Ok, another update and a more eventful day than I anticipated...I have lots of questions again, but overall a lot more peace of mind now:
After about 12:00 noon today, Friar Tuck started going down hill again. While yesterday and this morning he was eating cilantro, lettuce, and celery well (besides critical care he was getting force fed) I couldn't get him to eat ANYTHING, even the smallest piece of cilantro, and he wasn't drinking from his water bottle. He would try and then sort-of act like it hurt to open his mouth that much or something. He acted like he wanted to eat things but couldn't.
So we called the vet he was going to see at 11am, and they're amazing. They let us bring him in at 3:45 today. She did another full physical exam, talked to the other vet we saw yesterday and looked at the x-rays from them. We agreed to "whiff" him under anesthetic and have a full sedated oral exam.
She couldn't find anything wrong with his molars that was apparent, or any sign of an abscess, etc. The only thing, something I had recently noticed, too, is his bottom buck teeth incisors (for lack of a better word, my brain is tired). I know incisors are rarely the issue.... But one tooth of the pair is longer than the other, something I had noticed and wondered about. She thought this could be contributing since there were no molar issues to be found. So she dremelled those teeth a tiny bit to the same length. They're just barely shorter than his top incisors now.
Biggest thing come to light: he peed while at the vet, and it was fairly pink. His pee wasn't this morning. This really seems to point to a UTI. I read about another gp owner whose first sign of a uti was lack of appetite. Thoughts???
Friar Tuck is now on Baytril for the possible UTI and any possible hay poke or infection in his mouth, etc. He got the first dose at the vet, and is prescribed it for a week twice a day.
He did well with the anesthetic and came around quick, thankfully!
I have bene bac! How much, how often do I give it to him to go with the Baytril??? The bene bac instructions aren't super clear for Friar Tuck's kind of situation.
Good news: I wish I thought of it before, but on the way home from the vet today we got Friar Tuck oxbow orchard grass hay, AND he ate it when we got home!! All by himself. I'd say at least 10 pieces of it, the most hay he's eaten at once on his own since getting sick! He started grazing on it after having his last critcal care meal for tonight.
I started adding about half a teaspoon of 100% natural orange juice, no sugar etc added to the water I mix his critcal care with. He normally loves oranges and it's making him like the critcal care more.
Funny note: Friar Tuck hardly ever rumbles at all. When we gave him critcal care after getting home from the vet and then put him back home in his house, he ripped us up one side and down the other with more rumbles than I've heard him make his entire life...we deserve it and I couldn't help but laugh!
Thoughts and help as always SO appreciated.