Jethro Update

It’s sad I have to do these.

It’s heartbreak piled on top of almost unbearable heartbreak.

That said, Jet was at least ambulatory all weekend, not eating, but drinking water. I figured it would be best to wait for our own vet than take him to an emergency vet. As luck would have it, they had a cancellation and moved our appointment up.

And in a stroke of good luck, our neighbor who fostered Aria wanted to come by and see her before the daughter went back to school. Her daughter raised Aria since she was born. Jet loves Aria’s mom (Dori, a rescue dog). I call her the mother-in-law.

That got the boy up off the bed. He was all amped up from the visit and wanted to extend his joy by going for a ride (to the vet). That was a blessing, since I was dreading that I’d have to pick him up to bring him. He was less happy when he realized where we were going.

I had a long discussion with the good doctor, and came up with three choices:

• Door #1 – Give him steroids and an antibiotic like last time, only for a longer duration. This probably would work, but he may have something else wrong. This is treating the symptoms.
• Door #2 – Do a sonogram and X-rays (radiology, really). He’d still need the medications, but we would either see what the root issue is, or rule out a bunch of stuff.
• Door #3 – Run a scope down his gullet and look around. If there are issues seen, take biopsies and have a lab look at them. This would tell us exactly what the issue is, if it’s there. But we wouldn’t see anything but the guts.

I chose Door #2. Reason being that we’d know more than we did before. If it were cancer, We could relieve his suffering that day. Besides, it’s a few hundred more than #1, but less than #3.

The sonogram showed nothing remarkable. That’s bad news since it didn’t point us to a solution. Good news in that it isn’t pancreatitis. All his organs looked normal. We’re waiting on the radiologists report.

He got his shots, and a shaved belly. If he refuses food or treats this morning (he did) then I have to take him back for more injections. I can’t give him pills if he won’t eat.

Last night, I called his name and went to pet him. He looked at me mournfully, and walked outside. I get it. I’d be upset if someone took me to a strange place where strangers shaved the hair on my belly.

So today, back to the Vet. He’s no different. I offered him some high end fresh dog food. He wouldn’t even sniff it.

If it will work at all, it’ll be tonight sometime that he’ll show improvement. He’s lost 15 lbs, and is very lethargic and weak.