Millie update
Posted: 11 Feb 2013, 22:21Millie has been back to the vets again today for another dilation. All went really well and they were able to dilate to 10mm (or is it 10ml - I'm not sure). I didn't get to speak to the vet - he left me a message on my mobile - so I am not sure how big it should be if it were healthy. I will have to ask him next time.
Anyway, his message said that her osophogus looked pretty healthy and he was really pleased with how it went and he would like her back next Monday to do it again. He also had a look at her leg which seems to be fine and also her ears (she cries now and again when you touch them). There was nothing much there other than some dry skin which looked a little sore (he thinks that is just down to the poor condition that she is in due to the weight loss) so she has cream for her ears now as well.
When I picked her up the nurse showed me how they had been feeding her as that has now changed. We have to feed her much thicker food now - two spoons of one food mixed with one spoon of another food mixed with one spoon of water - and we need to feed it very slowly. She was feeding her from the back of a spoon - a very small amount of food on the back of the spoon, let it go down and then another small amount of food. As the food is thicker it should help keep the stricture open - which is good.
We haven't yet heard anything from the insurance company to see if they are going to accept it as two separate claims but the nurse said that Dan (the vet) was determined that Millie was going to get well and that lack of money wasn't going to stop him from continuing his treatment of her and if he had to do it in his own time and we just paid for the materials rather than the vets time then so be it - and his boss has okayed that with him as Dan put his case across that they have had a lot of money out of the insurance company for her and that she is a good case study for them as they don't often get a dog with a stricture (because of the work involved for the owners and number of operations and cost most owners would not go ahead with it).
She is continuing to put weight on - 12.2 kilos when we weighed her yesterday. Still a long way to go to the 17.5 kilo target but she is going in the right direction.
Anyway, his message said that her osophogus looked pretty healthy and he was really pleased with how it went and he would like her back next Monday to do it again. He also had a look at her leg which seems to be fine and also her ears (she cries now and again when you touch them). There was nothing much there other than some dry skin which looked a little sore (he thinks that is just down to the poor condition that she is in due to the weight loss) so she has cream for her ears now as well.
When I picked her up the nurse showed me how they had been feeding her as that has now changed. We have to feed her much thicker food now - two spoons of one food mixed with one spoon of another food mixed with one spoon of water - and we need to feed it very slowly. She was feeding her from the back of a spoon - a very small amount of food on the back of the spoon, let it go down and then another small amount of food. As the food is thicker it should help keep the stricture open - which is good.
We haven't yet heard anything from the insurance company to see if they are going to accept it as two separate claims but the nurse said that Dan (the vet) was determined that Millie was going to get well and that lack of money wasn't going to stop him from continuing his treatment of her and if he had to do it in his own time and we just paid for the materials rather than the vets time then so be it - and his boss has okayed that with him as Dan put his case across that they have had a lot of money out of the insurance company for her and that she is a good case study for them as they don't often get a dog with a stricture (because of the work involved for the owners and number of operations and cost most owners would not go ahead with it).
She is continuing to put weight on - 12.2 kilos when we weighed her yesterday. Still a long way to go to the 17.5 kilo target but she is going in the right direction.
Millie you are a star!!!! 