So after seeming to get better for a few days, yesterday Cassie the Corgi essentially crashed. This poor little dog is terribly sick. She’s not coughing as much, but her breathing is labored and she’s distant — “foggy” is the word for it. Yesterday for the first time she seemed less than interested in food. And she’s barely moving around. At times she appears to be in pain.
Last night I thought she might pass in her sleep, but no. Actually, I kind of hoped that would be the case. If it were me and I could lay me down to sleep and never wake up, that’s the way I’d want to go. This morning she’s still with us, just. But she’s immobile.
So, pretty clearly, tomorrow I’ll have to call the vet and arrange to have her put to sleep. If she lives that long.
Isn’t it odd how the most difficult crises invariably occur on the weekend, when there’s no way to get help? You get sick, the dog gets sick, the cat gets sick: everyplace is closed. When I called the vet’s office yesterday (Saturday morning), a recorded message told me to call one of those chain “emergency” veterinaries. Those places charge you $1400 just to walk in the door.
And y’know…after spending $1,000 on the present crisis, I just don’t have $1,400. That’s more than my monthly income. It’s well over half of what I have to live on per month. And no, I’m not charging my dog’s demise on a credit card.
October 28, 2018 at 7:28 am
So sorry to hear the “pup” is failing. I, like others, had hoped she’d make a full recovery…It’s tough to watch…a pretty helpless feeling. You and that little dog have been thru a lot together…
October 28, 2018 at 7:35 am
Well, in rummaging through the Hypochondriac’s Treasure Chest That Is the Internet, what do we discover but that one of the side effects of doxycycline is “difficulty breathing.”
And we also stumble across the statement that a typical course of treatment is 7 to 14 days…this dog has been swallowing two horsepills of the stuff a day for the past 19 days.
Y’know…she’s not going to be any LESS dead if we take her off this drug and wait two to four days to see what happens. In any event, I’m calling the vet tomorrow.
October 28, 2018 at 7:37 am
I’m so sorry. Both of you–all three of you–are in my thoughts. Wishing Cassie fair winds and following seas.
October 28, 2018 at 9:18 am
Thanks!
Which reminds me…we should try again to sell that boating story… Have you put it up anywhere? I still have the Kindle version, which could be reactivated with no trouble, under Roberta’s byline…
October 28, 2018 at 8:24 am
Why has she been on the doxy for 19 days? Was this initially for the Valley fever? Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Personally, I’d take her off of everything and see what happens. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I know it hurts to watch.
October 28, 2018 at 9:17 am
No, this was for a pretty severe urinary tract infection, an ailment to which corgis are especially prone. But…the usual course of treatment for a UTI is 7 to 14 days. She gave me enough for about a month…but it may be that she felt the infection was so severe it needed a heavy-duty whack of the stuff.
Remember: this is the vet who said the numbers in the test were about as high as you could get, whereas the other doc, who put her on the prednisone cough killer and the Valley fever toxin, said her UTI was so mild as to be negligible. He MAY have figured it was best to deal with one issue at a time, though he didn’t say so: he said the UTI wasn’t bad enough to be worth treating. Or he may have figured the fluconazole he prescribed for the Valley fever would make her quite sick enough, thankyouverymuch, so wished to refrain from giving her another drug that might or might not have aggravated things. But of course, all of that is second-guessing…who KNOWS what either vet thought? Other than the vets themselves, that is. 😉
October 28, 2018 at 8:34 am
Will share that I was on “doxy” for 30 days….twice … for Lymes and suffered no ill effects. I was a bit panicked when I read the POSSIBLE side effects but thank goodness this didn’t happen to me. Is she still on the Predisone? That will increase the appetite…And are you still giving her the “Benadryl treatment”? IMHO the Benadryl was “genius”….I ever would have thought of it…
October 28, 2018 at 8:58 am
It IS billed as one of the most benign antibiotics you can take. So I think the very idea that it’s making her seem worse is an exceptionally long shot. On the other hand…why rush to judgment? It can’t hurt (uhm, except the dog) to wait a day or three. In theory, doxy passes out of your system at the rate of 1/2 the present bloodstream concentration every 18 hours. Or so. Given that she’s elderly and presently is inert, we could make that 24 hours. So…in three or four days, the level in her system should have dropped enough to show whether the problem really is a side effect…because it will start to resolve by then.
Yes, I’m still giving her Benadryl though decided to knock that off this morning, too. Probably will give her one tonight. The random cough is almost gone…which, of course, could reflect the fact that she’s too weak to cough anymore. The doxy’s purpose was not to treat the cough — it was for a UTI, which cleared up right away and which is normally treated by a two-week course of antibiotics. This dog has been on the stuff for almost three weeks.
In passing, I also learned you can dose a dog’s cough with Robitussin. https://www.petplace.com/article/drug-library/drug-library/library/dextromethorphan-robitussin-dm-for-dogs/ Wish I’d know about THAT before the “cough suppressant with prednisone” came along…
And nope: she’s off the prednisone, once & for all. Really… Giving her Benadryl and a snootful of Robitussin would have accomplished the desired effect without making her sick. But…o’course, then he wouldn’t have been able to sell me two bottles of expensive pills, eh?
Ohhh that’s cynical. But still: most people who have ever had a cold have some cough medicine in the house. And since most Arizonans have allergies, most of us have Benadryl laying around, too. Treating her would’ve been free!
October 28, 2018 at 1:26 pm
I’m so sorry about Cassie. I hope taking her off the doxycycline will help. And yes, stuff almost always happens on weekends. Go figure.
October 28, 2018 at 1:44 pm
Clearly the Weekend Hex is a consequence of Original Sin. No doubt of it.
To early to tell just this moment, but as of mid-Sunday afternoon, she seems marginally better. But…characteristic of whatever ails her seems to be a cycle of ups and downs.
At least she’s still living. Which is something to be thankful for. I think.