I’d always wanted to be a vet when I was a kid. My dream to be one when I was a kid has sort of become reality with Maggie’s cancer, then amputation and now dealing with her kidney failure.
Recently, Maggie didn’t like one of the supplements I put in her food…refusing to eat it. Up until that time, she’s been eating anything and everything I’ve put in front of her. So I stopped the supplement(it was Perfect Form by Honest Kitchen as it has slippery elm in it and I read it’s good for CRF dogs) but she was still leary of the food, so I switched her food from Urban Wolf to Stella and Chewy’s and canned(Wellness or Royal Canin kidney food) giving half of each per meal. I also stopped all powdered supplements in her food. So she’s only getting her Prednisone and a new supplement Gina wanted me to try by PURE, called Kidney Support Formula. Here is the link if anyone may need it: http://www.pureencapsulations.com/kidney-support-formula.html . I haven’t dared put any powders back in her food, so not to turn her off food again. For a week now, she’s been eating GREAT and her energy has actually improved wandering around the yard farther and farther.
I went away on Friday and would call Norm daily to see how Maggie was. She was GREAT. Eating great, energy great, he did her subQ fluids as needed and her supplements with no issues at all. I get home last night about 7:00. She’s outside and I can see her laying down under the deck. She sees me drive in and comes to greet me. But what I saw when I opened the door was not a very good eye..she was shivering a TINY bit, which I thought might be just anxious to see me. But as time went on a bit, the shivering got worse. I decided to do her fluids and see if that would help. Then I fed her. She only ate half her meal and that was with me hand feeding it.
I contacted my trusty sister, Gina, and she said take her temperature(I don’t know why I hadn’t yet as this has been an issue on several occasions with the shivering/panting being a sign of fever). Her gums were tacky, I did check that. Her temp. was 104.2. Yup, fever….which causes her not to eat and the shivering/panting. Gina said to dose with one dose of Belladonna 200C homeopathic remedy. Take temp. again half hour later and it’s now 104.6 – still up. Dose again with another dose of Belladonna 200C. An hour later, temp still up at 104.5. I was to quit dosing at three doses. I gave her more fluids doubling up the amount to 600 ml’s vs 300 ml’s. She did drink some for me too.
She seemed to settle down some on her shivering and panting some…I checked her periodically through the night and she was resting comfortably and no more shivering. Up at 6:00 a.m. and rechecked her temp before she got up. DOWN to 100.6 – normal temp for her.
She ate her breakfast with the gusto she has been and got her kidney supplement and Prednisone in pill pockets. She even ate her Omega 3 capsule not wrapped in anything.
Why did she spike a fever? Gina thinks dehydration. I’m going to increase her fluids daily. I was giving 200 at the start of this diagnosis, then I upped her to 250 daily and before I left for the weekend, I had upped her to 300 daily. I will give her another big dose today – maybe morning and night dose as I’m home for the day… We may be adding Phosphorus 30C to her today as she has a bit of a cough now and then…
She’s resting now comfortably….
This is as close as it gets for me to being a Vet. I think I’m OK with that.
Love you Maggie…
‘Til next time,
Tracy & Maggie