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Grover Is Really Sick - Another Change


Trisven13
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I've just heard from the vet who said that the good news is that it is not his heart. The bad news is that we don't know what it is. He was peeing red (like red wine she said) this morning and the tests for that show muscle breakdown as you would see in snake bite. We can't work out when that would have happened unless it happened in the backyard before we went for our walk. He was on lead the entire walk and we walked on the footpath so snakebite then is unlikely. Our vet has spoken with specialists in Melbourne and they are perplexed but said that snakebite is top of the list.

Steve is just driving a urine sample to the local pathologists for testing and we will hope to know more then. For the moment it is being treated as snakebite and he will remain on a drip for the next 2-3 days to prevent kidney failure and further muscle breakdown. His heart-rate is now down to 80 and he able to stand.

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Oh good grief... so glad to hear he is better this morning. :laugh: they can work out what has happened and he continues to improve. Please keep us posted. My thoughts are with you.

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Good news that a heart problem has been ruled out.

His continued elevated heart rate and other symptoms are very worrying, though.

Make sure that any vets/specialists that see Grover understand that a Deerhound's NORMAL resting systolic blood pressure is around 200mmHg (almost double normal BP of other breeds). Most vets don't know this and it could confuse a diagnosis.

Fingers crossed that a diagnosis is found quickly.

We are thinking of you.

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What a worrying situation! fingers, legs, eyes etc crossed here too.

Maybe you should check your backyard for anywhere a snake could be nesting/hiding...???? CAREFULLY :laugh:

Very interesting information about the deerhound's blood pressure - fascinating how different breeds have such unique physiology. I am always having to tell vets that crystals in dalmatian urine does NOT mean he/she needs an emergency operation to fix it.

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Oh crap, just caught up with this, hope you get a diasgnosis and Grover gets better soon.

It is so easy to blame ourselves, but Tris don't, we all know you would go to the ends of the earth for your dogs (and all your resues/fosters).

Hope you hear some good news today.

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Anything is possible poodlefan I suppose. I have NEVER seen a snake in our yard but that doesn't mean we haven't had one as we have a reserve behind us. Just waiting on the pathology results which we are told we should have in another hour or so. Steve said that the urine was really dark, almost black, and just didn't look like urine :laugh: . Poor Big Stupid.

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  Trisven13 said:
Steve said that the urine was really dark, almost black, and just didn't look like urine :laugh: .

My medical/veterinary knowledge is virtually nil, but doesn't this sometimes indicate bleeding? I hope the pathology tests can point you all in the right direction.

In the meantime, big hugs and smooches for Grover.

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Blood tests are back. It is not snake bite. :laugh: :D We don't know what it is and so she will continue to treat him with aggressive fluid therapy and wait. She is wondering if it may be some weird anaphylactic reaction to an insect bite of some kind as he also presented yesterday with a severe rash (I didn't notice that - I was too worried about the more obvious things). Who knows - we'll just keep hoping that he is okay.

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  Trisven13 said:
We don't know what it is and so she will continue to treat him with aggressive fluid therapy and wait.

Did I miss a post? So it is not the heart? I'm not a Vet and I am genuinely asking, but I thought that too much fluid can actually make it harder for a heart. :D

Hope it is something as simple as an allergic reaction to an insect bite and that once he's recovered he'll be back to full bounce.

ETA: Don't mind me. Seem's I missed a whole page of posts :laugh:. DOL moves fast. Glad it is not his heart. Hope they find the cause soon and so are able to treat it. Or that it resolves itself, regardless of it remaining a mystery.

Edited by Erny
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Glad to hear that Grover seems to be getting better, if it was a reaction to an insect bite it was certainly severe and his size probably saved him, as I have heard of Whippets dying from such attacks. Hopefully he will soon be home with you and Steve where I'm sure he will be happier. Our thoughts are with you and all the Deerhounds here hope that Grover is soon feeling better.

Pam

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