A Rough Few Days

Where do I start.   This might be a long blog post but I am just going to condense as much of it as I can.

As many of you know as I have blogged about it numerous times Zack has had belly issues on and off all of his life without really knowing what it is.   Well in the early hours of Saturday morning Zack started up again in pain and vomiting with his belly making loud squelchy noises.   I gave him his usual meds but he didn't seem to get better and was trembling so we took him back to the vet.

They hooked him up to IV and treated him with more pain meds, took blood and did Xrays.   We then finally got a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis in his bloodtest.   I was relieved that we had finally got a diagnosis but horrified that he had this terrible disease.   Additionally, the Xray showed he had a small liver and some other abnormalities in his abdomen.   So we were referred to a specialist 2.5 hours away at the Calgary CARE Centre to have ultrasounds done of his whole abdomen.

There was mostly good news but some bad.    Firstly, Zack's pancreas was completely normal and he doesn't have pancreatitis after all.   His positive blood test showed up because of all the inflammation in his abdomen that gave a false positive.   I am so relieved he doesn't have that disease as it was quite scary when I read the pamphlet we were given  - but there goes the diagnosis we had.    Also the vet in Calgary confirmed that Zack does have a bit of a small liver but he didn't think it was anything to worry about and was not diseased.   So that's was good.   However, the whole of Zack's small intestine is abnormal and inflamed and some of his intestines had thickening and changes.   Also the lymph nodes near there were also enlarged.   Luckily tho the vet did not think he had any cancer (thank god as I was just sick about that C word) just severe inflammation.   Diagnosis is IBD.

The vet said it is very frustrating with cases like Zack as they don't know what causes his intestines to do this and why he has it but some dogs just get it.    So really we are back at square one but at least all the horrible, terrible things that we thought Zack might have have been ruled out. Now we just have to sort out a treatment and diet for him to help along the way.

The only other thing the vet in Calgary did mention is that Zack's adrenal gland was a bit smaller than usual and because he had a low blood sugar on his blood test as well we are going to test him for Addisons disease.    We have to wait til he is feeling 100% before we can do this test so it is definitely one further test we are going to do  - even if it is just to rule it out.

Luckily Zack is starting to feel a bit better today.  He is up and about and has eaten a bit of food.  He even barked as the front door this afternoon.  He is far from being his normal self but this means he is feeling a little better thank goodness.

Zack is such a special little dog considering he has been through so much in his life at the vets being poked and prodded you name it he has had it and still he loves everyone at the clinic.   He even gave the ultrasound technician a frenchy on the table LOL!!!   Bless him.

It has definitely been a few days of highs and lows and mixed emotions.