Sophie and the dreaded bloat

[shirley walsh]

Have had a very distressing week with Sophie...She had bloat last week and I had to rush her to an emergency veterinary hospital which was luckily only 10 mins in the car. She last had bloat and torsion in July 2013 ( she had bloat and torsion 3 times in 8 months in 2012-2013, then last year had mammary tumour removed which really knocked her for six ) She went into shock very quickly this time. She had previous gastropexy x2 in the past so I of course was so worried that her stomach had torsion as well. They initially decompressed the abdomen with x2 needles as she was getting really distressed. She was then anaesthetised and oral tube was passed without any difficulty. I got her home the next evening looking a lot better. She was on antibiotics as she aspirated during the procedure. She was put on ranitidine and metaclopromide to aid gut motility. I gave a gig sigh of relief that she did not require surgery...However the next morning she had fresh blood on her shaved abdomen at the site of the needle puncture wound...I thought that was a bit odd...and there was a large red mark which I thought was a razor burn. I phoned the vets and they were not unduly concerned. With a bit of sustained pressure the bleeding stopped. Sophie was a bit quiet for the rest of the day but was eating and drinking etc. By late evening I was getting a bit anxious and thinking she was too quiet. Checked her mucous membranes and they were nice and pink and my hubby said to stop worrying and said she was fine ( he is a surgeon ) The next day she still looked 'depressed' and I thought that something was not right. I phoned the vets to say I was not happy with her and that I was going to bring her in. They initially said to bring her in layer that afternoon but I said I was bringing her in now. Well I just got my keys and bag together and was about to go out the door with her when Sophie collapsed in a heap!. By this time I was starting to panic as I was on my own and no way could I carry her to my car. I managed to get her up on her feet and somehow got her in the car. When I arrived at the vets I said she needs to be seen now!. Luckily the vet came out and we both carried her to the consulting room. Her mucous membranes were white and she was in a bad way. I thought that she was bleeding internally and her blood clotting was not right. The vet warned me that there was a very real possibility that she would not make it!. I was beside myself that I may lose her...Anyway they took some bloods for a clotting screen and it showed very low platelets and her PCV (packed cell volume) was low. There was no way they could do anything surgical as she would just bleed out. It was then decided that she should have a blood transfusion  and I suggested her sister Missy would be an ideal candidate. Bless Missy who gave her blood to save her sister. It turns out she has had an idiopathic thrombocytopaenia which they are not sure of the cause. It could have been antibiotic related ,or she has used up all her platelets with bleed which was not enough to be catastrophic to kill her. (she had fluid in her abdomen which was a mixture of red blood cells and fluid) They commenced her on prednisolone and she also had a one of dose of vincristine to kick start her bone marrow. I got her home yesterday and taking it very slowly with her. Getting her bloods checked tomorrow. Hope they show an improvement. Apologies for the long post.

[shirley walsh]

Thanks. Sue .A little break through today...Has eaten some chicken breast today and drank some water..No way will she touch the royal canine prescription diet.    .Phew!..Bless her she is so weak what with the muscle wasting with the steroids. I was doing a little research and read an article on Pancreatitis. It can obviously be caused by drugs and one of the groups of drugs the mentioned was Vinca Alkaloids (vincristine is a member of that group) which she had on the 26th Oct and became unwell on the 4th Nov...Jeez ...that's another drug that has probably caused my girl to be unwell (cephalosporin ? caused her IMT)

[silvia]

WOW such a great news!!! Oberon has been sick in the past and he has been given the hills prescription food: no way he went close to it.. I would keep tempting with what she likes , provided , as james said, that is low fat and bland. Boiled chicken is perfect at this stage. I am so happy, i hope she will improve steadily !!

[James Doran]

Glad to hear that news, Shirley. Hope that it continues for her. I was lucky in that Romeo would not refuse anything to eat, so he has no problems with Hills low fat I/d. He just doesn't understand why he no longer gets some of the things he used to, God love him! And as for what you had to say about drugs/meds, there is no such thing as a drug without side effects....if they help in one way, they harm in another. That's how I see it anyway.

[shirley walsh]

Thanks Silvia...

James..you are so right ...When they anaesthetised her to decompress her stomach she aspirated the washout a few times so they gave her a cephalosporin antibiotic to cover any potential chest problems, this in turn caused a rare side effect of IMT then AIHA....so to try and boost her production of platelets and RBC's they started her on prednisolone and gave her a dose of vincristine which I think caused her pancreatitis. if it does not kill you it might cure you! and to cover themselves they give you a form ''Unlicensed Product Consent Form' to sign to say that you accept any attendant risks., bearing in mind that it was not explained to me the potential side effects of Vincristine and Rilexine .

Anyway my own vet has now got her under his care and hopefully she will soon start to get her strength back after she has weaned off those horrid steroids. She is getting plenty of gentle hugs and kisses.

Thank god for this forum which has kept me from having a meltdown! Taking her to vet tomorrow

Thanks again everyone for your support xxx

[Finding_Beau]

Hi Shirley, Another thing you could try for Sophie is Nutrigel. I checked and it is available in the UK. This saved Hobson's life last year. This enabled me to get him to eat again. I have attached a photo of Hobson after his 2nd day in the ICU of the University of Queensland veterinary hospital to give you hope. Hobson looked even worse than this before I was able to get him to eat. Hobson is now fighting Hemangiosarcoma. The Nutrigel has again assisted and even though under "normal circumstances" Hobson's digestive system is the best with certified organic raw food, I have had to resort to boiled chicken and Hills i/d wet food. What Hobson really enjoys is Jalna yoghurt with organic honey. Maybe you could try this. Hobson has also survived GDV. I wish you all the best. I understand what a heart-breaking time you are going through.Susan

 

[shirley walsh]

Hi Susan

I had read your blog last week which really upset me with what you and especially Hobson have gone through. You must have been going out of your mind with worry. Your poor baby , I am in tears looking at the pic.  I went to a pet supplier yesterday to see if they had something similar. I shall look online for uk distributors. She is drinking and has taken a little food and is weaning off her steroids. Her behaviour is odd too. Seems scared of her other furbabies in the house. Its the muscle wasting and weakness that is making her so listless. I shall keep giving her the warm honey and water until I can get some nutri-cal. it is so stressful trying to coax them into eating when they are so poorly. I hope that once the steroids are out of her system she may pick up.

Please give Hobson a huge gentle hug and a big kiss from me .(oh and a big hug to you from across the pond xx)

Shirl xx

[silvia]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ilium-Nutrigel-200gms/dp/B00GLFY82E

dear all

if it is this one, it looks as is also on amazon. All the best Silvia

[shirley walsh]

Thanks Silvia...I managed to get Nutri-cal.....Hmmm the one you have shown looks about the same thing ...cheaper too! If I need more I will certainly give that one a go...

Thank you

Shirl

[shirley walsh]

Sophie looking a bit better tonight. even managed to get on the sofa

[Finding_Beau]

Hi Shirley

It is nice to see a photo of Sophie and to read that she is improving. It is a very positive sign that Sophie wants to get back to her usual routine. Try not to worry about her fearfulness. She is only feeling vulnerable because she is unwell. Hobson has been this way too in the past. Have you tried hard/soft boiled eggs and cottage cheese which are natural sources of protein? At present Hobson won't touch cottage cheese but he still loves his eggs.

Sophie deserves to win this battle, and so do you. We are all behind you both even though we live all around the world. Susan xxxxx