Abby: Post-Endoscopy Day 9

It's been 3 days since Abby had her shot of anti-vomit medication ;)
Thankfully, she has taken well to the prescriptive canned food. I am adjusting her canned food and L-Emental ratio each day so that she is taking more of the former. Hopefully, she will feel more substantiated and put on a little weight soon

Abby: Post-Endoscopy Day 7 - Milestone

Today marks a key milestone for Abby - her first post-endoscopy review. Dr Lee is satisfied with her progress and has expanded her diet to include prescriptive canned food and mashed papaya And if she takes well to the changes, perhaps she can have some mashed pumpkin too.

Next week will be another milestone for Abby when she returns to do another endoscopy to view how her esophagus is healing. Until then, my key task now will be to help her weaned onto her new diet and regain some weight.

Abby in a Pram

After being cooped up in the house for so long, I decided to bring her out for some fresh air - in a pram - as I was worried that she will pick up some infection when she licks the ground. She attracted looks of curiosity, surprise, disbelief (?), even smirks... I choose to ignore - why do I need to account to them? Someone even laughed that she is like a baby. He shut up when he saw the feeding tube protruding from Abby's neck. I hope he choked on those words...

Abby: Post-Endoscopy Day 5

Abby started fine today, but her condition seemed to deteriorate from evening onwards. She puked a bit of her dinner, refused water - which is so unlike her - and was generally lethargic.

Unsure if the pain had returned or if she is feeling nauseous, I decided to give her a jab so that she feels more comfortable. And the session turned out to be a heart-stopping episode. Somehow a "vaccuum" developed in the syringe and when I released the pressure, her blood was drawn back into the syringe! Almost freaked out when I saw a stream of red flowing into the syringe and tinting the contents pinkish-red. Thankfully I still have enough sense to apply pressure and quickly remove the needle.

Brought her out for some fresh air, hopefully to cheer her up after being cooped up in the house for so many days. She was not as enthusiastic as before and fell asleep soon after returning home. And she whimpered in her sleep. Hopefully, she will have a restful night like yester...

Abby: Post-Endoscopy Day 4

Abby is finally able to sleep through the night without any painkillers :D
Her body has been pumped with so much medications for the past week and I'm happy that she's finally able to hold one off.

Abby: Post Endoscopy Day 3

It has been almost 4 days since Abby last pooped. Gotten some gel from ARC to insert into her rectum to help her poop. The stuff worked like magic - she pooped within 5 seconds! Brownish, watery, smelly poop. Think she feels lighter and happier to have these toxins removed from her body.

She seems a little more cheerful today. Fingers crossed that her condition will continue to improve.

Sweet Uno

Uno somehow seems to know that the family is going through a difficult period and has been an exceptionally obedient boy. He did not throw a fit when he saw us going out with Abby (to the vet, but of course he wouldn't know) and leaving him behind, put up with Abby's teases and harassment whenever she feels like it, wait patiently till I'm done with Abby's feeding, jabs etc before he comes over for a pat/belly rub... I must admit that we have sort of neglected him these past days and when he saw me with his leash this morning, he was almost bursting with joy! We are so blessed to have him :)

Abby is Hurting

The pain is keeping Abby awake again as I felt her tossing and turning in her bed. After a dose of painkiller, she is finally sleeping soundly...

Abby: Post Endoscopy Day 2

Abby seems more alert today, she even started to harass Uno :) Still administering the full dose of painkillers (via food tube and intravenous)to help her manage the pain but cut down anti-vomit suppository to 1 dose per day. Also upped her water intake to 15 mls orally and 10 mls via feeding tube every 2-hourly.

When grooming her this evening, I discovered a little sore beneath her bandage that is wet, slimy, maroonish-red (dried up blood?) and gives off a slight odour. Brought her to ARC for a review as I feared that the feeding tube leaked or there is an infection. True enough, Dr Travis found a slight skin infection. He explained that this is quite common and prescribed a dose of anti-biotics to clear up the infection. The dressing was also changed to be less bulky and thick. Hopefully, this dressing will be more 'breatheable' and promotes healing.

