I know that some of you have been wondering how Chubba Wubba is doing and I
am glad to report that he is better.  Please forgive me for not reporting in
sooner but as soon as he got out of danger, I got sick!
 
After x-rays my vet wanted an ultrasound done, it seemed we were looking at
pnemonia, cardiomyopathy or lymphoscarcoma.  The high fever he had confused
all the vets my vet talked to since it indicated something else.  As you
probably could tell, I was pretty hysterical to find Chubbs unable to walk
when I had to take him home.  I spent a long time talking to him that
evening telling him how important he was to me and that I could not go on
without him and he had to be strong and kick this thing.  I think he really
heard me because he was able to drag himself to the corner to go potty which
was my biggest fear since I knew I would have to leave him the next day to
go to work.  He was unchanged the next morning and I left for work with a
heavy heart.  My vet called me to say that I needed to decide what I wanted
to do since even if the outcome was treatable, she didn't think he would
survive the treatment.  Well at that point I had to run to the bathroom so
none of my co-workers would see me burst into tears!  I just kept praying
that God would intervene and Chubbs would make it.  I agreed to have an
ultrasound and that proved (eventually) to be a life-saver.
 
The ultrasound showed no signs of cardio but it did show a collasped lung
and a node on his spleen.  An aspirate was done of the node and I had to
wait for two days to get the results, which were good!  No lympho!  Turns
out along with the collasped lung he has secondary pnemonia from a kidney
infection.
 
He is doing much better.  He can walk normally now and is a little more
active each day tho he still has a bad day now and then.  He coughs a little
a night and in the mornings which is hard to hear, but he doesn't cry
anymore when he goes potty.  He is suppose to be on baytril and amoxi for
two weeks and then be re-evaluated.  Already my vet is impressed with how
well he has been doing.
 
I just want to thank all those who called and emailed, especially Lynn
Macintosh who has given me so much support!  I can't even imagine what I
would have done if it were not for this mailing list.  Thank you Bill for
keeping this list going, I don't know how you find the time to do it every
day when I can't even always keep up with the reading of it!
 
One more request please!  I don't know much about pneumonia, if there is
anything I could be doing to make life easier for Chubba Wubba (especially
when he has coughing fits) please let me know.
 
Sincerely,
Pam Franklin
[Posted in FML issue 1834]