The Shar-Pei Forums-Health Behavior Diet & Rescue Info and Discussion Group

MeiLi had a fever of 105.7 on 04/26. I rushed her to the emergency vet, when I couldn't control it from going up. They kept her overnight on IV fluids and picked her up the next night. She seemed to be fine and ate a good supper. It has been downhill since then. I have been trying to get her to eat but it was just a little here and there. She had some vomiting earlier this week but that has subsided. I took her to her regular vet Thursday who prescribed 3 different stomach medications. Today I brought her back for bloodwork. Her creatine was 6.6. Prior to this her blood work on 04/09 and 04/26 showed the kidney levels were normal. Her WBC on 04/26 was elevated. The high fever has damaged her kidneys. This is the first high fever she has had. Phil and I are so distraught over this critical outcome with her health problem. The vet didn't offer us much hope. I have been in contact with dear Dr. Tintle hoping she can help bring our beloved MeiLi home to us. Tears have been flowing for her today. Please keep MeiLi in your thoughts and prayers. She is only 5 years old. I hate this devastating disease.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

Such terrible news! I hope Dr Tintle can help. Will be thinking of all of you x

You all will be in my thoughts. Enzo's levels showed signs of damage after a high fever as well. Months later he looks to have recovered (knock on wood). I'm hoping that MeiLei can bounce back and then with the guidance of Dr. Tintle get on a regimen to heal her kidneys.

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oh no im so sorry, please god let meili come through this ok x

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BELLA

I am so very sorry your family and MeiLi are going thru this. I too hate this devastating disease, I know hate is a strong word but I can not think of a better way of expressing.

I know I have pulled several thru when I thought all hope was gone. They can turn around and suprise you. Hang in there. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

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you and meiLi are in our prayers. i hope she gets better quickly. may the lord be w/ u and guide you threw your trials and tribulations. sending you all of our love xoxoxoxo

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Lola and Jenuine

Will absolutely keep her in our prayers! Hoping the lab values are just off due to the illness and not amyloidosis or such. Was there any indications that this could be an infection related fever and not FSF?

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Blessing's CSP
http://blessingssharpei.com

sending prayers out for MeiLi. her creatnine level is quite high, i hope she can bounce back. please keep us posted

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I don't think the fever was infection related because it subsided in less than 12 hours with IV and didn't return. She had blood work the night of the fever and screened for a multitude of possibilities. I just called to check on her and she has settled in with the IV. They took a sterile sample of urine to rule out an ITU. They did that on 04/26 too. My son called me to find out what I had planned for Mother's Day. I could barely talk to him through the tears. My plans are to visit MeiLi in the hospital and keep busy at home. I really don't feel like socializing. Mother's Day will have to wait. In January my 86 year old Mother was in ICU bowel blockage surgery and aortic stenosis. She pulled through. Phil was in ICU in March with kidney failure. We are still working on getting him well. Now MeiLi is in ICU. This year hasn't been the best around here but the good lord willing, MeiLi will come home recovered. Thanks for your well wishes and prayers. We are so heartbroken over this.
The doctor just called me while writing this. She is on IV, antibiotics and medicine to keep her intestines in good order. They will be weighing her every 8 hours to make sure she isn't retaining fluid. Her phosperous level is normal, BUN 124 and creatine 6.6. Her potasium level is low so they will be supplementing it. Her blood pressure is high so they will be monitoring that too. She went from 39.7 lbs. to 34.2 in a month. I asked them about supplemental feedings. They may have to do it once she gets squared away and still won't eat. I am so scared for her.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

keeping you all in my thoughts

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"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
--Ghandi

Our thoguhts and prayers are with you and MeiLi for a speedy recovery.....

Hang in there! We will all hope for the best possible outcome.
Hugs!

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Toni- Cosmo, Pei-le and Kaïa's mom

Praying for MeiLi!

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Keeping her in our prayers! Also, you may want to ask the Vet about Rxing some Mirtazapine if she continues to refuse food....works great to stimulate appetite in canines.