I think Abby has developed a phobia for ARC. She started shivering the minute we entered ARC and clung onto me when Dr Travis wanted to carry her. She continued to shiver all the way home and fidgeted throughout the jab and feeding sessions. She is still feeling very much unsettled in her bed as I am writing...

Abby: Bad Scare III

This morning, we were back at ARC. Not for review, but because Abby puked out her FEEDING TUBE!! Puking is already bad for her condition, imagine my horror when I saw the tube hanging from her mouth Immediately called ARC to arrange for vet on call as it was only 7+am so there were no vets on duty; hubby rushed home to send us to ARC; I had to fight with Abby to stop her from chewing on the tube while trying to calm her.... all this on top of just 2 hours of sleep last night. My dark circles and eye bags can compete with any panda in the world.

We came back with more medicines and jabs to ease her pain, discomfort and nausea. She feeds 4x a day and needs jabs/medications every 12 hourly. Each feeding and jab session can take up to 30 minutes to complete as doing it too fast will cause discomfort to her. Although the schedule is tiring and confusing, my comfort is when I see her sleep soundly. She even managed a bark (the last time I heard her bark was last Friday)today when she heard hubby at the door this evening :)

The 2 vets who treated her had given a very guarded prognosis. The ulcerations are fairly deep and there is a chance of tearing. Healing will be a very long and slow process. It is also likely that the oesophagus will constrict after healing due to size of the ulcerations. This means she needs to go on possibly liquid diet for the rest of her life so that she does not choke on her food. We don't want to harbour too high hopes for her recovery. Our focus now is to make her as comfortable as possible e.g. pain management, and yes, help her regain some weight - she has lost slightly more than 0.5 kg since last Friday!

Abby's Endoscopy

Abby was brought into the operating theatre at 12.45pm. It was almost 3.15pm when she came out. The obstruction in her oesophagus was a large piece of chicken bone. It has been stuck there probably since last Friday, and is already starting to smell. Dr Lee managed to fish out a large piece measuring 4cm by 3cm at the widest, and push the smaller pieces into the stomach. Unfortunately, there is severe inflamation and ulceration at the oesophagus. Dr Lee shared that such wounds take a very long time to heal. There is also the fear that the ulcerations may tear open. One of her previous cases that involved a much smaller piece of bone took more than 3 weeks to heal. In Abby's case, the bone is larger and sharper, the ulcers are deeper... The recovery journey is going to be a long and tough one and Abby has to fight on her own. Oral feeding is out for the next few weeks or even months. A feeding tube is inserted for liquid feeding till she recovers, if she recovers. And all I can only is to try and make her as comfortable as possible in the meanwhile...

Just before she went for the endoscopy:


When she returned to the ward after her ordeal:


The feeding tube at her neck:


Snoozing in mommie's arms:


Finally back at home:

Doggies' Instinct

As we prepare to leave the house for ARC this morning, Uno seems to sense that something major is about to happen. I told him about Abby's scope and asked that he be a good boy. And he raised his left paw to pat on my hand, as if trying to comfort and reassure me.

Abby had been very jumpy since morning, as if she knows about the impending scope. Throughout the journey and even when we reached ARC, she was restless. In the doggy ward, she jumped at every sound and sat with her eyes focused on me. The minute I get up from my chair, she will also stand up. And today, I finally heard her whine and it totally broke my heart. My tears flowed and I couldn't care if anyone is watching us.

To or Not To?

Abby has lost some 300g since last Friday. It is pretty alarming to feel her bones and I began to hesitate about proceeding with the endoscope. On the other hand, if indeed the blockage is affecting her ability to eat/swallow, then my procrastination may cause her more harm. Looks like it is going to be another long night...

