Spondalyosis/critical care - when to stop

[Lollipops85]

Hi all,

I was wondering if you could give me some guidance please. I have a 5 y/o male named Jambon who developed urinary incontinence last week (he has also been experiencing impaction of late). I took him to the vet Friday and they gave me rheumacam incase of a bladder infection. I took him back Monday as no improvement and he had an x ray which showed spondalyosis in his spine. Rheumacam was increased and the vet said it’s likely nerve damage might be causing frequency of urination. She said to not give up on him yet.

Since Tuesday he has lost all appetite and I’m now on day four of critical care which I’m giving 10 - 15ml every 4 hours . He will eat small amounts of grass but isn’t interested in food and even turned away from basil which tells me how poorly he is. He’s got very runny poos this morning.

My question is, I feel his quality of life isn’t very good and when do I say that’s enough. I want to continue with critical care but he seems to have no drive to feed himself and I don’t want to keep force feeding him but I know I need to to stop gut stasis.

Any guidance would be so helpful please, I just want to do what’s right for my boy.

Thank you,

Sadie

 

[trina1234]

Hi, I'm no expert and this certainly isn't medical advise, just opinion. With my pets, I consider if there is hope of recovery - if there is, I will keep going with support feeding and treatment. If there's no or little hope of recovery, and I feel they don't have good quality of life, I've made the tough call to go down the euthanasia route. Maybe see your vet one more time and ask if there's any more medication / a higher dose that he can have. Is he eating hay? If not, I wonder if the grass alone has upset his tummy and that's making him feel rotten on top of the spondalyosis, in which case he may recover from the digestive problem and feel much better? My own pig has just had digestive upset with cowpat type poos, refusal to eat, gassy tummy. She's been taken off veg, on hay only, plus critical care and some gut stimulants and painkillers and seems to be recovering well fingers crossed. But I think sometimes their guts shut down when their organs are failing. Personally, I think I'd make one more trip to vet to rule out a separate digestive condition, and ask about possibility of increased painkiller. Good luck, it's always such a tough decision when to call it a day.