Damn it Damnit Damnit I am going to lose another one

[Racket_Man]

This is NOT fair.

I have had my current fur baby for maybe 19 or 20- months (Humane Society rescue) and I am going to most likely lose her in the next 24 hours.

It all started about 4 weeks ago when her food intake started to drop. Not significantly at first but enough that I noticed.

Now I have had this happen before (as in periods of lower food intake) notably at the end of Sept. this year where she for some unknown reason stopped eating her dog food. She would eat almost anything else just NOT dog food. I tried several "Food additives" such as cubed ham that seemed to do the trick and she resumed her full rover hover eating habits. But about 4 weeks ago the food intake dropped again and no amount of ham or beef gravy would entice her to eat. AND she stopped eating EVREYTHING else. Plus her stool turned into sever Hersey' Squirts with mostly liquid and not much else. She did continue to consume water at her regular rate.

So off to the vet's office 2+ weeks ago. Nothing obvious to the vet they gave me antibiotics and probiotics to try and reset her gut bacteria. We also had to force feed her a bland diet out of a can. Between me and my daughter we have been feeding her twice a day. With little progress we go back to the vet. Tthey did blood and urine workup and all was REALLY normal. They gave me an appatite stimulant. 3 or 4 days and not much progress.

She still has not come around and is getting really lethargic and weak with the Hersey's Squirts. Consulted with the Vet again today, they are still not sure ans suggested some steroids that I had left over from this summer when she got a sever skin allergy attack.

Tomorrow is decision day and it does not look good.

I do not want to lose another one DAMN IT.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Having lost several dogs over the years I offer my sympathy.

[Android Kaeli]

I'm so sorry. No matter what happens, she will always be your fur baby.

You'll both be in my thoughts tonight.

[MoonCat]

I'm so, so sorry!

[morgana]

I have a candle lit for you. Either for hope or . . .

[Racket_Man]

Got a couple of doses of the steroids into her along with the appetite stimulant. We had brats for dinner (my daughter and Grandson are staying the night) I cut up a brat and offered her a slice. She sniffed it and actually ate it. I offered her another and she ate it. I offered a 3d and she did not want it. This is the first food of any kind she as voluntaryily eaten in almost 10 days.

just before posting this I heated up the brat slices and she ate 2 slices.

Maybe there is hope BUT she has lost enough weight and is still lathargic and a bit wobbely on her feet. Ii am putting off major decision till Monday. Between myself and my daughter and the drugs maybe this will work out.

Fingers crossed and thank you for your thoughts. I keep telling puppers that I want her to live not die.

[telecom_goddess]

I'm so sorry. I just lost a cat I had for 16 years, due to old age. I hope this one can pull through.

[Mental_Mouse]

My sympathies. I'm surprised the vet couldn't find anything, that does sound like there should be some other symptoms or readings reflecting such a drastic problem.

[Racket_Man]

Good update:

Got a few more doses of steroid pills in her. The vet said if this worked we would see change fairly quickly.

OH I DID SEE CHANGE. after my last post I decided to pull out the cubed ham I had been adding to her food for the last couple of months. I put a couple of small handfuls on to a plate and gave that to her. ROVER HOVER comes out and the plate is clean in less than a minute. OK give her some more and that is immediately inhaled. Offered her a 3d plate but she refused. More steroid pills more food intake and she is starting to eat other things that she refused over the last 3 or 4 weeks human and doggie food.

Tonight we mixed one cup of ham with one cup of her regular doggie food = gone in 1:30. over the last 72 hours there has been a 180 turnaround. she had gained back enough of her former energy though I believe she is obviously still weak (weight loss and lack of food intake) that is she is a bit wobbly on the front end. She still has the Hersey Squirts. I am going to consult with the Vet on Wed. and try and get an apt for her on Thurs so they can assess her.

I am still cautiously optimistic but with her getting her appetite back is a BIG step.

Thank you all for you thoughts and prayers. I really did NOT want to have to do something drastic right at the holidays.

[AnaKhouri]

I hope her condition just keeps going up and up and up. Glad to hear it!

[csquared]

Keeping the fingers crossed.

One thing to keep in mind. She may be associating her "feeling bad" with some of the foods that she ate recently. You may want to try some new foods for a while.

[Pixelated]

So glad to hear she is doing better! Losing a fur baby is hard enough at any time of the year, let alone this time of the year. I will keep my fingers crossed (and my kitties' toes ) that she continues to improve and is in good health very soon.

[Nunavut Pants]

Huzzah, I hope she continues to improve!!!!

It's awful losing a fur baby. I had to give up one of mine recently because he just would not get along with the others. (And Da Boss said he needed to go.)

[Racket_Man]

One more update: Vet visit today. Doggie seems to be almost back to normal except for the Hersey Squirts. This is my main concern.

The vet is keeping her on the Steroids for a while longer but at a lower dose. The Dr.s think it might be some Intestinal Syndrome that can be treated with steroids. We want to keep doing the steroids to keep her eating a drinking until we lower the dose to nothing.

So far so good.

[MoonCat]

One more update: Vet visit today. Doggie seems to be almost back to normal except for the Hersey Squirts. This is my main concern.

The vet is keeping her on the Steroids for a while longer but at a lower dose. The Dr.s think it might be some Intestinal Syndrome that can be treated with steroids. We want to keep doing the steroids to keep her eating a drinking until we lower the dose to nothing.

So far so good.

OK, this is better news! I assume they are monitoring glucose as steroids can push that up toward diabetes, but it sounds like they are keeping a close eye on her.

Best of luck to you and pupper!