I woke up Friday morning a half an hour before my alarm was set to go off still crying from my sleep. I got Bullet up, took him out and helped him go potty, and gave him his medications. He hates his medications so much that in an attempt to keep his mouth closed, he accidentally bit down on my thumb almost hard enough to break the skin. After winning that battle, I tried to get him to eat. I had boiled chicken the night before and tried to feed him a small piece of it. He not only refused it, but spat it out every time I would put it in his mouth. I cooked some rice to mix with it and added Karo syrup and liver water to the mixture in an attempt to make sure his blood sugar didn’t crash. He still refused food. At that point, I gave him 2 cc of Karo syrup, subq’d him 20 cc of Lactated Ringers, and prepared to discuss my concerns with the vet at our appointment. As I was preparing my father-in-law’s breakfast, Ammo (my other male) came in through the doggy door carrying the baggy of chicken for Bullet. At some point, somebody had gotten it off of the table and he was bringing it back for his buddy! It’s so important to me that I find things to smile about in the midst of all of this.
We traveled the 45 minutes to the vet and I was so relieved to see my vet tech friend of 30 years, Martha, there when I checked in. She took my teary self into the back and we settled to wait for the vet. At this point, I feel it very important to mention that it was the vet’s day off. The regular person who does the acupuncture on that day was on vacation so she had scheduled herself to come in on her day off just to treat my Bullet. I can’t say enough good things about the caring hearts that all of the people in my life have.
I brokenly cried my way through describing the decline of Bullet’s condition since his first treatment and expressed my concerns at his lack of eating and his dehydration. The vet decided that the meds were probably doing more harm than good as they were upsetting his stomach and making him not want to eat- something that could not only cause a whole other slew of problems, but also trigger pancreatitis again. They recommended to me that I buy some Gerber brand chicken and turkey and feed that to him and took him off of the Prednisone and the Tramadol and instead replaced it with Gabapentine and Cerenia and Famotidine for his stomach. Plans to send a new bag of Lactated Ringers was also put into motion so that I could subq him the required amount for the next few days. Then we began his treatment. Today instead of just a regular acupuncture treatment, the vet opted for electroacupuncture instead. After placing his needles, she attached electrodes that would send electric impulses through the needles to travel down his neuro-highway. After getting the placements and the settings set, we noticed that Bullet’s toes began to twitch as did his tail! She finished his appointment with the laser treatment and I asked a few more questions about his care including how often I needed to take him to potty. (Answer: only twice a day even if he is getting the 200 cc of Lactated Ringers that she had prescribed as long as his gums were still tacky.) She cautioned me that there are some new studies that CBD oil can lead to liver damage in canines so she suggested using half of the recommended dose instead.
On the way home, I stopped and bought a case of baby food (better to keep some on hand should I need it later!) and Bullet immediately ate a half of a jar. I got him settled at home and he spent the entire day sleeping. I woke him to potty, to get his electromagnetic therapy treatment at my mom’s, and to try to get him to eat some more (he didn’t) and put him to bed. While I still fell asleep praying for a miracle, I did not cry myself to sleep.
He was more alert on Friday but was still refusing to eat until the evening. I smeared some baby food on his gums to make him eat some, but by evening, I managed to convince him to lick it from my fingers until he’d eaten a half of a jar again. He seemed to be more frustrated and confused with his inability to sit up well. I noticed Friday evening that he was tending to fall over more than he seemed to try to move backwards instead of forwards. I don’t expect recovery to happen all at once (though I certainly pray for that) as I know it can take time for the process to clean out the debris and start sending signals his body can understand again. My other dogs are so confused why he seems broken. Ammo is especially pouty and clingy.
That brings me to this morning. Bullet still sleeps at my side but is unable to move positions. I snuggle him like nothing is wrong and fall asleep praying for him every night. And every morning at his first movement, I wake up to see if he has recovered any. This morning, he had a tiny little poop and I got him up and took him to potty and discovered he is unable to stand on his front legs at all. I don’t know if it’s because of more neurological damage or if it’s because he is weak and depressed. I only know that my heart hurts so much and I feel so alone as I hold him and cry. I have already contacted my vet team. We are able to start the Rimadyl today and we have decided that we’re going to try the wheelchair sooner rather than later as he is the alpha male and perhaps his depression is causing the most damage of all. But I am not encouraged. I don’t think he’s going to be able to support himself in it. Where the first day I was so grateful when he finally seemed able to relax, today I would give anything to see him sit up stiffly. I’m afraid that we’re just holding on until tomorrow when he can be released from his suffering.