Donna's Woody 8/31 surgery

Things have been stressfull here lately. Dogsitting friend's dog while she is under going surgery and rehab, while dog is sweet it is not working out very well.

My one dog Buddy has been ill for awhile and has slowly went from being picky eater to not eating. Wnt from 16/16.5 lbs from March to about 8 lbs this past Monday. Had urinary tract infection for about 2 weks, had dental with many tooth extractions July 11, under went unscheduled dental surgery this past Tuesday and was rushed to emergency hospital 4:00 am this past Wednesday.

Yesterday afternoon when I came home from work I noticed that Woody wasn't acting normal. Other 2 dogs raced outside but he went into living room and climbed in 1 of the beds. While I was eating my dinner he didn't come racing into the kitchen. I checked on him and he had moved onto a small area rug. I noticed that he was shaking and seemed to be in a bit of pain. So I gave him 1/2 Tramdol to see if it would help. Made him some dinner which he ate but even acted strange with that. Didn't gulp down as ueseual. Would eat a bite or two, shift his body, eat another bite and shift again. Went to go get crate to put him back on crate rest.

Meanwhile the emergency hospital called asking me to bring some treats or food to see if we could get Buddy to eat. Mentioned how Woody was acting. They said crate rest butnif he looked any worse bring him rit in. While I was gathering the various foods/treats to take in I noticed that Woody was now in a different bed. Went outside to let my husband know what was going on with Woody and that I was planning to go visit Buddy. When walked into living room Woody had moved again. Have never seen him restless like that - asked him to walk to me when all hell broke lose.

Too much info to kep typing, not like I haven't already typed too much, but basically I,tried, to rush him to emergency hospital where Buddy is. A usual 15-20 nimute drive that took much longer due to labor day weekend and Gran Prix race in Baltimore this weekend. I-695 was virtual parking lot, I-95 was parking lot due to race as well as work traffic. Picture this- dog screaming and twisting in pain while hysterical women is fighting her way thru traffic with people cursing her out for cutting them off or looking at her like she lost her mind when they see her crying and talking to the back seat.

Was able to get to side streets which were slw moving parking lots but at least we were moving. Thank God my cell has GPS. Called ahead to let them knw he was coming in and what was going on. Asked for muzzle as Woody was in so much pain he kept looking at me for help while trying to bite me and husband for touching him. When the vet tech picked him up he was bleeding from his nose.

I left him there so they could put him on pain meds and steriods for his back. He couldn't walk when first there then would struggle to stand, drag his left rear leg to get to me, then fall down. Luckily the neurologist shares his office with the emergency hospital. They said if he lost deep pain sensation they would call him in. If not then as soon as he comes in they would have him look at Woody. Once I hear something I will let all know though when I left the 'S' word was being bantered about.

Now I have my two males at emergency room with my female and friends female home. All dogs are dachsunds. So much happening, so stressed out and I didn't even get into all the details.

Sorry to be soo long winded. Please forgive that as well as misspellings and poor grammar.

Yesterday the neurologist called me to tell me Woody needed an MRI. He preforms tests at White Marsh,MD, at a place for humans but they let him use it for animals one day a week, or will refer people to a place in Vienna,VA called Animal Scan. Since he only has access to the MD location on Tuesdays he asked me to take Woody to the one in VA. I live in Glen Burnie,MD which is very close to BWI airport. My husband looked at me like I was nuts as we know how traffic is around that DC/upper VA but I said yes. I drove to Catonsville to pick Woody up & drove down to VA to have the MRI done. Only took me about an hour to get there, traffic was busy but flowed ok. Met a woman at the MRI place with a german shepard, possibly shepard mix, that was also at the emergency hospital the same night I was & was working with same neurologist. I told her about Dodgerslist & how much everyone has helped me with my cares/concerns/woes. She said she would check the group out & I truly hope she does.

Anyway,with being very stressed I cant quote exactly what dr said but it involves T11,T12,T13,T14 on Woodys left side. He said Woody did need surgery & he will be having the surgery sometime this morning.

The return from Vienna was almost a drive thru hell. Not as bad as the night before when I took Woody to the hospital but getting close to it. Driving in Vienna was no picnic either. Had to go get gas while waiting on Woody when he was getting MRI. The traffic in Vienna is horrendous &, sorry people of Vienna, the people are not courteous, at least not while driving. Took me a good hour to get gas & return to get Woody. Do not plan to go into Vienna/Faifax again unless an extreme need, such as this.

Took a good 2 or more hours to get back to hospital with Woody. Work traffic, holiday traffic & 2 GPS's that were driving me crazy. Add a dog that cried the entire way, not a pleasant drive. By the time I arrived back at hospital I was ready to ask for a cage to hide in & pain meds for a migrane. Course I hadn't eat for a good 8 hours or so which didn't help.

The dog of the woman I met was getting ready for surgery when we arrived back at hospital. Woody went back to his cage & they brought Buddy out to me. While he is looking better than when he went in I am concerned about him. He does not act like he is aware of who I am. He stll will not eat nor drink. They are concerned over not drinking as they had to take him off IV fluids. It was starting to affect his heart. They want me to bring him home for a few hours to see if I can get him to drink & possibly eat at home.

