From:
"Debra K Turcott-Johnson"
Date: 2007-01-18 06:01:30 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Slow recovery or Dying or what???
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Well I am near losing my mind and if anyone knows anything that might
give me a clue to what is going on I would REALLY appreciate it.
7 yr old neutered male, left adrenal removed and right debulked January
of 2005. Right adrenal is malignant- this vet told me up front he was
not comfortable removing the right. For several months in 2005 he
regrew a beautiful coat and did well- then the symptoms started coming
back - we started Lupron 100 mcg- tried to keep it to six or eight weeks
between shots- that was fine- then with prostate and UTI problems we did
every 4 weeks. A few months ago the Lupron needed to be increased to
240 mcg every 4 weeks. What hair he had lost came back in wonderfully-
(no not bald but was thinning fast). The prostate shrunk back-
urination not a physical problem. Mentally though he did moan/whimpered
when he urinated. I thought he was blocked-vet expressed him with no
problem. Vet stated he has nothing stopping him physically from
urinating- he CAN go- but he is uptight about it or thinks he can't. We
started 0.1cc liquid valium- to which he peed no problem and no
whimpering. Eventually we only used the valium for time when we were
getting within a couple days of a lupron shot and he would start having
the whimper when urinating problem. Once he had the valium- peed with
no problem or whimper.
On Jan 5, 2007 I took him to get looked at as I noticed he was slowing
down and finding him laying by his litter box occasionally. So I am
thinking is this old age or what? Put a bed near the box- and saw the
vet the 5th. Upon examination the vet said he was feeling swollen lymph
nodes (he was alarmed by this) he said he needed to do a biopsy right
away. His next surgery date (Monday Jan 8) was full and had a waiting
list - the receptionist said would have to wait until the next monday.
One of the techs were standing there and I said he told me he wanted it
done right away- like it was kind of urgent- will someone find out what
he wants to do. Well he was in with another client- so I had them call
me at home to let us know when surgery was to occur. So much for the
waiting list and the surgery being full- he told them he wanted my
little guy on the roster- to be there on Monday morning. He removed a
lymph node from the back of one of his back legs. He said he found a
lot of fatty tissue but the lymph node did not look lymphomic to him but
the pathology report will tell us the full truth so he sent the lymph
node to the pathologist. Takes one to two weeks to get the results. We
are just past one week- no news yet. I brought him home Monday after
the surgery (he was due for a Lupron shot the next day so he got his
Lupron injection also). He was a little punky like he always is after a
Lupron shot- but there was more going on here this time. Tuesday he is
still eating and drinking on his own - not perking up much but
continuing to whimper during urination and defecation. Doc said give
him a bit of the valium- that he had drained the cyst that was on his
prostate while he had him in surgery for the lymph gland removal and
was hoping Luke (my little guy) would get some relief from it. By Friday
he seems kind of weak- like it was going to take him some time to come
back from the surgery- I thinking he is 7 years old maybe it will take
longer. The weekend was a total down slide- devloped severe explosive
diarerrea- was drinking but was slowing down on eating his kibble. On
Sunday the diarerra turned dark hunter green and he had it a lot. He
also was not eating or drinking. He was crying everytime he defecated
or urinated. So I get out a bottle of pedialyte and spend all off
Sunday night/Early Monday morning holding him and encouraging him to
drink - would not take any duck soup- not even from my finger tip. He
drank the pedilyte on his own. My husband and I weigh him in the middle
of the night- he had lost over 16% of his body weight he had when they
weighed him the day of surgery. Well this is all adding up to something
I know is a problem. I knew my vet would be in surgery Monday all day-
he would not be able to see us- but when we called he did refer us to
XXX [clinic name removed as per rules] ER. So we drove the sixty miles to East Lansing only
to find out that the attending physican that deals with exotics is off -
many of the staff are gone because it is ML King Day- well none of us
had thought about that- so they refer us to an Exotic Vet that was in a
small town near there. This vet knew his business- took a blood draw
and gave him subq fluids and back to me in no time. Blood tests come
back severe dehydation (high BUN normal Creatine} everything else was
normal - I did get a copy of the tests. He thought it could be a
gastric disturbance or ulcer due to the stress of the surgery. Well it
kind of made sense because we had to treat him for a gastric situation
from the stress of losing his remaining lifelong cagemate who died Dec
5,2006. He sends us home with Amoxi and Flagyl plus a nutrition drink
called Novasource 2.0. Tuesday he is a bit better- not too many loose
stools - did not defecate very much. Wendsday he has a somewhat close
to normal stool. At 3 AM on Wends morning I feed him more of the
NovaSource- at 5AM I hear some crunching coming from his cage. I sneak
over and take a glance. Sure enough it was Luke eating his kibble.
Today he is still lethargic but has a perfectly normal stool. Still
whimpers on defecation and urination. He is weak and the look in his
eyes and his face. Well he looks terrible- his eyes are kind of glassy
and far away looking- he has taken all of the meds he is on before but
he looks terrible. His little eyes have NEVER looked like this before.
He just sleeps most of the time (his valuim is very low only half of 0.1
cc.)
Is he giving up?? Is this just a rough rec0very from his surgery?
He is tired looking and his eyes I think sometimes he is trying to tell
me to let me know he is done and wants to go to the bridge. ONLY I DO
NOT HAVE FACTS THAT POINT TO DEATH. Blood tests normal, still awaiting
the path report on the lymph node. Stool was great today formed and a
normal color. Still whining on defecation/urination. He is very
weak-sometimes moans in his sleep when he is repositioning himself.
Does anyone have ideas on what is going on with him?
Thanks in advance and I apoligize for the spelling errors- I am just too
tired to go look them up
Kind Regards
Deb
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