Dewey's Thread: Updated: 9/6/12 He's Very Sick

I received Dewey on 1/13/10. After having him for a couple of days I officially decided to name him Dewey. Since he now has a name I thought I should make a thread dedicated to him so I can share our journey and his growth with all of you.

Being my first beardie, Dewey will always have a very special place in my heart. He's been a pure joy to have so far. Especially now that he's starting to come out of his shell little by little every day. I'm truly excited to see how he will develop in the months to come.

So, enough babble... here are the first set of pictures which I took tonight.

Hanging out on his vine. I wasn't expecting Dewey to be as small as he is. Yesterday was the first time he was seen up on his vine and he was up there again today. He seems to be a pro with navigating it!

Here's Dewey all wrapped up just before bed time.

 

[Beardednoob]

I fixed my post lol forgot the IMG before and after the image.

As long as the one you have weighs enough grams then I wouldn't change it. It just needs a bigger tray. Makeshift ones work just as well. :wink:

 

[fez09]

Mandy, dewey looks GREAT! As always of course! I just love his belly and his porky legs, he's so handsome! You lucked out with him for sure! Is he slowing down already? Belle and Fiona are both sleeping already...I've got lots of babies to keep me busy but I miss those 2 big girls...How is your dog doing?? Any changes?

 

[DeweysMom]

No problem Micheal. I knew which one picture were talking about. I may try that idea to get a more accurate weight. It would be cheaper than buying a whole new scale. I'll post the weight when I get it figured out.

KAT, Thanks for asking about Riley. For those who don't know, Riley is my 9.5 year old boxer who I almost lost back in Dec of last year. Long story short, he fainted and collapsed late December and was diagnosed as having cardiomyopathy (a heart issue common in boxers). He had to be hospitalized overnight that night and with meds they were able to save his life and he's been on meds ever since to manage it - not cure it because sadly there is no cure.

Riley is currently doing ok. Along with his heart issue he's now dealing with elevated liver values, but you would never know it! When the bloodwork with the high liver values came back the cardiologist recommended an ultrasound in his abdomen to rule out tumors so I had that done which thankfully came back clean. His last visit with the cardiologist was last Wed. The vet discovered a small mass near his heart during his May visit and she wanted to recheck it for growth. The mast hadn't grown very much, but his arrythmia got a bit worst since his last check up. We upped his medication and we'll be going back this coming Friday for another ECG to see if the latest med adjustment is working.

So overall, Riley is hanging in there. He's still an incredibly happy boy and he loves life.

Now, on to Dewey. Funny you should ask if he's been slowing down. I was going to say no, but then today happened. I left my house at about 7:00am this morning and got home at around 3:30pm. Mr. Dewey was all curled up on his blanket sound asleep. Normally he'll crack an eye open when he hears me come into the room, but not today. So, this MAY be the start of his brumation. We'll have to see how the next few days go. The little bugger. He always waits until I stock up on worms to go to sleep so I end up having to toss a good portion of them. :roll:

HaleyMaree, thanks! He's my little buddy. I never thought you could get so attached to a reptile, but he's definitely proving me wrong there!!

 

[fez09]

Neo is starting to sleep more and more too. He probably only basks for 4 hours per day but he's still eating. I know what you mean about stocking up, I just bought 1000 large dubia nymphs!!!
I'm really happy that Riley is doing well, I know how hard that can be...

 

[beardie osk]

Handsome boy as usual, Mandy.......and I'm glad Riley is fairly well, I'll pray for his ECG and his heart to settle down.......Yes, this is the beginning of the brumation season, I have a few that are slowing down as well........It's always difficult to me at the beginning wondering if my babies are sick or not, but then I relax knowing it's brumation.

 

[DeweysMom]

Thought I'd let you know how Riley did today. His appointment went from good to very very bad in the matter of seconds. I'm still kind of in shock so bare with me.

