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Re: My poor little dog can't catch a break. 

By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE | Recommend this post (4)
Wed, 28 Jul 21 5:25 PM | 40 view(s)
Boardmark this board | 6th Edition Pope Board 		Msg. 20721 of 52869
(This msg. is a reply to 20639 by Decomposed)
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I had my little Furball put down today. He and I had an awful night with Kermit desperately thirsty, losing his ability to drink without vomiting, losing his ability to walk, stand or urinate. And he hadn't eaten significantly for about ten days. This morning he was almost unresponsive except for expressions of pain when I moved him, but I think he reacted to my wife's voice when she talked to him from the vet's office.

All very sad. The emotions finally came when they put him on a gurney and carried him inside. I went with him, of course.

The speed of his deterioration was shocking. He was still walking and occasionally wagging his tail on Monday. ​On Tuesday, we had a Zoom call out on the deck with my wife and Kermit was fascinated by a nearby bird. And Wednesday morning, he's gone. ​ I was surprised he lived through the night, to be honest. The amount of reddish-black bilirubin he expelled was horrific.

The vet thinks may have had cancer, perhaps liver cancer, expediting the attack - but Monday's vet didn't think an X-ray or Ultrasound was going to show anything since Kermit is... was... supposedly only 5 years old. That's young to be developing cancerous masses.

Ah well. I was up most of the night and am both tired and depressed.




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Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months


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The above is a reply to the following message:
My poor little dog can't catch a break.
By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE
Tue, 27 Jul 21 2:34 AM 		Msg. 20639 of 52869

First, Kermit was born with a massive underbite - his lower jaw's teeth stick out and cover his upper lip.

Then he was abused by someone, probably his previous owner. He's deathly afraid of strangers, and if you try to throw a ball or stick for him, he cowers.

And, of course, his previous owners gave him away. That's heartbreaking.

Now this.

Kermit's appetite has been bad for a week. I assumed it to be because of travel-related stress. But Saturday, he stopped eating at all. And no food Sunday either. Consequently, he hasn't had any energy. Today I wanted to motivate him to drink water, so I took him for a walk. He always runs for his water after walking a mile or two. Toward the top of the driveway, he peed and I could see that it was on the dark side. He's dehydrated so dark urine is to be expected. We continued but didn't go more than 150 yards up the road before the drooping of his head and tail, and the panting, was so bad that I decided to turn back. Kermit couldn't make it. He halted partway across the street and wouldn't go any further. I carried him home.

Once inside, he had only to climb the stairs. He normally races up them but this time he couldn't climb them at all.

Okay, time for the vet. I called his normal vet but couldn't get an appointment today. I called a local animal hospital and they said they won't see new patients until September. So I called a 3rd, an animal hospital in Lebanon (the same town where I had my surgery) and they said to bring him in but that I might have a long wait. I did. It was 4 hours before they took the dog inside. Another two before I got the full story.

My poor little dog has something called Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. He's got a very low red blood cell count, a very high white blood cell count, a very high bilirubin level and a 105° temperature. I told the vet that I'd noticed his dark urine that morning. She said, "No, this is way past that. It's brown."

This is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its red blood cells. It's very serious and my dog quite possibly won't survive. He's only 5, much too young.

At home, Kermit drank some water and I carried him down the stairs to his yard. He won't be doing stairs or walks for quite a while, if he even lives. He peed in his yard... BLACK. Like motor oil. It was painful to watch.

Kermit's been prescribed Clopidogrel, Doxycycline Hydrate and Prednisone. For the next few days, the challenge is going to be getting him to eat food and take those pills. I did get him to eat a little, though. I opened some corned beef hash and gave him 20% of the can. He ate that. I wrapped his pills in creamed cheese and he ate them too. That's very good news. Earlier in the day, I tried getting him to eat HAM and he spat it out. He wouldn't eat peanut butter either. The poor little guy is that miserable.

So far, he's willing enough to drink. Knock on wood that that doesn't change.

I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to decide things.

Meanwhile, my wife is in California. Kermit attached himself to her far more than to me. He's really HER dog. She's taking it hard and is hoping he'll last until she gets back in mid-August. Understandably, she wants to see him again.

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