Ohhh Dang!!! Somethings wrong with my dog.

[AlaskanJack]

I am worried when I got home from running around I let the dog out to go potty. Well she went out peed, then crossed over some ice slipped a little. She was lowering her rearend like she neded more traction then she just laid down on her side on the ice. She got back up after I talked to her for a minute. She looked dazed and her rearend was wobbly.

Dang!!!! My wife and son are in Georgia for 2 weeks and I'm sure they will blame me if anything happens to the dog. I rescued her the day she was to be put down. That was 3 yrs ago. She is only like 6. She is a ****er spaniel. I act like I can't stand the dog and my wife treats her like one of the kids. I really would hate for something to happen to her.

She is sleeping now and.......

well I just got to follow me into the kitchen and fed her some left over chicken breast and she seems just fine.


Does anyone think I should run her to the vet?

 

[jimbo74]

sounds like she just slipped and got a little discouraged.....

 

[Nate1]

if she keeps it up a time or two again I would take her to the vet.
Just keep out a careful eye.
Good luck!
-----Nate

 

[dogfriend]

She might just have been stunned or could have strained a muscle or ligament.

Our dog used to collapse every so often and wouldn't get back up right away.

We took her to a couple of vets without finding the problem, then we took her to a surgical vet and they found the problem: luxating patella - which is a kneecap that dislocates easily. She was 7 at the time, so we had her leg surgically repaired. In a couple of months, she was doing great, just like when she was a pup.

This problem runs in some of the smaller dog breeds, so if she keeps having the problem, you might have her checked out.

 

[AlaskanJack]

Well I panicked!!!! Called my wife in Georgia. I had already sent an email to her friends house. By the time I talked with her the dog was back to her old self. My wife was so worried about leaving the dog with me. Last year the dog pee'd on my bed twice and I took great offense to her. After a few months my wife took her to the vet because she was chewing on her pads. It turned out to be stress from me!!!!!

Dang dog got a luxurious 4 day get away at a doggie spa where she was pampered and groomed daily and powdered. My wife forced me to send the dog away for this pampering and never to be mean to her again.

Fine by me the next time she pee'd on my bed, I went and pee'd on her bed and had her watch!! We now have an understanding and she doesn't pee on my bed anymore!!!

 

[AlaskanJack]

Bad news!!

Well here I go hopefully I can keep it together.

Wife's dog has been peeing everywhere even in here bed as she lays in it. She threw up some nasty stuff Sunday evening and could barely walk around.

I took her to the vet this morning and he admitted her to run, x-rays and blood work. He looked at her gums which were yellow brown and said it was a result of bial. He thought she could have a Liver disease or a blockage. I had to leaver her and call back at 3pm.

Well I got the call from the Vet. For some reason her body is consuming its red blood cells. The volume of red blood cells in the blood should be 40% and hers was at 12%. Meaning she is not getting enough oxygen.

He was asking me a bunch of question about where she came from because it was similar to a Rocky mtn tick bite. But since she has been in Alaska for 2 yrs he ruled this out because we have no ticks, venomous spiders or snakes, heck we don't even have poison ivy or oak here.

Anyway he said she was extremely serious at this point, he was going to start her on an Imunosuppresent Steriod in hopes of stopping the loss of red blood cells. If that didn't work he said we could do an Oxygloben transfusion.

I said so what are her chances and he said even with the transfusion her chances are 20% right now. CRAP!!!!

He didn't want to even discuss Euthenizing yet because she might respond to the steriod. But we could end up spending 800 and she may still die.

I call my wife in Georgia to give her the news. My wife is distraut. This blonde ****er Spaniel is her baby girl. The dog is only 6 and my wife just doesn't understand. I also have been really affected by all this. I always considered animals replaceable but now I find myself in tears discussing whether to do all we can to try and save the family pet no matter what the cost or whether we can afford it versus doing what we can with in reason and euthanizing the dog.

 

[Alec]

Oftentimes something like this in humans calls for a liver transplant or other pretty serious measures. Please don't feel this was your fault, I don't think this could happen from anything you did.

Wishing you and yours luck and strength.

 

[ahhjaws]

Sorry to hear that. You did everything you could, so don't blame yourself. If something like that is going to happen, it's going to happen.

 

[dogfriend]

Oh man, I'm sorry.

I don't know much about this problem, but my GF's brother had a similar situation just after Xmas , except the dog was an 8 mo old pup who got poisioned by antifreeze. My GF was staying with them when it happened, and they couldn't afford to take it to the vet, so I looked up some info for them on the net and they treated the dog themselves as best they could. My GF was mad at them for not taking the dog to the vet; it caused her to leave and stay with another relative because she didn't want to see the dog suffer. Luckily, the dog survived.

Its a very personal desicion about how much to spend on a pet. Some people like my GF's brother aren't willing to spend very much. Some people spend thousands.

