Very sick dog. Can you help me interperate these symptoms?

[pdbantam]

Her symptoms (I think) say she's in pain. So sorry. I know it's awful to feel helpless about it.

 

[jerseygirl1]

No clues here, but I am wishing the best for your dog.......................

 

[carolinagirl58]

What a difference 24 hours (and two doses of steroids) makes!! Bailey is still a little unsteady in the back end, but it's mostly gone and she feels GREAT! She had a bad night....she wet her bed and she has never, ever done anything like that before. She had only had the first dose of steroids about 3 hours prior to that though, so I think it had not begun working yet. But then she slept through the night and woke up feeling pretty good. I only gave her one pain pill this morning along with her 2nd dose of steroids and she slept a little, but has steadily improved as the day wore on. She is eating and drinking, wagging her tail, head is up and she even lays on her side for belly rubs. The hard part will be keeping her calm and inside for the next month while she heals up all the way. I don't want to keep her drugged up on pain pills if she is not in pain. I think I'll talk to the vet about some Valium to calm her a little. She is a very hard playing, high energy dog and I need to tone that down a little so she can heal up. Man, is it great to have my dog back!! This is the best dog I have ever had and it was so hard to see her feeling so bad. The worst appears to be behind us and now she just needs to heal up. Thanks for all the advise and good wishes. I am so happy!

 

[sourland]

Continue to restrict her activity as much as i possible and be aware that most steroid treatments cause increased water consumption and therefore a greater, more frequent need to urinate. Glad that the symptoms are lessening, but be aware that the condition is most likely not resolved yet.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

FYI, the Tramadol works in a way that does not make the dog feel or act drugged, so don't hesitate in using it. It can sometimes cause nausea, so it's best given with meals. +1 on letting her have many more trips outdoors as the steroids will cause more frequent urination and much larger water consumption.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Thanks. I will give her the tramadol twice a day then and see if that helps. Her appetite is great and I give her the pills with her food. I just sprinkle them right on top of her food and she doesn't even notice. It's much easier than cramming them down her throat. She is going to be on steroids for a total of 20 days, with the dosage decreasing every 5 days until she's only getting 1/2 every other day for the last 5 days. I'll restrict her activity until then....she will be a full-time house dog for a while. Even after she is done, I plan to still keep her inside a lot more and not let her get too wound up for a while.

 

[drdoolittle]

The reason she wet the bed is probably due to the steroids. My boxer had to be on prednisone for a torn knee ligament, and he couldn't make it to the door if you didn't listen when he needed to go out ASAP (and he never, ever had an accident in the house even as a puppy).

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
I am pretty sure it was because of the neck injury. She was laying in her bed, not crated and made no attept to get out of bed. It just started gushing. She had only had her first dose of steroids a couple hours prior so I doubt they would have had an effect on her at that time. She wasn't even drinking much then. Now she is eating and drinking normally.

The vet put her on Acepromazine this morning instead of tramadol since the tramadol seems to have no sedative effect on her at all. The ace is a bit more of a sedative so maybe she will chill out a little better now.

 

[drdoolittle]

I'm so glad she's doing so well! It's so scary when a pet has something wrong and can't tell you where it hurts.

 

[carolinagirl58]

you are so right! If our human children are sick, you just tell the doctor and he fixes it. With our dogs, the vet has to be a really good detective. I think the vet did a really good job with my girl. I am pleased she is on the road to recovery. I just don't know what we would have done if we lost Bailey. We are not ready to say goodbye to her yet.