My little Maggie Bear!!

[Aggie_Ama]

If she pulls through I imagine you would have to keep her on subcutaneous water shots every day or every other day for long term. Not everyone is prepared to do this. Ask your vet about that issue.

He is think every other day or maybe every third day. We don't like it but it is a better option than euthanization. It would unfortunately probably not keep her in the clear for long, not as long as she deserves.

[emily_in_nc]

Aw, I'm so sorry to hear that she has taken a bad turn again. It is very, very hard, I know....

[gingerale]

I'm so sorry. Keeping your little fur baby in my thoughts and hope that she gets her own miracle.

[tzvia]

Sending good vibes and prayers!

[Aggie_Ama]

Well she was happy to see us today. All the techs love her so much I wonder how many hearts will break if there isn't good news tomorrow. She was still really mellow and napped and DH's arms while we were there. They had to move the IV to the back leg so now 3 are shaven, maybe I should just ask them to shave the 4th one. Tomorrow is when we find out if she pulled off one more miracle, going to be hard to sleep tonight.

On top of that Heidi is acting like someone gave her drugs or something, freaking out like crazy because she smells Maggie on us. She is like a 3 year old who was given too much candy tonight.

[jesvetmed]

You and Maggie will be on my mind tomorrow. Good Luck.

[Aggie_Ama]

Thanks Jes. Unfortunately I just got off the phone with the vet. After having her there since Tuesday night on aggressive IV fluids the BUN only came down 6 pts from 104 to 98. The PHOS dropped quite a bit but is still elevated. The CREA didn't really budge.

The option is hospitalize over the entire weekend and hope for a miracle or bring her home and try Sub-Cu. I am leaning towards just bringing her home and letting her be with us. I mean last time we hospitalized 6 days and got 3 weeks. I just don't think we are going to get what we want from continuing to keep her in the hospital. The worst is my husband already paid for a mountain bike race tomorrow, I don't want to go anywhere tonight. I want to stay home and hold my little bear. The best is sitting at work crying and not wanting to tell my male bosses I cannot deal with having a sick dog.

[bmccasland]

(((((((Aggie_Ama & Maggie))))))

Sometimes being at home, being quiet is the best medicine, and it sounds like you've reached that point. Hope you have a good weekend. Sigh.

[OakLeaf]

(((((((Amanda & Maggie)))))))

I'm sure that you and Maggie are more important to your DH than his race.

And you might be surprised about your boss, too, I know I've gotten outpourings of sympathy from males I really didn't expect to (and I've also had females repeatedly express that they felt no attachment to their pets, fwiw). If you're not getting anything done at work anyhow, can you take a personal day?

Keeping the prayers coming.

[Aggie_Ama]

(((((((Amanda & Maggie)))))))

I'm sure that you and Maggie are more important to your DH than his race.

I got to think of him to and I think taking his mind off things might be the best medicine. We haven't decided whether to bring her home for the weekend or wait. He is calling on his vet friend one more time just to give a second opinion. My mom said she would still keep Maggie overnight so we can go, then he can race and after that we have all weekend. Warped to some but DH needs something to channel his frustration and racing does that.

[gingerale]

I understand it and sympathize. I don't think there's anything wrong with him riding. When my dh can't "fix" what's wrong he goes for a really long run, situps, pushups, weights, etc. Works out all of his frustration and feels better after. I understand the pull to do both...take care of your little fur baby and just go hit something as hard as he can (in this case, a good mountain trail). Good luck with all of your decisions and big hugs about Maggie. I really do continue to hope for the best.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Personally I would keep her at the vet's until after the race.
My reason is this- when my cat Pearl was literally on the verge of death from kidney failure, we had her for several days at the vet's on a constant IV fluid drip. Unfortunately, we had to take a Fri-sunday trip- a commitment that we literally could not get out of.
The vet warned me before I left for the weekend that things looked grave, and that the constant fluids were her only chance, along with the antibiotics for her infections that were induced by the kidney failure. She was literally drooling bloody mucus, that's how bad she was. It was breaking my heart.

