Skippy has passed; 12 y/o Yorkie with likely pituitary tumor (Trilostane)

[judymaggie]

Carole -- I am so sorry that Skippy has to deal with pneumonia on top of everything else. My Abbie recently finished six weeks of amoxicillin after being diagnosed with pneumonia. We went in to the vet every week for the first four weeks for repeat x-rays. Abbie was very lethargic for the first couple of weeks and gradually had more energy. I am glad that the symptoms you were seeing have subsided -- hugs to both of you!

[Carole Alexander]

Judy, thanks for sharing your experience; it is helpful. Skippy ate a little but he is continuing to tremor lightly even when lying quietly. He has stopped pacing and panting. I will have him seen tomorrow at local vet who can at least check his BP and temp. I don't really know what else to do but it so hard to watch him trembling and feel this helpless. The Purdue IMS that he sees is on vacation this week and they have no appointments this week in internal medicine, period.

[Budsters Mom]

Do you have any tramadol that you could give Skippy for pain? That might help with the trembling.

[Carole Alexander]

Kathy, no Tramadol among my multitude of meds for him. I just spoke with local vet; she thinks he is reacting very badly to the Clavamox; she said they rarely use it because it can be so harsh and cause massive pain and digestive upset. I called Purdue back to confirm their diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia; they couldn't confirm, only that he has pneumonia. They then agreed that it could be a bad reaction to the drug and offered to change it immediately. Local vet said to give him a baby aspirin and I'll take him in first thing tomorrow and ask local vet to call radiology regarding the diagnosis. I am incredibly relieved that his condition is not likely macro related. But nothing should be this hard, as someone said. Another day of worry for me and pain for him that we won't get back. I will ask local vet for Tramadol.

[judymaggie]

Carole -- my vet had me give Abbie two different antacids along with the amoxicillin. In the evening I gave her omeprazole (got best price from California Pet Pharmacy) and famotidine in the mornings. He is actually having me continue the omeprazole for a month after the amoxicillin was finished.

[Carole Alexander]

Judy, thank you, thank you. I will ask about these drugs in the morning. I think local vet is inclined to switch antibiotics but may want to talk to Purdue first. Why didn't Purdue mention the Clavamox reaction possibility at 8 am this morning? The answer I think is because radiology is not internal medicine and they didn't want to speculate about what was happening. It is beyond enraging.

[molly muffin]

oh my gosh, pneumonia! Poor Skippy and you, just can't catch a break it seems.

Hopefully a quick recovery from this and just a minor setback on the journey.

yay Judy for knowing exactly what might help!!

[Carole Alexander]

No, no breaks for Skippy, Sharlene. He was seen this morning at local vet. He is weak, lethargic, panting and still trembling at times. He is eating and drinking again. The vet thinks that he has soreness in his disc and panting and trembling are indicative of pain. Now, she does not believe that he is reacting to the Clavamox as that generally results in diarrhea and vomiting. She did not prescribe antacids, instead she put him on Carprofen and gave me some Tramadol. The vet said that Purdue now thinks it branchial pneumonia and only one lobe and/or a tiny part therein is affected. She does not believe that his symptoms are related to his Macro. The good news is that his BP is still lower at about 130, that's about a 100 point drop since April. Don't know what more to say except thank you to everyone; I so appreciate your support.

[judymaggie]

Carole -- another caution from me based on Abbie's recent history. She has IVDD (interverbral disc disease) and had frequent back leg collapses and a lot of pain upon stimulation of her lower back. I had been giving her tramadol but she was still in pain so the vet started her on Deramaxx. At that point she was only eating a small amount of food -- then, about three weeks after treatment with the Deramaxx started, she stopped eating, stopped walking, was very lethargic and had black, tarry stools. The vet determined that she had an ulcer from the Deramaxx (also an NSAID like Carprofen is). We immediately stopped the Deramaxx, she had two sub-q fluid treatments and tried to get her to eat some easily digestible food. Her stools gradually improved and she gradually gained back some energy.

With Skippy not eating regularly, I am concerned that the Carprofen (on top of taking the Clavamox) will be too harsh on her stomach, especially without having antacids on board. I regret giving you one more thing to worry about but, if me, I would rather be informed.

[liltara]

Oh Carole, I don't have many words.

Hang in there and I pray that Skippy's pain subsides.

Both of my dogs had pneumonia when they were puppies and made full recoveries if that is any consolation.

Please keep us posted.