westiemum

In the nicest possible way I'm sooo hoping you're wrong HMD - but will keep it in mind if it happens again - just hope it doesn't..

Oops sorry I missed your post K - yes that too is a good idea. The caravan park where we were last weekend had roos and giardia and roo poo apparently go together - so anything is possible. I'll get over this week with Mac and then see where I am with Andy and go from there. Thanks for the suggestion.

Perse some probiotics is a good idea - any recommendations?

Thanks Caz and ness - yes I'll mull the Sarah and Andy management issue over the next few days - its interesting - the opinion both on and off DOL at the moment is pretty evenly split both ways - I'll see... And ness thank you for the cremation info - yes he'll be cremated and come back to my mantle piece where I can continue to talk to him! I'll organise the cremation people after I confirm the vet tomorrow. Gee this all seems very clinical and matter-of-fact - but i supposed many ways it is...

Yeah he does look pretty cool in his Macmobile - I'll have to get some photos. Can I ask for some advice? I also want to do what's best for Sarah and Andy on Friday. Do people think it's better for them to be present on the laps of friends or taken for a walk and brought back for a sniff of Mac after its all over? I can see advantages both ways but am leaning towards the take them for a walk option? What do people think/ advise?

Kirty I'm so sorry to read that Rupert is gone. I remember the thread where you took him on knowing it may end like this - and it has. But he passed in your arms knowing he was loved and that was a priceless gift from you to him. I'm so pleased for him that he had you and heartbroken for you as well. Take care and RIP Rupert.

ESP Boronia! Earlier this afternoon I wheeled out the Macmobile and put it in the kitchen so he could be part of the action while I cooked!! And he'll go to the park in it tomorrow. He's back in it after having dinner and looks like king of the castle!

Thanks all - while its hard and I'm still teary, I know its the right thing to do. We're going to enjoy his last week. He can have his favourite things and we'll go to the park in the Macmobile, say goodbye to his vets (he's had a cast of thousands over the years!) and do a final farewell at doggy daycare. As someone said in another thread, this will be be a week of building unforgettable memories...

Well some good news. My old retired nurse mother said 'give him a loading dose' when I said 'he's only marginally better' on Thursday night. So yesterday morning I doubled his AB dose in the morning and again in the evening and the difference its made is phenomenal. He's pretty much back to his old self. So he's having one more day today on the double dose then I'll drop it by 25% tomorrow and back to the prescribed dose on Monday until finished. Suggests that he had a bacterial tummy bug of some sort. I know any vets reading this will be unimpressed. But given this has all been guess work the whole way along the line it seemed a reasonable thing to try and its worked. And I haven't given him anymore ABs than prescribed - I've just given them to him a day or two faster! And its sooo good to see him pretty much back to his old self! Thanks everyone for your kind support and suggestions - as usual I think DOL was spot on the money!

Well Mac fans the time has come. I came home last night to Mac half in and half out of his bed in the laundry, panting and thirsty cos he couldn't get to his water bowl and sitting in his own poo. He couldn't stand let alone walk. It broke my heart and I cried and cried knowing 'its time'. I cleaned him up, gave him a big drink and some dinner and we snuggled on the lounge until we went to bed. He was his usual restless self at 1.30 am this morning and then settled down for the rest of the night. This morning he was just as immobile until after a late breakfast. He ate brekky and his pills in blue cheese (of course!) and is now mobile but very unsteady - his back end swings around like a feather in the breeze and then collapses. He can't get himself through the doggy door anymore. And I don't want him to get to a point where he is distressed. So after discussion with Mum, working around my work commitments and when she can be here during the day next week to look after him and unless events overtake us, he'll go to God on Friday evening, the 20th, at home - hopefully with the people who love him most around him. This is hardest and worst decision I've ever made - but its the right one. Here he is this morning on the newly cut lawn which he loves.

Yeah I do remember DD. He's still very up and down. His back end is definitely worse . And last night he was very restless until I gave him my side of the bed!!! He then put his head down 'klonk' and went straight to sleep - I think my scent must reassure him so I'll let him sleep on my dressing gown tonight and see if I can entice back onto his side of the bed!!

