Please Help Me, My Casey Is Dying and I Don't Know Why!!!!!!!!

[cherylynn]

My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. I know how it is just going through fairly simple health issues, but can't imagine what you are going through! Hang in there Casey and family!!!

Love,
Cherylynn

 

[morrissey11]

I have been thinking about Casey and I'm so sorry. Be sure she knows that you are helping her, you will know when the time is right, when we were told Morrissey had a brain tumor and would never get better, we couldn't let him go right then but when the time was right, we knew 100 percent.
Please give Casey lot's of kisses from us, enjoy her, I know it's hard, hugs... Kate, Morrissey's mommy.

Morrissey
02/15/1995 - 04/06/2006
Love you forever baby boy.

 

[Taliesyn88]

Casey Is a Fighter!!!!!

Hello there,

Thanks for all your love and support!!! Casey is a little better now, although she still does not have much energy. She has put on some weight, and continues to eat and drink alot. That is good in itself, so she is a fighter and we are trying to make the best of it. I never really found out what was causing the problem with her liver. Right now, it could be cirrhosis, cancer or hepatitis. It could also be a genetic condition. Casey is way too sick to undergo any testing, so I have just had to accept what is going on, and, if she keeps going, will take her back into the vet in a week or so. I have so much sympathy for those of you who have already gone through this, it is Hell and you have to make the best of it. Sometimes, I think a miracle will happen, that Casey will get better, but, then I have to realize that there will come that time.

As long as Casey eats, drinks, and is free of any pain, we will continue spoiling her. Thanks to all of you for your love, prayers, and sincerity.

Love,

Wendy, Casey and family

 

[msswitch2u]

Casey...

I am soo soo sorry to hear about Casey. I am sending healing vibes her way.

I do not know a lot about DI in dogs, but I know a little about it in humans. I am a nurse, and a drug that we have used occasionally to stop the diureses (excessive urinating) is called DDAVP. I'm not sure about the dosage, but I do know that it works for humans until the cause can be figured out. It is caused by the pituitary gland (which is in the brain) not secreting enough ADH (anti-diuretic hormone). I know in humans this is caused by swelling (either blood in the brain or can be caused by a tumor). If your dog has liver cancer, maybe it spread either from the liver or from the brain to the liver? In our patients with DI, we never limit fluid intake, we always make sure there is plenty of fluid or they will become dehydrated. I don't know if this will help or not.

I'm so sorry about your Casey, and I hope that they're able to get her the care that she needs from what ever is causing it. My prayers are with you.

Please know Gunner and I as well as his brother, feline sisters are sending healing thoughts his way!

I have to agree with the above post, I am an EMT, and working towards my medic then on to nurse...but it sure does sound like little Casey may be diabetic!

Personally, I would get a second opinion from a vet, and ask about that possibility!

I do wish I knew more about doggie medicine! I would say to do a BGL on him/her but I do not know what a "normal" blood glucose level is for a dog.

You both are in our thoughts, and I will light a candle tonight for you both!

 

[msswitch2u]

Casey...

Hello to all,

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. Sorry it has taken me so long to post, but I took Casey to the vet and found out some devastating news--she is in liver failure. I got the female vet this time, and she is very thorough, she took several samples of blood, and did many X-rays. We were there for 3 hours. On the X-ray, Caseys insides looked very abnormal, no organ was in the right place, and her liver was very small, about the size of a tennis ball. Her albumin was 1.6, which is indicative of severe liver failure, so low that the vet did not even want to put Casey under to check what the cause was. Casey had lost 16 lbs, and the lesions on her were not staph, but a certain skin conditon one gets from liver failure. The vet asked me what I wanted to do, as Casey seemed to have pain at the time.

Looking at those sad brown eyes, I just could not put her down. The vet gave me some special dog food, called l/d, and told me to put Casey on a carbohydrate diet. I was also to drop her anitbiotics and give her one tramadol twice daily for the pain. When I brought Casey home, I discovered that she was starving, she gulped the canned dog food down like crazy. I also gave her some baked potatoes and carrots, which she scarfed down. Her appetite is ferocious, it seems as though she would not eat the dog food, but really takes to this other diet.

I am devastated, I know Casey has not long to live, and I am letting her do what she wants. Actually, she seems to have improved over the last few days, as the food is giving her strength. She moves around more, and is in here with me now. I bought a whole case of the special dog food, so hopefully Casey can live out her life and mabye improve a little. I know she will not live long, but at least now she is getting the nutrition she needs. She is more alert, and definitely has more strength than she had before. The vet told me to watch for ascites, which is a conditon of liver failure, the belly will build up with fluids, that have to be drained off. So far, Casey has not developed that, and she has been urinating and defacating normally.

I try to give Casey all the attention I can, and will separate her from the other animals. For some odd reason, they do not know how ill she really is. Right now, all the animals are lying down, being good. As long as they leave Casey alone, I can keep them all together. Today I will give Casey a bath, she is the only one who loves to be bathed, I know that will help her to feel better. Thanks to everyone for all of your support, I had wished the outcome would have been different, but I have to accept that Casey is going to die. I can only let her enjoy what few days she has to live, and when it gets too overwhelming, I will have to decide what to do. Right now she is eating and moving around a lot better, and does not seem to be hurting as much, so I will go day by day, and pray for the best.

