• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Sydney's Not Feeling Well

Sydneys Mom

Well-known member
During the night Sydney needed to go out. About 15 min later he started panting and breathing heavily. I gave him a furosemide and that helped. He slept awile, had some water then threw it up. I took him outside, and he went potty again, then fell asleep again. Two hours later, drank more water, went outside potty and threw up again. He slept for a bit and now that he's awake he had more water, his breathing seems much better and he acting more alert. I also gave him his morning meds so I'm hoping he can hold those down.

His cardiologist isn't in until Fri, so I made an appointment for then. In the meantime, I'm waiting for another doctor to call back for further advice.
 
I hope things have settled down with Sydney, poor baby, they are a big worry when they are not themselves, gentle hugs to Sydney.

Hope the vet calls back soon.
 
Oh poor Sydney!!!! Brooky and I are sending big hugs to you. Please keep us updated and I will be thinking of you both today!
 
My little guy seems to be feeling a bit better. He held his meds down and has been drinking plenty of water and, of course, going potty a lot. He even asked for food. So I gave him some steamed chicken and rice. He's more alert. I still haven't heard from the other vet, but I feel confident that he is better for now. We still have the appointment for Friday with the cardiologist. In the meantime, I will keep a careful watch on him. So far so good, just hope it stays that way.
 
Glad Sydney is feeling better. It's always so worrying when things like that happen. My stomach always turns into knots and I feel ill myself.
 
Update on Sydney's cardiologist appointment

According his blood work, his dogoxin level doubled from 1 month ago. It is borderline toxic. However, the doctor is perplexed that with the increased digoxin level, he wasn’t sicker and he recovered from the episodes rather quickly. The symptoms of dogoxin toxicity are chronic vomiting and chronic diarrhea and loss of appetite….he has none of those. So, he had an echo and ultra sound, and the findings were NO fluid in his lungs, abdomen, or around his heart. Kidneys are functioning normally and though this liver is somewhat enlarged, it’s no larger than the last time. Also, his the pulmonary hypertension seems better with the medication he's taking for that. His weight stayed the same, so that is good too.

There could be a small possibility that the lab could have made a mistake on the blood work. So our choices are to redo the blood test or trust the test results and play around with tweaking the meds. For the moment we decided to keep all his meds the same, watch him extra closely for toxicity, and bring him back on the 30th for another blood test. The next step will be determined by what that tells us. She did say that some dogs can tolerate a high digoxin level without becoming ill, and if that is the case for Sydney its good news for his heart, but we will have to be careful with the effect it may have on his liver. The doctor is only guessing as to what happened and her best guess is a transient arrhythmia.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support.
 
So glad the echo showed good results. I hope the lab made a mistake but either way, I'm thinking of you and Sydney.
 
Another Update:

We brought Sydney in for his latest blood test and the digoxin levels are still high. Actually, it is higher than it was 2 weeks ago, so it is definately in the toxic level and not a lab error. Even though the digoxin may be helping his heart, the cardiologist is lowering his dosage as the higher dosage will hurt his liver. Right now his liver enzymes are also too high high. We need to bring him back in 2 weeks for another reading..

His appetite is still good even though he is a little pickier on the food he eats, and he is acting normally, but I still worry now what the lower dose is going to do to his heart. And now, what about damage to his liver? Can that be reversed? Are there any supplements you can suggest that will help or any special foods I could give him? The doctor also suggested that the liver problems may not be from the medication, but could be part of primary liver disease. After the next blood test, I guess we will have to explore that too.
 
Another Update:

We brought Sydney in for his latest blood test and the digoxin levels are still high. Actually, it is higher than it was 2 weeks ago, so it is definately in the toxic level and not a lab error. Even though the digoxin may be helping his heart, the cardiologist is lowering his dosage as the higher dosage will hurt his liver. Right now his liver enzymes are also too high high. We need to bring him back in 2 weeks for another reading..

His appetite is still good even though he is a little pickier on the food he eats, and he is acting normally, but I still worry now what the lower dose is going to do to his heart. And now, what about damage to his liver? Can that be reversed? Are there any supplements you can suggest that will help or any special foods I could give him? The doctor also suggested that the liver problems may not be from the medication, but could be part of primary liver disease. After the next blood test, I guess we will have to explore that too.


I know that for humans, milk thistle is really good for the liver, but I have no idea if dogs can take it....:confused: Might be worth looking into??? Sonny and I are sending our love and prayers your way. :hug:
 
I am thinking of you and Sydney and hope that his heart continues to remain strong.

I read something on another group (or here) about milk thistle for the liver. I then read about it suggested to take to help a hangover.... I'm sure pat or others might know more.

Thinking of you <3
 
Anne, that made me smile as I'm pertty sure Sydney doesn't have a hangover.....me on the other hand could be a different story!
 
Back
Top