ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I am very sorry to hear about your dog. I hope he gets better soon!
I am also sorry to hear he bit you. That had to of hurt! Hugs to you! Try to be careful, Emily! BYH needs you!

 

[redtailgal]

Go right now and soak it.

Take about a gallon of warm water, put about 1/2 c of epsom salt in it, and a good solid squirt of betadine or some sort of wound cleanser. Soak it until the water is getting uncomfortably cold. Scrub it, and encourage it to bleed (blood is an excellent wound cleanser).

When all that is done, take a q-tip and pack any puncture wounds with anti-biotic cream, pack a full at you can.

Make sure to pull your puncture wounds open a couple times a day, so they are force to heal from the inside out. A daily bleed wouldnt hurt them at all.

I understand why you dont want to go to the Doc, and I dont blame you. But dog bites can get nasty, real nasty, and real quick.

Seriously, soaking it will help kill the germs down deep in puncture wounds.

 

[elevan]

No real puncture wounds, more like ripped skin. The worst right above where the thumb connects to the palm. That area has pain shooting up into my index finger.

Everything is cleaned and coated in antibiotic ointment.

I'm not too worried about infection. I'm more worried about the possibility of nerve and / or tendon damage with the type of pain I'm having and the fact that my hand won't close any further and to basically make an O with my forefinger and thumb and it still looks cupped when I try to open it all the way.

It's my fault. Geesh, I'd just stabbed him with an 18 gauge needle...the equivalent of a sawed off pipe. No muzzle. No one to hold him. Yeah, pretty darn stupid on my part.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

you poor thing .... Hope everything turns out well ...

 

[elevan]

I just gave Boingo another round of the Sub-Q fluids with DH's assistance. Easy peasy this time. Thank goodness.

It's definitely helping. Boingo got up a little while ago and got excited and started to run to the door to go outside and then fell down because he didn't have the energy to keep going. But...he felt good enough to try.

I'll let y'all know what the vet says tomorrow. We go at 9:30a.

Oh...my hand still won't close or open all the way but the hematoma on my left arm is down and is now just an ugly bruise.

 

[elevan]

The vet visit was not a good one. I broke down and cried. The series of tests to diagnose Fanconi are complicated and expensive. My vet doesn't have the equipment and told me that I'd need to go to Columbus. We checked on the cost...it would be $1500 for the tests alone. I don't have that kind of money lying around.

We decided to brainstorm ideas. Not all clues pointed to Fanconi. There are symptoms which makes my vet consider Cushings and Diabetes. But Fanconi is to the top of the list.

Boingo's blood sugar was 328. But that could be because of Fanconi or Diabetes. Boingo has a weird skin issue (and thin skin) which made the vet consider Cushings.

I was told that it was a good thing that I gave him the Lactated Ringers Sub-Q as it probably kept him alive. However, the vet preferred Sodium Chloride solution for dogs. Boingo's sodium level is low, so it'll help with that too.

So here's the plan:

This weekend Boingo will get the following:

Sodium Chloride solution Sub-Q every 6 hours (saddle bagged)
Sodium Bicarb (Baking Soda) 1 mEq / kg daily (Fanconi treatment)
Vit B orally to increase appetite
Neo / Dex Eye Ointment daily (he developed an eye infection overnight)

I need to collect a fecal and urine specimen and we will go back on Monday morning to redraw blood.

If Boingo's glucose is normal on Monday then we "know" it's Fanconi and will add the rest of the treatment protocol for that.

If it is still high then we will proceed as if it is Diabetes and start him on insulin. We would also order a Cushings test at that time.

I was prepared that my boy may not make it. That we'll do the best we can for him with the resources that I have available to give, but it may not be enough.

I will keep you all posted but this is tearing me up inside.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

poor thing ...

 

[country farm girl]

The vet visit was not a good one. I broke down and cried. The series of tests to diagnose Fanconi are complicated and expensive. My vet doesn't have the equipment and told me that I'd need to go to Columbus. We checked on the cost...it would be $1500 for the tests alone. I don't have that kind of money lying around.

We decided to brainstorm ideas. Not all clues pointed to Fanconi. There are symptoms which makes my vet consider Cushings and Diabetes. But Fanconi is to the top of the list.

Boingo's blood sugar was 328. But that could be because of Fanconi or Diabetes. Boingo has a weird skin issue (and thin skin) which made the vet consider Cushings.

I was told that it was a good thing that I gave him the Lactated Ringers Sub-Q as it probably kept him alive. However, the vet preferred Sodium Chloride solution for dogs. Boingo's sodium level is low, so it'll help with that too.

So here's the plan:

This weekend Boingo will get the following:

Sodium Chloride solution Sub-Q every 6 hours (saddle bagged)
Sodium Bicarb (Baking Soda) 1 mEq / kg daily (Fanconi treatment)
Vit B orally to increase appetite
Neo / Dex Eye Ointment daily (he developed an eye infection overnight)

I need to collect a fecal and urine specimen and we will go back on Monday morning to redraw blood.

If Boingo's glucose is normal on Monday then we "know" it's Fanconi and will add the rest of the treatment protocol for that.

If it is still high then we will proceed as if it is Diabetes and start him on insulin. We would also order a Cushings test at that time.

I was prepared that my boy may not make it. That we'll do the best we can for him with the resources that I have available to give, but it may not be enough.

I will keep you all posted but this is tearing me up inside.

I am so sorry I know how you feel, when my cat got relley sick at home he died in my arms but he came back when I was crying over him so we got him to the vet as fast as we coud and the vet was able to save him when he came home after 2 weeks, my mom toled me I can't pick him up and pet him wicht made me so upsuet that I went to sit in a chair to which to my delilt he came and jumped up on my lap and went to sleep right then and there so have some faith they can surprise you in BIG WAYS!!!!

 

[wannacow]

I'm so sorry to hear about Boingo. Love him all you can. There are no regrets in that.

 

[jodief100]

So sorry to hear about Boingo. We thought Roi had Cushings several years ago. My vet sent us to a doggie internist and it turned out to be thyroid issues coupled with a skin infection. The Cushings test took all day. I sat in a room with him on his blanket and they came in every hour or so to check things. I can't remember all the details but it was about $350.

I really hope you can figure it out, it is horrible not knowing.