[TheFeeb]

Here the story - Any helpful thoughts/suggestions insights would be much appreciated.

I have 11yo (just) Basset named Phoebe. She has been in good health her whole life, recently she has made a turn for the worst.

In April she showed signs of a UTI, multiple and straining attempts to pee outside, accidents in the house etc. She had blood tests/ xray as a precaution and everything came back normal.
She was prescribed an anti-biotic and the symptoms quickly disappeared and she was back to normal.

About 2 weeks ago the symptoms returned. She was again prescribed the same anti-biotic to see if it would clear up. This time she was met with bowel issues. Diarrhoea and straining to defecate.
A few more accidents in the house. We consulted the vet and changed her to a diet of chicken and rice while she was on the antibiotics.

Last Saturday night, we noticed she was shaking and had laboured breathing. We brought her to her to the vet under emergency. Blood tests were run again to compare against her previous baseline results.
The anti-biotic was changed and was administered twice (over 12hours) intravenously. She was also but on a new anti-biotic and blood tests were done. Her blood tests showed high white blood cell count, a low red blood cell count and elevated levels of albumin (spelling?).

Things hadn't improved by monday so again we had her back to the vet, this time for x-rays. X-rays showed signs of fluid on the lungs and in the digestive system. The Vet suggested that it very much looks like cancer, however they can't spot a tumor. The next step is to have her in to try and drain fluid off her lungs in an attempt to alleviate any suffering. THis measure is only temporary as they expect the fluid to return.

Now she has lost weight (less then a pound so far) but she looks very skinny. She is on a diet of prescription canned food from the vet and I am basically trying to get her to eat as much as possible. The past 2 days she has been eating well and showing at least modest signs of improvement. She is still moving around the house, going for short moderate walks, however she is a bit more lethargic and will still breathe heavy or have some mild shaking when exhaling.The latest symptom (as of this morning) was that she didn't want to eat at all. I am at a loss.

My question to the community is, has anyone has similar experiences with their basset? Can anyone recommend anything at all that could help?

We are willing to do anything and everything for Phoebe, however we won't have her suffer for our sake.

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated. I thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

I'm sorry that you and Phoebe are going through this. May I ask where you live? It seems to me that your vet doesn't have the equipment or perhaps the expertise to diagnose the problem. Do you live near a vet school, which could help you get a diagnosis? Although if she's losing her appetite, a diagnosis might be moot. Regardless of what you choose to do, good luck.

 

[TheFeeb]

I live on the east coast of Canada and unfortunately the vet doesn't have all the equipment to diagnose the problem and there is not vet school either.

Her appetite is not gone all together (thankfully), but any change in appetite especially for canned food is concerning. I'm going to keep positive that without a concrete diagnosis that maybe we aren't dealing with cancer and Phoebe still has some good quality time left.

 

[smitte21]

Hmm... doesn't sound like a very good situation and I'm sorry. Our girl who died from cancer went down very fast. You can have them do an ultrasound of her belly to see if they can find any masses. That will give you a bit more piece of mind. I would feed her whatever she wants as if she is not eating she won't have the strength to get through it till you can find a diagnosis. I'd also have them check for atypical addison's as that affects the albumin level as well. It's an off shot but my inlaws basset had it and a friends was just recently diagnosed with it as well. Just a hunch that if it's not cancer it may be that. Or perhaps she's got some sort of really severe infection going. I wouldn't be just throwing different antibiotics at it though as that will really upset her stomach and that on top of a dog without much of an appetite to begin with can spell disaster. Good luck, we'll be pulling for you.

 

[Scully]

I'm sorry that Phoebe is so ill right now.

I really don't have any helpful suggestions, but when Scully's cancer began to affect her appetite, the one thing she did show some interest in eating was boiled rice with extra-lean ground beef.

Sending plenty of healing thoughts for Phoebe.

 

[gsally]

Thought are with you

This is a stressful time for you as well as Phoebe. Our family experienced a similar situation last year with our 12 yr. old basset. Our vet did the ultra sound which showed a mass and internal bleeding. Hopefully you can find answers that will help you make decisions regarding treatment and care. May God bless you with strength and patience as you care for your sick basset, blessings to Phoebe, may she be comforted by your care!

 

[TheFeeb]

Thanks everyone for their responses.

Unfortunately ultrasound isn't an option as no vet in the area has the equipment. One of the negatives for living on an island.

This morning I noticed Phoebe had thrown up over night and then again this morning as I was loading her into the car to go to the vet. Another new symptom was that her nose was runny.

Phoebe is currently at the vet for the chest tap scheduled to remove fluid from her lungs. The vet is going to do another round of xrays afterward to try and pin point a cause. Based on her new symptoms the vet is thinking it could be something with the intestine. Im hoping to get the call to pick her up within an hour.

I want to thank everyone for their responses and well wishes. This is incredibly hard on us and im putting it all out there on the off chance that someone has been through this or something similar and could offer any advice at all.

thanks again.

 

[Tuesday]

I am so sorry to hear this. I will be thinking and praying for Phoebe.

 

[Scully]

Just wondering how Phoebe is doing?

 

[mydawgz]

I just read your post. I went through it with my boy. He had pretty much the same issue as Phoebe although he did not lose his appetite. His fever shot up to 107 and he was shaking and salivating when I took him to the emergency room. We had taken him 9 times during the previous year for various illnesses and no cancer was detected. This last time they found a mass that was bleeding into his abdomen. We could not save him. I still have not recovered. MY remaining basset Daisy is still very depressed. I am soo sorry about your phoebe. I pray that your end result is different than mine and I wish I had a magic cure to offer. Bev.