But though she was lethargic she didn't seem in awful pain, she would purr whenever petted, and I knew her only chance might be the vet's IV water hookup. So with heavy heavy heart I left her at the vet's while we did our trip. I knew she was in the best of hands and they were so gentle and loving to her there.
I couldn't bring myself to phone during the weekend. When I came home, I drove directly to the vets without calling because I was sure she would be 'gone' and for some reason I couldn't bear to find that out over the phone.

I got there to the waiting room, they said "just a minute"....then opened the door and Pearl literally came bounding out to greet me happily.
After that I had to give her sub-cutaneous water injections every other day for a year. She has been very happy and 'mostly' healthy since then, as long as I give her very wet food 'soup'.

I only tell you this not to falsely raise your hopes (because Pearl could just as easily have not made it, it was that close, and your Maggie is certainly in serious condition as well) but simply to say it's OK to keep her at the vet's on direct IV for an extra day or two while you go to your husband's race. It might be the best choice for Maggie, might give her that one little extra boost she might need from the extra fluid intake. Consider giving her that chance- her latest tests don't seem great but they 'have' improved a little while on IV, right? I would say if they start getting worse than before then there's no point in continuing.

I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

[ClockworkOrange]

My goodness, the time and thought that went into the above post from BleeckerSt_Girl, such good advice and so carefully written with your feelings being taken into account.

I can only send my warmest thoughts to you and your husband, for darling little Maggie Bear.

Hugs

Clock

[Brandi]

(((((((HUGS))))))))) I hope your weekend is a nice peaceful one. When My little fur friends are sick I can't think of anything else but them. Keep keeping us posted on how all is going!. Butterfly kisses heading your way!

[Aggie_Ama]

Lisa- Thank you for the kind, thoughtful, LONG and helpful post. It made me feel like keeping on with Maggie is okay and going to the race was okay too. Sometimes we feel so torn on what we should do you know?

Everyone else- thanks for the support, it is so hard when you can't explain to people you know personally how much your fur kid means.

So Friday we went to see Maggie and the Doc before leaving town. The comforting thing is to see the pain your vet feels that your dog hasn't returned the numbers he wants. If you go back you see that this is a new vet but he has won our support 10x over. He said other dogs with Maggie's levels he would likely not suggest Sub-Cu but we got a real fighter, she is eating, she is happy to see us and the techs (who adore her) and she isn't vomitting. Since she won't act the way he expects he is treating her, not her values. She will go home Monday with daily Sub-Cu for a week. After that we test and see if she maintained, improved or tanked. If she tanked we know what we have to do. He said he doesn't really know what to expect with her she kepts defying his expectations. He said we may get a week, a month, six months. He really doesn't know. He also said he prays for this "Little kid" to trick him again, I am not overly religious but what a sweet thing to say.

DH did race and it was not a good one. Turns out he had a wire bead coming loose and didn't know it. Three flats later he walked his bike across the line for last place missing the cut off to do another lap (which he couldn't because he would have just flatted again), they didn't DNF him because he walked 5 miles of the course instead of taking the short cut. He is a stubborn one! I am glad we went and we got to enjoy some tasty Mexican food afterwards with our cute as a button niece so it wasn't a total loss.

And no matter what happens with Maggie I am glad we took the gamble. If she only gets one more week it will hurt like hell but we will know in our hearts she fought and we didn't stop fighting for her. It has been a pricey gamble but go back to 12/26 and tell me she wouldn't get much more time I would still pay to get those weeks. Take me back to 2004 and tell me she was going to be a sickly dog who didn't might not make it to old age but would be a joy for the time she could give you and I would drive 3 hours to snatch her from the breeders. Maybe she has another trick under her fur she hasn't shown. Maybe it is just her poker face again.

Those of you who read this far, thanks.