I will keep everyone posted,

Love and thanks from Wendy and Casey. . .

I am sooo sorry Wendy!!!!

I had posted earlier because I am reading the posts in reverse order! I am continuing to read through them now. I could not imagine going through this with Gunner! Casey is lucky to have such a caring momma as you! I will say extra prayers for all of you tonight!

 

[Thira's Mom]

Hi Wendy,

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and Casey. I have been thinking of you two alot over the last several days. I am hoping that Casey takes a turn for the better. Keep the faith!

That being said, I am troubled that you do not know Casey's exact diagnosis and I wonder if your vet does as well. If there is a nagging doubt about the care you are getting, go get a second opinion. Have you thought about seeing an Internal Medicine specialist? You could also calling a University Vet Hospital for a further work up. The last thing you want is to have regrets that you didn't do everything you could for your special girl.

We are wishing you the best. Please keep us updated on Casey's condition.

Joanne & Thira

 

[Doja's Mommy]

I would suggest going to a holistic vet to see what can be done to help support her liver naturally. If you search for threads from my userid you will see all of what I have been through with my Doja. Doja is on about 5 different supplements that help support her liver. You have to be careful about how much protein you give her. There are many different types of medicine/supplements that will help support her liver.

This medicine called lactulose, might be something you could ask your vet about. I would also search for a little more info on lactulose..... for research purposes.

http://marvistavet.com/html/body_lactulose.html

Theres also one called Cholodin, SAMe.... Milk Thistle, Omega3 fish oils, etc....

All of these are liver support options. Doja doesn't take Latculose as that is more for the stage that your in. you might really consider asking your vet about it.

 

[Shirley Jo]

My heart and my prayers go out to you and Casey. Moe amd I send lots and lots of sloppy kisses your way...

 

[kljarvis]

Our prayers are with you Casey.

 

[Taliesyn88]

Day Out of Days. . .

Hello to all,

I apologize for not being on here in quite awhile, I was busy working, and taking care of Casey and my 6 other dogs. Casey passed away on October 19th, and my house seems so empty ever since. My older dog, 11 year old Rusty, seems lost and follows me everywhere. The only consolation that I have is that Casey is no longer suffering, hopefully she is in a better place, at peace and without pain.

A couple Saturdays before, I had taken Casey in to run some liver tests. At that time, she was eating and walking, and doing amazingly well. I was ecstatic to hear that her liver enzymes were up to normal, her albumin was in the normal range. We had been feeding her this liver diet, and she had been eating like a horse. Things were so great that day, but then something awful happened. We went to a wedding Saturday night, and when we came back, Casey was not doing so well. By Sunday, she could not walk, she was paralyzed in her back legs.

How could a healthy dog all of a sudden become paralyzed??? She could not control her back legs at all, and we had to carry her outside to toilet. We took her to the vet again on Monday, and were given some steroids. Casey seemed to improve, but never could walk that normally. Her spine and back was terribly arthritic, we think that mabye she jumped off the couch and injured her back. My husband babied Casey, and we both encouraged her to walk, and get back to normal. Casey would get better, but then get worse again. She dropped down to 60 lbs, a loss of about 17 lbs.

Finally, it got so bad that Casey was a mere skeleton of herself, she stopped eating, and laid around all of the time. She kept scraping her feet on the concrete outside, and her poor toes were raw. She also had trouble holding her urine, and was urinating all over herself and the carpet. I told David that we had to do something, and, we had done all we could do.

Casey still fought on, and would drag herself around using her front legs. She would follow me room to room, but had stopped eating. Her eyes were sad, and I could tell she was in pain. We used a heating pad on her back, which helped, but I could not handle seeing her the way she was.

On the morning of October 19th, when I was getting ready for work, one of Casey's eyeballs ruptured. David was crying frantically, telling me to call the vet, but I knew what had to be done. No matter how much medicine we gave her, or how we babied her, she was in severe pain, and I had to make the decision to put her down. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. On the way to the vet, Casey seemed to know the end was near, and once at the vet she just laid silently on the table. I cannot describe the pain and helplessness I felt, or the extreme sadness that overwhelmed me when Casey just sighed and went to sleep. I had lost one of my babies, and had made the decision to euthanize her. Did I do the right thing???

To all of you who have gone thru this before, I commend you for your courage, it is a very painful thing to go thru. The decision of whether or not to take a life is very complex, but I could no longer see Casey in the pain she was in. The last few weeks I had to spend with her were trying, and I did everything in my power to try to get Casey better, but I did not have that power. Now I have to accept the decision that I have made, and hope that Casey will forgive me for what I did.

Thank you for all your prayers, recommendations, and support. I decided to have Casey's remains cremated, and will sprinkle them outside--she so loved the outdoors. I did not take any pictures of her when she was sick, I wanted to remember her as the beautiful, happy, healthy dog she once was. Mabye one day I will see her again. . .I can only hope.