Any vets here?

[Flasch186]

I have somewhat of a dog emergency and Im not sure what to do. thx

My dog two days ago was having a hard time breathing so we took her in. Upon further inspection the vet thought he saw some sort of eversion in her throat. He sent her to a surgery place. Yesterday when they had a look while she was knocked out they found and removed a tumor on her trache. They are hoping it is benign but they sent it off. anyways on to the immediate problem.

Overnight she was regurging alot but they thought it might be due to her "anxiousness" since she takes after her dad. anyways we took her home but all day she has been unable to keep anything down. We have some meds to give her one in which we let it melt in water in a syringe and give it to her 3 times a day. She is puking that up too. she is really really whiney wanting water but she pukes it up within 15 minutes.

Now, the doc said some regurge may still occur but at what point do we decide enough is enough and take her back in? Do we just continue to monitor and watch her regurge until when?

[Young Drachma]

Someone is going to say "go to a vet."

[st.cronin]

Not a vet but have some knowledge. Pm me or google chat - st.cronin.

[Flasch186]

im trying to figure out the google chat but im having a hard time with it....

[st.cronin]

ok well just email me, I actually have a vet right here.

[Flasch186]

im actually sending you a chat msg now but it says youre not getting it? any ideas? it says youre offline.

[st.cronin]

No idea but its probably an issue on my end.

[Flasch186]

can you take a look at the above post? Lemme know what you think? how long do you let a recent operated dog go regurging after discharge from the ER before saying "enough is enough" and going back in? How much water should we be trying to give her it's been about 10 hours since picking her up?

[st.cronin]

First of all, what kind of meds?

[Flasch186]

Simplicef 200mg - 1x daily (we start tomorrow)
Prilosec OTC 20mg - 1x daily (started tonight - regurged w/ cheese)
Sucralfate 1g - 3x daily in 10 mls of h2o in syringe (once this afternoon, taken for quite awhile. 1 more dose before bed)

Procedure: Biopsy of mass on L arytenoid lateralization

diagnosis: soft tissue mass on L arytenoid lateralization. Elongated soft palate.

Histopathology Pending

Clinical Path.: RDVM Anesthetic Panel - WNL

[st.cronin]

Ok, wait one minute.

[st.cronin]

Go to the vet right now.

[Flasch186]

she's sleeping right now with discomfort.

[st.cronin]

There's a potential that what you are seeing is reaction to antibiotic, but also there is the possibility that there is another blockage or something similarly bad further down. You might be looking at another endoscopy.

[st.cronin]

I'm being told you should waste no time.

[Flasch186]

Thank you very much.

As step one Im going to call the affiliated doctor and give you an update.

seriously though thank you for confirming that my bad feeling isnt all in my head :(

[Flasch186]

calling now

[st.cronin]

You're very welcome, please let me know what happens.

[DaddyTorgo]

love this fucking board man!

[DaddyTorgo]

oh, and best to the pup Flasch. Hope everything ends up being okay.

[Flasch186]

alrighty, i called the ER that had her overnight last night (where she regurged) and they advised total restriction of food and water for 12 hours, until morning, however once we feel we have her 'emptied' if she continues to regurge just stomach acid (i assume thats what they meant) bring her in. Otherwise call the surgical center in the morning if the zero diet stops the regurge.

Does that make any sense at all? Im in it financially quite a bit so if waiting til morning makes any sense I would like to? I know I know.....Im talking to myself here. She's breathing good and whiney so that's good, I think. Against your considerate and unselfish advice Im going to wait a bit to see what happens....

Im scared though and the whineyness breaks my heart.

[Flasch186]

they said to wait at least an hour watching to see if she vomits on the empty stomach (I called back for clarity - they hate me)

[st.cronin]

I'm told that makes a lot of sense.

[MizzouRah]

Best of luck... I hope everything turns out ok.

[Flasch186]

Im scared and dont handle this stuff well at all. My wife points out that when we have kids I better get better at handling this type of shit. Anywways, thank you so much for quick and thoughtful prompt reponses, I truly truly appreciate it and dont know where else to go in times of doubtful pseudo emergencies other than this board (sad i know). Anyways, Im hoping this is the first day normal serious surgery recovery stuff.....i havnt a clue though :(

[st.cronin]

I think you're handling things quite well.

[Flasch186]

thanks man, my stomach is in knots.

she is sleeping right now. I wonder if Im supposed to give her the 3rd dose of Sucralfate since it would be with some water, a 'slurry' they called it....Im thinking of waiting on it til morning.

[st.cronin]

She will probably throw it right back up, but its not going to hurt. That's what I'm told.

[st.cronin]

Ok, there's not really a compelling reason to give or withhold the medication, so use your best judgement. If she's sleeping comfortably, probably let her sleep - if she wakes up crying later, maybe try giving it then. It might help.

