Hi corgi friends, I'm writing this here because my friend is so sad and upset, and I'm hoping some of you folks here might have some words of comfort and advice for her.
My friend had 2 beagles that she loves dearly, and they have been "honorary corgis" on our fundraiser walks. She lost the older beagle, Holly, in May at the age of 12, to cancer.
Over the summer, Sara (age 8) started exhibiting signs of what my friend thought was depression, due to her sister beagle's passing away. My friend is very proactive with vet care, so Sara got frequent check-ups. After some more symptoms showed up, the vet gave her a diagnosis of Cushing's disease. They said ther ewas a tumor on the adrenal gland, and an appointment was made to have surgery to take the tumor out.
Over the weekend, however, Sara started to show signs of weakness and loss of appetite. She was seen on Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon my friend received the call from the vet. They had misdiagnosed the Cushings, there is no tumor, and Sara is in renal failure. There is apparently something wrong with her spleen, and they fear she may have a type of renal failure called Clomerulonephritis. Right now she has a 50/50 chance of surviving the fluid treatment, and then her future survival is iffy (one month, three, six, a year?). Sara will be staying at the vet to get this fluid treatment for the next few days. She saw Sara today and the poor little thing was just so weak and didn't seem to know that my friend was there.
My friend just lost one beagle, and she's devasted at what is happening with her other beagle. Sara is only 8. Please pray, think positive thoughts, share, anything that might help them. I'd really appreciate it!
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Sara was sent home on Saturday. Her numbers have not gone down, but they pretty much said there was not anything more they could do for her there. My friend was taught how to administer subcutaneous fluids, which she has to do twice a day.
They said her creatine number had jumped up -- from 4.4 to 5.3 (it's supposed to be less than 2), but that her BUN level (another indicator of kidney health) had gone down (from 118 to 104 -- it's supposed to be less than 25). Usually they go up or down together, so this is strange. Sara is lethargic with droopy eyes and a foggy demeanor. So she's going home and she'll either stabilize and live in a state of chronic renal failure, or she'll deteriorate and they will have to make a hard decision.
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Further Update: Sara is back at home and she had a checkup on Monday. My friend is thrilled to report that Sara's numbers are going down! She's still one tired little dog, and her numbers are still higher than normal, but she's on the right track. My friend asked me to tell the mycorgi community that she is so grateful for your thoughts and prayers, as she's sure this is what helped Sara turn around. So thank you, you wonderful people!
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Hi Geri & Sidney,
Hopefully your dear friend can take some comfort in the fact that she has provided a loving home for both of her babies. It also sounds like she is lucky to have you for support. I also send prayers and positive thoughts her way. I can only imagine how heart-wrenching it must be.
I am so sorry for your friend Geri, unfortunately there's nothing anyone can do at this point, we will pray for you and your friend.
To other's who's reading this: Always get a second opinion, don't cut open anything unless it's absolutely necessary.
I got an update from my friend. Sara is still at the vet getting 24-hour care. The good news is that Sara seems perkier, has her appetite back and is peeing. The bad news is, the vet says that while her numbers improved "slightly", it's not what they were hoping to see by now.
My friend misses her Sara so much!
They suspect that the sudden onset renal failure might have been caused by leptospirosis. Have any of you had any experience with this?
Also, if you had to leave your dog for long-term care, did you notice if they started bonding strongly with their caregiver and almost seem to want to be with them more than you? How did you deal with this, and did everything get back to normal once you got your dog back home?
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