He was very nervous at the hospital today, he usually is once he figures out where he is, but surprisingly his ECG came back nearly perfect! I was so happy to hear that. The vet tech went out back to prep the 24 hour holter monitor and I gave Riley a couple of the small treats that they offer after the exam. Everything was going fine. After a few minutes Riley let out this weird loud cough and the he backed away from the wall looking at it as if he saw a ghost or something. I thought maybe the treat got lodged in his throat or something so I started rubbing it and that's when he just collapsed and fell the floor. Thankfully he was within arms reach so I was able to partially catch him as he fell. He seemed to have stopped breathing which REALLY set me into panic mode. I don't even know what door I opened up to get help, but I just kept telling them my dog collapsed and I need help. One of the other doctors, a man, was passing down the hall when it happened and even though he was a small man and Riley is a 90lb dog, he was able to scoop him up and rush him to ER. After what seemed like an eternity the cardiologist on duty came in and told me they were able to get Riley back and that he was responding and alert.

We went over our options and decided it was best to keep Riley at the hospital overnight so they could do more testing, observations, and start him on a new medication. After filling out the paperwork and stuff like that I was able to give Riley a kiss goodnight before I headed for home. All of this started at about 1:30pm. The last time I spoke to the doctor was at 4pm and she said his bloodwork and x-rays came back good. She also said that Riley had calmed down a lot. He was shaking when we left him, but by the time she called me back he had stopped. He was resting comfortably. She said that if anything should happen throughout the night, they will call, but if I don't hear anything "no news is good news". So far I've heard nothing. My next scheduled update should be between 8-10am tomorrow.

It's going to be a looooooooooooooooooooong night. I feel so lost without him. He's always by my side, always right behind me. I swear I've heard his nails tapping the kitchen floor a couple of times. I keep thinking that I need to bring him out only to realize he's not here tonight. I can't get the image of him falling to the floor out of my head. This was his 3rd collapse episode, but the first I've seen first hand. It was horrifying. I honestly thought I lost him. He looked so lifeless and limp on the floor. I've never have felt so helpless.

 

[beardie osk]

Oh Mandy, I feel so bad for you and Riley.........I can't imagine how you must have felt when he collasped, I'm glad you were there with him.......What in the world did they think happened? I'm with you, no news is good news.........please know that I'm here if you need to chat, and I'll be praying for all of you there........keep us posted and cyber hugs coming your way!!!!!!!!

 

[DeweysMom]

Thanks!

The cardiologist thinks that upping his meds (Sotalol) the last time around may have played a roll in it. He was at 120mg 2x daily and they upped it to 160mg 2x daily which is at the very max he should be going. I personally think he just got so worked up from the whole thing that his heart kind of went haywire. He was shaking a lot and unfortunately I was kind of stuck behind him trying to comfort him through the whole process while they were doing the ECG. That's just how the vet techs had him positioned. I think if we had been face to face it would've been at least a little bit easier on him.

A lot of people think I'm crazy for putting so much money into him, but he's my baby. How could I not do all that I can to keep him going? Yesterday he turned 9.5 years old to the day. I know that he's getting up there in age, but he's such a happy go lucky boy and he really does love life. The only bad days he has now is when he has to go to the vet. When he does lose his quality of life I will do what needs to be done for his sake, but I was not prepared for how close to THAT we came today. It really rattled me.

 

[beardie osk]

Of course you were rattled!!!!!!!!!!! I would have lost my mind, it must have been terrifying for you............wow, maybe you should really limit the vet visits, or have the vet make a house call instead, some vets do that here, and with Riley's anxiety displayed at the vets, maybe they'd consider a house visit. You'll have to ask them what to do if that should happen when your alone with Riley, God forbid..........I know, I had to do CPR on Bella, something I'll never forget. You are a good mommy, and very special to do all you've done for your baby, wow, 9.5, it's your good care!

 

[DeweysMom]

If house visits were a possibility I'd definitely go for that! The problem is that I live in NH and the vet he goes to is a specialist (Angell Memorial) in Boston, MA. They use all that special equipment which wouldn't be possible to transport ot my house. After everything that happened yesterday though, I have decided that if this new medication doesn't work then I'm going to see if we can switch him back to the sotalol since he was doing good on that and then just leave it at that. We've basically tried everything else that we can for him. I've really had enough of "experimenting" on him and after yesterday I know he's had enough. As much as I hate to say that, I really hate seeing how worked up he gets. I think that just medicating him and letting nature take it's course would be the best thing for him. Still can't believe I'm saying this. The vet did say one thing that although it scared me to death yesterday, looking at it now it makes me feel better. She said that some dogs when they have these fainting episodes they end up dying while they're laying on the floor. So basically, they die in their "sleep". I hope this doesn't sound morbid, but I really hope that's how Riley goes. I hope he goes peacefully in his sleep, heck that's how I want to go! I should be getting my update within the next few hours and hopefully I'll be bringing him home this afternoon. I'll post another update later.

