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MY DOG NEED HELP PLEASSSEEE!!
My dog Nitro is really sick, he started off wen he couldnt walk with his back legs. The next few day he got better and then he couldnt walk again. A few days later he would not eat for a whole week. He had a fever and he was shaking. i took him to the vet and they recomended an animal hospital. But before i went they took a blood sample. it came back saying that his platlet count was 33 which is really bad. He also has diahrea and he cant breathe very well. His red blood cells that carry his oxygen are low. I really dont know what to do and would like for him to live a very long time. He is only four years old.........
Chris: Our dog had thrombocytopenia. We put her on doxycycline, in case it was a tick-borne disease. The tick profile came up negative. However, sometimes the tick parasite "hides" in the bone marrow, so we went the full course of the antibiotic.
We had her on 80 mg. / day of prednisone; we are now down to 10 mg. every other day. Her platelets were as low as 13,000 - so low that she was in danger of bleeding out from the slightest cut. She is now back up to 380,000; at the top end of the normal range. So there is hope!
We don't know what caused it. Sometimes, it is just the immune system gone haywire. Often, per my vet, if it is immune mediated, it happens only once, and never occurs again. (Sometimes, yes, it does come back, but just concentrate on the now, if you can.) The only reason we found out was a routine blood test, as she had no symptoms.
As far as the other symptoms, prednisone can cause serious gastic upset. I'm sure your vet told you this, but just in case, make sure your baby gets her predisone with meals, only. We also give our Zantac (over the counter at any pharmacy) with prednisone. Also, we found that the prednisone really sapped her energy. She went from playing madly with her buddies in the canyon adjacent to our house to barely dragging herself out the back gate. She's getting back to normal now. (It's been just over 2 months since all this started.)
The total $7,000 cost seems a bit high. I don't know where you live, but we are in a major metropolitan area, and I would estimate our total cost for just the thrombocytopenia is closer to $2,000. In terms of cost, I don't know what you are getting charged for the meds, but I redommend you check on-line and see if your vet will match the lowest price. Or, check with a low-cost pharmacy, such as Costco. Over the years, with this and other dogs, we have saved tons of money on vet meds by asking our vet to match the on-line price or the Costco price.
Best of luck to you and your puppy, give him lots of hugs and kisses for us, too. And please ask if you have any more questions.
We had her on 80 mg. / day of prednisone; we are now down to 10 mg. every other day. Her platelets were as low as 13,000 - so low that she was in danger of bleeding out from the slightest cut. She is now back up to 380,000; at the top end of the normal range. So there is hope!
We don't know what caused it. Sometimes, it is just the immune system gone haywire. Often, per my vet, if it is immune mediated, it happens only once, and never occurs again. (Sometimes, yes, it does come back, but just concentrate on the now, if you can.) The only reason we found out was a routine blood test, as she had no symptoms.
As far as the other symptoms, prednisone can cause serious gastic upset. I'm sure your vet told you this, but just in case, make sure your baby gets her predisone with meals, only. We also give our Zantac (over the counter at any pharmacy) with prednisone. Also, we found that the prednisone really sapped her energy. She went from playing madly with her buddies in the canyon adjacent to our house to barely dragging herself out the back gate. She's getting back to normal now. (It's been just over 2 months since all this started.)
The total $7,000 cost seems a bit high. I don't know where you live, but we are in a major metropolitan area, and I would estimate our total cost for just the thrombocytopenia is closer to $2,000. In terms of cost, I don't know what you are getting charged for the meds, but I redommend you check on-line and see if your vet will match the lowest price. Or, check with a low-cost pharmacy, such as Costco. Over the years, with this and other dogs, we have saved tons of money on vet meds by asking our vet to match the on-line price or the Costco price.
Best of luck to you and your puppy, give him lots of hugs and kisses for us, too. And please ask if you have any more questions.
Oh, BTW, I might be wrong here with my guess about your forum name but here goes........what 77'ss do you have? come on now, make me jealous....lol.......
Teresa ; )
Teresa ; )
Thats wonderful news!
Hopefully with more meds in him he'll be doing even better soon. The Doxycycline that you said you were giving him is one of meds mentioned on those tick diseases to give.......so maybe it was just a matter of time to get into his system.
Please keep us posted on Nitro and sending him more hugs and smooches!
Take care, Teresa ; )
Hopefully with more meds in him he'll be doing even better soon. The Doxycycline that you said you were giving him is one of meds mentioned on those tick diseases to give.......so maybe it was just a matter of time to get into his system.
