From:
arobbin@schange.com
Date: 2002-04-22 07:20:00 UTC
Subject: Is Moose trying to die from starvation?
This may be a silly question, but I'm reduced to asking something that may
be so far off base...
Moose is a 7 year old MF male. He has been the picture of health up until
last year. He had unexplainable diarrhea and prolapsed rectum...after
about $1500 in tests, medicine and exams we found it to be Coccidia.
Treated everyone, life went on as usual. Moose only regained some of his
former weight and never regained really normal looking stools. He would
have intermittent diarrhea off and on.
Well over the last few months the diarrhea returned and he became a very
picky eater. He turns up his nose at everything except treats and eats
them like he's starving...he's even grabbed my finger with his teeth, HARD
several times thinking it was a treat and he's never bit me. He completely
stopped eating on his own for over a week, so I was giving him duck soup
and baby food every 2 to 3 hours.
First I thought Insulinoma...BG was 120. Next I thought Cardiomyopathy,
exray revealed slightly enlarged heart but nothing really to be concerned
about. Treated him for ulcers, treated him also with biaxin, amoxi and
pepto...still no improvement. Now there was teeth grinding and mouth
pawing and vomiting. Exploratory surgery (looking for hairball), found no
hairball but did freeze the right adrenal as it was cystic. They did notice
that his stomach was inflamed and a bit enlarged...injectable antibiotics
seemed to help with that. He came home full of energy, bouncing around
like a kit again.
Now two weeks later, he's getting lethargic again, and not eating much. He
is nothing but skin and bones. I have run every test that I can think of
and some that I would never have thought of, everything comes back normal.
Here's the stupid question...is it possible that he's just decided it's
time for him to die and has stopped eating?
This is the Moose I posted about a few weeks ago who I thought had passed
away and I said my goodbyes etc...they he just looked at me like I had lost
my mind.
Amy