 

[DeweysMom]

So, here's the latest.

I just spoke to the Dr and she told me that Riley had a great night. His breathing and heartrate went back to normal. He got some sleep. No vomitting, no diarhea, no shaking, etc. He ate breakfast this morning (that boy loves to eat so I'm surprised with that!) and is alert.

She told me that the medication they started him on yesterday afternoon (amiodarone) takes a while to really start working and ideally they'd like to keep him admitted for the full 7 days where he'd get the max dosage. She knows that's unrealistic so provided that he does good through the afternoon I'll be picking him up between 3-5pm today. It's gonna be a long day of watching the clock....

 

[beardie osk]

That's great news Mandy, I'll be anxious right along with you to see how he does, and BTW, you didn't sound morbid about Riley dying in his sleep, I think the same with my little poodle, who will be 15 this Feb.........it's my worse fear having to put him down, so I'm right there with you. Keep it touch.

 

[DeweysMom]

Thanks Christine! At least I'm not alone. My biggest fear is having to make that call myself. I know that I will do it when it needs to be done, but for some reason when I think of making that decision myself I feel guilty. I feel like I'm killing him rather than putting him out of his misery. I know that I'd be doing the best thing for him, but it's just so hard. I've known him since he was 8 days old and he's MY first dog. He's not the family's dog, he's 100% mine. We have such a close bond.

Now on to the update:

We spoke to the cardiologist about the new medication he's on. She said that there may be some overlapping issues between his old medication (sotalol) as it wears off and his new medication (amiodarone) as it kicks in. This may cause him to have some arrythmias, but she said that he SHOULD be ok. She did stress to me though that there is a chance that he could have another fainting spell at any time. That's just the nature of what we're dealing with now. She said more times than not dogs will come to shortly after as if nothing happened. With Riley, I didn't know this until this afternoon, but when he collapsed yesterday he came to on his own before they got him to the ER. So I'm hopeful if it does happen at home, he'll be able to bounce back on his own. It'll be scary as hell to witness again, but there's nothing else we can do about it unless I want him to be hospitalized permanently.

The cardiologist wants to see him again in 2 weeks to see how the new meds are working. I discussed with her how nervous Riley gets when he's there so the next visit he's going to stay in the truck (with my mother and A/C) until they're ready to see him. Then we'll go right into the room instead of having to sit in the waiting room for 15-20 minutes. I'm hoping this will cut down on stress. If this new medication doesn't work out I'll be telling my vet that enough's enough and that I'd like to put him back on sotalol and just let things happen as they happen. He did well on sotalol until this one episode which was probably stress induced. It's just getting really hard. I know it's getting to be to much for him to go to the vets so much, have his medication toyed around with, and of course it's hard on my emotionally and financially as well. Oh how I wish there was a cure, but there's not.

Today when they brought Riley out to me he was so happy. You'd never know that something was wrong with him. He came over to me all excited and wiggly. Somehow I managed not crying when I saw him! I was so relieved to see his happy go lucky handsome face once again. Now, I'm even happier that he's sound asleep by my feet after we shared a nice chicken and pasta dinner. Yes, he is spoiled.

Here's a quick shot that I took before he settled down for a nap. This picture makes him look really overweight, but he's not. He does have a couple of extra pounds that we need to lose, but he's very big chested.

 

[HaleyMaree]

Poor baby, well u treat him soo well. Keep us posted!!

 

[beardie osk]

What a handsome boy your baby Riley is..........he does look a little tired, and well should be for what he's gone through the past few days. Now he can rest with mommy........I wonder if the Dr. would see Riley in the car, why not..........it would be better for him.........and she'd only have to walk to the parking lot,....I would almost insist on it, well anyway, my prayers continue.........have a great Sundayand you keep right on spoiling him! (((((((cyber hugs to both))))))))