Thursday January 19th- A visit to internal med service of VSH

I was super excited about today.  I couldn't wait to go to VSH and show them my videos and blog, and find a reason that Chester had been choking!

After arriving, I told my story to the vet tech, then the vet came in.  She was so wonderful, she took about an hour to listen to me, watch my videos, and hang out with Chester.  Then she mentioned a feeding tube and I LOST it.  I have not been able to stop crying all day.  She reassured me that this was the best course of treatment, and after confirming that with Lauren, I decided to go ahead.  My heart broke as I said goodbye to Chester.  I knew he had no idea why I was abandoning him with strangers, and he had no idea that his life was about to forever change.

After I picked him up I got detailed discharge instructions, and directions on how to tube feed him.  I pretty much cried the whole time.  I cried for about 15 minutes in the parking lot before I could even drive.  Chester just couldn't get comfortable.  He's not used to wearing a collar, even more so with a tube sticking out of his neck.  I cried most of the way home.  We sat in the driveway at home for what seemed like hours, not wanting to go inside and face the reality of our new life.

We finally came inside, and Chester climbed up the stairs onto the bed.  He tried to get comfy as I gathered my stuff for school.  After I came over and sat down, he scooted up to my leg, and crawled under the covers.  I worked on school stuff for a few hours, delaying the inevitable tube feed.

Every time I thought about it, I started to hyperventilate and cry.  I wrestled with myself for about 30 minutes before I decided to just get up and do it.  I cried the whole time I made the food.  I cried as I filled the syringes.  Then I decided it was just time to do it.  I lifted Chester onto the bed and offered him a meatball.  He's not loving his new "neckbrace" so he didn't even attempt to eat it, although I know he could smell it from the drool coming from his crispy tongue.

He sat still like an angel while I tube fed him.  I just sat with my arms around him, telling him how much I loved him, as I pumped his liquid diet directly into his stomach.  I have to feed him 45mL over 15-20 minutes, then flush the line with 12mL.  About 20mL of food into the feeding he started to want to get up and move around.  I stopped the feeding and flushed the line.  We'll try again tomorrow morning.  I guess it wasn't too bad for our first attempt.

I hope his happy, bouncy, fun personality comes back as he adjusts to his new way of life.  I know he is not used to wearing a collar, and he's had a pretty traumatic day, but he's just not the Cheety I left at the vet clinic.

So here we are again, I'm sitting up in bed, and he's snuggled against my leg, trying to be comfortable.  And I still can't stop crying.

Discharge instructions page 1

Discharge instructions pg 2

Discharge instructions page 3

My sweet angel

Wednesday January 18th

Chester slept through the night with minimal snoring/gasping.  I was EXTREMELY tired, so maybe he did gasp all night, and I slept through it.

I was not home all day, so I am not sure if he vomited today.

• 11:00pm- Ate a little over 1/2 of a can, meatball method with no complications.

Tuesday January 17th

Last night Chester slept through the night.  I was exhausted, so maybe I just slept extra hard.  I was not home all day so I do not know if he vomited or not during the day.

• 11:30pm- Ate 1/4ish can meatball method

Monday January 16th

Chester had a great night last night.  He slept through the night with minimal snoring, and re-adjusting.  Yay!

I was out all day today, so Chester only ate once today.

• 10:30pm- Chester at 1/4 can (meatball method)
• Midnight- went to bed

Sunday January 15th

Chester did not vomit last night!  Yay.  He did snore, and gasp through the night which kept me up and on guard for a choking episode.  I audio recorded a few minutes of it around 4am.  I'll publish that later.

• 6:30am- ate 2 tablespoons using meatball method
• 4:30-6:30pm- napped without snoring or choking.
• It has occured to me that he never snores or gasps during our daytime naps.  The only difference between the nap and night sleep, is that he is not fed prior to naps.  I'm going to feed him earlier tonight to allow more time to elapse to see if that makes a difference in the night time snoring and gasping.
• 8:00pm- ate about 1/4 can of dog food using meatball method.  No complications during feeding.
• 12:30am- went to bed.

Saturday January 14th

Chester slept through the night!  We slept in until 10am (although we didn't go to bed until midnight).

• 10:30 am- Ate (maybe) 1/16 can of watered down dog food with baby food.  Took 15 minutes.
• 1:00 pm- vomited (no choking)
• 3:45 pm- ate (maybe) 1/16 can of watered down dog food with baby food.  Gave up after 10 minutes.  
• 5:30pm- vomited (no choking)
• 10:00pm- ate 1/16 of can using meatball method.