Please keep us updates!

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Blessing's CSP
http://blessingssharpei.com

Thanks to everyone for keeping MeiLi in your thoughts and prayers. We visited her today for over an hour. I took her for two walks and she still has bounce in her step. She was dehydrated upon admittance. They had to give her potassium and blood pressure meds along with IV fluids. Her BUN went down to either 60 or 80 I can't remember. That is probably why she won't eat. The creatine remains at 6.6. The other kidney values are in the normal range. She is not spilling protein. Tomorrow they will do an ultra sound to see if they can see any adnormailities. The urine culture won't be back for several more days to rule out infection. They wanted to do a kidney biopsy but I said a very loud no. I am hoping to bring her home tomorrow night with sub Q fluid maintenace.
JL I will send them an email suggesting the mirtazapine. Thanks for the info. Now I have two dogs and a husband with malfunctioning kidneys. I only hope I can keep them all maintained to reasonable good health. Just call me Florence. I was never trained for nursing but I have been doing quite a bit of it in my life. My real job is in accounting and HR.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

you do have your hands full her Bun is not off the charts and it's great news this number has come down i hope she pulls through this and comes home where she belongs. i'm saying prayers for your whole family, it sounds like you're the only healthy one!

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What are her Urine Specific Gravity test numbers?

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Blessing's CSP
http://blessingssharpei.com

I don't know the specific count but very diluted. I am going to get copies of her testing tomorrow. Since she isn't able to hold her urine over night because of her spaying incontinance, I don't know if a real valid test can be run. I'm waiting for her to get better, if she gets better, to resume the Proin. I'm in contact with Dr Tintle and she emailed the emergency vet office with her protocol. I am hoping to take her home tomorrow. We really miss her so much and she will never eat there. The vet bills are mounting pretty quickly since insurance doesn't cover this. If she can be stablized enough for home care, it will make us all happier.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

Oh no! I haven't been on here for a couple of days to log on and see this

Is she at Falmouth Animal Hosp? So scary. Get better MeiLi and come home

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I hope she continues to improve and can come home for care. You do have your hands full. Once she gets to come home maybe some of the stress will be lifted, we all know they do better at home. I agree with Jan ask about Mirtazapine I have used it several times to jump start the appetite and have been able to get them back to eating. It's worth try.

I do hope you get good news today.

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I have been keeping MeiLi in my thoughts and prayers.

I can't wait for you to get her home

Prayers

Same here! lots of prayers and sympathy.

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Toni- Cosmo, Pei-le and Kaïa's mom

How is MeiLi doing today? Any improvement?

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Blessing's CSP
http://blessingssharpei.com

The BUN is 66 but the creatinine is still 6.6. Dr. Tintle says that won't come down until she eats. I brought her feeding dish tonight and tried to feed her some canned food. She tried to bury it. They are giving her IV nutrition tonight along with increasing the regular IV to see if that works to flush the kidneys. So far she is tollerating the IV without bad effects such as fluid retention and protein loss. She had an ultra sound today. They found the beginning of a gallstone, enlarged spleen and enlarged lymph nodes in her stomach by the pancreas. They are going to do a test for pancreatitis. I said to do it because if we can find another reason other than Shar Pei fever for this illness, insurance will cover it. If she doesn't improve tomorrow, I am taking her home with sub Q fluids and the anti nausea meds. If I can't get her to eat, her recovery won't look good. She was so tired tonight. She just went to sleep on the blanket while the doctor talked to me. She was a whole lot perkier yesterday. This is taking it's toll on her. I pray she will improve and be her old self real soon. The vet is stumped because this happened so fast and the labs don't point to amyloidosis because she isn't spilling protein. She has kidney failure but it could be from something else. The vet she had today trained at the institution that found amyloidosis in Shar Pei. At least that is what she told me. There is a Bishon Frise in ICU with her also in kidney failure. He is nothing like mild mannered MeiLI. He is more like Kujo. A nasty little buggar.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06