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All About Max

Max and the Vet

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Yesterday we took Max to the vet as he was limping and lifting his front right leg and not wanting to weight bear. It was difficult to watch him like that. We took him to Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital where his vet Dr Lewellyn looked at him. He advised we get an Xray to make sure he had not Fractured anything, and also a blood panel as he was also running a temperature. His temp was 40.5  which is high. His resps were high too. He was off his food yesterday.

Xrays did not show any fractures, but we could all see how swollen he was around the “wrist area” of the leg on a dog, he was very tender and would not let the vet touch it, so we had to muzzle him as he was giving a warning , but good boy, didn’t bite. He was in pretty bad pain though, so I’m glad we did take him in to get assessed. It cost us 510 bucks, which was painful to part with, but he’s our boy and so we did it.

For that we got:

The bill is as follows:

1 geriatric panel (blood)       119.90

1 blood collection and prep   23.85

1 office visit                                  59.00

1 Nail trim w exam                    13.21

1 Xray – 2 views                        141.67

.70 Metacam injection              13.04

1 Metacam Oral suspension   51.76

14 tramadol 100 mgm capsule  33.76

=====

456.76

HST                  54.74

Total this invoice                         ======

510.93

Today we had to take Max back to get his temp checked. It had gone down to 39.2 but because his White blood count and other lab values were high, the vet advised he be on antibiotics. I asked her if they had any “donated” antibiotics that they could give us, so we would not have to incur more expense and they did, so we are grateful for that.no charge today.

Today he’s at least weight bearing on that foot, limping but will walk. Yesterday he wouldn’t, and so there is some improvement. I put ice packs on his leg yesterday x 2 and he tolerated them because he was so zonked from the tramadol.. 🙂 today he’s more perky so it’s a challenge. But.. I will perservere, as he needs it to help reduce the swelling. We have been bringing his food down to the family room because we don’t want him going up and down the stairs ++ to irritate the joint. Things are looking up. He’s still in pain, but not so terribly like he was. 🙂

…Pam…

All About Max

Quick update

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Scottsdale Vet We took Max down to the vet on Friday afternoon. Dr Llewellyn had told us to watch him closely once we stopped the steroids, to see if Max had any difficulty. He has not improved since we stopped the steroids, I’d have to say that.

He’s still a very playful guy. He’s found a road hockey ball that he gets a great kick out of throwing around. Maybe we should train him to throw it when the Canucks score! First few games he wouldn’t have got much exercise tho…

But, he doesn’t have full control of his left front paw, even though he can get around. We’ll give him another go at the steroids. Maybe we can advance him a bit more. We’ll have to keep him from running, so we’ll curtail our visits to the big parks.

At any rate, Max is doing well. Don’t worry about him. He’s mobile. He’s not very steady on his feet sometimes, but you should see me trying to walk these days! haha No really, he’s not as frisky as he was before all this happened, but he was a “senior dog” when we got him. We knew life would happen. 🙂 He’s warm and well fed and loved! And he seems ok with that.

All About Max

Update Sept 19th Max

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Well this morning Dr. Shawn from the Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital called to see how Max was doing. It is so great to get this kind of caring and follow up. Max has made steady gains under this Vet’s care. Today we got the order to stop the predisone, so that is great news. We are to watch for any signs that he has worsening of his symptoms, so we will do that.  Max still has some weakness,  but he’s improving.  I want to say a word about the Vet’s. I know I keep gushing about how good they are,  but I believe in  saying when something is wrong and why,  and I certainly believe in saying when something is so very right. To that end:

I feel impelled to just say how totally impressed we are with Shawn and with the entire staff at the Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital. We could not have asked for more friendliness, helpfulness, empathy or support.

It’s been an amazing ride with our Maxie, but we felt good knowing we were the homecare part of the team, and that Shawn was in control of the situation and monitoring max’s progress daily. Night and Day from the other Vets, where we got ” well he’ll either make it or  he won’t”  WHAT?  That’s what you are going to say to someone coming in with the trauma of what happened…we felt like that vet was cold and heartless. NOT so at the Scottsdale. We saw thorough professionalism. We saw caring.

We were outside the door when they did Max’s blood work and catheterization weeping because we could see them calming him and the site of him in the arms of the vet assistant, she was stroking his face and talking to him and had him in her arms.. THAT was the care we were looking for. We knew from the first assessment Shawn did with Max that we had found our new vet. Thank you Shawn and Thank you too to all of the other staff who have called us for frequent  updates about Max, monitoring him, whether it be Shawn, a different Vet (I think they have 5 vets at that hospital) or any of the office staff or vet assistants.

KUDO’s to all of the staff, we certainly appreciate all of your help.

…Pam…

All About Max

Max update Wed 4:39 am

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Max has had a pretty restless night, it’s been difficult as he’s been whining and I am not sure if he’s crying because he’s frustrated and doesn’t know what’s happening or if he’s in pain, he’s relaxed at the moment. I had to get M up to help get Max outside to try to pee as he has not done a thing since his catheter this AM around 9AM, and it’s now 4:40 ish… not good. He’s drinking, we’ve been able to give him a big bowl and  a half of water. He’s eating, and that’s good. He is trying to walk, so his spirits are still good. He stood beside me tonight balancing on his hind leg and leaning on the chair, but the limb with the biggest deficit seems to be his left front paw.. it’s almost contractured looking and we have to keep straightening it out and doing range of motion with him, which we have been doing alot. We are also taking him outside every 2-3 hrs to try to get him to go.. but nothing yet.  🙁   He’s alert and looking around.. he crawled over to where I was sitting and has gone to sleep now.. Maybe he just wanted to be closer to me but I suspected his gaze was at the kitchen and that he wanted more food.. so I gave him more metical canned hypoallergenic… he settled… finally at 4:40 , he settled for a bit.

Maurice and I are not used to looking after a dog that is this seriously ill, and he requires 24/7 watching. We do not want him to injure himself and fall downstairs or into things… it’s really hard to watch him struggle and fall. Hard to try to figure out why he’s crying… I know he’s our fur baby, but it’s really ripping us up to watch him like this. I hope we see some improvement soon. Maurice is going to do the day shift so I am sure he’ll put in a report/update.

hopeful signs: good appetite, drinking water. trying to get up , looking around, now wagging his tail when we come over.

disturbing signs: contracture in left front paw, left sided paralysis, has not pee’d or pooped. 🙁  I think he has a fever…his nose feels hot, as do his ears, and he’s panting. I’ve got fans on and the door open.. and MY hoodie on so I don’t freeze!

We want to thank everyone who has called and emailed us. It means alot to us to have friends and family  like you that care about our boy. Thanks alot everyone. We are clinging to our vet’s advice (Dr Shawn Llewellyn) from Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital) advise to wait and watch and see if he gets his strength back, if the steroids will help him. We want to give him the chance, he’s a great dog and deserves the chance.