Sorry for not updating the site in a while. At first my excuse was that the pictures all look the same and then... as Evan says, "
Ersey Yick!" We have the sad news that Jersey is sick once again. Tim and I had noticed a few changes in her behavior but didn't think much of it until she suddenly stopped eating last Thursday.
We took her to the vet Friday where she spent the day providing them with blood, urine, poop, her front right paw (okay not that far but I am pretty sure she felt like a pin cushion) for tests but all came back normal. They sent us home with some special appetite enticing food (which didn't work) and some antibiotics (which meant my days of shoving pills down her throat have returned). I can't say that I have missed those days. I have taken up a new hobby of a cooking chicken and rice cuisine for my four-legged daughter. Whatever it takes to get her to eat!
After a few more days of her refusing to even look at her food or treats (and of me being a nervous wreck) we decided we needed to take her back to her friends at the specialty vet for an
ultrasound on Monday. It's kinda sad when all the staff members come out from the back when they heard Jersey was back and they could all retell her whole story. I felt a little bit like the mom of a celebrity yet I am not sure I should be proud of this. Anyways, I mainly wanted to be assured that she wasn't suffering from liver disease or
pancreatitis again. She isn't!
The ultrasound did show some
inflammation of the stomach and small intestine but the inflammation was too high (I am guessing in her ribs) to determine why. To get a more detailed view, they needed to go in through a scope. Yep, that meant that she needed to be sedated and spend the night there. As you can imagine, I wasn't holding up too well but (thank you Leah) I cried it out and made it through the night. She did too. Fortunately the scope didn't find any obstructions but they also didn't find any reasons for the inflammation either.
While they were in her stomach and small intestine they took a few biopsies and sent them off to the lab in Colorado. Now we wait. You all should know me and the thought of waiting... we don't get along very well. We should hear on Friday or Monday if any of the tests come back with signs of: a bacterial infection (which is what I think we hope for since most or all are treatable with antibiotics), an autoimmune issue (pretty sure we don't want that), an allergy (I can likely live with that one), or cancer (we obviously don't want this and they really don't think that will be the case but they need to rule it out).
So, what we hope for is she miraculously gets better before we get the results and then they call and say everything came back normal. OR that she has some easily treatable infection and should be fine shortly after getting the appropriate antibiotics. Keep your fingers crossed.
For now, she is doing okay. I don't think she is getting worse and I don't think she is better. She still shows no interest in food or treats but she is excitable when she sees Tim or I or the ball. And she is shaved up both sides of her belly again. We call it her summer cut.
Wow! That was a novel. But I figured it was easier to share this way than retell the story many times. I appreciate all of you who have provided me with the support I have needed through this and I am sorry to those of you who are finding out on this website instead of from a phone call from me.
So on to the news that Tim wants to share... we got past all the rocks on the lot, imported a ton of dirt, and seem to be close to submitting the plans for the construction permit. We also start the fence next week. Lots going on and I will hopefully have some good pictures soon.
Now go rest your eyes...
Kyle Daniel Sosnowski was born at 9:35 am on August 17th.
