OT: Is my dog dying???
 

Need help!! Had my 7 1/2 yr old black lab treated for heartworms on last Thursday. Picked her up Friday, she didn't eat much except for treats on Fri & Sat. She's still lethargic, sleepy. BUT....she's drinking tons of water and NO FOOD since Sat!!!!

I've bought new treats, ground beef, table food-NOTHING!!!! Cheese, p butter.......nada! And for the last 2 days she's like asthmatic or something. Kinda like when you're trying to cough but you're lungs are too sore so you're like whispering. And she's choking up stuff, but it never comes out. Yesterday, I felt her head cuz it looked like it was shaking & it felt like her brain was shaking. I calmed her down & it went away. She was laying down w/ this too.

What are the vets NOT telling me, please. What are the symptoms when you're dog might die from this treatment or die just period???!!!!

I will take her in this afternoon, but please help a saddened heart. It would kill my kids to see her pass. HELP!!!

Spend some time on the phone and find a specialist. This doesn't sound good. I'm sure your dog is run down from lack of protien. The vet should give him/her an IV with some fluids to bring some strenght back.

I hope you don't loose this member of your family. Find a compitent vet and get a second opinion.

Bring her to the Vet now, not is afternoon. This does not sound good.

\

If she's been throwing up blood or has bloody stool have her checked for Hemratic Gastro Etinitis my 120lbs Malamute just had a bout with this we almost lost him he went form 122 to 95 lbs in 48 hours just loosing fluids....

One things For sure Get to the Specialist now she's hurting....:(

My vet told me when he has to treat heart worms it brings the dog to the brink of death and sometimes the treatment does kill them. I would get your dog to the vet now.:(

mike

Okay,
Just force tube fed some pedialyte & very little slimfast (for protein) down her throat. She appears to be a little more alert. Her coughing has calmed down & her facial appearance seems better. I think she really needed some protein & electrolytes to get her energy up. We'll see.......

I put a call into the vet & will take her in this afternoon if she gets any worse. Thanks for all ya'lls help!!

That's good news!

As a dog lover I know how you feel. I wish you the best!:)

I wouldn't wait to see if it gets worse or not!!!! Take her anyway! Act like it is one of your children.....After all she really is like a child and part of the family.

Good luck,hope the dog comes thru. As everyone said, to the vet immediately. Heartworm cure in older dogs is much better now than the old arsenic treatment but still tough on older dogs. The 9yr old lab we just adopted apparently had them for years, my vet said don't do it,too dangerous. Hope your pup is ok,keep us posted

Please, take her to the vet even if you think she is doing better. She is not a young dog and heart worm treatment is very stressful. Let the evaluate how she is doing.

Just checked with my wife again, and that is not normal. Get her to the vet and ask for the following amoung other things:

Complete blood chemistry (CBC)

Glucose level check

And she also suggested your dog might have had a siezier. (sp?) That is scarry the first time, but not unusual for a dog.

We wish you and your dog the best.

My thoughts are with you !!!!!


PLEASE take her to the Vet.

I hate to sound stupid, but what does OT mean??:confused:

Off Topic

If the dog is that bad i would leave her in the vet for observation..Ya I know...But it is better for the dog....Always check your dog for heatworms before putting them on the pills.....good luck...:(

Hope she gets better!

I know how you feel, reading this brings tears to my eyes, really. The pedialite or gator aid will help. As the others said, the treatment is hard on the dog. I lost two puppies three months apart from Parvo a couple years ago. The first one we left at the vet for iv's. Took him in on a Wednesday, and I had some "miracle parvo medicine" overnited to me. My vet suggested I leave him there for the weekend. When I called Monday morning, he had passed away. The saddest thing to me was that he died alone in a cage, I wish I would have brought him home to be with me. I am squalling like a baby as I type this. I only write this, in case you have to make the decision to leave her at the vet. I did, and I regret it terribly.
I am praying for you dog, believe me, nobody loves their dogs anymore than I do.
As I said in the other post, my girlfreind's dad had eight bird dogs treated, and they all pulled through, and some of them were older dogs. Keep the faith.
Please keep us updated.

To my knowledge, most vet clinics don't have staff there around the clock on weekends. the vets do check a few times during the weekend, but not constant like you would be with her. Leaving her with the vet for obversation while they are there is good, but questionable while they are not. This is my personal openion, and nothing more than that.