He acts like he wants to drink, will dip nose in the water, pull back & walks away. Any ideas on how to get him to drink? Was thinking of maybe adding a bit of low sodium chicken broth to his water. If he doesn't drink he will die. Do not know what to do as even if his heart could take another IV, he cannot live on an IV the rest of his life. Wondering if he is trying to tell me it's his time to go?

Well, I will let everyone be. I am at work & my break time is just about over. Will let everyone know how Woody's surgery goes. Thanx for 'listening' to me whine.

Later!

Prayers that all goes well with Woody's surgery. You are NOT whining sweetheart, you are looking for support and comfort and that IS why we are here.Please keep us posted about all of your furbabies.
Hugs and prayers,
Maureen

Saturday I brought Buddy home with the direction that if he doesn't eat or drink he is to get to his vet if possible but with it being a holiday weekend I am to return him to them if regular vet not available. They strongly suggested he get on heart meds. They feel his heart is very weak and it would not take much for it to fail.

As soon as we arrived home Buddy went to his water bowl and, with a bit of difficulty as he can barely see, he drank water. He was drinking soo much that I pulled him away for a bit so he wouldn't get sick but he was drinking. I then offered him a bit of baby food, with him suffering from the infected teeth and dental was leery of offering anything more solid. He ate about 2 tbsp and then I stopped him. Since he hasn't really eaten, other than some syringed food at hospital, I wanted to take it slow. He was drinking and eating which made me happy as he wasn't doing it at the hospital. They only let him come home with the rule he HAD to eat/drink or be returned. Of course I am sort of repeating that info.

We came home about 10:00 and they said he was due for 1/4 tab of Tramadol at 11:00. Bud has always been the one dog I am unable to give pills to. His Cushings medicine is usually pulverized then hidden in food. Thought I would do it with Tramadol. Didnt work as he tasted it and refused to eat-at all-for rest of yesterday and today. I struggled but finally was able to get a pill in him tho it was more of some of it disolving in various areas of his mouth and all over me.

In evening I had to give him oral antibiotics. Since he hadnt eaten I mixed baby food with a bit of broth to syringe feed him. BIG struggle but was able to do it, not as much food as I would of liked but didnt want to over stress him. This morning I had to go to work real, real early and he still refused to eat. I did manage to syringe feed him a bit more before I went in. On way home from work I stopped at food store and bought a lot of foods he loves, or at least did a few months back. Also picked up a few other foods to try him on to see if he would eat.

Arrived at home to find him in bed shaking and having difficulty moving in bed. Tried to hand feed him several items I bought but he kept turning his head away from it. He went to get up for drink of water and promptly fellover. He got up, staggered to water bowl, falling over several times. I picked him up and went back to hospital. That is where he is now.

They are going to give him his meds and try feeding him. I told them they MUST find out why he is refusing to eat. He was supposed to get an ultra sound, from a doctor that shares their building, before he became hospitalized. They said they would try to get him to do it on Tuesday, being it is a holiday weekend. The vet said there are no promises that an ultra sound will show anything. the 'C' word (cancer) was bantered about. Bud's regular vet mentioned it the other week when I told him that he, or another vet, HAD to find out why he will not eat.

So he is back in hospital where Woody is but not together. Before Woody's surgery they would put them together for small periods of time. They said it seemed to calm them both. When not together, they were in cages where they could still see and smell each other. Where Woody is now there aren't any cages like that. Too risky to move Woody or put them together.

Woody saw me, started to cry and move around. Hated to do it but I quickly left area as I didn't want him moving around and damage anything. Hate to admit this but I do not know the sequence of vertabra - from neck to tail is it low number to high or high number to low? In any case, too stressed to remember all I was told. Was told MRI showed issues on his left side. Also discovered that two of the disks are the ones he had operated on while with previous owner in TX.

After surgery Dr. G called and said he was leery of doing anything with those two disks as there was a lot of scarring and internal fusing. He felt he would possibly do more harm then good if he messed with them. That as well as cause a lot of hemhorraging. He worked on the other disks, which he said were the worse, and found more damage than expected, on both sides. Not only on left side as viewed on MRI. On Saturday afternoon Dr. G said they will not know how successful surgery was or how Woody is for about 48 hours. That means I won't hear anything beore tomorrow.

Though Woody didn't look real bad, he was shaking when I saw him. Whether from pain, sadness or fear I do not know. He was on an IV, for what that might be. When he saw me he started moving his front end and it looked to me as he was pulling his rear aound. Don't know if it was due to being in cage, in pain or his rear is down. Hope due to being in cage.

Sorry so long winded, as usual. No one else aound here truly understands why I am doing all that I am. Nor why I keep going farther and farther into debt for my babies, just dogs to them. The way it has been going I will probably never retire but I want to keep them as happy and as healthy as I can. Also keep them around as long as I can. That is only if healthy. If in pain and very ill I know it will not be fair to make them suffer. Though with the thoughts that this might be it for Buddy is truly killing me. He is down to 3.6 kg, whatever that is in pounds I haven't had time to calculate. Just know while he is supposed to be bout 8-10 lbs, to get there from 16 lbs in a few months is not good.

