Saturday, March 14, 2009

The big guy...

The big guy, Heyoka, has had a rough week, much of it spent at the vet.

It started with an odd swelling under his eye on Tuesday night and a quick trip to the on-call emergency vet. We thought it was "just" an abscessed tooth. Not fun, not cheap, but easy easy enough to fix with a little dental surgery. So we booked that for next week. The ER vet was a bit concerned about his breathing and suggested he had laryngeal paralysis. Heyoka is a noisy breather and his breathing was very laboured that night. Check for that too when he was knocked for the tooth problem. Because my dogs can never do anything the easy way, Heyoka threw in a extremely high fever. So we got sent home with an appointment for next week, antibiotics and Metacam.

Heyoka's fever did not respond to the Metacam so we were back at the clinic Wednesday afternoon. He stayed the night on IV fluids and antibiotics. I've never seen such a pathetic looking dog! He didn't move when I left his kennel, no wooing, no complaints all about being left behind. His dental surgery was moved up to Friday morning(my thanks to whoever allowed their dog to be bumped so mine could get help!)

Thursday afternoon my big, happy goof dog was back. So bouncey that he pulled his IV out while out for a pee break and got to come home for the night. Friday morning back to the clinic, we were getting good at that! Heyoka didn't even argue about getting in the van. He is not a fan of riding in a vehicle, especially the van...the van does not go down the trail to the fun places!

The tooth part of his surgery went fairly well. He lost two teeth, two BIG teeth! Once his gums heal, the tooth loss will have little effect. Right now he's enjoying eating canned food; it's easy to hide his pills in too so it works for both of us!

The rest of the results are not so good, they are damn crappy. Heyoka does not have laryngeal paralysis; that would have been bad, but I'd prefer it right now! His larnyx is thickened and hard. That's why his voice is always a little hoarse and why his breathing is so noisy. He struggles a bit for every breath. His vet could not explain why this has happened, but as it continues to progess, Heyoka will have a harder and harder time breathing, eventually leading to a respitory crisis. There was more bad news...he has actual holes in and around his tonsils and small lumps throughout his throat. Biopsy samples were taken from several spots in his throat and from the swelling on his face, but we are fairly sure that the big guy has cancer.

The prognosis is grim and it appears we will not have our clown for much longer, certainly not for as long as we had hoped. We'll do everything we can for him though and keep him happy and comfy for as long as possible.

13 comments:

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

We leaked this am when we furst saw your email...

And again as we read this post...

All of our paws and fingers are khrossed with Sibe Vibes in abundance being sent to The Yukon!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra and Phyll

Teddy Westlife said...

Poor Heyoka. Purrs for everyone.

Huffle Mawson

Anonymous said...

So very sad for this turn of events. Prayers that you get as much time with Heyoka as possible. Please give him a huge hug and kiss from me. He's just so big and loveable.

Phred said...

>picks up Prayer Line<
>dials God<

HiGod ~
Purrayer Pups here ...
Heyoka, the big fluffy dawg -
Needs sum Help wiffa breathin anna
throat problem.

Please Help his Mom, Dad, anna White Coats keep him runnin for
Many more moons to come.

THANKS God!
/s/ the Purrayer Pups

Amy and the Huskies said...

I'm very sorry to hear this news. :( We all love your big clown! I hope you'll be able to some good quality time with him.

D.K. Wall said...

So sorry to hear about Heyoka, but hoping that things go as well as possible. Lots of paws crossed here.

Jack & Moo said...

Mom cried when she read about Heyoka over at SiberMal. She told dad about it this morning, & ALL of us are sending prayers & sibe vibes and loving thoughts to all of woo.

Woos,
Star, Jack & the bipeds.

(PS- glad to see Phred's Purrayer Pups are on this - they seem to have a special "in" with the Big Guy.)

Elyse K said...

Leaky eyes in Chicago.
Many prayers and caring thoughts.

Hugs,
Elyse

Anonymous said...

Awww, he's so cute! All the best for him for whatever time you may have left. Pet him for me, he looks friendly!

Unknown said...

We are so sad with this news. Give that big furry guy some hugs and our wishes for gentle days ahead.

Anonymous said...

Ah crap..I'm so sorry to hear about this Tamara! Dang.

-The Mullin Clan's Mommy- said...

Aww, R mommy's eyes R leaking after reading yur post. We are sending R prayers & Sibe vibes fur him.

-da boys, Cosmos & Juneau-

Unknown said...

Lots of prayers and good vibes for Heyoka.

Kimmy