Poor Raustyk girl * update on pg 5, not too good *

[chocolatepuppy]

I hope you find out soon what is wrong with Raustyk. It must be so frustrating waiting to find out. It's good to hear she is feeling a little bit better. I will keep her in my prayers.

[Daisy and Delilah]

It has to be so hard for you , Sue. Not knowing what's going on. I hope you can get to the bottom of it tomorrow. More well wishes and prayers coming to you. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

[anna_66]

I hate to hear this It's sooo frustrating not knowing exactly what's wrong with them so they can be treated accordingly.
I hope you can find out the problem soon.

Give that sweet girl lots and lots of hugs from me.

[lv4dogs]

She's not doing any better today, in fact she's doing a little worse, her appetite is even less now, to the point where she will barely eat anything. I'm going to cook her up some chicken & maybe some rice in a little bit and see if she'll eat that. She won't eat her usual raw diet, the evo, any dog treat and even most people food scraps. Her gait was a little better this morning but now it's back to what it was like on the second day that this all started.
There is no diagnosis yet. Her bloodwork is a little worse too, her bun & cre are even higher and a couple more things are off too. Thank god that those are not that far off at all though and are not as dangerous. Most likely she'll continue to get fluids for at least a few more days. Her gait was a little bit better this morning but now it is about the same it was on the second day that this all start.
We think vestibular disease is off the list though. She probably would of been showing other symptoms by now.
I could probably find out if it was a brain tumor or blood clot by an mri but I just don't have that much money to test for something that I probably won't be able to do anything about anyways. Don't get me wrong, I love her & will do anything if it will help us diagnosis AND correct her problem.
So for now, she's getting fluids, pain meds, pepcid to coat & calm her digestive tract (hopefully this will increase her appetite), lots of natural supplements for joint inflammation, care & pain, etc... If she doesn't get any better, or if she gets worse, then on Monday or Tuesday we'll most likely go & see a specialists(s).

I just wish that I could do more for her. I hate to see her like this. I just want to make her better.

She thanks you all for the prayers & comforting thoughts. She says to keep em' coming!

[lizbud]

I am so sorry Raustyk is still not doing much better. It must be so
frustrating to get to the bottom of this & get the right treatment for her.
I will keep you both in my prayers.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, Sue. How old is that sweet girl? I hope it's just a fluke and she's going to get better soon. You have certainly had your share of hardship. I wish for better days ahead for you and the furkids.

[lv4dogs]

How old is that sweet girl?

She turned 9 this past January.


I got her to eat the cooked chicken last night & it looks like I'll have to do the same today as she won't eat again this morning, I've already tried a smorgasboard (sp?) of her usual foods & treats, she won't eat any of it.
Her gait is also worse. It's like her body, especially the rear end, is staggering drunk. She's falling over more this morning. I am hoping & praying that she just slept wrong and is especially sore. I hope that as her pain meds kick in & she's awake more she'll improve. I hope that it is not her actual problem that is getting worse.
It breaks my heart that I am not able to do more for her at this point.

I'd love to upload some new pics of her (and the rest of my gang) but I don't think I want to chance it because my computer is a piece of junk & I don't know if it can handle the program that I need to download my pics from my camera. I am not that computer savy & am not sure how or what I need to check to see if my computer can handle it. (yes I have the internet at home now!) Who knows, maybe I'll give it a try later today. No promises though.

[k9krazee]

Oh no, I'm just seeing this Sue. Sending many, many good thoughts and prayers to you and the Raustyk girlie!!

[kallisto4529]

I just saw this I am so sorry she is so sick, both of you will be my prayers and I will be thinking positive thoughts for you. Give her some love from all of us here.

[Daisy and Delilah]

More thoughts and prayers for you and Raustyk, Sue. Get Well Sweet Girl!!

[cyber-sibes]

Oh Sue, I just saw this.
Raustyk's in my prayers, I hope the dear girl improves soon. ((hugs)) to her.

[lv4dogs]

Sorry, I copied & pasted this from my lj. I have a lot to do & didn't have time to re-write it all.
We continue to thank each & every one of yous for your thoughts & prayers!

So more tests and consults were done today on Raustyk. We have not ruled out most of the other possible conditions that I have already listed before but have come to the conclusion that it is most likely something more along the lines of a degenerative myelopathy problem or even some sort of neuropathie problem. The whole kidney thing has been brewing for quite some time. Although it is worse now it is probably not related to her hind end problem.

We have also come to the conclusion that pretty much the only things at this time that would help diagnose the problem besides time & what we are already currently doing are things like an MRI, bone scan or the like. But even so, there really wouldn't be much of a cure for her if she were to have any of those problems detected by those means and the few things that might have a cure she would not be a good candidate for.

So we are monitoring her closely, giving her proper exercise & therapy, low protein foods, fluids, supplements & tramadol for pain.
I have quite a bit of research to do, mostly regarding some supplements & just about everything on how to feed a low protein all raw diet.

It stinks, her kidneys can not handle a lot of protein but her muscles really need it. It's a no win situation here.

[Ginger's Mom]

Just seeing this now, Sue. Not really sure what to say other than I will add my good thoughts and prayers to those that are undoubtedly already going for our dear Raustyk. Hope things improve for that big girl.

[luvofallhorses]

I will continue to keep Raustyk in my thoughts and prayers. (((HUGS))) to you both!

[Kater]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about Raustyk. You will both be in my prayers! Hugs being sent to you both!

Maybe you could consider Chinese herbal pain medicine (is there a local alternative vet?) in light of her kidney function? At the clinic where I work we use a formulation called Body Sore (Chinese Name: Shen Tong Zhu Yu). We get it from Shen Xie, DVM PhD of the Chi Institute in Florida. Here is how he describes the Body Sore: Half of the ingredients are to resolve Qi-blood stagnation and relieve pain, and another half ingredients are to tonify Kidney and strengthen the bones and ligament/tendons.

Just another pain management idea. I have tried using it for my dog's pain, but he has a very sensitive stomach and the herbs depress his appetite too much. However, it works wonders for some dogs.