Thanks gilly - I didn't think of that - and yes given the caravan park cabins we were staying in its a distinct possibility. And thanks everyone - he's getting better very slowly - but he gets 'flat' again just before his next dose of ABs and pain relief is due. I think as some have said this is going to ge a long haul. But at least he ate a bit of his normal breakfast this morning (after refusing the special low fat gastro canned stuff) and perked up a bit after his pills. Will see how he is when I get home tonight.

Thanks Ness - will do - hoping something will become obvious overnight - gut motility? microbial?

Hope people don't mind me putting this here but I'm looking for a wider audience. And a warning - some graphic pooy details here... Andy, my littlest westie developed some pretty severe diarrhoea on Sunday morning while we were down the south coast visiting friends on the weekend - there was also some blood in it and he was dribbling a little blood from his rectum. So I packed us up and headed home. His diarrhoea was better later that afternoon with little blood and the bleeding had stopped and he was bright and happy and didn't appear to be in any pain. But he was a bit flat after dinner so I took him to the vet - sent home with ABs and pain relief. We all thought he would be fine and recover. He was OK overnight on Sunday/Monday but still flat so his Grandma came to look after him during the day Monday while I went back to work. I had to go out on Monday night and by the time I got home Mum said his tummy was very distended and he needed to go back to the emergency vet. I was wondering if he'd eaten something like a foam cushion while we were away? (There was a little foam on the floor where I stayed but I didn't think anything of it at the time). Rectal exam and X-rays suggested a foreign body and his tummy was very distended and drum tight. He stayed overnight and did two poos overnight. But his tummy was still really full of something this morning so they sent him back to his regular vet at lunchtime today for surgery this afternoon 'to empty it'. In the meantime he did another poo at his regular vet so clearly stuff was getting through. His regular vet did a very thorough laparoscopy this afternoon - essentially oesophagus to rectum - and nothing there except some rubbery chicken in his tummy that hadn't passed through from dinner on Monday - very odd. And of course a couple of smelly farts. Now the suggestion is that maybe its microbial rather than an obstruction? But everyone is pretty puzzled. The stomach contracted the way it should and his intestine is a good colour. Anyway he's still very flat after his surgery and so he's having another night at the emergency vets for overnight monitoring. I'll see how he is in the morning and go from there. But in the meantime, anyone have any ideas? I hate to see him so flat and unhappy - felt terribly guilty leaving him at the vets again tonight looking very sad. Anyway I'm off to bed now as I didn't get to bed until 2.30 this morning (it was chaos at the emergency vet last night and we had to wait hours). Thanks everyone.

Hi All, Thanks for your note B. Its very up and down here. He's had a good couple of days - and I got home tonight and he's really steady and alert and eating well - and Mum was very impressed yesterday when he took himself into the laundry for a drink and wee'd on command on the back lawn yesterday. But his bad days are really becoming very bad with his back end completely collapsing - its very hard to know what to do. He's actually pretty healthy - he's just losing his back end function... I'm just praying that he lets me know when he wants to go play at the bridge... and while he's still sniffing Sarah's bottom I'm not sure he's ready... but if anyone can tell me how you make these decisions and how you know when its time I'm all ears...

Yes now I do but post- surgery I puréed his food and then gradually increased the texture and viscosity over two weeks or so until any swelling was gone and his pain subsided and he was back on a normal diet. But for the first time last night he vomited which is usually not a good sign and is an aspiration risk - so I might see if he vomits again and if he does put him back on purée to see if that does the trick.

You're telling me YG!! Yes and although it sometimes makes me unpopular with the vets, I'm Mac's only real advocate so I make the best decisions I possibly can. And Speechies know vastly more than GPs (and vets it seems) about swallowing dysfunction and its management - so when it comes to managing his swallowing dysfunction it's the one area I'd back myself in every day of the week - with apologies to any vets reading this - I do love you - but when it comes to this I'm the expert!!

