Ava's not eating again

[Stacy]

I don't even know where to put this discussion. I thought Ava was doing better. We increased her prednisone dose on 1/8 to 12.5mg /day. She really perked up and was eating better. Then starting on the 19th she wasn't eating as well. She would eat, but not all of it. So I started putting some salmon on top and she did a little better with that.

Late on the 23rd she had one episode of diarrhea. On the morning of the 24th she had mucous-y diarrhea with blood in it. We went to the vet and they started her on Flagyl, lomotil, and probiotics along with the gross canned science diet for 2 days. She ate the Science Diet okay with some encouragement.

Yesterday she had a normal stool and I transitioned her back to her kibble with some canned Fromm mixed in. I eventually got her to eat most of that. But then this morning I couldn't convince her to eat anything at all. She turned down eggs, she turned down canned food, kibble, canned tuna, treats. 

Then we went outside and she really didn't want to come back in. I don't know what that was about, but it was unusual that she wouldn't come when I called her. I had to go outside and stand her up and walk her back in because I needed to leave for work. 

I'm just at such a loss as to how to help her. It doesn't feel like anything we've done is making her better. She has another appointment at the vet on Thursday. I don't know, maybe I need to stop and pick up some chicken on the way home tonight. I wish she would tell me if there was something she would eat. I just worry about her. 

Stacy

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Is her stomach gurgling a lot, especially when she drinks water? 

[Stacy]

No, her stomach is pretty quiet, but she does belch and burp a lot. And it makes me wonder if she is silently regurgitating and aspirating. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I really doubt it. And if she's not eating, there wouldn;t be anything to regurgitate, lol. 

[Stacy]

True. But she is drinking. I guess I wondered if she was aspirating what she's drinking. I really just wish I knew what to do for her. 

[Trudy Harlow]

I’m assuming you still don’t have a diagnosis?

[Stacy]

No, no diagnosis. My vet and I had a long talk about how there are a lot of things that we know it isn't. And how we just may not ever know. His theory is that it's something autoimmune or cancer. And the hope was that steroids would help. And they really seemed to at first, but now I think she's worse than she was before. We also talked about how, if it was cancer it would be odd that we haven't found it. We basically looked at her whole body and didn't find any tumors. With the exception of those patchy infiltrates in her lungs that didn't look nodular like typical lung cancer. And her lab work was all normal, so you wouldn't think it was a leukemia - do dogs even get leukemia? I've read a lot about lymphoma, but not so much about leukemia. 

Then I thought maybe we just need to increase the steroid dose. But it seems strange to me that it seemed to work for a few days and then didn't again. I feel like an idiot because I don't know a lot about the standard of care for steroid use in mystery autoimmune diseases. 

All I know is she has been acting really oddly the last couple of days. She wouldn't even eat a bite last night. I was holding tuna out to her and she just looked at it and walked out of the room. I let her out and she just lays five feet outside the door. Then she won't come inside again. We have a vet appointment this week. I just need to get her to eat something between now and then.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Stacy, I am so sorry for Ava and you. I really wish you knew what was wrong.  My heart goes out to you both.

[Stacy]

Thank you so much. I wish I knew too. 

[Stella]

So sorry to hear you guys are struggling again. 

[Lindsey Holt]

I too have been thinking of you and Katie and Ava and wishing you all the best.

[Stacy]

Thank you so much. Ava has a scheduled appointment with the vet in the morning. She's not doing great. I took her temperature tonight and she's 102.4. That's warmer than she has been running. And I feel like she is breathing heavily and she hasn't been great. I'm hoping that he has some new ideas tomorrow about how to help her. People I know keep trying to tell me that it's time... but I'm not ready. I will never be ready. But I don't want her to suffer just because I want her with me. It's really hard to know what the right thing is. I'm really really hoping that they have a new idea.

[Stella]

Thinking of you guys this morning. Hoping you get some help with coming up with a plan that works for you and Ava. Hugs.