Vet wants me to consider putting down

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

She looks happy there, spending some outdoor time! It sounds like the weather has been pretty
good but still a little cool on some days. That's great she has been holding herself up some with
her front arms now. Poor girl, everything sure did take a toll on her strength.
It might be that your hands are shaking which make sense. I hope it isn't actually her that is shaking
though.
Maybe she will start to gain some weight with a few more superworms added. The squash & the
sweet potato should give some extra calories that are healthy to help fill her out.
Her colors are good, no black beard at all.
Keep us posted on her progress!

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

She looks happy there, spending some outdoor time! It sounds like the weather has been pretty
good but still a little cool on some days. That's great she has been holding herself up some with
her front arms now. Poor girl, everything sure did take a toll on her strength.
It might be that your hands are shaking which make sense. I hope it isn't actually her that is shaking
though.
Maybe she will start to gain some weight with a few more superworms added. The squash & the
sweet potato should give some extra calories that are healthy to help fill her out.
Her colors are good, no black beard at all.
Keep us posted on her progress!

Tracie

Hi again,

She has been doing good. Only thing I’ve noticed is appetite is iffy. One days she’ll eat a little next day she may not want anything and I feel bad forcing crit care on her. I have family out of town coming in and they stopped at a fresh veggie stand on the way, they found a honey nut squash, so that’ll be something different for her. I never even seen one local before.

Her back leg on left side seems weak and she doesn’t move it much until she tries to move out of the heat and it’s an it shakey compared to the others. But that’s also the one where the knee is swollen up from all the calcium the vet thinks. Other than that I don’t know if her fingers are stiff or achy but she acts like she doesn’t like to bend them and keeps them straight for the most part. I know high calcium can cause muscle weakness and aches so I’m hoping that’s all it is.

Today it’s warm almost 80s so we’re just hanging out at the park for awhile and she got to hot almost within a half hour of sun coming out from behind clouds and wanted in the shade just seems like she wants to lay around feeling tired. Last couple days it’s been very chilly even in the sun and she slept most those days so I’m hoping rhe weather right now is just making her tired and nothing else with everything she’s been through. It’s really up and down weather rings now and looks to be dropping.

She did get 6 good size roaches the other day and went at them like I don’t offer her food and even that day she tried to attack my finger a few times thinking I had something. But since she ate sat she’s not had much an appetite. She wouldn’t even eat more than half a grape today on her own. But she hasn’t been potty for a few days either. So we’re going home and swim after we leave the park.

Fri I think it was I found out she had a big fall. But she seems to be ok. Someone was watching her and she was on their shoulder and not sure if she tried to jump to the elevated porch behind them or what but she was on the ground the next moment. So I’m sure she’s probably a little sore from that also. She’s still alert and fights me when it comes to meds some and tried to get away when I give her crit care.

She has been drinking a lot though this past week. Sometimes she’ll drink out of her pool or bath. In the morning she may not want more then a drop of water or two other days she may take up to 4ml with her morning dose of milk thistle. So at least I don’t have to worry about her being dehydrated.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

Oh poor girl, she jumped or fell last week? I hope she's alright, that can be traumatic for them.
I'm glad she is still alert & fights you when you try to feed her. It would be really nice if she would
start eating on her own. Were those roaches the first solid food she has had in awhile? Her system
is probably not used to solid foods so much but I'm sure her appetite will pick up soon.
She should really like the honey nut squash, they are very good. They are a little darker than the
butternut squash are.
I hope it doesn't get too cold already, the weather can definitely change quickly! You wont have too
many more decent days weatherwise to get her outside.
Be sure & closely monitor her bones, etc because it is strange not to be giving any calcium at all &
for it to remain high. I am still wondering if she has parathyroid issues possibly.

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

Oh poor girl, she jumped or fell last week? I hope she's alright, that can be traumatic for them.
I'm glad she is still alert & fights you when you try to feed her. It would be really nice if she would
start eating on her own. Were those roaches the first solid food she has had in awhile? Her system
is probably not used to solid foods so much but I'm sure her appetite will pick up soon.
She should really like the honey nut squash, they are very good. They are a little darker than the
butternut squash are.
I hope it doesn't get too cold already, the weather can definitely change quickly! You wont have too
many more decent days weatherwise to get her outside.
Be sure & closely monitor her bones, etc because it is strange not to be giving any calcium at all &
for it to remain high. I am still wondering if she has parathyroid issues possibly.

