# Please Think Good Thoughts!



## LovesMyPups (Apr 18, 2010)

Little Lo is feeling ill... 
Last week she started acting lazy, but was still eating, drinking and going out to potty okay, all be it slower than normal. 
Then over the weekend her congestion started, and she stopped eating as much and as regularly as she should. 
Monday she went to the vet. She had a slight temperature based on her history and had also lost weight (Which I already knew without them checking). Heart sounded good, lungs sounded good and OF COURSE, she ran around that whole patient room like absolutely nothing was wrong with her. 
The vet gave her some antibiotics. I couldn't get her to eat anything at all the rest of that day, so she didn't take her pill until Tuesday morning when I was able to get her to eat the teeniest bit of scrambled egg. 
Since she had the scrambled egg Tuesday morning, I haven't been able to convince her to eat anything except for some grain-free kibble we had laying around. :dontknow:
Uh, WHY would she eat KIBBLE when she is used to eating Ziwi and Egg? It's really frustrating me... :foxes15:
In addition to her not wanting to eat (and probably a direct result of her not wanting to eat) she has lost even more energy, and can barely walk herself out to potty today. We are going back to the vet tomorrow I suppose. Looks like blood work is in our future...
However, I plan to grab some BeechNut when I go into town this evening to see if she will eat that. 
Hopefully in the morning she has improved and we can skip the vet trip. Please think good thoughts for her, she really doesn't need to be sick any longer. It's taking a big toll on her tiny body...


----------



## michele (Jan 12, 2009)

Have you tried some nutri-cal ? i would get her to the vets ASAP


----------



## CHITheresa (Apr 30, 2011)

I pray she get better soon, I agree get some nutri-cal.


----------



## LovesMyPups (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks for the good thoughts. 

I don't have any nutri-cal but not sure it would help in this case anyway... She's 6 years old, usually around 5-5 1/2lbs. Maybe I'll look for some when I pick up the BeechNut. I ended up force feeding her tiny broken up bits of Ziwi so I would know she had something good on her tummy, it just upset me that she wouldn't eat it on her own. Then she had a good trip outside and wanted to walk around more than she has been but I didn't want her to waste all her energy.


----------



## CarrieAndCalista (Jul 22, 2011)

many healing vibes coming to Lo
~*~*~*~healing~*~*~*~

I would be inclined to give her anything at all that she will eat... even if it is purely treat food just to get some energy into her and get her metabolism working. You could even try letting her lick some honey from your fingers? Just to get some calories into her.

I hope she picks up over the next couple of days!


----------



## glyndwr (Dec 4, 2010)

Yes me also give her anything she wants within reason of course. How about freshly cooked chicken it's hard to resist. There's not really any smell with kibble or egg I would try the warm chicken or something with a good strong tasty smell just to encourage her. Like a good wet tin of dog meat I would defo be straight back to vets though if shes that ill. hope all goes well


----------



## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

Chicken THIGHS are very appealing to most dogs...I boil them and add a tiny dash of garlic powder once cool. This then obviously could be ground up and force fed if necessary.


----------



## Tabitha (Jul 30, 2011)

Sending good thoughts for your little girl. And for you too.


----------



## Finn (Sep 14, 2010)

Wishing her well. Good things mixed into mashed potato seem to do the trick for my fuss budgets. I also use baby food.


----------



## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

I hope there is nothing seriously wrong with her. What about peanut butter? A small amount on the tip of your finger and let her lick it.


----------



## LovesMyPups (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the get well wishes.

Since I was here last we have done blood work (Extremely high white blood cell count was the big thing), xrays which showed left over uterine tissue from her spay that they were concerned had developed into pyometra, which lead to an ultra sound that showed no masses or concern. 
Ultimately they decided that she has immune polyarthropthy (which I understood as her immune system is attacking her joints) and is causing excessive fluid in her joints. They wanted to sedate her and draw fluids from her knees for examination. I really felt that in her state, sedating her would not be the best option... They decided to go ahead and start her on treatment for this problem, and see how it goes. She was prescribed 5mg of prednisone for the first 6 days, and then we will start dropping the dosage. They said if this is going to help her (which they seemed very confident that it would) then she should show signs of improvement within 24-48 hours. It should also help increase her appetite. She is usually in the 5lb range and is down to less than 4 in this last week. She really needs to eat voluntarily and in the amounts that she normally does. 

Has anyone used Prednisone before and with what kinds of results? I am kind of feeling like we are treating the effects and not the cause of the problem... if that makes sense?


----------



## pmum (Oct 17, 2010)

Hi Lovemypups:
I would give some PROBIOTIC after that anitibiotic treatment to
put good flora back into her digestive track. Very important!!!
To do so, can buy Probiotics for dogs or either give a tablespoon of
Organic Yogurt (unsweetend) every two days or can give every day,
Hope she gets well..
Blessing.


----------



## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Prednisone is a a'wonder' drug with some side effects. With joint pain it will really help. This is a diagnostic tool for the vets. If it works, then the diagnosis is probably right. What I can't figure out is why the extremely high white count. That would possisbly be from the inflammation? This dog will be really hungry, drink alot; which means peeing more and may be sort of 'high'. Mine was the first two but didn't get more active. Good luck and keep up posted. Sue


----------

