Well, It's been a long summer. 

We waited 2 weeks after the nosebleed before attempting Winston's pre-op blood work again. 

The results were not good. He was anemic. Anemic to the point of considering a transfusion. His BUN was down to 56 from 78 which was some improvement. However, he was now needing Tramadol twice a day, Rimadyl once a day & an essential oil mix for pain twice a day. The dog was miserable. He was also jaundiced on his belly as well as having a huge swelling under his chin; lymph-edema. The dog was failing rapidly.

Dr. Glenn G. offered this idea; that we castrate the dog which will stop the prostate from leaking blood into his bladder & do a liver biopsy while he was there. It was the only way to find out if he had some type of lymphatic or bone marrow cancer. And we would hold off on the hip surgery until we knew what we were facing.

So. The next morning Winston went in. And the next day he came out. Wagging his butt. Delighted to leave. REALLY happy to leave. 

 While doing the liver biopsy it was discovered that Winston's gallbladder was hugely distended. They removed 40 ml of fluid from it, made sure it was draining correctly (not sure what that entailed--but they did) and they found nothing else in the abdomen of concern. They also did the liver biopsy. The gallbladder issue was unusual and likely the cause of the liver backing up causing the jaundice. Also...it was causing severe pain. 

Results of the biopsy? Negative. No cancer. He does seem to have a problem making red blood cells potentially because of damage to the bone marrow as a result of a really nasty, near fatal, bout of Parvo at 6 months.

He's on 25 mg of Rimadyl every 36 hours, a huge improvement &  very acceptable for his hip dysplasia.  Nothing else. He's jumping on chairs again...swimming in the irrigation ditch...chasing traffic cones & otherwise making a nuisance of himself. 

In the 2 weeks post surgery his BUN has decreased to just slightly above normal limits (now at 42 down from 78) This is in part due to a prescription kidney diet & the castration knocking out the prostate perpetual bleeding into the bladder. He's still drippy--he has some small amount of incontinence--improving but there.  His red blood cell count is 22. Improvement--not much but better. The lymph-edema is totally gone. He's not swollen anywhere & his belly is no longer jaundiced or full of fluid under the skin.

At this point--we're in a holding pattern. Improved diet--supplementing with liver & kelp & an essential oil blend to clear toxins from his blood & improve liver function. He's still on serious doses of antibiotics as Doc G believes the liver may have some sort of infection & this will kick it. Doc wants the rbc count to come up faster....but it is what it is. 

I believe we pulled him back from the brink of death. The dog has a long way to go. If we can control his pain with minimal drugs then we'll hold off on the hip surgery until he's 100% everywhere else. He'll be 7 September 24. 

I'm sorry if this is too much information, but the Doc hasn't seen this before & he's dang smart. We're to the point of taking Winston to Colorado State University Vet school for evaluation. No one knows why he's sick, where it came from or what exactly to do. Any insight you have would be helpful.

Sarah.