Please keep us posted on Nitro and sending him more hugs and smooches!
Take care, Teresa ; )
Hello,
You might get some very good advice by contacting WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital as it is one of the leading facilities in the USA http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vth/. When my dog had diarehea I went to Rite Aid Pharmacy and purchased some sugar free Pedialite. It is available in a powder form and tastes like punch. Posie loved it and it sure didn't hurt her any. My Vet said it was OK for her to have. I hope your little Nitro keeps improving.
God Bless You All and God Speed!
Diana
You might get some very good advice by contacting WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital as it is one of the leading facilities in the USA http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vth/. When my dog had diarehea I went to Rite Aid Pharmacy and purchased some sugar free Pedialite. It is available in a powder form and tastes like punch. Posie loved it and it sure didn't hurt her any. My Vet said it was OK for her to have. I hope your little Nitro keeps improving.
God Bless You All and God Speed!
Diana
Thank you for you kind words. Our Nitro is doing a lot better since being on the meds. He still has diarehea not as much energy like he use to have . He had another blood test and his platelets are up from 33 to66 so the vet said to just keep him on the meds and see how he does. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hope with in the week he will bring his blood up.
Hi,
Have they tested him for any of the tick diseases? I believe they have to send the blood out to certain labs to do so.
This web site "http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/tick-diseases.html" has info on Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis, or you can just google those two tick diseases and see the symptoms and treatments.
The thrombocytopenia is a symptom of those two tick diseases and may be misdiagnosed as the only problem and not a symptom of something else.
His other symptoms you mention can also be signs of the tick diseases. I really can't see the cost of treatments for these, if it is one of these being as much as you were quoted.....that just sounds way to high for the meds, etc..
Wishing your baby well and sending him tons of hugs and smooches xoxo
Take care
Teresa
Have they tested him for any of the tick diseases? I believe they have to send the blood out to certain labs to do so.
This web site "http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/tick-diseases.html" has info on Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis, or you can just google those two tick diseases and see the symptoms and treatments.
The thrombocytopenia is a symptom of those two tick diseases and may be misdiagnosed as the only problem and not a symptom of something else.
His other symptoms you mention can also be signs of the tick diseases. I really can't see the cost of treatments for these, if it is one of these being as much as you were quoted.....that just sounds way to high for the meds, etc..
Wishing your baby well and sending him tons of hugs and smooches xoxo
Take care
Teresa
his diarhea is not bloody. They think he has thrombocytopenia or a tic borne disease. we were just informend recently but this is just an assumption based on blood work.. we have him on Prednisone and Doxycycline.... and we are unable to get a line of credit or a loan because we have already excedded the limit due to everyday living expenses... we are willing to scroung up as much money as we can but unfortunatly not the 7 thousand dollar quote.....it is $1800 just to ***** him and the treatment can be from $4000-$6000....
OK, next step. Look at the Care Credit web site. http://www.carecredit.com/
You can apply online to see if you qualify for a line of credit that can only be used with a specific veterinarian or hospital. Check with the hospital to see if they offer similar financing.
If you have a credit union, talk to them (or your bank) about a personal loan. Gotta do what you gotta do.
With the bloody diarrhea, it sounds like he has a gastrointestinal bleed. Is that what's going on? Do the vets say he needs surgery?
Click on my profile and read my most recent journal entry for a similar story that happened to my dog last year. We're still paying for that one day, but we have zero regrets.
You can apply online to see if you qualify for a line of credit that can only be used with a specific veterinarian or hospital. Check with the hospital to see if they offer similar financing.
If you have a credit union, talk to them (or your bank) about a personal loan. Gotta do what you gotta do.
With the bloody diarrhea, it sounds like he has a gastrointestinal bleed. Is that what's going on? Do the vets say he needs surgery?
Click on my profile and read my most recent journal entry for a similar story that happened to my dog last year. We're still paying for that one day, but we have zero regrets.
And he is not in the hospital because of this.....but we are at the vet every other day with him trying to get help
It is breaking our heart to watch him suffer like this and not knowing what he has and what we can do to help him....unfortunatly if you dont have the money the animal has to suffer....
Unfortunatly we can not afford to pay for it........... my vet can not come up with a diagnosis but the hospital has given us steroids and antibioics
I'm really sorry to hear about your poor dog. Did your vet have any idea as to what is going on? Any suspected diagnosis? I assume your dog is now in a hospital. What are they doing for him now, and why is a transfusion impossible? Is it lack of available blood?
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