Saturday, July 25, 2009

Panting


Last night was very hard for Shep. Yesterday afternoon he started panting for no apparent reason and continued to do so all night and is still panting this morning. Our only hope is that the Reglan (which we are giving him to stimulate his appetite) or the neoplasene (which might be causing inflammation to his lung tissue) are one of the reasons for this to be happening. The more likely reason is one I can't bear to think about. Compounding our fear of the worst is the fact that one of the lumps on his rib cage suddenly grew much, much bigger yesterday. But could this be the neoplasene causing inflammation again? We just don't know.

This morning we thought perhaps we could get him to eat without the Reglan so we tried giving him ice cream first to coat his stomach. A few licks is all the interest he showed. We have been giving him the Reglan in raw ground beef per Dr. Fox's recommendation. After the failed attempt with the ice cream, he licked the meat a couple of times and didn't want to eat it either...a dog that doesn't want to eat ice cream or raw hamburger...

We had to make him eat the medicine/meat and 30 minutes later he ate his whole morning meal plus some ice cream afterward - perhaps a glimmer of hope...

He can't seem to get comfortable now and is still panting and breathing in short, shallow breaths.

It's so hard to see him like this...

3 comments:

Sparky's Mom said...

Hi,
I'm so sorry to hear your boy is doing so badly too. We seem to be in the same situation and I would like to talk some more ... maybe get some comfort for both of us ... If you like, please email me: mareike.schmidt@cox.net

I just called Sparky's vet because I can't take sitting here and not doing anything ...

Cowgirl said...

This is so hard and so unfair. What is it about the love of these beings that is so overwhelming? It is indeed a miracle. xo

ingrid said...

I remember as a child hearing that animals that are old or sick will wonder off to be alone and die.
I know now that is not the case for dogs.
I had 19 days with my Indiana after learning she had cancer, the very idea of her going somewhere in those last days to be away from me is absurd.

Shep is lucky- no matter what this bad spell of his means, it's something he'll be going through with the people and friends he cares most about.

I pray your young man pulls through