Oscar at emergency vet
 Oscar is at the emergency vet with severe pancreatitis. My poor boy. He is also inexplicably lame on his rear left foot. He is getting fluids and all of his meds, plus a heavy duty pain killer. We are also testing for tick borne illness to explain the limping. Not a stellar weekend here. |
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Sending lots of healing thoughts to Oscar! Cindy & Teddy |
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| Sending Oscar big hugs!!! Hoping he feels better soon. |
| Hope you get well soon Oscar. We are sending thoughts and hugs to you. |
| Hugs to Oscar, hope he gets much better. |
| Much love to Oscar. Pancreatitis is no fun. Warm thoughts and virtual hugs from Winnipeg...to all of you. |
| Hope he feels better soon... |
| Poor Oscar. Sending him a get well soon hug |
| Hugs to Oscar and you. Hope he's feeling better soon. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| Hope Oscar gets better soon. Are they doing blood work, too? |
| Thanks for the well wishes. Just sitting here with him while he gets pumped full of fluids. He has a very high pain tolerance, so for him to show anything, he is really hurting. I wish I were sick instead. Yes, they have done a cbc, electrolytes, and another blood panel to measure amylase and lipase. Oscar's values were literally off the charts. We are doing a tick panel tomorrow at our regular vet's office, as they won't go out from the emergency vet until then anyway. |
| Sending big hugs to both you and Oscar. |
Jesus  Sending him healing thoughts.Kerry's Morgan is in and out of the vet's office for pancreatitis on a semi-regular basis. Her vet has never been able to get to the bottom of it. Best wishes for better luck with your boy  Kristine |
| Hope he is better soon. |
| Positive healing thoughts to poor Oscar! Hugs to you Laurie. Are you at the emergency hospital on Busch Pkwy and Milwaukee Ave? |
| Oscar hasn't had pancreatitis since 2009 I think. Maybe early 2010. They think his may be autoimmune related. Technically, the origins for Oscar are idiopathic, meaning they have no effing clue, pardon my French! Since he only eats his dog food, and no treats of any kind, we know the source isn't food related. Based upon his liver values, we are also fairly certain it isn't a gall bladder issue, though those can be tricky. This whole thing is complicated by the fact that his IBD flare-ups look exactly like his pancreatitis episodes, so until we do blood work, we don't know if his pancreas is involved. And once we discover pancreatic involvement, it is extremely risky to give him prednisone, which we use to treat his IBD. If in fact his pancreatitis is an autoimmune issue, he might be greatly helped by pred, but first we have to rule a host of things out with scans, ultrasounds and blood work. Even then, it's a very risky proposition, especially if his pancreatitis has a bacterial component. Yes, we are at Vet Med Specialty in Buffalo Grove. Oscar's dermatologist and internist work here, so I figured if he needed an ultrasound, I wanted it done here. Thank you for all of your kind thoughts and well wishes. Thank you for all of your good thoughts and well wishes. Hopefully we don't have to sleep at the emergency vet tonight...... |
| Poor Oscar, poor Mommy!!! I hope he can heal quickly and I hope he can be comfortable. I'm so glad you're with him. |
| Poor Oscar I hope you get some good news soon. |
| Hang in there! Our Hannah has survived pancreatitus three times. She also has severe hip dysplasia and has been a diabetic since August 2008 and regularly has a myriad of other health issues. The last bout of pancreatitus she had was on April 7. And she was on IV's for 2 days. About a week later she couldn't move one of her back legs at all. She's been on 3 tramadol a day for her hip dysplasia for a while now. And she couldn't move her back leg in spite of this. I'm sharing this because her back leg began to function again and she once again overcame health issues. So I'm hopeful your Oscar will rebound like she did. He seems to share that strong will to live and overcome spirit like she does. Just wanted to offer some hope for you. Hannah became weak because she picked up a bacterial virus and had loose stools which significantly helped to weaken her. What was helpful was to let her sit out in the sun. Our vet said the sun would help get her back legs working. In her case it was very helpful. We also do accupressure and massage at home on her and that is extremely helpful for her and keeps her extremely