It's funny B - post tie-back surgery for his laryngeal paralysis I had no idea how to feed him to reduce his risk of aspiration pneumonia - and so I just did for him what I would do for a human swallowing patient - and it worked. So I probably need to go back to that diet and see if it helps. Don't know why I didn't think of it before.

Aaaah!!! This dog is going to me the emotional death of me. I gave him a double dose of ABs last night (figured I had nothing to lose) - and he's much better this morning. Quite bright and alert and still following and sniffing Sarah's bottom! Which is good to see. And for anyone who is interested - as an old neuro Speech Path with swallowing expertise I now wondering if he's getting some food/liquid leakage into his airway - not enough to produce full blown AP but enough to make him feel 'off'' and wobbly. And the hit of ABs has helped knock any mild infection on the head - which is why he's better this morning. He might be getting to the point where the texture of his food needs adjusting again to help keep it going down the right hole (in technical terms) - same as we do with humans who are on a slow neurologivcal decline. So I might try him back on his post-surgical diet again and see if that helps. (And this is where canine videoflouroscopy would be damn hepful! Apparently available in the states but not sure if it's here). So despite no actual proof of any of this - just knowing my dog and some clinical judgement - I'll look at that in the next few days, and try him out on some different textures and see what happens.

Hi All, truth is we've had a difficult couple of days here. His back end is collapsing more and more and I'm devastated that the end is close unless he bounces back yet again. It's Mums birthday this Friday and we're away for the weekend so unless he improves again I'm beginning to think he'll go tonGod late next week... We'll see... Prayers please.

Yep get an urgent vet appointment - they can almost always squeeze you in somewhere. Mac is on a handful a drugs which all seem to help - he's on: Mornings Lexicom (anti-inflammatory and pain relief, low dose) Kepcet (anti-convulsant) Cisapride/Zantac Combo (for gut motility and reflux as he has an open airway) Doxycycline (low dose AB) Evenings Same except Gabapentin (for neuro pain) instead of the Lexicom. This routine has kept him going for over 12 months and kept him comfortable and was prescribed by his Internal Medicine Specialist, not his regular vet. And it works. If you can't get into your vet see if you can get an urgent appointment with an Internal Medicine Specialist, maybe through an Emergency Vet and get his pain management sorted you might find it helps - a lot. For example Lexicom is a 24 hour drug and needs to be given daily - if Mac misses I notice a difference in his function - yet initially he was on it every second day because of side effects fears - but what I was essentially doing was giving him good day/bad day/good day/bad day - so we went to daily and in a 16 year old dog you need to weigh up the risks and make some compromises. And if you get his pain management sorted with specialist assistance and it doesn't help then you might need to make another decision. Sars I'm in the same boat - some people have been very critical of me that I haven't put Mac down - but he has normal blood panels, still potters around and gets through the doggy door (but can't manage stairs well), wees poos, and sniffs Sara's bottom and demolishes his meals and generally has more good days than bad days, so we go on - I know my dog. He's a basically healthy old boy with a slowly worsening neuro disorder. But when he gets to the point where his quality of life is poor most of the time I'll make a different decision. But until then... Big hugs and let us know how you get on?

Yep the in-house ones are more like a screening 'wellness' panel - the lab panel is usually more extensive and tests for specific things.

Hi B, the truth is that he has had a wobbly couple of days - and a bad night last night which means I also had a bad night last night. I had to take him for a drink and a wee three times last night which meant I was pretty weary this morning - but I'd do it all again for him without a second thought. He's still eating very well and weeing and pooing - he seems to be drinking a bit more but at the moment I'm putting that down to the heat. But he seems better tonight when I got home. I think the heat knocks him around a bit. Hoping for a better night tonight. Anyway bedtime - will report back in tomorrow night.

Don't worry DD - I never forget that!!

Thanks all - he's eating like a horse and seems genuinely 'with it' and happy. His godfather is coming to visit him tomorrow afternoon so will be interesting to see what he thinks tomorrow.