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

They said they were unsure but believes she tried to jump. How she was sitting on their shoulder if she would have fell should have been forward or to the side and she’s went down behind them, so that’s why they think she may have tried to jump.

No, the roaches Havnt been the first solids. For the past few months up until she got the swelling again she was taking BSFL. Other than that she would eat some fruits maybe ab it’s of green here or there for me and yellow squash occasionally. After her last vet visit on aug 14 she has been getting super worms one week then roaches the next. Since vet wants it only once a week right now she gets them on sat. So about a month now and started out small and increased every other week to see how she does.

I worry about the calcium but with the vet saying it’s high I have no choice but to listen and hope the labs are correct. So I’m hoping I won’t have to worry about her bones until it comes down. She has had a little calcium heat and there when local vets would put her back on stuff saying it’s high so she hasn’t been off the entire time since Dec but most part she had been.

Is there a way to test the thyroid? Maybe like next time she does blood work?

Yes it’s getting cold m, yesterday our high was 74 but if you were in the sun that came out around 1pm it could get hit fast. Today it’s only 70 and unless it feels hot in the sun I’m thinking I’m going to let her sleep today and just get her up for meds. Rest of 10 day forecast is between 72-77 with one day next week maybe 80. I love the winter but this year I really hate it and wish it would pass by for her. I’m thinking of maybe finally going to visit some family in Florida sometime during the winter so I can get her in some warm weather for a bit.

Yesterday I’m when it was decent out we went to the park for a few hours then came home and let her swim. Then she just wanted to sit on the grass for a while until it stared cooing down. So we decided to sit outside and let her lay on my shoulder and look around until her meds. I just wanted her to have a good summer after her first surgery lat year she missed a good bit and this year with everything it wasn’t much better. I just want her to be down and run around and enjoy it. The weather this year and her not feeling well really felt like we Havnt even had a summer.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

It looks like Zilla is starting to fill out some. The pads on her
head aren't sunken in like they were, so keep on working with
her.
I'm sure she did miss out a lot on the summertime & getting
outdoors when it was warmer. Maybe she will be all recovered
for next summer. I know the feeling, I am not a fan of the cold
& it's hard to get them outside if it is too cold for too long. A
trip to Florida would be good for you both!
They are notorious for jumping & trying to fly! So she could
have hurt herself absolutely.
Let's hope the blood tests are accurate, & her calcium levels
are indeed high. They usually are. It seems that it has just
been a long time. You can have them do a TSH test which
tests for T4 thyroid. It simply measures the amount of thyroid
in the blood. If it's malfunctioning then it could possibly affect
the release of calcium by releasing too much or too little, etc.
At least she is eating some solid foods here & there but keep
encouraging her so that her own natural appetite starts to kick
in.
I hope she starts feeling better!
I personally think she's looking a lot more alert!

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

It looks like Zilla is starting to fill out some. The pads on her
head aren't sunken in like they were, so keep on working with
her.
I'm sure she did miss out a lot on the summertime & getting
outdoors when it was warmer. Maybe she will be all recovered
for next summer. I know the feeling, I am not a fan of the cold
& it's hard to get them outside if it is too cold for too long. A
trip to Florida would be good for you both!
They are notorious for jumping & trying to fly! So she could
have hurt herself absolutely.
Let's hope the blood tests are accurate, & her calcium levels
are indeed high. They usually are. It seems that it has just
been a long time. You can have them do a TSH test which
tests for T4 thyroid. It simply measures the amount of thyroid
in the blood. If it's malfunctioning then it could possibly affect
the release of calcium by releasing too much or too little, etc.
At least she is eating some solid foods here & there but keep
encouraging her so that her own natural appetite starts to kick
in.
I hope she starts feeling better!
I personally think she's looking a lot more alert!

