my cocker cannot go defecate what can I do?
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My dog Rocco is a cocker, he's 11 years old. A few days ago he gained access to the trash and downed 3 mini drumstick size chicken leg bones. Note he has been diagnosed by having chronic pancreantitis,: as well as having a quarter size growth directly on the outside of his rectum. At first he was fine. Then about two and a half days go by and he begins to yelp and cry, he urinates fine but he would try to deficate and stop himself as he started uncontrolably scratching his chest. We went to the vet who put him on carafate, and told me to give him pepcid ad,:which I had given him prooir to our visit. He also put him on simplisif an antibiotic. He finally deficated at the vets and his stool seemed fine. He told me if he started to vomit or have diarreha we would then start treatment assuming his pancreantitis was acting up due to the chicken bones. That night I brought him to emergency because he seemed to be in more pain and struggling to deficate but urinating fine,. She took xrays and exami his abiltiy to move his neck and feel if his back was diplaced. The resultes of xrays showed his pancreas to be swollen and no apparent signs of chicken bones.. I asked her to treat him as if it was pancreantitis and she insisted on having a blood work to confirm that assumption and she suggested to give him inflamation meds and pain meds. I then asked her how much are viist was going to be thus far, she tells me x rays are $200 plus office visit of $72 I gasped because I only had $201 to my name. She then refused to treat him for pancreantitis claimed to have given my dog a shot for pain and ushered us off. At home he went #2 this stool was very soft, a lottle runny but his pain was never relieved and he cryed all night long. I called this vet 3 times finally begging her to give my dog something for his pain. I pointed out that her colleage has already diagnosed him with having chronic pancreantitis. She told me I would have to take him to that doctor who would be in around 9am meanwhile he is in such pain I give him a extremly small piece of naprosin I recieved from my dentist a few days prior. We go to see the vet again that morning he questions why his rectal growth had never been sampled and checked to see if it was cancerous, I informed him that both dr dismissed it being the problem. Meanwhile every time he seems to experience the need to deficate he goes in a few circles cry's and then stops himself by sitting down and scratching his chest to the point it is now raw flesh. O.k I ask how much this biopsy would run he says $200 i then told him my financail situation and was told he couldnt touch him without payment so I asked him exactely how much this visit would be and he tells me $200 plus a medication I would have to purchase at an outside pharmacy called Tramadol. He agrees to take rocco and I leave to go borrow the cash. I return he gives me rocco and tells me he was'nt having any stomach pain but his ears where extrememly bad and gave me ear drops called Tresaderm. He also was very concerned with his chest stating this could be the cause of his pain handing me a small prescription bottle filled sulfa cream. I then said I think he is going to need an elizabethaneil collar to stop him from scratching his chest, he said he didn't relize that his abrasion was caused by him scratching and rushed off to get the collar. He sent me home with a prescription fro tramadol and a diet of rice and cottage cheese, assuring me his pain would stop. No such luck he cried all night long and did not deficate. Next morning today I call dr office he finally calls me back I remined him that rocco didnt show signs of stomach pain because he was on my pain meds and questioned the pain medicine he gave him. I was told it takes time to work I said I cannot bare to see him going through so much pain and suggest to give him something for inflammation like rymadol and give him a muscle relaxer ( I forget the name of this medicine) but rocco was given these two meds several times in the past and they always worked to eliminate the pancreantitis and he never showed any sign that he was having any pain during his treatment. He said he would give him another script for the pain but I would be charged for another office visit,I agreed but then decided to get another opinion. I requested his records from this clinic and see the next vet. She gives him a very thorough examination including a rectal examination which shows there is poop in there he isnt bothered by this examination and she cannot feel anything blocking this passage. I told her there had been a test done and although it was evaluated in house and not sent out to a lab the other vet said he found nothing to lead him to believe it is cancerous or any alarming signs of this growth.She then prescribes a muscle relaxer and tells me at least this will hopefully relieve his pain until he passes these chicken bones through his system, assuming this is the cause. She also suggests having his blood work done in case it is his kidneys or pancreas I opt to wait it out one day due to my lack of cash flow, seeing how this incident has cost me $650. Now he is finally sleeping but he has not gone poop for over 24 hours he tries and does the same circle thing the only thing is now he isnt able to scratch his chest anymore, thank God. I have feed him rice and cottage cheese which he ate in 5 seconds and he drank alot of water. Any advice as to how to treat my baby would be very appreciated. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon.
__________________
That's quite a story- Part 1
Let's see if we can summarize...
Doctor #1 prescribed carafate which is used to help coat and allow ulcers to hear. Pepsid A/D available over the counter in the United States. And an antibiotic. All reasonable to treat an attack of pancreatitis. But he did not prescribe a potent pain killer such as Demerol or Torbutrol.
Doctor #2 takes Xrays and notes the pancreas seems swollen and no evidence of bones or obstruction. Then she wants to soak you for blood tests that may or may not show raised amylase and lipase levels. She then gave the dog some unknown pain medication. You called back 3 times and she didn't want to offer any additional treatment.
Now you go back to Doctor #1(?) who is suddenly focusing in on the tumor growth. And asks you why his colleagues never sent a sample to pathology. He then sends you home after a $200 ear cleaning with a prescription for Tramadol- which should help greatly with the pain, and a diet plan of cottage cheese and rice.
If your dog is suffering from a bout of pancreatitis the common treatment is to take the dog off of all food, and to administer IVs in a vet hospital. The idea is to eliminate the need for the dog to digest food or the need to produce pancreatic enzymes which will irritate the pancreas more. Pain management is very important, as in relieving nausea which is frequently present. Given your economic situation where you are trying to care for the dog at home, you need to eliminate the cottage cheese. Any food with fat in it will make pancreatitis worse, also salt will cause problems. Even under hospital conditions pancreatitis can get worse. So it's not an easy thing for a dog to get over. It's also not uncommon for a dog with pancreatitis to exhibit other signs of pain such as panting, and to be very sensitive to any pressure on the abdomen. It could be the Vet that indicated the dog was not in pain was basing it on the dog not reacting upon being pressed on(?)- unknown.
The other factor is the growth which could be anal gland cancer, where it has spread and bowel movements are painful to the dog. Or you could have a combination of both conditions. Part II to follow...
