Thoughts for Spankie and Family
Here’s the latest
Spankie has been in the hospital since Monday. ER hospital overnight and then they transfer her back to other regular vet’s hospital during the days. FINALLY, TODAY (Wed), she is showing some signs of improvement!!! THANK GOD FOR THAT!!! They are not sure if she is well enough or strong enough to go home yet BUT she is improving.
Yesterday, they had the mobile radiologist do an ultrasound. They found confirmation of acute, severe pancreatitis PLUS she has severe gastritis with ruptured ulcers (which explains the blood when she vomits). The ER doc said he thinks she had ulcers that we developing but with the continual, “violent” vomiting on Monday, they caused significant problems with the current ulcers and even developed new ones ;-( Poor baby ;-(
She has had nothing to eat or drink since Monday morning BUT she is on IV fluids, pain med, anti-biotics and anti-emetic (anti-vomit/anti-nausea) medication. Her regular vet has tried to introduce 2 teaspoons of food this morning and she ate it “extremely eagerly” (can a pug approach food any differently?! 
…..BUT afterwards, she showed signs of nausea (and regret) of having eaten ;-( Nonetheless, the goal is to gradually introduce food and water and then TRY to get her to take some of her oral meds.
HERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE FOR PRAYER:
In order to be able to walk, and due to her severe arthritis, she can not walk without prednisone. HOWEVER, prednisone can contribute/cause pancreatitis. SO, it is going to be a tight walk about how much and when we can reintroduce prednisone (which will likely be by injection). The vet is going to hold off as much as she can BUT Spankie tends to plummet rapidly when taken off prednisone. The vet MIGHT give her an injection later today OR if she is walking okay without too much pain and effort; they might hold off on the prednisone until tomorrow.
They MIGHT be able to bring her home tonight.
Interestingly enough, 2 weeks ago when she had the ortho issues that caused her to lose the ability to walk (from having come off the prednisone), they had a vet acupuncturist come to the house. Spankie said she was trying to delve into her Chinese ancestry and experience Chinese acupuncture….UNTIL she realized there were needles invovled! She thought it was just going to be bonding time with a nice male vet! WRONG! SHe would have NONE of that needle stuff (Barb says: “I am not sure if it was the needles or the thought of having to lie still with the needles in her for 15-20 minutes! ”) Anyway, to make a long story short, the vet said he was AMAZED at her physical strength and energy and he would never guess that she was almost 12 years old (this July)! He said, “I have worked with all sorts of dogs and the pugs seem to be the most strong-willed…..she is no exception and indeed, she has an incredibly strong will.” He and her regular vet both said that her strong will is probably what has allowed her to face all that she has faced in the past few weeks and last year and been able to make it through. Barb says “SOOOO…anytime we might get frustrated with the “strong will of the pug”, I have learned to thank God for it because I don’t think my Spankie would still be here with us if she was not as strong willed as she is (pure-pug style! That, along with prayer is what has sustained her.”
Thanks to EVERYONE for their prayers and words of support!!!
I will get an update from the vet this afternoon and as soon as I do, I will let everyone know.
Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!!
You folks and your prayers have also been so key in sustaining me, Spankie’s Grandma (my mom), and Jim as we have watched our little girl face all these battles.
Barbara, one of our foster moms needs all our thoughts and prayers.
Spankie, her little puggy has been through so much and she is about to go through some more.
She has been through (cancer, toxic response to drug causing loss of function, THEN orthopedic issues causing her to barely walk… the latter tow all with in the past month!), barb says “it is so painful to watch her suffer like this.” The vet says there is generally good prognosis IF they can get her through this “crisis state.” Poor little girl
Barb tells us: “She looked SO jaundice and as my mom said, it looked like she had aged 5 years in just a matter of hours. Since 2pm today, she had vomited more than 15 times, getting worse and worse. Since 6pm, she was vomiting blood and started shaking (probably from the fever and the pain). We had to transfer her to the ER at 7pm since that is when the local vet closed and there is only one place in town that has 24 ER care. Amazingly, when I left her, she gave me a swish of the curly puggy tail.”
Barb personally just went through surgery for suspected cancer out in Los Angeles and has a lot to face with her health and at work.She cannot bear the thought of losing her baby now. Barb says “I know prayers will help her get through this. She is a trooper. I see how brave she is and it gives me courage. In fact when I was going through my own health crisis and especially when I was SOOOO scared, I thought of her (never barking or biting, but gracious and loving all the time…what an example for me. I can never be THAT good, but I have to say that I gain so much strength from her.”
Tonight, she looked like she was almost out of strength and so terribly scared. It tore Barb apart to leave her. They have to pick her up at 7am and bring her to her regular vet’s hospital. The doctors say tonight is the roughest.
Barb, all of us at CFPR are keeping you and Spankie and all of your family in our hearts and thoughts.
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