Cuda: my eyes watered reading your post.:(

Well......we checked her temp here at home it was resting
at 104.1. Normal for dogs (I'm told) is 100-102. When I took her to the vet it was 104.8 and she's lost 4 1/2 lbs in a week. The vet said she is not dealing with the passing of the dead heartworms very well. Her body is reacting to it and she is mildly dehydrated.

She said they'd keep her for the rest of the day, put her on IV and anti-inflammatory meds. She said that they will try & get her to eat and if she does not, they'll keep her overnite & recheck tomorrow. She also said that it's probable 75% she can make it, but then again, there's no telling. She can do a 180 the other way.

Let's keep our fingers crossed. I've never seen my dog this ill. AND I definately don't want her to die there, alone. I'd rather have the last few moments w/ me & the kids. Unfortunately, I will be at a Poker Run (out of town)till Sunday. I do agree with not leaving her there over the weekend. I'll be calling from the seas every chance I get!

Thank you everyone!

Hoping for the best.....

WE have two MALTESE. 4 years and 3 1/2 years old. Almost lost the young one and she still isn't out of the woods. Her imune system was killing off her red blood Cells.( hemolitic animia ) She was on steroids and a chemo drug to knock down her imune system. Just starting to ween her off the steroids. This started last SEPT. Went away with the drugs and a blood transfusion. Then two months later it came back. The dog isn't in any pain - she just goes from somewhat normal energy to cant stand up inside of a weeks time. She just looks at you with those eyes. I have spent $1500 so far on a $4oo dog. Hope to god she makes it because she is my wifes dog and is just the sweetest thing to us. They both love the boat also.

Re: OT: Is my dog dying???
 

I did not read this entire thread except the post quoted above.

Outlaw - the telltale "sign of death" is the animal's inability to relieve himself outside without assistence. It is at that point you are advised to lay the animal down.

My sister is an nurse, and I recently laid down the family dog of 13 years. Gloria is well-schooled in these matters with both humans and animals. She can explain to you what to expect emotionally (yourself) and physcially (the animal) and how to deal with it. Her telephone number is (631) 277-0413. You will get voice mail. She will call you back if she is not there. They call it the "seven stages of death." Anger being in the top three. I forgot. She's a DeadHead. Call her. She will do more for you in five minutes..........

All my best,
Jennifer

Only got past the first few posts before I ran to check with my wife on what to do. She's a registered veterinary technician. She said heart worms and get to the vet NOW. Then I read some more. Good. You're getting her taken care of. We're both pulling for her and you and the kids. It just tears you up to see them suffer any at all.

Ditto on the tears. My eyes were going glassy big time. Two weeks ago we had to put our 14 1/2 year old Black Lab, "Jessa" to sleep. It was time for her, but that didn't make it any easier. She was our kid. We never had any. Denise was just out in the garage going through photos of her for a scrap book when I went out to check with "my doc" for a suggestion.

She went down while we were at the lake that Sunday. When we got home, she couldn't get up at all or even raise her head. We'd known it was coming. She couldn't eat hardly at all the last couple of weeks and we'd tried everything us and the vet could think of. Her bloodwork from the last checkup had just come back that her liver was starting to give out. Even our two cats, "Caleb" and "Thunder Paws" knew something wasn't right. They kept on rubbing on her legs all the time that last week. I stayed home the next day and got her to the vet knowing it would be the last day with my old, silver haired, bonehead... and that sucks. But she perked up a little that morning and I carried her out back into a beautiful sunny day and brushed her down on the grass. I know old retired Marines aren't supposed to cry, but I sure did. More than I ever have and I know Denise is still crying.

Sorry gang, but it just brought back those feelings. I love them animals. We sure miss our old girl.

You take care of that young girl there OutlawBayB! We'll be praying for that 75%.

Semper Fi to them all,
Scott

I gotta quit reading this thread,Way to hard.......Im not even gonna post the story of my buddy i just lost


Gotta go hug my springer now..........

Birddog,when I lost my best buddy several years ago I wrote a long letter about in that was published in our local Humane Society newsletter. Several people told them it made them feel better and it really made me feel better.Possibly rethink posting,it might give a warm feeling to us dog lovers here,might give you a warm feeling too. Hey, if you're like me you can type as long as you keep the tears off the keyboard. Take care,Robert

outlaw b b i know how you feel we lost our fammily member about a 1 yearago smokey 14 year old black lab he was our pet our huntting dog our drinking buddy loved the water did not care if it was hot or cold he was allways ready to go duck hunted found deer what ever we asked i shur miss him my best frend we have a lady lab now a bout 3 ye old im working with her but she is not smokey so it A LERNING TIME I HOPE YOUR LAB does pull thrugh this we wish you the best of luck robbie

I would personally forgo the poker run to take care of my dog. There will be other times to go boating.

