I posted earlier about my sick baby that was so weak I thought she might
have insulinoma.  Well, it turns out that she does not have insulinoma, but
we are still not sure exactly what is going on with her.  We took her to
the vet first thing Monday morning.  He ran a battery of tests.  The x-ray
did not show any sign of blockage.  What he did find was that she had a
severely inflamed and infected stomach.  She was so weak that she had
totally stopped grooming herself.  She was also feverish and had swollen
lymph glands.  She also had an enlarged spleen.
 
Our vet took a biopsy and did not find indications of lymphosarcoma, but
said that it could not be completely ruled out yet.  He had us to start
giving her Tagamet 3 times a day and Zeniquin (25mg)1 time a day.  At that
time she was very lethargic, had runny stools, but would still eat on
her own.  We were told that if she were not much improved by tomorrow
(Thursday) to bring her in for an Upper GI test.
 
Since that time her stool has become a little less runny, but otherwise she
may actually be getting worse.  She was eating less and less on her own,
and getting weaker and weaker.  It was like picking up a limp noodle.  So I
have started force-feeding her.  The force feeding has given her a little
more strength, but I still don't see any improvement otherwise.  She is
still very lethargic, still feverish, still not grooming etc.
 
Sometimes when I scruff her and start to force feed her, she will actually
start to cooperate and actively lick up the babyfood (chicken) & Ensure
that I have been giving her.  I can usually tell when she is starting to
get full, and I really don't think I'm overfeeding her; but sometimes at
the end of the feeding she will start making this loud gurgling noise.  At
first I wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or what, but I have
since decided that the sound actually seems to be coming from her stomach.
At one point I heard it while she was licking up the Ensure, so unless she
is a really great ventriloquist, I don't think it is anything she is doing
vocally.  I also put my hand on her tummy and I could feel it gurgle.  It
is a very loud gurgle.
 
Does anyone recognize a pattern here?  What things should we look for now?
What tests should be done?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Please send any responses to my new email address [log in to unmask] as
that is the email address I check most frequently.
 
Thanks,
Holly,
Tigger (my sick girl), & Pooh
[Posted in FML issue 3497]