Spoiler: There is a happy ending
Oct. 3rd, 2011 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhondacrockettOur dog Jipp took a nasty turn yesterday morning. When Mum let her out of the kennel, she couldn't control her back legs and kept collapsing to the right. She had to go over to the fence and use it to prop herself up. When she got into the house, the back legs went completely. Her eye were flickering left and right, clearly out of her control, and she drooled everywhere - our dogs never drool. At one point she lost control of her bowels.
It was horrible. And then we couldn't get hold of the vets. The phone was just dead. Sharon - our vet-in-training - was down in Dublin, probably not awake and always in need of her sleep, so we were stuck in our ignorance and panic.
But - finally - the call went through. Amy and Mum bundled Jipp up in a quilt cover and used it to carry her into the car. (I wasn't there for this next bit.) The vet was waiting for them and helped them carry Jipp, still in the quilt, into the waiting room. When they laid her down on the floor - up she got and walked out the door >.<
She was still very shaky on her back legs, her eyes still tracking rapidly from side to side, never resting, so the vet could see something was badly wrong. His conclusion was either a mini-stroke or a brain tumour. As she seemed to be recovering a little, he gave her a steroid, an antibiotic and a vitamin shot to help her along and said to bring her back the next day (i.e. today) for observation and blood tests.
By this time, Sharon had been awakened. She explained that the drooling was a sign of nausea; the way Jipp's eyes had been moving, it would have been akin to seasickness.
Jipp got steadily better throughout the day yesterday, although she was lethargic for a long time. Today, she was right back to her usual, boisterous self. You wouldn't know she had ever been ill. Mum phoned to see if the vets still wanted her for observation, but it was decided that since she seemed normal again, we were to treat her with steroids (Sharon says this is the usual treatment for brain tumours) and take her in for an appointment on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sharon is bemoaning that this has all happened while she wasn't here. If she could have examined Jipp, seen the symptoms herself, it would not only have been great practice but it would have helped the vet out too, having an (almost) professsional report. (It would have calmed us down too.)
Sharon also isn't convinced about the diagnosis of a brain tumour. She has suggested it might be a problem with the inner ear. Apparently, this can happen - the inner ear goes wonky, dog loses balance, and then everything rights itself after a while - and no one knows what causes it. Again, if she had been here, she would know better if the symptoms fit that diagnosis or not.
I'm just relieved that this is past and that it seems we don't have to put Jipp down. She's an old dog and I really thought yesterday morning when I saw her that this was it, this was the end of the line. And Sheba, her litter-mate - how would she have taken it? Jipp has gone for several surgeries and overnight stays - she has a recurring benign tumour on one of her back legs, on the thigh close to that backward-pointing joint - and Sheba clearly misses her when she's gone :( If it is a tumour, then it's treatable with steroids (although she will be on them for the rest of her life). If it's this inner-ear thing, then it's a temporary condition which apparently cures itself (I'm not sure whether it would be a re-occuring condition, though, and it's horrible to see it happening).
It was horrible. And then we couldn't get hold of the vets. The phone was just dead. Sharon - our vet-in-training - was down in Dublin, probably not awake and always in need of her sleep, so we were stuck in our ignorance and panic.
But - finally - the call went through. Amy and Mum bundled Jipp up in a quilt cover and used it to carry her into the car. (I wasn't there for this next bit.) The vet was waiting for them and helped them carry Jipp, still in the quilt, into the waiting room. When they laid her down on the floor - up she got and walked out the door >.<
She was still very shaky on her back legs, her eyes still tracking rapidly from side to side, never resting, so the vet could see something was badly wrong. His conclusion was either a mini-stroke or a brain tumour. As she seemed to be recovering a little, he gave her a steroid, an antibiotic and a vitamin shot to help her along and said to bring her back the next day (i.e. today) for observation and blood tests.
By this time, Sharon had been awakened. She explained that the drooling was a sign of nausea; the way Jipp's eyes had been moving, it would have been akin to seasickness.
Jipp got steadily better throughout the day yesterday, although she was lethargic for a long time. Today, she was right back to her usual, boisterous self. You wouldn't know she had ever been ill. Mum phoned to see if the vets still wanted her for observation, but it was decided that since she seemed normal again, we were to treat her with steroids (Sharon says this is the usual treatment for brain tumours) and take her in for an appointment on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sharon is bemoaning that this has all happened while she wasn't here. If she could have examined Jipp, seen the symptoms herself, it would not only have been great practice but it would have helped the vet out too, having an (almost) professsional report. (It would have calmed us down too.)
Sharon also isn't convinced about the diagnosis of a brain tumour. She has suggested it might be a problem with the inner ear. Apparently, this can happen - the inner ear goes wonky, dog loses balance, and then everything rights itself after a while - and no one knows what causes it. Again, if she had been here, she would know better if the symptoms fit that diagnosis or not.
I'm just relieved that this is past and that it seems we don't have to put Jipp down. She's an old dog and I really thought yesterday morning when I saw her that this was it, this was the end of the line. And Sheba, her litter-mate - how would she have taken it? Jipp has gone for several surgeries and overnight stays - she has a recurring benign tumour on one of her back legs, on the thigh close to that backward-pointing joint - and Sheba clearly misses her when she's gone :( If it is a tumour, then it's treatable with steroids (although she will be on them for the rest of her life). If it's this inner-ear thing, then it's a temporary condition which apparently cures itself (I'm not sure whether it would be a re-occuring condition, though, and it's horrible to see it happening).
