My poor baby is not well at all

Hello everybody.  
I have a 11 year old ( approx ) female rescue called Kizzie who is seriously unwell at the moment.

She has chronic arthritis in her spine as well as a torn knee ligament. Her mobility has been worsening for the last 12 months. It all came to a climax on Saturday when were we found her lying in her own urine and unable to move whilst trembling.
We rushed her to the vets and they were very concerned about her spine and subsequently kept her in for the weekend. The vets administered morphine but unfortunately it had hardly any effect. We got the dreaded phone call on Monday were they suggested it might be time for her to go as she did not respond as well as they expected.
We collected kizzie on monday as we all thought it would be best to spend the short time we had left together.

The vets prescribed 100 mg Tramadol and 600 mg Gabapentin in what I suppose is a last ditched effort.  This medication though seems to really zonk the poor old girl out. She keeps crying and her eyes appear bulgy and if anything her posture has gotten worse.
Honestly, she seems better when she's not on anything .    

We saw the vet again today and even though their was a improvement she is still reluctant to discharge her as medically fit.

I just don't know if it's worth carrying on with the medication or make the horrible decision to let her go      

I appreciate you taking the time to read. Thank you.

So sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I think you need to have that honest conversation with the vet. If something can be done then at 11 it's worth a shot, however, if it's really not something the vet or a specialist can help with then you need to think what's best for Kizzie.

This is the toughest of calls for us humans but you do need to do the best for Kizzie whether that's further treatment or the hardest decision.

-Ian- wrote:So sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I think you need to have that honest conversation with the vet. If something can be done then at 11 it's worth a shot, however, if it's really not something the vet or a specialist can help with then you need to think what's best for Kizzie.

This is the toughest of calls for us humans but you do need to do the best for Kizzie whether that's further treatment or the hardest decision.

No problems Ian. I appreciate your reply.

Tonight has been so much better for Kizzie. She is starting to eat a little and she drunk almost half a litre of water

Also her movement must be getting better as she jumped up on the sofa under her own accord

Hello and welcome.
So sorry to hear that your lovely girl is having a hard time at the moment.
The only thing I can comment on is the tramadol - it’s not one of the friendliest medication, even for humans.

Nifty staffy wrote:Hello and welcome.
So sorry to hear that your lovely girl is having a hard time at the moment.
The only thing I can comment on is the tramadol - it’s not one of the friendliest medication, even for humans.

Hello and thank you and yeah tramadol does seem like a horrible drug to have. I just hope that she comes more accustom to it as time goes on. I feel that I got to give the medication a fair chance to work otherwise I would feel guilty that I didn't try.

Does anyone have any advice on the best way to give dogs tablets ? We are wrapping them in a small piece of bread at the moment but that's proving difficult. She too savvy to fall for that one. Ha

Good to read that she's feeling a little better eating & drinking, always a good sign.

Cheese... that always works in my house, Flo will do almost anything for cheese.... or ham

Cheese here too, and something soft and stinky. Brie is my 'go to' tablet hider.

Placing the pill in a piece of warmed up processed cheese seems to work well at the moment

She is out and about in the garden and she keeps wanting to jump up onto the bed and sofa.

Tremdaol and Gabapentin is still being given every 8 hours or so but the recommended dose is being halfed as it way too much in my opinion.

Whilst writing this we tried giving kizzie some dinner and I'm pleased to say she ate it

Lets hope this good progress continues

I do think that does are only for an average and perhaps not as specific as they could be. Does sound like she is feeling much better

Hello everyone , just a quick update

Kizzie is much better now and she is back to her old self

We're keeping her on Tremadol and Gabapentin for the time being. Let's hope that gives her a few more happy years

Thanks for being here through what was a really rough time

That’s great news. Please keep us updated on how things go.

Ah fantastic news, you must all be relieved. Do keep us updated with how Kizzie gets on