Just when everything was calm

It's been nearly 2 years since Lucky was diagnosed with Addison's.  Since that initial week, he's been completely stable.  Rock solid, healthy as a horse, driving me batty with his demanding, brash nature.

Last night I got home and went upstairs to let Indy and him out (Indy is crated and we keep Lucky confined to the bedroom so she doesn't get lonely).  They were their usual exuberant selves, barking and dancing, happy to see me.  We traipsed downstairs and I let them out.  Indy started doing her usual 50mph circuit around the yard and Lucky ran back behind the raised beds to.... poop.  Unusual.  Usually he goes for a pee a few feet off the deck.

He came running back to the house.  And squated again.  And again.  At this point I could see his stools were pretty much liquid.  Hrm.

So I call them in the house for dinner.  Lucky is looking at me like "Ehhhh."  I scooped the food in his bowl and he walked away.  To drink more water.  I coaxed him back to his bowl and got him to eat, but it was not with his usual bowl-polishing enthusiasm.

I needed to take Indy to the vet, so I herded the dogs back upstairs to get her collar, thinking I'd give Lucky some sulfacrete and see if that helped.  I considered giving him a 2nd dose of pred, but decided to talk to the vet first.

That's when I noticed the small trail of vomit on the carpet.  I looked into the bathroom and saw the bath mat had been scooched back (bless him) and there was bile-y vomit all over the floor.

Shit.  Shit shit shit.

I wiped up the vomit, got Indy into her collar and left for her appointment.  Fortunately we were scheduled with Lucky's normal vet, so I could mention this to her.  She was as concerned as I, though agreed that I should give him the sulfacrete, dissolved in water, and a 2nd pred.  She also gave me some diarrhea medication.

We got home and I dosed Lucky with the dissolved sulfacrete (he's not a fan of the syringe method) and, a half hour later, gave him a pred and the diarrhea meds.  He then curled up with me and I could hear his stomach gurgling away.

This morning he was pretty much back to normal, though his stools were still a bit loose.  He got his usual morning pred and I gave him another anti-diarrhea pill.  Hopefully he'll continue to improve.

Upset Stomach or Potential Crisis?

Vomiting, excessive thirst, diarrhea, mild lethargy/odd behavior... upset stomach or crisis? Without knowing any other background, which would you say?

On Tuesday I was upstairs in the bathroom and noticed a crusty spot on the bath mat and what I deduced were pieces of puke that he didn't re-consume. He must have gotten sick during the day.

Wednesday he woke me up at 3am whining for water. He drank 3 full cups. Afterward we went back to bed and he jumped up on top of me and curled up right next to me with his head resting on my shoulder. He's generally not a tactile dog, so this is unusual.

Friday I had off and was in the yard doing bomb duty when I ran across a reasonably fresh pile that was basically liquid. The Spouse got home and we were sitting on the chair talking and Lucky hopped up, sat on my lap and laid himself along my chest. He didn't move until I shifted him so I could take care of dinner. He fell asleep at 8pm.

As it turns out, it was likely just an upset stomach - he ate "something" unidentifiable at the dog park on Sunday and on Thursday he had Ozzie's food for dinner and stole two rawhide chews (he never gets rawhide). But if I didn't know that we probably would have been at the vet Friday afternoon.

Lucky's 21-day lytes

Well, one week later and here we are.

	Na	K	Ratio
Normal Ranges:	141-156	4-5.6	27-40
7/14/08 (21-day):	149	4.5	33
7/7/08 (14-day):	150	4.4	34
Diagnosis:	135	6.0	23

I had this whole post written up before the vet called about how I was preemptively worried. We're going up north this weekend and are leaving Thursday and I was concerned about how that would work with his Percorten.

But even to my relatively new eye, these numbers look fantastic. If they'd been mid-range or had altered more than that, I might have had him get the injection before we went. But the vet sounded really happy with them.

I did still mention the trip and she said she didn't think it would be an issue at all with the electrolytes. That the prednisolone dose is what we'd want to watch if he started acting lethargic or not eating, that sort of thing. So I may just look up a vet in the area to keep on file. Because I'm like that.

He goes in on Monday morning for another electrolyte blood draw. But also this time for the Georgie Project (finally got the blood draw kit from them). Fortunately that part will be no-charge.

He threw up last night

At 3 or 4am, like all dogs and children do.

It seems he had good reason - a somewhat large chunk of re-hydrated chicken breast, apparently too big to pass or digest. When he came back to bed, he curled up by my chest - usually he hangs out by our feet - so I knew he needed some more comfort/snuggles.

But, even if he had a reason, that didn't mean I wasn't completely freaked out. I spent the rest of the..well, morning curled up around him, half-dozing and debating whether or not to stay home or take him to work with me.

His appetite was perfectly fine this morning and so was his energy level. So he's fine. I just worry.