Westy Update

I've just had another chat with the night shift vet looking after Westy so I thought I'd give you an update.

He's doing remarkably well for a dog that's just had a kidney removed and was bleeding into his belly. I've been told he woke up very rapidly after the anesthesia, had the IV pain meds taken down this morning and is on a pain patch, is eating and wagging his tail and is just doing fantastic for a breed of dog more known for its slow recovery times.

There are a couple of concerns, however. One is his clotting factors were all used up during the bleed out and have been slow to recover. He's had 2 units of very pricey fresh frozen plasma and may need another one tonight. In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose. I mean, I can't very well go and save his life with surgery only to let him slowly bleed to death because he can't clot his blood. And then it seems he is almost producing too much urine. This seems to be the most puzzling - is he producing so much because he's getting plenty of IV fluids, or do they have to give him IV fluids to keep up his hydration because he's peeing so much? Hopefully I will have an answer to this tomorrow.

Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts for Westy. Like a lot of pet owners, we feel he's more than "just a dog". He's part of the family.