R.I.P. Miss P

[Palimpsest]

Or hold us in the Light, pray, cross paws, or whatever floats your boat. We do need some positive thoughts though.

My darling Miss P. (Retired Racing Greyhound, Beloved Companion, former Volunteer Therapy Dog Extraordinaire - now retired due to age and arthritis) vomited and then started bloody diarrhea 2 days ago. Nasty.

She is under excellent vet care, is on antibiotics, probiotics, had sub.Q fluids today and came home. That is because my vet knows I will rush her to the E-Vet if she needs it and she will be happier at home. We have checked, no parasites. No ingestion of icky stuff, nothing obvious, and we have checked out all the usual suspects. Her two doggy brothers are fine.

If she doesn't improve dramatically by tomorrow then she will be in hospital. I'm monitoring and while she is resting will be posting on other threads on FJ tonight, because she doesn't care if I'm on the computer so long as I'm in the same room.

I'm worried. I know she is older, but she is not that old. I do not want to lose her anytime soon.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[RachelB]

I'm so sorry, Palimpsest. I hope Miss P. recovers fully and quickly, and I'm sending prayers of comfort for you both.

[thoughtful]

:cry:

Please give her gentle hugs and petting from me. Hoping the vets will do their usual great job, and get her health back on track!

[Arete]

Many good thoughts and I will also say a prayer for Miss P. Please update when you can. :(

[treehugger]

I'm so sorry you are going through that, Palimpsest. Sending lots of healing thoughts Miss P.'s way.

[dawbs]

I'm sorry and I hope you get good doggie news

[Palimpsest]

Thanks so much everyone.

Miss P is resting comfortably right now. It is just so worrying. P is a cancer survivor. My little girl has gone through a lot and she is such a gallant and (formerly shy) brave girl. She perked up a bit after the subQ fluids but I had to hand feed her (bland diet) dinner again.

I think if she isn't worse she may be getting better.

Thanks again.

[Palimpsest]

Just back from the vet, so here is an update.

Good news is that she is looking better, eating better, the bloody diarrhea is slowing down but not gone, and the latest blood work looks within normal ranges. No pancreatitis and no signs of renal failure so it is probably bacterial. She got more fluids and we added another antibiotic. I hope the combination does the trick.

We'd opened a new bag of dog food on Saturday so I sent off a sample to the manufacturer for testing, just in case it is that. They said that there had been no complaints on that batch so far, and the boys are fine, so it is a long shot.

Bad news is that with all the manipulation of her belly we found a new lump in the groin, which we aspirated and sent off for testing. It wasn't there when she had her annual physical in November. It is still small but doesn't look like a benign lipoma :( So once she is better that is probably going to have to come off.

Ah well. Senior pets. It just comes with the territory and they are so worth it! She definitely seems better today.

[thoughtful]

Sending more hugs for you all. Hope the lump is nothing. :hug: :group-hug:

[Arete]

Continuing to send Miss P good thoughts... :D

[Palimpsest]

Many thanks to you both. We really appreciate your keeping Miss P in mind.:)

Miss P sends kisses to everyone, and a special one for Auntie Thoughtful.

[browngrl]

I am so sorry to hear that your dog is not well. Sending you both good thoughts and best wishes.

[Jinger Jar]

I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope Miss P. makes a splendid recovery very soon.

[Lainey]

Gah, I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's hard when they get older and start getting sick. I hope she improves and you have a few more years with her yet!

[BoomerLynn]

My thoughts are with you and your dog. I hope she pulls through and makes a full and speedy recovery.

[Palimpsest]

Many thanks, everyone.

Miss P continues to improve although she is not quite over it yet. Still a little blood in her stool. In herself, she is feeling a lot better and is eating well. In fact, she almost frisked today!

We so appreciate your concern for her. She is such a sweet dog and brought so much pleasure to many people in her Therapy Dog volunteering days. I'll continue to update re. the lump.

We had a bit of added drama at 2:00 am last night. Seizure boy had another tonic/clonic seizure. The two sick dog issues are almost certainly not connected. He is OK now too, but the neurologist has increased his meds.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not (with one notable exception that I will never regret) make a habit of adopting special needs "rescue" dogs. My vet and my friends joke that apparently healthy future special needs pups see me coming and put on extra charm because they know I can cope. Truly, not all retired racing greyhound owners have had to deal with the health issues we have. As I said, future seizure dogs probably see me coming and know I have experience ... :D

[dawbs]

I'm glad she's improving :)

(I wouldn't have gone out of my way to adopt a dog w/ health issues...but...I adopted my dog, and she has health issue...we do what we have to do to make members of our family as healthy as we can, because that's the way it works :)

[DrPusey]

All good thoughts and energy for lovely Miss P! (and the whole Palimpsest family)

[Becoming_Me]

Stay strong Miss P! Me and my two furry friends are rooting for you.

[Someonetocall]

I hope your canine health issues are easily and painlessly resolved soon.

[Dollypeeps]

Hope you are getting stronger by the day Miss P.

Slobs and kisses from the Danies and a gentle hug from me

Hugs to you too Palimpest x

[PennySycamore]

I didn't see this until now, but I'm glad to hear that Miss P is getting better.

Crossed paws and tail wags from my crew, Lucy, Chloe, and Trinket, for continued good news.

[Palimpsest]

Thanks so much everyone!

Miss P is feeling a whole lot better - almost back to normal. She greeted me with a twirl or two and a wagging tail when I came in today. All the output looks normal (yay!) and we are going to start adding regular food gradually back into her bland diet tonight. Such a relief. Seizure doggy is fine too.

On the other hand, the results came back from the lab and the lump definitely has to come off. We have to wait until she has finished all her antibiotics and wait a few days to be sure that whatever this was isn't going to come back before getting her into surgery. I have a provisional appointment scheduled for later this month.

So please continue the good thoughts for Miss P and hope for clean margins. Thanks in advance.

[browngrl]

Glad to hear that Miss P is on the mend. Fingers crossed that the surgery for the lump goes well too.

[PennySycamore]

My old girl, Lucy, had a large lipoma removed a couple of years ago just before Christmas. I realize Miss P's mass is likely not a lipoma, but we both have crossed paws for her surgery to turn out well with clean margins nonetheless.