weak back end working. She's been on and off Flagyl since April 7 because of loose stool (liquid) when she completes a round of flagyl which remedies the problem about a week of being off of it the stool becomes liquid again. Any way the vet shared with us having loose stools can considerably weaken them. I'm rambling, just wanted to mention a few things because many dogs share similar health issues and you never know what mentioning a particular thing will help the next precious sheepie. Hannah's been through so much it would be really great if it's helpful to prevent unnecessary suffering in another. I'm sure your Oscar will pull through just like our Hannah. Good luck to you, I can tell how much you love your sheepie and how much you do for him! |
| Oh goodness, I am thinking of you and Oscar! Hope he gets well, real soon. Robin |
| Poor Oscar! We're sending positive thoughts for both of you and lots of Nita & Nelson |
| Poor Oscar--sending get well hugs! |
| LV Sheepie Lover, thank you for sharing your experiences with Hannah. It sounds exactly like what we are dealing with right now. Oscar also normally takes Tramadol, but due to the pancreatitis, he hasn't had it since Saturday morning. Now they have him on hydromorphone - The big guns. Thanks for all of your kind words. I will keep you all posted. Laur |
| Sending our love to you and Oscar... |
checking in and thining of you guys! its so hard when are babies are hurting! |
| I keep checking back too. Hoping Oscar is resting comfortably. Get well soon buddy Good thing these friends of yours are so far away or the waiting room would be full... |
Same here...  |
| Jaci just told me about poor little Oscar  I hope he is doing okay? Oscar is just family and this is awful.... Please let us know how the baby boy is doing as soon as you can We love you guys |
| Checking in on Oscar this morning. I'm hoping that the both of you got some rest overnight. Thinking of you both. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| sending hugs your way keep us posted |
| Hugs to Oscar and you |
| Hope Oscar recovers quickly!! |
| Rough night. Pancreatitis seems better, but he is completely lame now on his back end. We barely got him in the house last night, and he laid in the same spot until we got him out to pee about 4 a.m. Hasn't been up since. I am now wondering if he had a stroke. We were supposed to have a vet appt at 9 a.m., however we just had a huge storm move through and we are without power. It is supposed to be 95 degrees here today. I just want to throw up or cry. Maybe both. We are going to try to get to the vet, but sounds like they were in danger of losing power as well. I will keep you posted. Laur |
| Hang in there. It will get better. Kristine |
| just read this. I am speechless. .poor Oscar, poor you!! Saying prayers that he will be better soon... |
| Sorry about the bad night - for both Oscar and your loss of electricity. I had a dog w/ strokes many years ago - and dog strokes aren't like human ones (by symptoms). They don't have the paralysis like we do. I looked up a link for you - http://www.dog-health-guide.org/canines ... ptoms.html I hope this will help. |
| I hope your power comes back. If not, is taking Oscar to a hotel in apart of town where they DO have power an option? Or, if your vet has power, is leaving him there for the day a possibility? He can be comfortable, and be under observation there. Either way, it sounds like he (and you) could use the A/C and maybe a refreshing nap! Still thinking of you guys, and hoping for the very best for Oscar!!!! |
| I'm so sorry, Laurie. Hoping you'll get some answers today and that with rest Oscar will be back on his feet again soon. Maybe the vet has a backup generator? |
| I hope you get better news today.... |
| Hoping and praying for a correct diagnosis and positive outcome. |
| Thinking of you and Oscar today.............. |
| Poor baby, you too Lots of white light heading to Oscar |
