Get Well Barkley!!!!!

I have been watching this topic intently. I hope that the news is good. We all know how much Barkley means to you.

{DOU}The Jargonaut wrote: I have been watching this topic intently. I hope that the news is good. We all know how much Barkley means to you.

I actually don't know now how this is going to play out. A different vet at the same place was a bit more optimistic. The reality though is that it is all up to Barkley at this point.

He didn't get up from where he was laying or even really move all that much for about 5 hours today. When I got him home I tried to walk him and he just stood outside motion-less for the majority of the time he was out there. But then tonight I got him to finally get up and go outside and he started walking like he wanted to be out there and wanted to move around. I was very happy about this because it looked like he was coming around. But after about 15 minutes he petered out and went back to being motion-less. I ended up having to pick him up and carry him home. I am still being hopeful that maybe he is getting better but just was out for too long. After I got him home it was time for him to eat and he would not even take hand-fed chicken from me. I ened up taking a can of special dog food and mising it with some water to make it loose and then I injected it into his mouth . Even then he spit a bit of it out each time. But I think I got a good half of the can (small can) to go down. Then I gave him a very lose dose of Insulin that was pre-measured by the vet. I am going to try to walk him again and see what happens.

I am trying to stay optimistic and keep my fingers crossed. But if he doesn't get better in the next few days I am going to have to make the hard choice so that he doesn't suffer any more. But like I said, I am remaining optimistic, so who knows, he could rebound, it's not something that would be unusual either.

He is going back to the vet tomorrow again, I will know more then and will post.

Tommy

P.S. Yup, this week will be close to another grand. :/

Well, he isn't getting better and the vet found yet another problem (a tumor on his liver). So when I go there this afternoon around 4:30pm I will have to decide when to do it. I'd like to bring him home for the weekend but if they say he will have a rough weekend then I will do it today. I hope I can bring him home though.

T

I'm sorry Tommy, that's a hard decision to make.

Man, Tommy, that sucks. My thoughts are with you. You will do the right thing but it will not be easy.

Tommy wrote: Well, he isn't getting better and the vet found yet another problem (a tumor on his liver). So when I go there this afternoon around 4:30pm I will have to decide when to do it. I'd like to bring him home for the weekend but if they say he will have a rough weekend then I will do it today. I hope I can bring him home though.

T

It is such a difficult thing to do but it is the right thing. I know what you are going through. Barkley has had a good life and has been a wonderful companion. I am sorry.

Sorry Tommy..

Well, I guess I should give everybody an update here.

It's a good news/ bad news sorta thing.

First, when I brought him home on Friday he seemed to be quite a bit better. The vet told me that anything was possible but that I should not get my hopes up too much. So I figured I would hope for the best but I made plans so that if it was over I would take him in to be put down on MoNday or Tuesday. Now mind you, and very important, the vet recommended that I put him down Friday. I am very glad that I did not.

So he seemed a bit better but then petered out again. He just would not eat anything. He was taking water though and that was good. Before he was dehydrated and that was half the problem.

Saturday evening I force fed him some special dog food (Prescription Diet, same as the Science Diet people but you can only get it at a vet's office) that I mixed with a little water. It pretty much made a gruel that I squirted into his mouth. He would try to spit it out after I did that, but I think there was net gain of about half of a small can (tuna can sized) that was consumed. He was having great difficulty in walking too.

Sunday came around and this time I tried to force feed him again but this time with a jar of baby food (vegetable and chicken). I had at first tried to feed him some more Prescription diet (not mixed with water) and a high quality NY hotdog (Salens, for those of you who know good food). He wouldn't touch the solid (and he loves hotdogs) food so I started in with the bay food. Well, 2 squirts of that into his mouth later and I could tell he was done with that bullshit. He turned to the hotdog and tried to eat a piece of it (it was cut up of course). He really had a hard time and it just fell out of his mouth. So I grabbed some other pieces and peeled off the casing (The casing is tough, I need a very sharp knife to cut it myself.) I was very patient with him and kept encouraging him to try each time a piece just fell out of his mouth. He gave up after he ate about 3/4 of the hotdog. I then went and grabbed a few slices of American cheese out of the fridge for him. He ate the better of a slice and a half that I tore up into small segments and hand fed him. This was difficulty in eating that as well. For those of you wondering at this point, yes, there are better things to feed a sick dog with diabetes. But you have to remember that eating just about anything is better than eating nothing. Had it not been for this stuff, he would probably be dead right now.

So, I then went upstairs and he followed me (good sign there too). I have an old comforter that is folded up that I lay near the door for him to lay on, and another fleece blanket that is folded up near the side of my bed for him to lay on. He laid down on the comforter, still in distress. So I was focusing on other things for a few hours. I looked over at him and he was laying on his side and looked pretty comfortable. Then he did the most amazing thing, he yawned and stretched. Holy shit did that make me happy.He got up and walked over to his plate and ate another full hotdog and then wanted to go outside. I knew at this point that if he didn't stop eating he was going to be ok.

Then on Sunday he continued to eat (just a little bit, but he wanted to eat, that was the important thing), and he wanted to go outside. He was walking a bit distressed still though, but he would try to pick up his speed once in awhile, so he wanted to walk faster and obviously that meant he was starting to feel better.

Now here it is Monday night. He is walking full speed, running at times, and he just beat the shit out of one of his toys. He is actually better than he has been in a few months. I think that for awhile, the worst of this is over.

TBH, I think my fathers wife has been feeding him food she shouldn't have (I yell at her all the time as I don't want her to feed him period, let alone what she tries to feed him), so I wonder if she didn't cause this whole mess in the first place. As of now, I am going to keep him away from her, and if I catch her feeding him something bad (She denies it) I am going to call the police and ask them to remove her from my home. I love my dog and hate that bitch.

The bad news is that in addition to his diabetes, he also has a tumor "near" his liver. As a result, his belly is a bit distended from fluid. As he got better the belly came down in size (which is good), but the tumor isn't just going to go away. He isn't in pain right now and it doesn't seem to be getting worse, so I am just going to keep an eye on him. The vet asked about the possibility of exploritory surgery but when you consider that he is 11 and diabetic, there is a chance he could die on the table anyway. Add to that the fact that the surgery would be several thousand dollars (more than I have), I have decided not to do it. A healthy schnauzer will live 12-14 years, and Barkley is 11 already. So I am going to take as best care of him as I can, and when he gets sick again and we are here again, I will just make the best decision I can for him.

But for the very immediate future (I am hoping at leat 3 months, maybe 6) he should hopefully be ok, and I am very happy about this.

Thanks for the well wishes everybody, I think we all willed him back to health. 😛

Tommy

Great to hear Tommy! Glad Barkley has come around. Schnauzers are tough little fuckers. Must be their German heritage. Glad your buddy is back on all 4 feet.

I'm happy to hear Barkley is doing better.

My mutt has had tumors for years. It's hard to pet her and not find one. Hopefully Barkley's is just of the fatty variety like my dog has.

That is great news! Please keep him on his special diet. My grandmother made the mistake of feeding her schnauzer human food after he got better. His sugar shot up to 600 and he basically went into a coma and died. He was only 7.