Please put Gretchen on your prayer or good thoughts list.

[DOTLDaddy]

Gretchen has not been feeling very well the last several days. Hardly eating, lethargic, and just not being herself. We took her in this morning to see her vet. Found out right away she had a fever of 104, and somewhat raspy sounding lungs. The vet recommended chest x-rays, which we did. There is a slightly suspicious looking area on one of her lungs, which our vet is 90% sure is nothing, but she wants an expert radiologist to look at the digital "films". There is a small possibility of the big "C", but our vet does not want to make that call yet. Like I said, she is pretty sure it is nothing . . . . The radiologist will look at them in the near future, but it might not be for a week or two. The radiologist travels around to a lot of different vet offices, looking at cases that require an experts knowledge. Our vet said the time lapse will have no bearing on the prognosis or treatment options, if it comes to that.

For the fever and whatever is causing it, we came home with Amoxicillin and Metronidazole. They also took blood for a CBC, and will let us know about that tomorrow.

[dakonthemountai]

Andy, Stella, and Argus are sending their best "woof" prayers for Gretchen.... and (((hugs)))) for your and your family. It is never easy..

Dak

[Dashonthedash]

Good night, Walter. Hopefully, they will find the cause of Gretchen's problems. The opthalmologist may be right about an autoimmune disorder; Shepherds seem to be vulnerable to a number of those, such as Pannus. This one, though, seems to have affected more than just the eyes.

[DOTLDaddy]

dturm wrote:
Dr. Moore??? He graduated from Mizzou a few years before me and was dean many years after.

Yup.

Thanks everybody. We're hitting the sack early tonight everybody. It's been a very long day. Hopefully tomorrow morning will bring some improvement with it . . . . 😛

[CatandJim]

Oooohhhh Gretchen, I hate that for you. Ouch, my eyes hurt just looking at those pictures.

I'm so glad your Walter & Garland are doing what they can to get answers.

[Code2High]

Oh poor baby! Listen, I'm not often a fan of prednisone but in this case, I'm going to say keep her on it until you get this sorted out!

[RBak]

Poor Gretchen! Hope they are able to identify what is causing this and are able to help her recover. Prayers and good thoughts coming again for Gretchen and you!

Rita

[rwj146]

I hope Gretchen has a full recovery. Best Wishes

[colliehauler]

I sure hope they figure out what is causing this.

[dturm]

Dr. Moore??? He graduated from Mizzou a few years before me and was dean many years after.

Sounds like what ever is causing Gretchen's immune system to flare up is still causing problems. I've seen eyes like that, most of the time part of an acute anaphylactic reaction, like a vaccination reaction or bee sting.

Hope she does better.

Doug

[DOTLDaddy]

Dandy Dan wrote:
DTOLDaddy aka Walter,
What is the scoop on Gretchen? Haven't seen anything in the last couple of days. Hope all is going well.

Where do I begin . . . . 😛 We have been to two vet specialist places today. We just got back from the second a short time ago.

This morning, after going through Sunday with no meds, per schedule, Gretchen's eye's were grossly swollen and red. Went to VSSSTL at 9:00am. The vet there was so concerned, we were sent to yet another specialist vet clinic to see an ophthalmologist. (BTW, Dr. Doug, this vet was a former dean of the UM Columbia vet school. Maybe you know him, Dr. M----???)

Anyway, to keep this brief, the short time off of prednisone apparently contributed to this flare up. Not only is she back on prednisone, but doxycycline and metronidazole as well. The first specialist was concerned that there may be some growth, cyst or tumor behind her eyes, but Dr. M---- , the ophthalmologist, does not think that is the case. He thinks it is some sort of autoimmune thing going on. There are so many possibilities . . . . Anyway, hopefully, the predisone will work it's magic again, and the other stuff will kill off the underlying badness.

The skin condition on her body has resolved itself nicely, and we had the stitches taken out today while we were at the first vet specialist place.

This morning before going to vets, not pretty:

[Terri_travel]

Prayers for Gretchen!

[Dandy_Dan]

DTOLDaddy aka Walter,
What is the scoop on Gretchen? Haven't seen anything in the last couple of days. Hope all is going well.

[AZPops]

DOTLDaddy wrote:

AZPops wrote:
Really great news Walter! How about boiling bone/skinless chicken breast on white rice, n' pour the chicken water on it?

The very first menu item we tried after her diagnosis was boiled chicken & rice. That went over like a lead balloon. :S She apparently prefers her chicken either baked, broiled or grilled . . . . . . hold the BBQ sauce, BTW. 🙂

Ok, ... you's could try gril'lin the chick'in (or venis'in) over Mesquite Wood, and throw a Prawn in fur good measure (like's they do's down-under's)! Chop it all up (but don't mix the chick'in or venis'in with the prawns though) n' place it over some quick stur'red fried rice (no oil) done in a Wok. May be that'll do the trick! Serve the boiled chick'in water on the side as a soup!

Calvin

Oh n' don't fur get to sprinkle some chives on the soup! You's knows, fur extry taste!

PPS, have you's tried slicing FRESH Salmon over freshly made rice!

[DOTLDaddy]

Little Kopit wrote:


Careful with how many boiled bone water meals you make. I gave a dog kidney problems doing that.

:C

Not to worry . . . . see above post.:B

[DOTLDaddy]

AZPops wrote:
Really great news Walter! How about boiling bone/skinless chicken breast on white rice, n' pour the chicken water on it?

The very first menu item we tried after her diagnosis was boiled chicken & rice. That went over like a lead balloon. :S She apparently prefers her chicken either baked, broiled or grilled . . . . . . hold the BBQ sauce, BTW. 🙂