Bad Day For Alfie

[LasVegasNo1]

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Well what can I say we just experienced the worst day in our lives yesterday. Woke up Tuesday morning to find Alfie couldn't lift his back end up, his back legs were collapsing under him and his abdomen was solid We rushed him straight to the Vet were they took him in put him on a drip and started blood/stool/urine tests. They came back negative for everything, so a few hours later he had an ultrasound which again showed nothing. He'd been on the drip about 9 hours at this point when the Vet then suggested we leave him in overnight on the drip as he had picked up a bit and his abdomen was softer...... however we asked about the care he would get overnight to be told HE WOULD BE LEFT ON HIS OWN! A Vet would pop in about midnight to check all the animals and as long as all was OK he'd leave again and no one would be in again until morning surgery at 8am :blink: So we had to make the decision to take him off the drip and bring him home to be nursed through the night. Which we did, in shifts o We wrapped him up on the sofa at 7pm and he just slept and slept, he managed his first little drink about 1/4 to midnight and shortly after a trip to the garden for a wee, he was very shakey on his back legs with one even dragging at one point :unsure: I sat with him until 3am and made sure he drank and went out regularly and he started getting more steady on his legs. This morning came and he was quite perky and his abdomen was soft, still subdued though but he seemed to want food (he hadn't eaten since Sunday night). We had made the decision to change Vets by this point and had booked him into a new Vet on a friends recommendation that did provide 24 hour care. He has seen this Vet today who has sent him home with a stomach lining medicine and a strick cooked chicken and rice diet for the next few days. There was talk of x-rays yesterday at the first Vet's but we had all decided as a GA was involved this was a last resort, which the Vet today agreed with.

He is at home now asleep and he has eaten a small portion of chicken and rice, and taken his medicine. So now it's just a case of waiting and watching!

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Ok the facts are that on Sunday he had chicken wings for brekkie, sardines for lunch and tripe (a newly opened bag) with veg for dinner. Then some roast chicken skin as a treat. Monday morning he was off his food, which to be fair isn't unsual for him, he had his walk, all was normal, then came back and ate some biscuits. Come dinner we put down his tripe, two mouthfuls and he gave up. Then came chronic wind :x Really smelly, like an eye watering rotten smell, and they came thick and fast. Although he himself seemed fine, playing with his toys and then out for an evening walk, then to bed.... and we aired the house :- " Then Tuesday morning we found him as the start of this post....

I really am starting to believe it was rotten tripe that caused all this although the Vet didn't/couldn't seem to agree or disagree with this? Or do you think if this was the case he would have had diarrhoea/vomiting?

Also how many people on here would be happy to leave a sick pet with an undiagnosed illness in a building on it's own all night? We were moritfied then thought perhaps we were over-reacting, then back to moritified when we could think straight?!!

 

[nicky12]

oo my poor little fella sorry no advice but hope her get better really soon :huggles: :luck:

 

[Moo.UK]

How awful! Poor Alfie!

:luck: & :wub: for a speedy recovery!

 

[~JO~]

Poor Alfie sounds horrid. I would be very unwilling to leave a dog that long at night, but of course the risk could be worse by taking him off the drip...

What I can't understand is why his back legs were collapsing and then he was dragging them. Not sure about rotten tripe, of course you can occasionally get a bag that is a bit 'high' I know ALfyn had a experience recently with supplier. But you would really notice if it was off - honestly, I know tripe stinks but rotten tripe is quite distinctive :blink: . Has he had a motion yet?

Anyway lots of :huggles: to the little man

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Hi Jo, yes he had a 'motion' while in the Vets care yesterday, which they seemed pleased with :b I really don't know about his back legs, possibly because his abdomen was like a drum, I don't know, it's very worrying and the sight was haunting really. Thankfully today though he is walking Ok and has jumped on/off the sofa by himself.

 

[alfyn]

OMG,poor Alfie & what an ordeal for all of you :huggles:

I'm sure he'll soon make a full recovery :luck:

There's no way i would leave a sick dog unattended at a vets,anything could happen,so i agree with you 100% on your decision :thumbsup:

Out of interest,where do you get your tripe from,as i had a large delivery of stinking rotten tripe :x from a well known company. :angry:

I kicked up merry hell as i wasn't here when they left it & had to take all 200 lb of it to the tip :rant:

Needless to say i've changed my supplier!

 

[Trish]

last year we had a incident where our phoebe was in her bed under the window sill and the cat was on the sill above her, well the cat knocked one of the ornaments off and it landed at the side of phoebe in which it frightened her to death and she lept up and was out the room door within less than a second,we gave her a love and calmed her down and she was fine.

next morning i woke to her sat at the bottom of the stairs crying up at me,i tried to entice her up but she couldnt stand,so we was really worried ,took her to the vet and they could find nothing wrong with her, then we remembered the incident the evening before,so was agreed she had pulled all her muscles in the abdomen and legs which caused short term paralyses,she too was off her food but must have been with the pain she was in,she was right as rain within 48 hours.

hope alfie continues to improve.

