High Blood Sugar

[DragonBus]

I gave her water last night at 8:30, she slept well. Shes not so dehydrated any more that she needs it at night anymore. Just gave her water this morning shortly after nine. I cut out the lasex because it seemed to upset her tummy...but this morning her cheeks were puffy with water. I probably wont give her any more till after she poops.

 

[DragonBus]

Im thinking of weaning her off the prednisone since the side effects seem to do more harm than good.

 

[Esther19]

How is she doing tonight?

 

[DragonBus]

I gave her water around 8:00 pm and put her on my chest and sang and rubbed her till she fell asleep. She is resting comfortably tonight. After taking her poo she was pretty tuckered and sore. The poo had the snotty stuff in it which tells her bowels are bad. I am encouraged to know the belly bloating was from the prednisone and not from kidney failure. I can always adjust her diet and get her excersise. I still dont know what the low blood count us all about.

 

[Esther19]

That's great that Hutch was able to rest well. I hope that means that you did, too. Excellent news about the prednisone being the culprit, but the blood counts sure are a mystery. Thanks for the update. I hope you both have a good day.

 

[DragonBus]

This morning Hutch pooped out bright red blood. She still hunches her pelvis and is weak. Since the blood has not turned black I assume it came from her vent or large intestine near the vent. The fact that the ultrasound showed an indistinguishable lump by her large intestine. I am taking her to the vet Friday to have him probe her vent and possibly xray. I have some carafate I might start her on tonight, that stuff stops digestive bleeding.......but causes upset tummies too.

 

[DragonBus]

Hutch is doing well on the Carafate. Her poos are darker and firmer I presume from the iron suppliment (well, thats what happens to me on iron). She seems rather perky outside, holding her head up and running around a bit in the warm sun. Picking up baytril today to prevent infection from the intestinal bleeding (lots of bacteria in the pooper). Getting xrays friday to make sure she doesnt have any rocks stuck in her vent from pooping outside.

 

[AHBD]

Aw, I'm glad to hear that Hutch seems to be feeling a bit better. I know she's been through the ringer, and you have been too with all her ups + downs. Are you sure the Baytril will be necessary ? I know you try to weigh carefully the pros + cons of every procedure + medication, and with a lot of antibiotic use they can suddenly develop a resistance to it + the body can be taken over by other nasty things, including Y.F.

 

[DragonBus]

Yeah I thought of that too. A lot. The vet reccomended it for 3-5 days. He said because the bowel is a dirty place an infection is likely. My thought is that an infection might have caused the bleeding in the first place and thought Flagyl might be good to kill the bad gut bacteria after the more powerful Baytril kills off any main infection, then give her some probiotics once the ulcers are gone to get the healthy bacteria growing. I will talk to the vet about this friday. The blood was clearly fresh and undigested, so the ulcer is near or at the vent, plus she potrudes it in pain, it is obviously sore. Ill ask the vet about this tolerance before starting it. I have brought up these concerns to him before and that is a very good point which concerns me greatly.
I have been researching bowel issues on the web and discovered in humans that reheating foods, especially pasta changes the structure and can cause severe gas problems. I make batches of food at a time, freeze several containers and heat them up every two days for feeding. I noticed she is still quite bloated in the tummy and not retaining water in her cheeks as much now that shes on lasex.
I may need to prepare her fresh food each day and see if that helps.

 

[DragonBus]

I just got an idea, maybe I can test her poo for infection before starting antibiotics.

 

[DragonBus]

About three weeks ago, while Hutch was outside flies were all over her bad eye. It became infected. It has had whitein the back of her pupil for several months, I thout it was scarring from the head tilt eye infection from last year. While I was at my eye surgeon I showed him pics of it. He said "Oh thats infection, give her cephilexin, then after 72 hours give her neopolydex drops in her eye once the antibiotic starts to work. She has been also pooping blood for 3 weeks, and been slightly dehydrated, no more puffy cheeks. She has been on Flagil, with the thought that all of the antibiotics she was on to get rid of the head tilt killed all of the good bacteria, and now she may have colitis as a result. The flagil kills all of the excess bacteria that has ulcerated her bowel. But.......I have been noticing the blood is only in and around the urates, but, at times I give her so much water that she only pees water, and there is no sign of blood in that. She has been on Baytril the last three days, and I just read that Melissa Kaplin advises Baytril kills cells and can inhibit kidneys.....so if the blood is coming from her kidneys, will the baytril make it worse, but if I switch to cephilexin to fix the kidney infection, and the broblem is psudoblah blah colitis from an over run on intestinal bacteria, then I could make that even worse. How do you tell where the blood is coming from when it all comes out the same vent? She is in severe pelvic pain and I just gave her some buprinex and she is tripping balls outside in the sunshine right now.

 

[Esther19]

Poor Hutch. And you must be beside yourself trying to figure this all out. I wish I could help, but I can't imagine what is going on. Try to hang in there! I'm sending positive thoughts your way.

 

[AHBD]

Poor thing, she just doesn't get a break. I cringe whenever I hear how she's suffering. I don't know if I ever mentioned this to you, but unpasteurized honey [ like from a health food store or beekeeper ] is great for wounds + infections, even in the eye. I've seen it work myself on a baby beardie's eye that was grossly swollen from hatching with it's siblings [ obviously scratched while in the incubator ] I just diluted it with a small amount of warm water to thin it enough to apply with a Q-tip 3 times a day. It healed very quickly. You just have to keep any stray bugs away from it of course. And I wondered if you're using any probiotics or bee pollen to boost her system ? That will help since she's been on so many antibiotics.

 

[DragonBus]

Thanks for the positive vibes esther19. I have some probiotics from last year I thougjt of tryin. I was afraid to because they were several months old, and I was unsure if it was safe while she was bleeding. She takes carafate, which has helped the beeding considerably. Ill ask my vet about it after the holiday, and I saw some beehives down the road from where Im at, Ill check them out!

 

[DragonBus]

I have been researching the web and I am wondering if Hutch has gout. She now has nobs on her elbows and a swollen foot. Her range of motion in her front legs is diminished. I got some black cherry concentrate just now and realized that she has not pooped today....or yesterday. I'm preparing a bath for her, but if that does not produce results, mineral oil is next. Her tummy is very bloated.

I just took her to the vet after three weeks on Baytri. The blood in her stools stopped and she has been off carafate for three weeks. Her eye is still swollen so cephelexin was prescribed. Will give her first dose tonight. Does anyone know if it is safe to give her probiotics while she is still on flagyl, which kills the over run of bacteria caused by the last run of baytril. Should I wait till she is done with the carafate and flagyl? I am concerned probiotics may cause infection if there is still an ulceration in her gut. Does anyone know? I will ask my vet monday, but more heads are better than one.