Abby's Condition III

Abby is back at ARC today. After hearing my update on her eating habits for the past 2 days, Dr Lee called for barium test to determine the cause of her painful swallowing/difficulty with swallowing. Abby is made to drink some barium preparation and then put through a series of x-rays to track its path through her digestive system. And the results were bad: a LARGE obstruction was found in her esophagus. The vet opined that it could be a foreign object or a structural defect. Operation is out of question as it is a difficult area to operate upon and the prognosis is usually bad. The only option now is to do an endoscopy to view the obstruction. Whether or not it can be removed is another matter. Abby is now placed on drip to replenish her bodily needs in readiness for the endoscopy scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Abby's Condition II

Abby's appetite is still very poor today. Her diet today consists of cereal with raw honey, chicken porridge, winter melon soups and a little salmon. When she had enough, which is very little, she will walked away from the food dish. The good thing is that she does not nauseate as much compared to yesterday.

She passed out very soft almost jelly-like stools today: twice tinged with blood and once with an undigested piece of meat. Could her medication have caused the soft stools?

Abby: Bad Scare II

This morning, I fed Abby some oats with raw honey. She showed little interest but at least there were no signs of nausea. Just as I began to relax a little, she delivered another shock - soft poo with bright red blood! So there goes my stress levels again - UP! Will monitor her and see if need to bring her to vet later...

Abby's Condition

Abby's appetite was bad today, she hardly touched her chicken porridge. And when she does eat, she would become nauseous and then she would reject her food. I tried to whet her appetite with a small piece of pumpkin. BIG MISTAKE. She puked it out, together with some porridge she ate earlier. The good thing is that there is no blood streaks in the vomit. Seeing her interest in Uno's regular dinner, I fed her some steamed salmon. ANOTHER MISTAKE. She puked that out too, probably too oily for her tummy to handle.

Poo-wise, she passed out a hard piece (dark brown) followed by some jello-like light brown stuff. The former is probably from her lunch/dinner yesterday, wonder where did the latter come from?

Abby finally FARTED!

Abby finally farted! Never before was I this happy to smell her fart ;) As I happily announced to the rest, she farted again! With the release of gases, her tummy feels much softer compared to last night. Way to go gal!

Abby: Bad Scare

Abby freaked all of us out on Friday evening. As usual, Uno and Abby gobbled their dinner of salmon, brocoli and sweet potato mash with chicken breast bone as dessert. As I was cleaning her up after dinner, she made soft squeaking sounds and looked nauseous. Then she puked out a gooey liquid mass tinged with blood. She was restless and started pacing the room, in obvious discomfort. Then she puked again, and again. As I was speaking to the staff in ARC to fix an -appointment, she puked the fourth time - again tinged with bright red blood.

We rushed her to ARC where the vet Dr Lim x-rayed her throat and tummy. The bones were pictured nestling in her tummy and there were no perforations or bones stuck in her throat. Then what caused the bleeding and blood in her vomit? Dr Lim suspected gastritis or abrasions caused by the diatomaceous earth that I started feeding both pooches just the day before.

It was almost midnight when we reached home. Despite being given a pain-killer jab and fed medicines to soothe her tummy, Abby slept fretfully throughout. Her tummy was also very bloated, the vet said there is a lot of air inside her stomach. As I slept next to her, I was hoping to catch a whiff of her fart. Unfortunately, there were none...

Buddy: Jan 2008 - 10 Feb 2011

Time flies...it has been slightly over 2 years since Buddy flew into my house. This morning, he left us, as sudden as when he first appeared in my house. No illness, no signs, no symptoms. As I gather him in my hands, visions of him keeps flashing before me: eating his first meal from my hands, hopping and semi-flying around the house, enjoying his bird bath, singing at the top of his voice...He was buried near Pudding by the river; hopefully he is happy to be reconciled with Pudding once again.

Thanks Buddy, for giving us a chance to care for you. Thanks Buddy for bringing joy to the family. Good-bye Buddy, we are gonna miss you much.