Shelby’s follow up

S

Shelby's mom

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We had a follow up visit with our vet tonight. Our first visit since we were at the ER 2 weeks ago and diagnosed with a mucocele.

Our vet feels that with Shelby being 12, having high blood pressure and protein in her urine she doesn’t recommend surgery. She recommended just following her and keeping her on the ursodiol. She said that she has seen pretty good results with that. It definitely will not cure her gallbladder but it will buy us more quality time with her. She did a repeat ultrasound today which showed the sludge.

we go back in 2 weeks to repeat blood work and at that time we will discuss possible diet changes for liver support. She wanted to give the meds a month to see how they are working and since Shelby had diarrhea 2 weeks ago she didn’t want to change anything yet.

we just want to do what is best for Shelby and whatever will give her the best quality of life. So I don’t disagree with our vets plan. Right now Shelby is back to 100+%. She seems much happier and is playing again. And that is all that is important. Like the one ER vet said “the goal is to not let Shelby know she is sick”. While that is very difficult and makes me very sad knowing our time is limited. But we will do everything we can to keep her happy.
 
I know how you feel. If I had known Gavin was going to live to 16, I would have explored more the options when he stopped using his leg at 12 (not sure what that would be, maybe a different physical therapist? Dogs can learn to use a prosthetic so there must be a way...). But I figured he only had a few years left as a cancer survivor with lots of potential tumors/bumps/lumps and as he did pretty well as a functional tripod I would just focus on enabling him to have the best life I could give him (I didn't want him to spend half of the limited time he had left doing PT stuff at a vets learning to walk on a leg he couldn't feel when he obviously wasn't going to take to it easily). and now 4 years later, things are getting more difficult (and his tumors and bumps have gotten bigger., but they haven't killed him yet)

You never know how long these pups are gonna live, even when they have a health issue.
 
I had Mr. Chance on Ursodiol and he was 12 when we started. Thankfully, he did not pass from Gallbladder disease. Old age took him at 14.
Your vet sounds like a great resource for you and explains each step and why the recommendations are suggested. Good luck to you and Shelby! Virtual hugs to you both.
 
Thank you everyone. I appreciate all the support.

ghggp said:
I had Mr. Chance on Ursodiol and he was 12 when we started. Thankfully, he did not pass from Gallbladder disease. Old age took him at 14.
Your vet sounds like a great resource for you and explains each step and why the recommendations are suggested. Good luck to you and Shelby! Virtual hugs to you both.
Click to expand...

It makes me feel better to hear Mr. Chance did well. I am hoping the same from Shelby. Our 1st Sheltie, Hollie, died from a mucocele 12 years ago next month. And it wasn’t pretty. So this just brought back all thos terrible memories of her last 3 days. And that is the last thing I want to happen to Shelby.
 
After Gavin recovered from his initial cancer surgery and radiation, we took a trip up the CA coast to OR to celebrate.
It was super fun, Gavin had a blast as we hit so many beaches :)
we don't do many trips anymore (our trip to Big Sur 4 years ago was a lot more work than previous ones so less relaxing for me but Gavin had fun), but we do get to the beach on weekends (like before his surgery) and I make sure he gets 3 stroller walks a week.

We can't promise tomorrow, but we can enjoy today!
 
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