Rescue Journal

updates

Carol  ·  Jan. 18, 2013

tess and britney are home from their cushings dose rechecks..hopefully the induction phase is complete for both and we can switch to a maintenence dose which is much safer.

chance had to go into the vets today..he suddenly developed a rectal prolapse (good eyes erin!). he was his typical uncooperative little jerky self and kept trying to bite the vet tech when she was trying to medicate him.

fletch's addisons test came back negative..i said that was good news right??? well apparently not because he is dumping huge amounts of sodium which can kill him and we can't treat it if we don't know the cause. the vet said there is very rare form of cushings which has nothing to do with cortisol levels. he was going to speak to the pathologist to see if this may explain fletch's newest troubles.
in the meantime, we are to sprinkle his food with table salt to try to keep him from becoming sodium depleted again.

so for the house weekend warriors..please feed fletch half a can of watered down food with a bit of table salt sprinkled on it at 9 am and noon..i will leave his food and the salt on the counter for him.

also..looks like we have mostly run out of pedigree already..there is some medical canned food in the shop on the shelves for the regulars lunch time feeding. i will try to pick up some more pedigree tomorrow if i have time.
hey shelagh..if you are reading this, we need to up the amount we are purchasing each week..maybe another 2 or 3 cases? we have lots of friskies so are good on that front!

looks like pokey is out of the woods.

frankie was licking at the souped up specialty seafood i gave her tonight. but she did stop after a few licks. if she doesn't eat it up by morning, i will drop her off at the vets again. i am thinking that maybe she is in an end of life crises and nothing is going to help.

jingles has laid an egg for two days in a row now...dionne is so proud of her big feathered babe!

cc is really a sweet. sweet dog..i like her a lot.

that tiny crooked nosed chi.. squeaky... has been signed over..i can't get her til my next day off on tuesday but the shelter said she is fine there until then so that is good.
also..possibly new incoming...a 15 year old golden lab cross. his owner has passed away and her young son had to move in with his brother in a different community where the dog can't come. so the dog is living in the empty house and he going there every couple of days to feed and walk him. so sad to lose your mom when you are young..doubly sad to not be able to keep your old dog who has been with you since you were a small child. anyway..i said i would meet him next week on my day off and see if he would fit in here ok.

michelle and her hubby picked up the new fold down safer for fletcher couches for the big dog room...yay THX!! they were on sale for $99 so i asked her to get 2..one to use now and one for a spare. brent if you could please pull out the old futon (just stick in the shop for now) and put one of the new couches together and set it up in the dog room when you are here..that would be GREAT! they are both in big london drugs boxes down by the freezers in the shop.

make sure if fletcher goes out to the barn this weekend that he is wearing his life jacket. it is hanging on the curtain rod in my bedroom. and don't let him stay out too long, don't want him to get over tired.

also please make sure ed has his outside coat on if he goes out.

thx everyone...here's hoping for a quiet crises free weekend!

Comments

Carol

chance can still go for walks shawn...thx! he needs the fresh air and sunshine and a different view of the world.

thx for the info nicole! there you go leila..drugs usually have more than one effect..i didn't know about the skeletal muscle relaxant part of xanax(aka alprazalam.)and feel free to post your worries about oliver or any of the others anytime..blogging about sick animal worries really does help!

thx maggie!

thx shelagh!

oliver has an insulin adjustment to trial curt.

there is still some pedigree here lynne but i will be using 10 cans this morning before i leave for work for the diabetics and mp room guys. and i need the same for bedtime and i don't want to screw around with their diets and end up with a bunch of the diabetics or frail guys with diarrhea. so i am stashing some for tonight...won't be much left by the time i am done taking what they need for today.

Nicolemc

We regularly use alprazolam on the blocked cats we see at emerg as in cats it works to relax skeletal muscle and then we use a second drug to relax the smooth muscle.
Generally it makes the cats quite happy and stoned.

Mo

Blab away Leila..I hope this all works out for Oliver..what a lucky guy to have you guys ..keep us posted

Leila

Our vet already took a urine and blood analysis. We are just waiting for the culture test to come back for the urine. Oliver's kidney and liver are in extremely good shape and the initial tests have not shown any bladder infections which is amazing since he is such a leaky little fellow. Oliver is extremely anxious so the alprazolam should be good for that. And I think my vet thinks it is a good idea to sedate him until he stops paddling and the wounds on his legs heal properly - not sure if this is a long term solution though. OMG, he has stopped paddling and is sleeping -I gave him a pill like over 4 hours ago. I have to change his bandages tomorrow which should be interesting. I suspect I will end up taking him into the clinic to do it as he way to comfortable with me and is very squirmy.

Sorry to take up space talking about Oliver but all of sudden he has become a going concern and I guess I am anxious about him and need to blab.

Shawn

Is chance ( I call him chancey pants) ok? So no stroller walk tomorrow? Let me know. Thanks Carol

shelagh f

Ok, I brought 4 cases out after work Tuesday,and was
planning to come Sunday with more. I put one case
in the house and one in the mp room and 2 in the shop.
They are all gone? I think
we need a lot more to get ahead again. Things have
been a bit hectic for me so I will have to get back
on track. (hectic for me, anyway, probably not for you.
You are used to hectic.) Anyway, I will come out later Saturday with them

lynne

i just saw 2 cases of canned pedigree on the kitchen counter on thurs. cant be all gone.

Dionne

Watch out for your fingers when putting Ed's coat on. He gets quite snappy. lol

Carol

re the pedigree...thx maggie! fletch doesn't really like fish yet so i doubt he will eat it. but maybe in time we cn convert him!

Carol

we use it in human medicine as an anti-anxiety, anti-depressant or to treat chemo induced nausea. as it is a sedative..it may work for his paddling legs but i would think, something like maybe gabapentin (as an anti-neuropathic)or clonazepam (as an anti-spasmatic) might work better... but then i am not a vet. you should do a urinalysis on him tho..you might be surprised at some of the really odd symptoms of urinary tract infections...and he like our neurogenic bladder dogs is a perfect candidate for a really nasty hidden bladder or kidney infection.

Maggie

Carol, would Fletch go for canned salmon? Also, I'll pick up a case of Pedigree on my way up tomorrow morning

Leila

Carol do you know anything about alprazolam. We have just started Oliver on it today as is back legs have been "paddling" when his lies down and often when he is standing. We have had to bandage both back legs from the damage he has done to himself (should have seen the blood on his bed the other night). Our vet is hoping that the alprazolam will slow down the spasms in his back legs. He has been slowly loosing weight and has become totally incontinent in that he wets his bed right thru. I think finally after all these years, we are starting to see Oliver slide backwards and I am having a hard time processing it.