Thanks everyone. Oscar seems better overall.  We are back home and waiting for blood results on the pancreatitis. Results on the tick panel are going to take a few days. He is still having difficulty, but at least once he is up, he can now walk. Vet thinks that Oscar might have some arthritis, and since he hasn't taken any meds, thinks he is more inflamed. He also thinks that Oscar had a rough time at the first emergency visit when they manipulated him for x-rays, as they told me there that he was too uncomfortable to get an x-ray on his back. And of course the whole tick thing could be a possibility. We may never know. Power is still out, and it's not looking good as ComEd's message says that 600,000 people are without power in our area. When it rains, it pours. I would take Oscar to a hotel, except he does not do well outside his home environment. On top of what we are already dealing with, I am afraid to stress him out any further. An IBD flare-up now might put me right over the edge.....(where is the emoticon for a bottle of wine?). Right now it is staying cool in the house. We will see as the day progresses. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly. Thank you for all of your support. Hopefully I will continue to have better news to report, and Oscar will be back to his old knucklehead self in no time. Laurie |
| Oh, forgot to mention. My vet has power, but their air-conditioning went out this morning. You can't make this stuff up!!!!!! It's actually hotter and stuffier there than here at home! Otherwise I probably would have stayed there as long as possible. Laurie |
| So glad that Oscar seems to be feeling better, Laurie. Frightening! |
| So glad to hear he is doing better . |
| I know I shouldn't laugh... actually I'm teary-eyed... both hearing the vet's ac was out and hearing that Oscar can get on his feet. Too much empathy here. Laurie, you do such an amazing job in keeping Oscar delicately balanced. I know this isn't easy. Glad things look like they're improving. Big hugs to your big boy |
| Hope things keep improving for all of you. |
Remember commercial of lady doing ironing in her car because her house didn't have air conditioning? Maybe you and Oscar can spend some time in the car with the AC ...except the gas stations don't have electricity to pump more gas.  |
| Spend time in your basement. My mom's house in not air conditioned and we always would stay down there. Much cooler. Brick likes to go down there and lay on the floor. Nice & cool. Glad to hear that things are at least stabilizing. |
| Glad to hear he's doing better and so sorry about the electricity and ac on a day like this. |
| The vet called with Oscar's results, and it is a mixed bag as far as the pancreatitis. His Amylase (which was over 6000, normal is 200 - 1800) is down to 2000 so there is definite improvement there. However, his Lipase has gone up, from 2046 to over 3000. Vet says Lipase can lag, so we are trying a tiny amount of food tonight, so he can take his meds. Fingers crossed everyone......... Wish we could head down to the basement, but with Oscar's lameness in the back end, he just can't manage stairs right now. If the power stays out, we might have to head to the in-laws. I just don't want to put Oscar through additional stress, so we won't go unless we absolutely have to escape. Right now it's only 77 degrees in the house, even though it's over 90 outside. A bit stuffy, but manageable. I can hear his tummy gurgling......... Wish us luck. Laurie |
| Good Luck! |
| Hoping things are cooling down for the night too! |
| Hubby is out scoring us a generator and a window air conditioning unit. At least maybe we can cool the master bedroom and bathroom tonight. Oscar got a smidgen of food and his meds. So far, so good.....except for the gas. (Where is the toxic chemical emoticon?) Man is it dark out here.....and creepy..... Internet is hit or miss, and the battery on hubby's IPad is getting low, so if you don't hear from us, it is for strictly technological reasons. I must sound like a broken record, but I do appreciate all of your support. I know you understand what Oscar means to us, as you all feel the same about your pups. Hopefully, the next time you hear from me, I will have good news to report all around. Laurie |
| What a day for you! Hugs and hope things continue to improve for Oscar! |
| Saying prayers that things only go uphill for Oscar.Sorry about the electricity.Hopefully hubby can score a generator and an air condition unit. Robin |
Quote: Hubby is out scoring us a generator and a window air conditioning unit. Yay for your hubby!  I understand the need to keep Oscar's stress to a minimum... he is one hugely fortunate dude! Hoping tomorrow will bring continued improvement for Oscar and electricity  |
| I hope the genset will give you some much needed A/C and some AC for your iPad charger, too! I hope Oscar is feeling better too, poor baby. |
| Hope you get AC so ALL of you can be a little more comfortable. hugs to you all !!!! |
