I only just got further news about Iggy because due to my handwriting quirks they’d swapped a 9 for an 8 when inputting my phone number onto their system and so couldn’t get through to me. When I’d not heard anything by 4pm I drove there with my sons. He is still critical but stable. The vet gave me a bit of a scare as she wasn’t the same one who’d seen him yesterday and when she took me into a side room she said there hadn’t been any improvement in his neurological state and his ammonia levels were still high. However, when we saw him, he looked a lot better than I was expecting. This time he was in a perspex pen rather than a cot, he was on his feet, albeit very skinny, full of tubes and wires and he was staring into a corner, but when he saw us he got very excited, yelping and whining, trying to climb up and over my front to get to the boys, lots of tail wagging etc. He’s not out of the woods yet but fingers crossed he’s going in the right direction. There shouldn’t be any permanent brain damage, although as one of my cricket team mates pointed out, “how would we tell the difference?”. They know him and his craziness very well as attends every match and is actually listed as a member of our club’s squad on the ECB website
Just had another update. He’s more active today, has been barking a lot (ie: complaining), has been transferred to a bigger pen and also went for a walk. He’s still displaying excessive water consumption and compulsive behaviour such as pacing in circles though. This will probably get better as his ammonia levels continue to drop and that’s what happened in February when they came down as a side effect of the antibiotics he had for a UTI. The vet will speak to the neurologist today and will update me when I go in to see him (Iggy) at 5pm.
Update. This time the vet brought him out to see me on a lead and he was really happy to see me, full of beans, but so thin and bedraggled. He flaked quite quickly though and was soon unsteady on his feet, and also kind of confused, twitching and pacing in circles, then flopped down and fell asleep, which is understandable as he’s obviously been through a lot and is also refusing to eat the low protein food. They think it’s possible he may have some slight permanent brain damage, but that will become clearer over the next few days.
Sending big cuddles for Iggy from me and Bec Will keep him and you and the boys in our thoughts and sending healing energies Iggy's way too
Havent been on here over the weekend but sorry to hear what your both going through. Best wishes to the little fella over the coming days
Oh mate... it's never good when our best of pals go through tough times. They never have a hidden agenda but they do have the capability to distil life down to the really important stuff. Joy, companionship & honesty. Which is why we all love 'em. God bless.
I’ve just had a very promising update. Basically, he’s being a damn nuisance (barking continuously and trying to escape from the pen) and so long as he starts eating again, they think he’s ready to be discharged as the neurological symptoms have reduced a bit and he’s not drinking obsessively anymore. He tends not to eat when I’m not around, so I’m going in later on with some choice victuals and if he scoffs them, he’ll be coming home with me.
Hey Zhed, I'm glad to hear he's improving. I spoke to my youngest lad about it, who's a Vet Nurse, and he said that basically he'll be feeling a bit hung-over as he's recovering, but the outlook is always good for a full recovery and future management. .
I’ve totally missed these posts, sorry to hear all you have been through and I’m glad to hear it all seems to be going in the right direction now. I have all my fingers crossed for Iggy
Great news... but keep everything low key for the guy. Quiet, warm & no playing or getting him excited. Plenty of quality rest and quality scoff. May well take a few days but dogs have amazing powers of recovery.
He’s still got to have surgery in a few weeks so I’ll be concentrating on getting him fit and well enough for that. As for “no getting him excited”. You do know he’s a spaniel, right? My brother refers to him as “The Comedy Cocker Spaniel of Chaos”
That is just fantastic.... he looks the sort of character you'll be digging out of a badger hole at some point....
Lily is a lady, as is frank and yes they are stubborn hunters, if they get the smell of a mouse, squirrel, rat they don't give up or stop. Wire haired fox terriers it's all in the name, though their favourite prey is fox poop for the rolling in.