Tracie

She has put on a little weight. She seems to be doing good for the most part right now. Only issue I’m seeing is she tried to walk a bit today and her back left leg is real shaky and she has issues moving it if she’s not in a hurry. When she wants to fight or move fast she seems to do good. I think it’s from the calcium deposit on the knee where it’s so swollen. It’s a lot larger than her other back one and even the vet said both were swollen some last time I was there. Outside of surgery do you know if there is anything I can do to try to help her with it? I think that’s the whole reason she’s not wanting to walk much. I have some metacam left over from her surgery in may but not sure how long the stuff is good for. It’s been put in a drawer so it’s been in a dark place since I had it. Not sure if it could help if it’s hurting her or even help if there is sweeping in it also. She’s also been holding her other back leg up once in awhile and just lets it float in the air. First time I ever saw her do that was after her first surgery and she did it a few times but now starting it back up again.

I’ll add a couple pics but not sure how well you can tell but when you feel her knees you can tell how much bigger that one is. The last pic is of her leg floating but it didn’t turn out as good as I hoped. Her paw or nothing is actually touching my shirt she just held it there the entire time I gave her meds and water and soon as I rubbing it and layed it down on me she was fine with it flat.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Zilla is looking better, slowly. Not sure why she would have gotten calcium deposits on just one
knee & not the other, but, it definitely would cause swelling & some pain. Are you giving black or
tart cherry juice extract daily to help break down excess uric acid (if applicable) & some possible
crystallization of calcium, too. She might have developed septic or gout type arthritis, from having
so many issues previously. I think the metacam should be fine, as long as it hasn't gotten too hot
or been in direct light, etc.
Is she starting to show interest in food more often now? I think she is doing remarkable considering
everything she has been through.
Keep us posted on her!

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello,

Zilla is looking better, slowly. Not sure why she would have gotten calcium deposits on just one
knee & not the other, but, it definitely would cause swelling & some pain. Are you giving black or
tart cherry juice extract daily to help break down excess uric acid (if applicable) & some possible
crystallization of calcium, too. She might have developed septic or gout type arthritis, from having
so many issues previously. I think the metacam should be fine, as long as it hasn't gotten too hot
or been in direct light, etc.
Is she starting to show interest in food more often now? I think she is doing remarkable considering
everything she has been through.
Keep us posted on her!

Tracie

The meds have been in a dark drawer I only get in once a day when I get her Ursodiol out so it should be room temp or lower I would assume. I hope it’s not arthritis, I’ve thought of that a few times. And when I asked the vet said they don’t think it is. Gout every time she had her blood work drawn her uric acid had been low to normal range so they don’t think it’s that. Food wise she will go after her bugs and some fruits but that’s about it, even then some fruits have to be hand fed and she still may not want them.

So the swelling came back in her front paw yesterday a little and today it seems to have puffed up more. I don’t know why when she was doing so good again.

Sat she was acting like her back leg was weak and shakey like I mentioned so I gave her a very small dose of metacam before bed with her other meds to help her relax if she was hurting. Sat i gave her 6 med super worms with her herpivite instead of 4 She also had some extra honey nut squash. Sun it was really cold out so besides getting her up for her meds and some water I let her sleep all day under the electric blanket. After her night time meds she crawled out from under it not tired so I held her until she went to sleep. Mon it was cold and rainy most the day so I did the same and let her sleep, I tried to offer her fruit but she’d only take a small bite of watermelon before bed. I just wanted to get some food in her. she was acting like her front left arm was a little weak that day I was thinking it was because she slept so much it may have been in an awkward position and was a little stiff or whatever. Yesterday I got her up to put under her lights awhile and feed her and she just let it hang and had a small amount of swelling. Most the day she seemed tired so I let her nap after a few hours until the sun popped up for a bit and took her outside. Soon as it got cold I let her go back to bed until her meds. Today when I got her up for meds it seems like she didn’t want to get up and her front paw is swollen more when I moved her leg she jerked awake so I don’t know if it hurt her or what but she acts fine when I touch it the majority of the time and it is more swollen.

It’s suppose to be sunny and around 70s in a few hours so I’m going to try to take her to the park a bit. If it’s sunny she seems like it gets hot enough to where she enjoys it. Hopefully that’ll help the swelling some but it seems like I added more bugs and squash then the swelling started again. The vet says it shouldn’t be anything she eats though. She was fine before I added all that and the only thing else she gets is a little slurry made with her greens and maybe fruit or squash mixed in and some fruit every day or 2. Besides swimming she hadn’t been very active so it’s not like she could have got hurt or anything. I do give her cherry juice once to two times a week. I cut back down since the brand I got was discontinued and I had to find a new one so I could make sure it wouldn’t make things worse but she’s been on it for about a month. Also since she gets fruit I didn’t want to push to much sugar on her.

