09/12/2026
Give them a hug and a kiss
My Buddy began acting strange last Thursday by not eating right away and not as much as his usual days and walking a bit slow. We took him to the vet, and he was diagnosed with back pain (unknown origin).
With 2 meds, he seemed better the next day but then began declining Saturday. He was then fully refusing food Sunday and Monday, but we were told could be meds and pain, continue with treatment. Tuesday we became concern and brought back in to urgent vet. They gave him 2 shots, Butorphanol and ketamine. Told he’d be loopy and need help walking. Which he did. But worse than what we thought. He became restless and vomited shortly after arriving home and we called and said it was the medicine. We brought back into our main vet Wednesday and she was more thorough and did x-rays, but again, all seemingly normal with possible larger liver (slightly - not concerning). She recommended the ER.
We got back home and I had to carry him in, and he plopped there for the next 2hrs. I made the call to bring him in at 10:30pm that night. At this point his legs don’t work and he’s dead weight. I rush to ER and they run out with a stretcher. But because he was critical, they said “rushing him in will be $700-$1400, is that ok?” And needed verbal confirmation as he’s laying their limp. Ok, fine.
We were consulted that it could be autoimmune meningitis, but the neuro team in morning will do an ultrasound. He needed to go to the ICU. Of course, before proceeding, “Your quote is $6k-$8k, we need $6k to proceed.” Ok, fine. Ultrasound of brain came back looking good, no tumors (concern originally), no swelling that’s seen, no excess fluid. But couldn’t do spinal tap to test for meningitis since his platelets were low (35,000).
Next, we were told they did blood panels for ticks, fungal, and a PCR. But the tick and fungal will take 1-4 days since they’re sent to University of North Carolina and Colorado (I’m in Chicago). At this point, meningitis isn’t ruled out, and an infectious disease is considered.
Thursday, after he spent one night there, we were told he needs monitoring and will get additional tests. But before proceeding “Your quote is now $9k-$12k, we need additional $3k deposit.” Ok, fine.
As of today, Friday, we do not have a definitive answer. We are in limbo. He’s been in a comatose state with little to no responsiveness. We visited last night and it was devastating (pic in cage). Tongue out, not responsive or twitches whatsoever. Breathing very heavy.
At this time I notice the weight on his name tag says 53lbs. I call over doctor and ask, is this his weight? She confirms in tablet and it is. I said that’s impossible, he came in at 72lbs, he was weighed 3hrs before he came in. She said she will confirm. This morning, Friday, on our morning update call I bring it up, saying the weight was off by almost 30%. I was told “his legs could’ve been off the table”, doctor the night before said “our scales are probably different”. That pi**ed me off. Because his medicine chart is heavily dependent (as most meds are) for mg/kg. I ask if he could’ve been under dosed and she said that’s a possibility. But will bring it up urgently to care team.
Now some partial good news as we wait for test results. When we saw him this afternoon, he lifted his head, very wobbly and can’t support it would essentially flop over. But seemed to respond to our voices! As if he wanted to get up but just couldn’t. We then received an update a little while ago saying he ate a whole jar of baby food and drank on his own! Which we are thrilled about.
All of this happened in the span of 6 days, and made us realize how special our Buddy is, and a reminder to let them have that sock, have the one additional treat, and get that chest scratched whenever they so damn please.
