please don't think Jane is reflecting on your skill or love for Sam. Once Sam is out of the emergency situation, and can leave vet hospital, he will still be very poorly, and I suspect will have great difficulty with his appetite for a while. As you've noticed, he's got sore patches, a healing abscess, bald bits and holes where the cannulas went in. Jane is an experienced vet nurse - she can make sure all those open wounds are cleaned, dressed if necessary and watched like a hawk for any signs of infection. She will almost certainly be taking his temp regularly (and prob not via armpit!!), having to wrestle medication into him, (that's an art in itself), and keep a very close eye o his food and liquid intake, possibly even recording it. Jane could even take bloods if need be, for ongoing testing. You've just gone through a horrendous bereavement, and are also having to think about DH and your DC. Without knowing the ins and outs of Jane's establishment, she almost certainly has an isolation/nursing unit set up for poorly houndies and will have all the equipment, facilities and expertise needed to make sure Sam has those important few days of extra special care. Once he's home with you, you can then work on getting him to put on a bit of weight, grow his fur back and generally pamper him within an inch of his life.

Scuttlebutter speaks great sense and very eloquently

Thanks all, I know you all speak perfect sense. But I just can't help but feel incredibly guilty. Guilty we did not insure him, guilty we may have done something to let him get so ill, guilty it has cost J a ridiculous amount of money because of our stupidity in not having insurance in place, guilty we are not the ones who can help him get better...

Vet rang today to say his blood test results were not good and that other than take a bowel biopsy (which even J can't fund) they did not know what else to do. They are now suspecting Crohns disease or inflammatory bowel disease. They cannot diagnose officially without a biopsy though.
So J asked me to collect him from the vets and take him to hers with all his meds. We did so tonight. He is safely installed in the isolation wing of the kennels, under a heat lamp. He has a big folder detailing what is wrong with him and what meds he needs and when (and there are lots of them, steroids, anti inflamms, antacids, probiotics etc, and he also needs a weekly vit B12 injection for the next 6 weeks) She is going to keep a close eye on him and deal with all his medication.

I have no idea how long he will be at J's for and how long it will take him to get better. If it is something like Crohns it will need managing for life. I have no idea how we are going to manage that and how much the daily meds are going to cost.

I don't actually know much anymore, other than it is all crap and I want to crawl into a big hole and not come out for a long time