Right now my GF and I have the same issue going. Our dog had surgery ($600) to remove two tumors that turned out to be cancerous. We recently took her to another vet that specializes in oncology for a check up. The new vet wants to run some sort of geractric testing for $600 every 6 mos. We love our dog very much, but $1200 a year for tests is a little steep for us.

I think the main thing is how will the dog be after treatment; does the dog have a good chance at recovery and a good life, or will the treatment be difficult with not much chance for a normal life? It can be a very difficult decision to make.

 

[Muskrat]

Man, I'm sorry to hear about that, we're going through tough times with our Keeshond, Crystal. Has had cancer for a while, but we couldn't ut her life short, she's getting pretty bad now. Similar story to yours, saved her 8 years ago from being put to sleep, and I know how you feel. My thoughts are with you. Good luck

 

[Nate1]

That sucks majorly. Don't despair. My dog ate some fireworks that looked like cherrys (8 of them), and very nearly died. She was listed in severe (or critical I dont remember) condition for over 6 days in the doggie ICU. Good luck with it, your family and dog are in my prayers!
-----Nate

 

[AlaskanJack]

Thanks guys,

I just got back home from the Vets and off the phone with my wife and son.

The vet is saying that he got her started on an immunosuppressent steriod. Apparently what it is that she has is AutoImmune Hemophylic Anemia(sp). Apparently common in ****er Spaniels. News to me sounded like a catch all for things unknown. Well as he explained it to me, he will see if she responds to the steriods and starts producing red blood cells again. He said its like trying to stop a train it takes some time and slowly stops. Same with this now we are waiting to see if her red blood cell count stabilizes or drops lower. She is so close to the point where the blood can't sustain life.

So over the next few days he will keep testing her blood cell count and if she is showing signs of improving then we may think about the Oxyglobin transfusion which simply put gives her blood a huge shot of oxygen. He won't consider giving her it unless she shows signs of improving because it will make her feel so much better, but is only temporary and unless she is producing red blood cells her blood willo once again lack the oxygen she needs to function.

My sone was very upset about this and wanted me to take a photo of him and the dog to her. He wanted me to put it in her cage so she could see he loved her. I did it without question and added a pic of my wife and her as well. Ok so I even put a pic of me in her cage also, but in my defense it was a family portrait with her in my wifes lap. The only photo of me and the dog together.

I'm praying for her also.

 

[Heath]

I'll make sure and say a prayer for her tonight...

 

[eXplorerchic]

aww, man I'm sorry. I sure hopw everything will be ok. I will say a prayer too tonight.

Take care

 

[AlaskanJack]

My dog is DEAD!!!!

Well as you can see by my header she didn't make it. The vet ran some more tests and she had omly one thing in the normal category. Her liver was failing her white blood cells had doubled and her red blood cells were flat. He suspected that she was having multiple problems and that he thought she had Pancreatitis which is a painful way to go.

I had been stopping by and spending time with her before and after work all this week. She wasn't eating and that wasn't good. The Oxyglobin was leaving her system and her blood just couldn't carry enough Oxygen to support life.

I called my wife in Georgia. She just couldn't believe that the dog was fine when she left on the 2nd, and now she was at death's door. We decided to euthenize her, but first we all said our goodbye's. My wife and sone spoke to her by a cell phone that I placed near the dog's ear. My son was hysterical and blames me.

I think the dog sensed the end was near. As they spoke to her, her breathing became very labored and it was very emotional for me. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried. That dog was very special to our whole family. I could barely talk to the vet as we moved her to an exam room. She seemed to perk up a bit and for a brief second I was like "Wait look she's coming around" Oh what the mind can do to you.

So I cried on the phone with my wife as we discussed the dog. I told my wife and son when they get home on Tuesday we can start searching for a puppy. But for me no other dog will come close to filling the void left by Sarah, she was truely my friend!

 

[Nate1]

Thats horrible. I'm very sorry to hear that. Wish you the best.

 

[Muskrat]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that as well, We had to put ours down on Thursday, but it was for the best, adn I think she too knew that it would all be better in a way. Ussually, you had to carry our dog to the vet's, she would put up such a fight, yesterday, my mom said she walked right in, jumped up on the counter when the vet told her to, and laid down when asked, I'm glad in a way that I didn't go with them, still hurts, but I know she won't be in pain anymore. You did the right thing, and just so you don't feel as bad, I've heard from a few people that ****er Spaniels have a history of sorts of comming down with illnesses sudenly, it's sad. Keep you head up, I know where you're comming from

 

[Rick]

I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm sure your son will ome around and realize it was just fate.

 

[ahhjaws]

I'm really sorry to hear that.

Just don't blame yourself.

 

[dogfriend]

I'm very sorry.