He did do something weird before bed.  He usually crawls right under and snuggles with me, but tonight he was running around like crazy.  He was very unsettled, and wanted to explore the house.  He also jumped around, like he had an itch he couldn't scratch (which is likely due to his lack of jaw/teeth).  After about 20 minutes of running around, he finally settled down.

How we feed watered down dog food.

Here's the current feeding method.

1. Take a few scoops of Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy canned dog food and place into a shallow bowl.
2. Add a scoop of baby food.  (I've been using Gerber Beef and Gravy)
3. Add water (a little at a time) until the dog food reaches a watery consistency.

January 13, 2012

Another bad day...

• Chester ate dinner at 10pm on 1/12/12
• Vomited at 4am, coughed and gagged for a few minutes after
• I stayed up to monitor for about an hour, then slept very lightly to listen for choking.
• We napped from 12-2:30pm with no problems (we we're tired from being up!)
• Ate another small watered down dog food meal at 4pm
• Vomited at 5pm
• Ate another small watered down dog food meal at 10:30pm
• Vomited at 11:59pm

This is the day I decided to keep a more detailed journal of what is happening.  There has to be some trends!

January 12, 2012

Today we started watering down the dog food.

Chester vomited on my lap after eating, but it was only about a tsp.

January 11, 2012

We had a good day!  No choking or vomiting that I'm aware of.

January 10, 2012

A false alarm trip to VSH...

• Chester ate dinner at 10pm the night before
• Woke up at 4am to vomit (after I got up to use the restroom)
• Choked for a little while (see video- Chester Choking-for Vet) about 5 minutes after vomiting
• Resolved in about 10 minutes
• Continued to snore
• 8:00am- vomited again, started to mildly choke until 8:30am
• Drove to VSH, turned around in Lillington due to symptom resolution.

Recent Changes in Chester (January 1-9, 2012)

Recent changes in Chester...

• Snoring much more
• Vomiting after eating
• Waking up at 4am to vomit, then making the choking noise
• Began eating several smaller meals to possible alleviate vomiting
• He is always hungry
• My mom has noticed weight loss

December 26th, 2011

My mom and dad were spending the night.  Here's what happened the night of December 26-27.

• Chester ate dinner at about 10:30pm
• Charlie woke me up at 2pm to let him out.
• When I returned Chester had vomited on the bed
• Chester began to choke
• Chester and I laid on the couch as I tried to calm him for about 20 minutes
• Choking resolved, but he continued to snore (which is a similar sound to choking- so it scares me!)

November 1, 2011

Me and Chester waiting to see the Dr. at VSH

Chester had a visit to VSH following a choking episode.  I'm so desperate for them to see it, I take him up whenever he's having an episode.

S

• Started around 11pm
• Started with dry, short, hacking coughs
• Then started to make the choking noise
• Resolved by the time we got to VSH (I made it in 45 minutes)

O

• Temp-wnl
• CXR- slight haziness

A

• Possible bronchitis?

P

• Clavamox X 14 days
• Pred X 14 days
• Repeat CXR after medications (to see if haziness resolved)

Spring 2011 (can't remember the exact date)

Chester had another choking episode.  Jeff was watching him, while I was studying.

• Chester was eating small kibble wetted with VitaGravy
• Began to choke
• Couldn't pass air (made the choking noise, was gasping, sounded like he was holding his breath with small puffs of air occasionally passing)
• Eyes bulged, terrified
• Cyanotic
• Resolved in 30 minutes
• Started again about 30 minutes after resolution with less severity.

Chester's first visit to VSH (can't remember exact date)

I was home in MD, Jeff was home with Chester.

• Chester was in the dog room (where the food was down)
• Began to choke
• Jeff tried to see what he was choking on, and clear Chester's mouth out with his finger
• Chester freaked (he's anxious anyway)
• Jeff drove him to Lillington Vet Clinic
• Chester coded
• They revived Chester
• Stephanie drove Chester to VSH
• VSH kept chester over night- scoped him, said his anatomy was normal.

This was at Lillington Vet Clinic after he was revived.  My precious angel!  

Chester on the ride home from the hospital.

He still has his boo boo from the IV's

This is when I picked him up at VSH.  We were happy to be reunited!