Will keep all updated. Hope they both get better as I want them around much, much longer. Not ready to give them up as well as net month will be two years ince I had to put my Lady, shepard/husky mix down to an agressive cancer. Still hurting fom that and add thoughts of possibly loing Buddy is truly killing me. At least I was able to take Lady for a blessing before she passed on. There aren't any scheuled until next month. Have fear Bud will not make it.

Sorry, yet again, for rambling. Especially when this is a forum for backs not other issues. Thanks to all for listening to me.will update as things progress.

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Hi Donna,

I can't even imagine what its like to have two furbabies so sick at the same time, but I understand the need to want to do everything you can to do for them.

I hope both Woody and Buddy improve over the next few days. I'm sure you are beside yourself with worry, and dont' forget to take care of yourself and eat properly and rest and ask your family for help with the everyday stuff.

June

Woody is home!! When the vet tech brought him into the office he was soo excited he was just about beside himself trying to get to us. He whimperd, he cried, he licked me, my husband, me, back and forth the entire time that the doctor talked to us. Every so often, between the crying and licking, he would look at the door then look at us as if to say 'Hey! I am ready to go!! What are the two of you waiting for - Christmas??'.

He is not walking very well though he does try. I am trying to support his hips as he tries to walk to potty. Woody has never been able to stand in one place when he potties. That is unless he is laying down - that seems to be the time he usually will poo. He is dragging his left rear leg and will flop to hs side if I don't help him. He is to get his staples removed in 12-14 days. At that time he is to go to a physical therapist to be evaluated. He will be going to the place I used to take him a few months after I adopted him. He used to like it there as he would walk on the water treadmill and they would occassionally give him a small treat. It helped quite a bit as when I first adopted him, even though he couldn't truly walk, he refused to use the cart. He wanted to walk and that is what he eventually did. Very wobbly walk but he did walk again.

Hope he has the same stubborn streak now as he did then. He isn't acting like he is in major pain but Imdo think he is hurting a little bit. He is due for his pain meds about 6/6:30. They said to keep him on their pain med schedule, every 8 hours, for at least two days. Then see how he is as to if we want to wean him back to every 12 hours until he shows no signs of pain. They do not want him hurting. With his other surgeries he was out of pain quickly but this time I can see he is feeling it more than before. So I will keep him on the Tramadol for as long as he needs it.

He is getting - Cefpodoxime proxetil 100 mg (antibiotic), 1/2 tablet once a day; Prednisone 5 mg - 1tablet every other day and Tramadol 50 mg - 3/4 tablet every 8-12 hours as needed for pain. At this moment now he is laying in his bed in the living room. It is truly great to have him back home and I know he is glad to be back.

While we were waiting to get Woody they were taking Buddy back to prep him for his ultra sound. The vet asked me to call about 6:00 for his results which is about 20 minutes from now. While I do not want anything major to be wrong with Buddy,I truly wish someone would figure out why he is still refusing to eat! They have him on pain meds but said they were going to wean him off to see if he still needs them. If he is not in pain I do not mind bringing him home and syringe feed him while they figure out what is wrong.

The vet he had taking care of him Sunday told me she would tell me if she thought I ought to put im down. She looked him over and said, other than not eating and heart murmur, he was a happy little guy. She did not feel putting him down as a neccessary option. So far there have been 7 different vets checking him put and not one of them has a clue to the eating dilemma. Hope the one doing the ultra sound will have a clue.

If Buddy appeared to be suffering, while I hate tot think this, I would end his suffering. The thing is he is very high spirited, happy and his tail waggs a mile a minute. They said that he will stand in his cage and watch them go by, at least as best as he can considering he doesn't see very well. He appears to be very inquisitive and they just adore him. That is why I just cannot put him down! Now that they saved him he is fine, barring the lack of desire to eat.

Anyone ever hear of a dog losing all desire to eat? If so - let me know so I can share the info woth the vets.

I will keep everyone updated with Woody and Buddy. I think I will get something to drink, call the vet and then give Woody his meds for the night.

Thanks to all! It helps to have supportive, helpful people. Sad to say there are some people I know with rescue, co-workers and such that have not said one peep to me since all of this has happened. Times like this is when you discover who are or are not friends. Sad, real sad. All I ever asked for was advice and support but the way people have reacted, or lack of, one would think I was asking for money or their first born. Go figure.

Thanks again! Time to make my call.

Happy to hear that you have Woody home. Here's hoping that the ultrasound on Buddy gives you some results. Try not to be angry with your friends and co-workers. People often don't know what to say, or are afraid of upsetting you by saying the wrong thing - which is better than the ones that are only too happy to give you their opinions and need to have their mouths glued shut.

It sounds as though Woody is doing very well, Donna - great! My continued prayers for Buddy. I hope he'll start eating soon. I know how hard it is to see our pets rejecting their food. The way I look at it, where there's life, there's hope. He's not in pain and is not suffering. Hopefully, his appetite will pick up.

Blessings to you all.