The only other possible thing I can think of is since it’s been cold out I’ve not been able to let her swim outside in her pool. So she uses a good size tote that I have the non slip shower tape along some of the bottom to help her grip instead of it being slippery. She had a few baths like that before the swelling came back. But then again I think the swelling hit before even when she never used that to bath so I don’t know what to think.

Edit: So back from the park after a few hours she held her head up and looked around some. She won’t put weight in her one leg at all unless she’s trying to get comfy it all goes on the other. I got her to take crit care and she did decent. Didn’t try to fight like normal so not sure if she was hungry or just not feeling good enough to fight. After a while she just laid down and looked without her legs being used. I put her in the swimming pool and she went potty and it has a dark tint and with orangish in it. I’m hoping it’s from the worms she ate sat and the color is just from the honey nut squash. It did have some odor to it and urates looked a little grayer but she’s been drinking a good bit so I don’t think it’s dehydration. I’m a little worried it could be an infection again. The only other thing I noticed is that it all falls apart easy when trying to get it out of the water but there are little black pieces in it that look like seeds and hard but with pressure they break apart. I Havnt given her anything with seeds in it, I always pick out what I see so unless they were little soft or almost clear ones she shouldn’t have had any. There was some pink but I think that was from watermelon she ate. As of right now her paw doesn’t seem as swollen as it normally gets so I’m hoping for the best. I also should note she was ready for bed as soon as she got out her bath. Tomorrow is suppose to be high 70s and cloudy so hopefully she’ll feel better when we get to the park.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

Zilla is still doing really well. The fluctuation of the hand, etc just may be a reoccurring thing for some
reason. As long as she continues to improve & uses it most of the time, it might just be something she
will learn to deal with. Perhaps she has some arthritis that developed which is common.
Hopefully she will have more good days than off days.
As long as there was no blood in the stool then it most likely is just diet or supplement related. I wouldn't
worry too much about it. Did she like the honey nut squash, it is actually pretty good, it has a slight bit
flavor than the butternut squash. It sounds like she is well hydrated, also.
Keep at it, she has come much further than anyone thought she would. Bless her! Definitely take her to
the park, even if it's slightly overcast she can still get some sun/UVB.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

Zilla is still doing really well. The fluctuation of the hand, etc just may be a reoccurring thing for some
reason. As long as she continues to improve & uses it most of the time, it might just be something she
will learn to deal with. Perhaps she has some arthritis that developed which is common.
Hopefully she will have more good days than off days.
As long as there was no blood in the stool then it most likely is just diet or supplement related. I wouldn't
worry too much about it. Did she like the honey nut squash, it is actually pretty good, it has a slight bit
flavor than the butternut squash. It sounds like she is well hydrated, also.
Keep at it, she has come much further than anyone thought she would. Bless her! Definitely take her to
the park, even if it's slightly overcast she can still get some sun/UVB.

Tracie

I’ve been trying to fetcher out as much as I can. Unfortunately with these spells she doesn’t feel like doing anything for the most part. She usually just lays around and sometimes will look around others she just wants to lay and not move at all. She also doesn’t want to really eat anything when they happen so I have to force a little water or something on her just to try and keep her hydrated. Usually after an hour or 2 of being awake she just seems so tired she wants to sleep. Yesterday she wanted in her pool and after going potty I changed it and she wanted back in and swam very little and drank some water. Today I got her up and after and hour outside she’s ready to go bed. I just feel like something’s being missed. Everytime she seems to do fine I start adding a little bit of different foods to her diet instead of just crit care then it seems like the swelling hits. It can’t be a coincidence. My other worry if it is the infection coming back, I really don’t know if I have the heart to put her through another surgery just to see if they can find anything. Everything else seems like they rule out. Seems like we get on the correct path and soon as everyone says she looks and is doing better it hits again.

I should also add that I noticed when you touch around her toes or rosy that once in awhile she acts like it hurts because she’ll jerk away. I would love to try Allopurinol to see if it would help but none of the vets will prescribe it since they say her uric acid is low according to labs.