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Out of interest,where do you get your tripe from,as i had a large delivery of stinking rotten tripe :x   from a well known company. :angry: I kicked up merry hell as i wasn't here when they left it & had to take  all 200 lb of it to the tip :rant:

Needless to say i've changed my supplier!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Gawd, do you know I can't remember the name, is it AMP? It comes in frozen sacks we always get 6 sacks for a discounted price from a local garden & pet centre. I must admit it didn't smell bad, but then maybe there was something 'in it' rather than it was rotten itself?

 

[urchin]

I've no idea what could have caused the wee man's problems, but i certainly wouldn't leave any animal of mine overnight and unattended, in that kind of condition. Better to feel a bit foolish and over-reacty, than inconsolable because 'you could've done more'

My vets isn't 24hr, but they have signed up to a 24hr service so overnighters would need to go there. A bit of a faff but i trust my vet and wouldn't want to change (he was a vet for a long time at a local greyhound track so knows a lot about sight hounds)

Don't blame you for finding yourself a new one :thumbsup:

 

[alfyn]

What I can't understand is why his back legs were collapsing and then he was dragging them.  Not sure about rotten tripe, of course you can occasionally get a bag that is a bit 'high' I know ALfyn had a experience recently with supplier.  But you would really notice if it was off - honestly, I know tripe stinks but rotten tripe  is quite distinctive  :blink: .  Has he had a motion yet?

I would think that as his tummy was gassed out,it was probably pressing on a nerve that affected his back legs,i've had a similar experience myself,& believe me it's agony :sweating:

We were obviously posting at the same time Jo,So already commented on the rotten tripe bit

The stuff i had,apart from being slimy,had the worst smell of ammonia that i have ever had the misfortune to smell :x :x :x I can't believe they had the nerve to pass it on to anyone (w00t)

 

[Hilary & Hounds]

Poor Alfie! So glad to hear he's on the mend. :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: to you and Alfie. :huggles: :huggles:

Edited to add: no I wouldn't leave my dogs unattended either. Don't blame you for changing vets!!

 

[Zephyr]

This may or may not be relevant but many years ago my dear xGSD (also called Alfie :wub: ) was given a marrowbone by a friend. He sat out in the garden all afternoon and to my horror when he came in the bone was completely gone - not a trace left! He seemed fine, and the vet advised giving him lots of soaked bread to help the shards of bone pass through more easily.

In the early hours of the morning he was crying to go out, and when I took him into the garden he collapsed and started to drag his hind legs as though paralysed. It was awful, but the vet said bring him in at start of surgery. I sat with him during the night, but by the morning he could walk again and looked much more comfortable. The vet said it was probably caused by the mass of crunched up bone pressing on a nerve.

Fortunately he was fine after that, but this has caused my paranoia about giving bones - I know lots of people do and never have problems, but I will never forget that sight.

Lots of :huggles: to Alfie and to you, I know how frightening it must have been. :huggles:

 

[davethehorse]

Could be something to do with chicken wing bones stuck in the gut somewhere causing a blockage although I am no expert.

Hope he is feeling better soon...

 

[graciepup]

Grace had exactly the same thing after eating raw chicken wings.She was very ill for five days.Never again will I feed chicken wings.Her legs were very weak due to the muscle cramps.

 

[LasVegasNo1]

So the chicken wings could be the answer? Although he ate a lot after he had them and he did all his usual poo's on Monday's walk - I would have thought the chicken wings would have been along way through his system before the sardines and tripe? - which all came out the other end... Also he wasn't in any 'pain', he didn't cry or yelp at all only flinched a bit when the Vet was having a prod. Please any theories don't hesitate to post as it's still early days.....

 

[alfyn]

I very much doubt it's the chicken wings.There's not enough bones in a wing to block him up!

Just a thought,you say he also had veggies to eat later,did he have a chunk of raw carrot?

Once Flyn swallowed a piece of raw carrot that got stuck in his gut (dogs can't digest whole raw veggies),he was in agony & had to have a busopan jab to relax his muscles,which fortunately did the trick :sweating:

 

[~JO~]

That sounds awful Zephyr - thats is the problem with feeding load bearing bones they are so dense and brittle they really should not take on too much. However wings and ribs are a whole different ball game really.

I think you are right Sarah the wings would have been a long way through his system by then, especially if he had had a poo and eaten more since...

 

[OEH]

That sounds absolutely awful. I am so glad that he seems to be pulling through.

I certainly would never leave my dogs unattended at the vets over night.

 

[Janimal]

Poor Alfie, what a terrible ordeal for you all.

I hope they soon find the cause and Alfie is soon back to his normal self again.

Sending some special hugs :huggles: and best wishes to him. :luck: :luck:

 

[Pamw]

I am sure he will improve...it must have been an awful shock for you to see him in pain.....Even Bandit when the vet said he could have a seizure as his heart was going so fast after his accident we took him home as his home would calm him better than being in a strange pen and surroundings...also we were with him all night which gave him comfort....and by morning he was alot more settled....