Ahhhhhhh, air conditioning........  The power came on this morning, but hubby had us all set up last night with a generator and air. I don't know why, but our subdivision has power while everyone around us is still dark. I took Oscar out to potty about 4 a.m. and I can normally see the glow from the Village of Gurnee to the north of us. This morning, it was pitch black. Oscar kept all of his food and meds down last night, so we are trying more food today, and his complete med schedule. Vet is adding doxycycline in case we are dealing with a tick borne disease. He is still lame on the back end, and both hocks are swollen. I can tell his tummy isn't quite 100 percent yet. We'll see how he does today, back on all of his meds.Please keep your fingers crossed for us. Laurie |
| and paws crossed !!!! |
| Cindy |
| Air is good! Crossing everything here for Oscar! Keep us posted. Robin |
| 7 hours since our last update..... Still improving I hope! |
| Well, Oscar's results are a mixed bag, as always. After getting his prednisone for the first time since Saturday, he seemed to make a miraculous recovery with the lameness. Our vet thought that might happen, as the pred is probably quelling inflammation all over Oscar's body, and stopping issues before they start. So while he is having a little trouble getting up, he no longer needs our help at all. Unfortunately, his tummy seems to still be a little off. Oscar's beard is wet and smells a little like vomit. He is also pretty clingy, which only happens when he isn't feeling well. And the gas would make a skunk blush. For the first time in days, he is demanding food, but I think that might be the steroids talking. He's been getting small meals today, and all of his meds. As my vet is now without a/c and phones/internet, they closed for the day. We took Oscar to his internist instead, who works very closely with our vet, thinking maybe we should do an ultrasound of his pancreas. After looking him over, and saying how good he looked, Dr. Noonan thought we should see how things play out. Of course, if he starts vomiting or having diarrhea, off we go, but we're praying he's on the right track. Hopefully, tonight we can sleep in our master bedroom. For the last three nights, we've been on the couches in the family room, so that Oscar doesn't get stuck on slippery tile in our master bathroom, rendering him immobile. (Hubby slept on the hardwood floor next to the dog the night before last, after hurting his back getting Oscar out of the car. Last night, he slept on the loveseat. ) Now that Oscar seems to be able to move around, maybe we can get more than three hours of sleep in a row. I will be a much happier camper when I am actually conscious!You guys are the best! Laurie and Oscar |
| It's very encouraging news that the internist feels you can wait and see how he does! Steroids can do miracles and it sounds like they're preforming well in making Oscar comfortable. I'm sure everyone's exhausted. Hoping everyone will get a good night's sleep. Sleep well! |
| I am so glad our boy is doing better! You have got to be exhausted! |
| So happy to hear that Oscar is doing better. Hugs to you all Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| So far, so good. We had an uneventful night. He seems more settled today. Fingers crossed, we have turned a corner. I have to get him into the tub to wash his face and paws, so hopefully I can do that without stressing him out too much. He's getting a little hot spot on his chin, and has started chewing the tops of his feet. Oscar was due for a mini bath on Saturday when he got sick, and after all of the vomiting and drooling and laying around at various vet's offices, he's looking pretty grim. I have to say, this is the most ill I have ever seen Oscar, which is quite a statement based upon his checkered health history. He went from a 7 year old dog, to a 15 year old dog, literally overnight. It was a glimpse into the future that I really did not want to see. But for now, looks like he is on the mend. I am cautiously optimistic........ Thanks for your support and for keeping me out of the loony bin.  Laurie and Oscar |
I don't do the banana dance very often but...  I'm so happy the big guy appears to be on the mend! Love you Oscar!  |
6Girls wrote: I don't do the banana dance very often but... I'm so happy the big guy appears to be on the mend! Love you Oscar! Ditto.... I've been thinking about your boy a lot and I'm so glad he's starting to feel better  |
| We are keeping fingers and paws crossed that he continues to show signs of improvement. |
| Very good news on the improvement Now for the de-stinking Did the vet ever say what he thought caused the swelling of the hocks? That was really perplexing.  Kristine |
