Don’t give up too soon. We were ready to put Doxie down before Christmas, and now look at him go!
He didn’t lose a leg, but was crippled and lost control of bowl and bladder, and now he’s back up, in full control and running with the pack (kind of).
Very “Minister of Funny Walks”, however.
I just got off the phone with the vet. She said his bloodwork still looks bad - she was ready to call it last night. But this morning he hopped into his cage and is looking around with interest. He’s still not showing any interest in food, which is worrisome, but I’ll bring by some rotisserie chicken when I go to visit today. We’re going for one more day and redo his bloodwork.
StG
I hope things turn around.
I am not saying this is the same thing, but I had a dog who had a simple surgery (?) to remove a bowel obstruction. He wasn’t doing well at all in the hospital. The vet was giving up on him. I made an executive decision and bundled him up and brought him home. I thought to die. 2 days later he was up and eating. The vet was pleasantly surprised when I brought him in to get the sutures removed a week later. Horribly though he continued his rock and dirt eating and it got him in the end.
Sorry for the hijack, ETF.
I just got back from visiting Frank. He’s standing on his own, his edema is greatly reduced and he’s alert and eating. They’re planning to wean him off the fentanyl tonight and hopefully remove his catheter and start him walking tomorrow. He seems to have turned the corner.
StG
Yay, Frank! Good boy!
Don’t be sorry, StG! Please, I’m happy to have you share Frank’s story here; if nothing else, it certainly puts my own gripes into proper perspective. 
Very glad to hear he’s doing so well! Please do continue to update us. Maybe by the time he’s back with you and able to get about, the bitch will be spayed, he’ll have lost interest in social climbing, and the others will welcome him back to the pack.
Meanwhile, Peanut is slurping up his new blood pressure med. Since he gets his methimazole (thyroid) at breakfast and supper, his Miralax (megacolon) ditto, and his prednisolone (intestinal lymphoma) at supper, I decided to put the amlopidine in his lunch. So now it’s med call at all three feline mealtimes, sigh. At least he likes the liquid drug compounds enough to lap them up as top dressing to his canned food, so the fact that he usually gets partway through his bowlful, then goes off to look into stealing Stanley’s lunch isn’t the problem it would be if I had to mix it in and worry about Stanley (or greedy Schooner, when everyone else is done and he’s released from his private dining in the half bath) eating Peanut’s leftover meds.
Now, if that angry tooth would just suck up the Augmentin and stop bugging me… Sigh. Given it’s been a week plus since it started going south, it hasn’t responded well to antibiotics, and in fact it’s becoming more uncomfortable over the last couple of days, I figure it’s gotta come out, and soon. Too bad my dentist’s been away since just before (of bloody course) it started going bad, and my oral surgeon doesn’t want to remove it without my dentist’s approval, so I’ve got to wait till she gets back on Monday, hopefully to okay the removal I managed to get tentatively scheduled for Tuesday morning after much pitiful pleading…
Good thing I saw my PCP for interim help, and got that prescription for hydrocodone as well as the Augmentin.
Aren’t dogs amazing?
Per the vet call this morning, Frank’s doing great and they expect him to be able to come home tomorrow. YAY!!!
StG
WONDERFUL!!! I am so happy for you! Please give him a pat for all of us here at the Dope when you go visit him!
If your other dogs ganged up on him then they’ll really do it again when they see he ain’t all there and weak. I’d keep him separate when you’re not around.
Graymalkin - Don’t worry - I have no intention of throwing him back into the back weak from the hospital. I’m in contact with his rescue to see if they want to take him back, or if they have any suggestions. For the moment I have an x pen set up for him to have his own space. At this point he’ll never be alone with them or outdoors unprotected.
StG
Or Moonrings. Moonrings are pretty awesome too.
Frank is home. When I tried to get him into the x pen he turned around and tried to jump up on the bed. So now he’s on the bed and the other dogs are outside.
StG
And today??
GnS - Frank’s homecoming was today. All seems good at this point.
StG
Great news, StG! Please do keep us updated on how his recovery goes, and you are most welcome to take over this thread for the purpose if you wish.
ETA: Oh, and his being able to jump up on the bed is wonderful!
I’ve always preferred Modnay monrings myself.
StG glad to hear that Frank is back home. I hope that something is worked out for a permanent situation for him.
ETF I hope that tooth gets resolved. Sounds horrid.
Update on Peanut:
The update is not good. Over the last couple of days Peanut has stopped eating much. He is avoiding his top-dressed meds when he does eat, and although he comes to mealtimes and at times does eat small amounts he quickly turns away. I have tried offering small amounts of various dry foods rather than the usual canned, including Temptations and that prescription calming kibble Composure, which he normally adores, without much luck.
I am going to try offering a small portion of canned food with no meds at lunch today, but even if he eats that this will not solve the problem of getting his meds into him. Obviously, given his hostility to treatment handling, including trying to bite and I mean seriously do damage, he is not a candidate for pilling, let alone syringe feeding. He also seems thinner, his coat is looking harsh, and overall he appears duller and weaker.
Unless he bounces back in the next two days, I think the kindest thing is to euthanize him, given his illnesses are progressive and not curable in any case. I am not going to wait till he’s a tottering skeleton.
I will update on how lunch goes, but don’t have much hope.
Oh, and if Peanut weren’t enough, I saw my dentist today (finally!), and yes, that tooth has gotta come out, so it’s off to the oral surgeon tomorrow morning. It did NOT like being tapped during her examination and now it’s sitting there grumbling as I try to function while I wait for its exit. Even popping half a hydrocodone (I don’t take full ones; don’t like being zombified) isn’t doing much for me right now. Going to try layering an ibuprofen on top of that.