Status 20061030
Original sender: Eric----
Good morning all.
A weekend full of ups and downs.
Saturday morning I got up at 5:30 and drove JJ to Gainesville to be checked out and to have his drain removed. It was a bit of a gamble since Hope had not called back Friday evening to confirm the appointment.
The drain was removed and they found JJ to be a bit dehydrated. I did not have a water bowl in the car and had left home too early to give him his big drink. They want me to schedule to have a feeding tube inserted on Monday or Wednesday so he can get nutrition whether he wants it or not. His weight is down to 11.5 kg (about 26 lbs, formerly 32 lbs). They also said to stop with the anti-fungal for a couple of days to try and settle his tummy.
I am unsure about the feeding tube. Part of me thinks we’ve done so much and have him so close I can’t stop now. Part of me thinks maybe we’ve done so much maybe it’s time to stop. Part of me doesn’t know how to pay for more or tell my boss I need more scheduling flexibility.
Saturday after leaving the hospital we stopped at McDonalds where I bought 3 double cheeseburgers ($3.19 with tax). I would take a bite and then offer JJ a bit. In total he had about half a patty to eat. After Micky’s we drove back to Orlando and stopped at an equestrian center to watch the end of a horse show. JJ perked way up at the sight of the crowd and the horses. He was working the crowd as only a half shaved, pathetic, frankendog can. He ate bread that was offered and drank quite a lot of water. I was ecstatic. When we got back in the car he ate another half of burger that was left in his snuggle bed.
Sunday started well with some eating and drinking. About 10am he vomited it all up and did not want to eat or drink anything. He was not very perky and just wanted to sleep in the sun on the deck. I squirted some water in his mouth mid afternoon and while he did not like it much he did swallow a fair bit.
I had no success getting him to eat anything. We made a slurry of dog food, water and Nutri-Cal in the blender and put it in a big 2 oz (60ml) syringe. We found if we pressed the plastic tip of the syringe against some of his missing teeth and slowly droppered the slurry into his mouth he would lick and swallow it. We gave him about 3 or 4 oz last night and it seemed to help.
This morning he was pretty sleepy when I rousted him to potty about 6:20 this morning. I gave him his tummy meds and about 2 oz of slurry before getting into the shower. About an hour later as I called the other dogs in JJ got up and ran to the ex-pen to bark at the other dogs. He had certainly perked up. I gave him another syringe full and managed to get some of it in his mouth. The perkier he got the less interested he was in having stuff in his mouth. At one point he bit onto the end of the syringe. After I got the syringe emptied and the drips on the floor cleaned up, I heard JJ take a big drink, the first in about 18 hours (that I heard).
I am hopeful that the dropper feeding will get him on the right track before we need to resort to the feeding tube.
Good morning all.
A weekend full of ups and downs.
Saturday morning I got up at 5:30 and drove JJ to Gainesville to be checked out and to have his drain removed. It was a bit of a gamble since Hope had not called back Friday evening to confirm the appointment.
The drain was removed and they found JJ to be a bit dehydrated. I did not have a water bowl in the car and had left home too early to give him his big drink. They want me to schedule to have a feeding tube inserted on Monday or Wednesday so he can get nutrition whether he wants it or not. His weight is down to 11.5 kg (about 26 lbs, formerly 32 lbs). They also said to stop with the anti-fungal for a couple of days to try and settle his tummy.
I am unsure about the feeding tube. Part of me thinks we’ve done so much and have him so close I can’t stop now. Part of me thinks maybe we’ve done so much maybe it’s time to stop. Part of me doesn’t know how to pay for more or tell my boss I need more scheduling flexibility.
Saturday after leaving the hospital we stopped at McDonalds where I bought 3 double cheeseburgers ($3.19 with tax). I would take a bite and then offer JJ a bit. In total he had about half a patty to eat. After Micky’s we drove back to Orlando and stopped at an equestrian center to watch the end of a horse show. JJ perked way up at the sight of the crowd and the horses. He was working the crowd as only a half shaved, pathetic, frankendog can. He ate bread that was offered and drank quite a lot of water. I was ecstatic. When we got back in the car he ate another half of burger that was left in his snuggle bed.
Sunday started well with some eating and drinking. About 10am he vomited it all up and did not want to eat or drink anything. He was not very perky and just wanted to sleep in the sun on the deck. I squirted some water in his mouth mid afternoon and while he did not like it much he did swallow a fair bit.
I had no success getting him to eat anything. We made a slurry of dog food, water and Nutri-Cal in the blender and put it in a big 2 oz (60ml) syringe. We found if we pressed the plastic tip of the syringe against some of his missing teeth and slowly droppered the slurry into his mouth he would lick and swallow it. We gave him about 3 or 4 oz last night and it seemed to help.
This morning he was pretty sleepy when I rousted him to potty about 6:20 this morning. I gave him his tummy meds and about 2 oz of slurry before getting into the shower. About an hour later as I called the other dogs in JJ got up and ran to the ex-pen to bark at the other dogs. He had certainly perked up. I gave him another syringe full and managed to get some of it in his mouth. The perkier he got the less interested he was in having stuff in his mouth. At one point he bit onto the end of the syringe. After I got the syringe emptied and the drips on the floor cleaned up, I heard JJ take a big drink, the first in about 18 hours (that I heard).
I am hopeful that the dropper feeding will get him on the right track before we need to resort to the feeding tube.
posted by Elf at 2:16 PM
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