| Way to go OSCAR way to go!! |
Glad things are looking better!!  |
Happy to hear Oscar is feeling better! Go Oscar,Go Oscar... :  Robin |
| Kristine, the vet thought the swelling of the hocks might be a tick borne disease, but we just got the tick panel back, and it was negative. If it persists, my vet might want to aspirate the area and test the fluid, to see what the cells look like and check for infection. The weird thing is, the rest of his joints feel normal. When we went to the emergency vet, they thought only the left hock was swollen, but Oscar was having so much trouble standing that he was in an odd position when the vet checked him. My vet did a thorough touchy-feely while Oscar was on his feet and said it was bilateral, which I could feel as well. We go back in tomorrow, so I'm sure this item will be on the menu, so to speak. We'll probably give the prednisone a few days to work, in case it is arthritis/inflammatory related. Tomorrow we go in for another check of the pancreatic markers, amylase and lipase. I'm hoping they are back in the normal range. My vet is STILL without a/c and phone lines, so I'm getting Oscar in early, right after their procedures.I will keep you posted! Laurie |
| Laurie - It's not uncommon with humans to have joint and generalized body swelling when the labs are off like that. Things get unbalanced on the cellular level, and fluid accumulates...joints are common resting places. So maybe the same sort of thing happened w/ Oscar?? Just a thought. |
| Dawn, thanks for the info. It's really handy having medical professionals here on the forum! Laurie and Oscar |
| Catching up on the posts here. Glad to hear Oscar is improving and wishing the best that he gets back to normal soon Just a thought...has anyone ever suggested some Pepcid Ac for his tummy? It works well with mine when they are having tummy issues... |
| I'm just catching up, too. I'm glad to hear he's improving and I hope he continues to do so! |
 Just got back from the vet. All of Oscar's values are normal, including Amylase and Lipase. Wahoo!!!! He still has some fairly soft stool, so we need to take it easy for a few days, and hold off on his kibble as well as his heartworm meds, but we can get back to his regular feeding schedule.Swelling in the hocks is down, so it looks like the pred is helping with that, or his body is just sorting things out after the trauma of the pancreatitis. We are so relieved.Poor Oscar is a food seeking missile right now! He keeps standing, staring up at the cabinet where we keep his kibble, willing the door to open and for little num-nums to come raining down. Thanks for the Pepcid tip. Oscar gets Pepcid AC already as part of his daily regimen, since his IBD diagnosis as a puppy, and I think it has helped him tremendously. Looks like things have turned a corner.  Laurie and Oscar |
| Wonderful news and give him a big hug for me!!! I just let out a sigh of relief for you guys. Robin |
| Give Oscar a big hug and kiss from Abbey and Oliver. Glad things are improving for him. I'll keep good thoughts and prayers. Now, take care of yourself. I'm thinkin of ya. |
| Such a relief to hear things are going well. Poor, hungry boy. |
| I feel bad I'm late on this but I am so glad there's a happy outcome!!! Go Oscar ...such a strong boy!!! I'm happy for you too!! |
| I've been following the story and am so glad to see some good news. I hope Oscar is back to his usual self soon. |
| Go Oscar So relieved to hear that he is doing better!! |
| YAY! Great news! I have been quietly following along and so happy to hear he is doing better. |
Oscar's Mom wrote: :Poor Oscar is a food seeking missile right now! He keeps standing, staring up at the cabinet where we keep his kibble, willing the door to open and for little num-nums to come raining down. Looks like things have turned a corner. Laurie and Oscar Fabulous!!! Once Belle got past her scrunchy culinary indiscretion she, too, has become as you say "a food seeking missile". She's always been a chow hound, but last night she actually launched herself at me when I'm getting everybody's food ready so she's a 13 1/2 yo food seeking missile. Really caught me by surprise  Just mentioning that in case protective gear is in order  Thanks for keeping us posted and for the swollen hocks clarification. Keep on feeling better, Oscar. KB |
| YAY!!! Glad things have worked out for your baby! |
| Thanks to all for your support. I love this forum! Laurie and Oscar |
| Yay for Oscar...and for you guys too. |
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