Last night around bedtime Sheba started whining/crying inconsolably. The fentanyl wasn’t going to peak until 10am today so I gave her tramadol and an extra trazodone (as directed). No luck, she cried off and on all night, played musical beds and eventually ended up in my bedroom. Ruth called the vet this morning to ask the surgeon what we should do because by then she was maxed out on all her pain and anxiety meds. Doc recommended a short walk and a car ride. It sorta helped, but she’s still crying intermittently. I think she’s finally realized her leg is not coming back and is depressed. She went to sleep with a leg, then woke up and it was gone. I don’t think it would be unreasonable at first to think it might reappear the same way. Poor brother Buster is worried and tries to console her, even though she doesn’t always appreciate it.
We finally have an ID on the fungus – Aspergillus spp. which GSDs are known to be susceptible to, the surgeon was already worried about spinal cord involvement prior to surgery. Because its not in the nasal cavity (the usual location of infection) she could not give us a prognosis. When we go in for future removal on Tuesday we’ll consult with the infectious disease specialist as well. We already knew she’d require monthly monitoring and potentially months to years of antifungal treatment. Unfortunately I can’t find much information about disseminated aspergillosis that doesn’t already involve the lungs (Sheba’s are clear). Bedtime meds seem to have kicked in and Sheba finally stopped crying, hopefully we’ll sleep better tonight. I’ll leave you all with some puppy pics!