[Flasch186]

thanks so much man....you have no idea what reading your advice means.


EDIT: Tried to inject some humor and failed. Edited out.

[st.cronin]

I'm happy to help. Please let me know what happens tomorrow.

[Flasch186]

I woke up this morning and it looks like she regurged in the kitchen overnight, a lot of food. So it may have been the mush we had tried to give her before the turn off. Anyways, I tried her Sulfacrate slurry this morning and Ive left a message at the surgery center describing last night and this morning's find. She is hungry and thirsty because she keeps pawing for food and water so I dont think that that is a good sign. Im thinking Ill be taking her in this morning eventhough I really cant afford it.

[Flasch186]

I just spoke to the surgery center and the doc who performed the surgery and he said basically we're down to observational hours now, so from what I gave her this morning: A slurry and a prilosec and 2 tablespoons of water, if she regurges to the floor (not just burping) she is to be hospitalized. If she keeps it down for an hour Im to up the water to about 1/2 a cup and see if she keeps it down, if not, she goes in. He thinks that her GI has been slow to come back from the anesthesia but we're down to hours of observance :(

[MizzouRah]

Keep us updated Flasch...

[BrianD]

Yeah, let us know how things go. Medical issues with a pet can be really hard since they can't tell you where it hurts, but hopefully everything will turn out OK.

[Flasch186]

12:48

a little bit of food today, a little bit of water and her meds all have been kept down succesfully and me, AF, and 3R are rotating the feeding since were doing it one kernel at a time after soaking it in water. I ref tonight so it'll be up to the wife to watch her and her whining.

thanks for the kind words ya'll and cronin's guidance!

[bbor]

I absolutly hate opening this thread.I hope your pup is o.k but i don;t think i can continue to read this thread,brings tears to my eyes.

[Flasch186]

maybe this'll help:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Flasch186/nola3.jpg

[MizzouRah]

oh man Flasch.. :(

[Flasch186]

She's doing better, I think. I think I misled, on accident. When I said, "Were down to hours" I didnt mean life hours I meant hours to watch her and keep the food/water down. Maybe that's what ya'll knew but I re-read it and hope I didnt accidentally give the worst case impression.

[MikeVic]

BEST OF LUCK!! True story, reading about your dog and seeing pics made me want to consider getting a bulldog. I don't like dogs, but am opening up to them.

What I'm saying is that your dog inspired me. :)

[Flasch186]

She is an awesome dog but you have to be prepared for the pain that comes with pure bred short snout dogs. Youre talking breathing issues (as above) hip issues, knee issues, eyelid issues, etc. BUT this is my second bulldog and I gotta tell you the face can put a smile on yours on the worst of days. and nothing says love like a loud snore that makes you smile.

edit to add: This year my dogs have really hurt me financially as documented on these boards but no matter what breed of dog. 2 Snake attacks that your dog survives is going to cost a pretty penny.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, we have 3 dogs and 2 cats, so we finally decided on this pet credit card from our vet.. it has a low finance charge and helps when something "sudden" happens.

[lordscarlet]

Would pet insurance not be better?

[Flasch186]

From what Ive gathered, the pet insurance companies let almost everything fall under "common to the breed" on Bulldogs thus making it not worth it BUT ive heard its good for mutts. Anyways, my company now has Pet Insurance under the benefits so during enrollment tomorrow Im going to sign up anyways as I might not 'feel' it if it comes out of the paycheck ahead of time.

[DaddyTorgo]

I don't like dogs


we know

[MikeVic]

we know

:mad:

[MizzouRah]

Would pet insurance not be better?

Not what we had looked at, maybe it's better now. It didn't cover very much and was a bit high.

[miked]

The pet insurance I looked at was silly. It covered some of the routine stuff, but there was a ton of small print (I looked at a few companies) and most of them were pay now, apply for reimbursement. Shady and unregulated.

[samifan24]

I hope everything turns out well.

[st.cronin]

Keep updating thread please k thx.

[Flasch186]

sorry, got home from reffing just now and she's doing much better. No regurge today, just burpies. We're slowly giving her more and more water but she isn't eating a whole lot so we're having to make do. Some chicken, cheese, etc. Gotta keep stuff in her. I think we might have turned that corner. Thanks again to you Cronin and your angel around ;)

Nola's not real happy but she's getting by. Now onto the oncology report tomorrow or Mon.

[MizzouRah]

Good news Flasch!

Way to go St. Cronin!!!

[st.cronin]

I'm very happy to be helpful, and am glad for the good news. Hope things continue to go well.

[stevew]

I thought this was a late veterans day thread for a day or so.

[CleBrownsfan]

Glad to hear your pup is doing better!