Not What We Were Expecting...

About two weeks ago we were awakened by one of the most effective "alarms" a dog owner can have; the sound of a dog in the process of throwing up. Skylar vomited another two times throughout the night. Then came issues with the back end. We suspected she was going to have issues while we were at work so we made sure to crate her by herself (she usually shares a crate with her brother). Sure enough, I arrived home to a wonderful scene of a dog in a crate surrounded by vomit and diarrhea. Unfortunately I have experience in addressing this type of scenario. A trip to the vet and a few days of a bland diet and some meds and Skylar got back to normal.

Skylar, being normal.

A few days later her brother Braxton starts to do the same thing. We get him on the mend. Then Friday of last week Darby decides its his turn at being sick. Braxton happened to have a follow up appointment with our vet on the next day. So we email her and ask if Darby can tag along to get checked out. 

Braxton, using the ottoman as his dog bed

At the vet, she tells us Braxton looks great and his knee has fully recovered from his surgery. Then she looks at Darby and says, "I am concerned at what I see."

Wait, what?!

She shows us Darby's eyes are yellow and his gums are very pale; he is jaundiced. She runs some blood work and the results show his liver is in very bad shape. 

We need start treatment immediately.

This is not how this trip the vet was supposed to go. We were supposed be told we to give him the same bland diet and meds as the other two dogs and in a few days he would be back to normal.

We aren't supposed to find out we need to start supportive liver treatment immediately and if things don't improve start considering an ultrasound to look for tumors and start considering comfort and quality of life.

This hit us hard, really hard. We are not ready to lose this fluffy guy. Not yet. He's starting to get old, but he isn't that old.

The next few days were a real challenge as Darby needed to take one set of pills on an empty stomach and another pill with food. He pretty much refused to eat anything. He would show interest in food, but wouldn't eat. If he did eat something he wouldn't eat it again. We tried everything we could think of to get him to eat; chicken, yogurt, cheese, ham; even bacon. Not even the glorious smell of bacon could get him to eat. 

Things were looking bleak.

On Tuesday before his follow up appointment with the vet, he showed a higher interest in food. He ate! We waited a few hours and fed him again. He ate again! We waited another few hours and he ate again! Then he vomited; ok maybe we shouldn't have been so cavalier with the feed.

That afternoon the vet said the results of his blood work were mixed. Some numbers had improved,  and a different increased a small amount. He still looked jaundiced. However, his increase in appetite was encouraging, so the doctor said we should continue doing what we were doing. 

By Thursday night he was eating normally (although he was trying to work us get some of that nice human food we had been offering him earlier in the week). Even better he started playing with Skylar and Braxton; and ended up picking out a ball for me to toss. 

Good boy.

Friday at the vet, she said his eyes were clear, and his gums were the correct color. His blood work showed that nearly everything was back to normal levels or clearly trending in the right direction. She wants to see him next week.

Thanks for pulling through buddy. We weren't ready to say goodbye.

Darby trying to convince me to toss his ball for him.

Darby, almost exactly 11 years ago.