Hobkin Update: Another trip to the vet and a LOT of meds

Had the first full night of sleep in a week last night. Matthew took Hobkin back to the vet’s who administered another Lasix injection yesterday. By the time I got home, Hobkin was downright frisky. And hungry. Devoured cottage cheese, veggies, blueberries, and several med-stuffed crickets.

Which brings us to the next development. The blood work was inconclusive. His white blood count is fine, his tooth appeared non-problematic, and he’s never manifested a fever through this, so it’s looking less likely that it’s an infection–which I guess is probably for the best right now ’cause the antibiotic is the only med we can’t seem to get him to take. However, his kidneys are showing some distress, which could be due to his sickness as much as the cause of it.

That places us back into the brainstorming and conjecture realm. The vet speculated that it could be his heart. He’s due to go in for an ultrasound and needle biopsy of the spot they saw on his lung in his x-rays tomorrow, but only if we can get him strong enough for the procedure since it involves a much longer period of having to be under anesthesia, not to mention a needle in his chest.

So we’re upping his furosemide dose and adding pimobendan and enalapril for his heart, metronidazole to treat his kidney, and lactulose for ammonia in his digestive tract (to ward off an apparently common side effect). He’s also been switched to cephalex as his antibiotic, but so far we can’t get that into him. Otherwise, the pills, including the metronidazole which we have been cautioned tastes as bad as anything is possible to taste, have gone down easily, either crushed and mixed in whipped cream or stuffed into a cricket. I’m a little concerned about over-medicating him, but we’re running out of options.

So it’s all about the waiting and seeing now. But Hobkin looked the best he’s looked since this started last night and hasn’t needed oxygen at all since he got back from the vet’s. And his breathing was regular this morning. He wasn’t as hungry, but he did eat some cottage cheese, blueberries, and bugs (the breakfast of champions) before I had to head to work.

Waiting is.

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11 Responses to Hobkin Update: Another trip to the vet and a LOT of meds

  1. j_cheney says:

    Wow, I hope he continues to improve. Was worried there for a bit.

  2. sylphon says:

    Wow, quite the ordeal for the poor little guy. Glad he’s starting to do a bit better!

  3. lmeighmy says:

    Glad to hear he’s doing better!

  4. nmsunbear says:

    That’s a lot of meds! I hope the fuzzball is truly on the road to recovery.

  5. kenakeri says:

    Glad he’s doing better.

  6. gannet says:

    *phew*!

    I’m still thinking about you all and hoping for the best!

  7. amysisson says:

    Good news! Let’s hope the improvement continues!

  8. Good news! But, god, it must be so hard to be a vet having to guess what animals’ pains are trying to say.

  9. newroticgirl says:

    Eating is good news! Hope he keeps chowing down. 🙂

    And the meds-in-whipped-cream trick is one I may steal for my fussy dog. One dog will eat anything — even vile metronidazole, which he gets for his stomach issues when they flare up — as long as it’s mixed with his food. The other dog thinks everything I offer is suspect.

  10. jmward14 says:

    Good news. We’re all pulling for you and Hobkin both.

  11. shaolingrrl says:

    We’re waiting with you. Anything I can do, let me know.

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