Healing Vibes Needed for Beatrice

Unfortunately, Beatrice had to go to Cornell on Monday night after a sudden and very worrying change in how she was feeling.

A few days earlier, she started limping on one of her back legs. We put her on stall rest, started pain support and stomach protection, and at first she seemed to improve a little. But then she became very picky with her food. Because we were concerned about possible gastritis, we stopped the pain medication and started our gastritis protocol to see if that would help.

Instead, Beatrice became increasingly lethargic. She will still eat if we hand feed her but she has very little energy to do much of anything else. That level of lethargy, combined with the lameness, was deeply concerning, so we made the decision to bring her to Cornell.

On Tuesday, Beatrice was sedated for extensive diagnostics, including X-rays, bloodwork, and an ultrasound. So far, there have not been many clear answers. Some of her bloodwork is concerning, including elevated globulins compared to her bloodwork from two months ago.

Right now, we are still very much in the diagnostic phase. Beatrice is lame on her back leg, and there is some fluid and arthritis in her knee. The veterinary team is trying to determine whether the lameness and her extreme lethargy are connected or if there may be more than one thing going on. They are also using a pain-blocking injection to see if that offers relief and helps pinpoint where her discomfort is coming from.

Cornell is also investigating the enlarged lymph nodes in her neck. Today, Beatrice will have a biopsy of those lymph nodes to help determine whether there is cancer present, or if something else such as infection or inflammation could be causing the changes.

What makes this especially hard is how quickly everything came on. Beatrice does not have a fever and she is not showing many obvious symptoms beyond the lameness, enlarged lymph nodes, concerning bloodwork, and extreme lethargy. Cornell has brought in several departments to consult and help piece together what may be happening.

For now, it remains a mystery. We do not have clear answers yet. We just know that our girl is not herself and we are very worried.

As we were preparing to share this update, we got a call from Cornell with a new development.

While continuing her workup, Beatrice’s surgical team tapped her stifle, which is the joint in her back leg. Yesterday, from a radiographic standpoint, the joint was not especially alarming. There were some mild bone spurs that appear to have been there for a long time but nothing that fully explained how sick and lethargic she has been.

Today, however, the fluid from her stifle told a very different story. Her white blood cell count and protein levels in the joint fluid were remarkably elevated, which is consistent with an infected joint.

This may explain why Beatrice has been so profoundly lethargic. They are starting her on antibiotics and discussing the best options for directed treatment.

The next step is to flush Beatrice’s joint while she is already under anesthesia.

For now, she is still at Cornell, still very much in our hearts and still fighting.

Beatrice has already survived so much. She waited a long time to finally have the safe, peaceful, wonderful life she always deserved. She is so deeply loved and we want nothing more than to bring her home safe, comfortable, and on the path to healing.

Please keep Beatrice in your thoughts today. Send her every healing vibe, prayer, ounce of strength and bit of positive energy you can. She has a long road ahead but we are so hopeful this is the answer we needed to start helping her feel better.

We will share more as soon as we know more.

Peace, Love & Pigs,

Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary