Jump to content

Myshka Is Out Of Sorts


Val (Zebedee)

Recommended Posts

Myshka started being sick Thursday morning; I noticed when I came down at 6.30 am to let them out & sort breakfast. Little bit of bile & tiny fragments of her carcass from last night's meal. Fortunately she wasn't interested in food time for the other two as I wanted to miss her meal to see how she went. Later in the evening, I noticed she was drinking water but bringing it back up within half an hour. I managed to get her a vet appt Friday 5pm.

 

She didn't show interest in food all day Thursday or Friday, she just slept, hardly moved & sipped water (sometimes keeping it down & sometimes not). Even the harness, mention of "walk" and open front door didn't make her get up so I know she felt ill. 

 

She had blood tests last night, her temperature taken & tummy felt. Her gums were healthy so she wasn't showing signs of dehydration. She did have a tender bit in her abdomen but the vet couldn't feel any obvious obstruction and her temperature was raised by over 1 degree. Myshka was given metacam and antibiotics by injection and we had to wait an hour for the blood results.

 

When the vet phoned back, she said all the liver & kidney functions are normal but her pancreas enzyme was increased. The normal range is between 200 and 1000 - Myshka's reading was 1711. So this 99% confirms pancreatitis. She had to be booked in again this morning for further tests & to see where we went from there. I was told it is easily treatable in dogs & if you Google pancreatitis, it brings back an horrific human disease but that is totally different to the canine form - needless to say, I have NOT Googled it! lol And if it is pancreatitis, once the dog has it once, it can reoccur so we will have to watch what we feed her.

 

We brought her home & she still showed no interest in food but was sipping water & keeping it down so that was an improvement.

 

She was back at the vets this morning with a different vet (different branch) where she was much brighter. She actually walked out without encouragement, still only at 50% normal but better than the original 10% the day before. The vet felt her tummy & obviously pressed harder as she yelped (and he jumped 3 foot in the air!). Then when asked what we feed her (raw), we were told that we had been very lucky in that she had not suffered any piercing gut injuries due to eating raw chicken bones (at this point, I switched off!) - it was 100% luck that she had gone 6 years raw feeding without a problem  :rolleyes:

 

She has had more bloods taken for just a pancreas test but this vet thinks she now has a blockage (funny it was only since telling him she ate raw) and she has to go back in on Monday for an x-ray and/or scan to see if there's anything there. 

 

BUT since coming back from the vets & getting chicken breasts out of the freezer to cook for her later & try & get her eating, I was in the kitchen & rustled a carrier bag - this is obviously canine-talk for FOOD - and she came to the kitchen entrance with Kaviq & Spirit. I found some plain ham in the fridge & offered all three a piece - Myshka ATE IT!! Then licked her lips for a second piece, so I offered her another small piece & she ate that too so paws crossed, she has hit rock bottom & is on the up again.  :D  She was given metacam and antibiotics by injection again with liquid metacam and antibiotic tablets to take from tomorrow (she can only have the metacam if she is eating though).

 

We'll see what Monday brings, but I think my little pain in the butt is on the mend again  :up:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh bless her, pancreatitis isn't very nice, quite painful, so happy to hear she's on the mend.  :)

I heard that it can reoccur too and that fatty foods can trigger an episode.   Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery now she's feeling a bit better.  You must be so relieved to see her appetite picking up, always a good sign.  :up:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

update: Myshka's treatment is still ongoing. She had more blood tests done, some of which have confirmed it is "just" pancreatitis we are dealing with (the "C" word had been bandied around at the start of the consultations & I couldn't bear that after losing D to it). There are more tests being run to rule out any other issues so we're hoping for the all clear from those.

 

Myshka is still on antibiotics. We were given Tramadol to help her pain but she spits it out & is happily bouncing round with the other 3 as normal, so I have restricted giving that in case it masks any drop in her. What the tests have thrown up so far is a lack of Vitamin B12. Apparently it is very common in dogs who have had severe kidney, liver, pancreas or gastro problems so she has to go for Vitamin B12 injections once a week for a month, then another 2 weeks after then a final one a month after that. All we have to do then is watch her diet, no fatty foods which is proving fun with an already fussy eater! 

 

She did lose 3.5kg over the few days she was really ill though which again was a worry as that is what happened with Diesel, but thankfully it looks like the "Big C" has been definitely ruled out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Myshka is still doing well. She is having weekly vitamin injections while we still wait for the remainder of her blood results but we have to keep a strict eye on her diet. The vet advises a diet of around 7% fat which, if she was fed on kibble etc would be easy to work out but she is mainly on raw as she is such a fussy eater with kibble so it is really hard to keep track of. But she seems to be doing OK so we'll stick with what we're doing :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy , along with dressing your husky as a unicorn on the first Thursday of each month