Maybe it's just me but sometimes you just need to set your proirities straight.

ahhhhhh.......Ron P,is a True dog lover:D


Majicfloat:...Thanks man,Maybe later........

Well you guys! Thank you all for your support. I got tears reading everyone's post. I did take her to the vet Friday & they put her on anti-anflammatories. The vet said she wasn't handling the passing & breaking off of the heartworms too well. And if we didn't get her better, it'd be too late. She still wan't doing any better that nite, so I let them keep overnite.

The next morning, before the run I called immediately to check on them & they had no status yet!!! I said.....Is she alive....?! Uh, yeah..she's alive. I felt relief as I could proceed with my first run. I called at the first card stop & called again. The tech's said they wanted to keep her over the weekend & said NO! I'd rather she be with family (due to Chart & Cuda's post). And yes, they do leave early & said well....the vets live w/in a 3 mile radius BUT is the DOG gonna call 911?!

I sent my father to pick her up & they gave her steriods pills to take home for the next week. She ate some food & was really happy to come home. I came home on Sunday & she even got up & greeted me at the door. My tears just started rolling as I was so happy. She did lose 4 1/2 lbs, but she's eating if you feed her by hand & sometimes she wants to play. I can only pray that she remains the same till the next heartworm treatment in 2 1/2 wks.
She'll needs 2 more trtmts, so ya'll keep your fingers crossed.

ALSO.....thank you for everyone pouring out their heart n soul in regarding to this matter. It really means a lot.

Thank you & god bless.
Carina

Hang in there,hopefully she will pull thru. Your pup is lucky to belong to someone who cares,so many dogs don't. Keep us posted.

Please do not think that I am dumping on OutlawBayB but I would like to remind all dog owners that it a good idea to get your dog tested and then give heart worm preventative. I, in the past have forgotten to do this but was lucky.

Outlaw, I am glad your girl is doing better...may she continue to improve.

It sounds very encouraging! I think she has turned the corner and is on the way back. If she eats at all, she is definetly getting better. I am so happy for you!

Here's a picture of my girl last year when we were duck hunting.

I had all three of my dogs tested last year and put them on Heartguard. I had them on it before, but it is so easy to forget to give it to them each month. If you forget, then you have to have them tested before putting them back on heartguard. Heartguard also kills other worms. Dogs get the heartworms mostly from mosquitos.

After Friday I wasn't gonna check in, I start reading these posts and sit here crying like a baby. I hated to leave my two "girls" (Osita, a black chow mix, and Oakley, a shepard / border collie mix), even just for the weekend. I am very happy that it sounds like Outlawbaby's lab is doing better, good luck.
Chuck

Carina,how is your pup doing?

GottaHaveIt-
yes I did have her on pills-2 yrs ago!!!! With the new baby, moving, staying at home, having my baby on an apnea monitor for a year &&&&& having to put the dog outside.........we overlooked it.:( The vet thinks she had them for 9-18 months, & that's @ right. prob took her 3 months to get it after we stopped the pill. I know.........., I feel like chit.

BUT....the vet said there's a shot they can give dogs once every 6 months so you don't forget about it. You schedule the appt & they call & remind you 6 months later. If my dog pulls thru, I'll probably go for that treatment.

Also, a friend was tellling me that the heartworms will die of old age & heartgaurd (?) will kill of only the babies and the dog could live for several years with heartworms. I'm not sure about this b/c but it worked for her. I'd rather do it the right way.

Saturn, my dog, seems to be doing A LOT better now. She does drink tons of water. But, she is eating if I trick her that it's table food. I put it on a paper plate & feed her from the table with a fork. It's new canned food so she's loving it. She's now up to eating almost a whole can of food a day.If I don't feed her, she won't eat AND she's begging for scraps at the table. SO, I'im thinking that's a good sign. She still lays around, but the steroids she's on seems to help her energy & eating. In 2 wks, she goes in for yet another trmt, Ican only hope she'll make it thru the next 2. I will keep ya'll posted.

Thank you all for everything.

gottahaveit, thats a great picture . . .that dog has attitude,you need to get him a purple collar so he matches the boat totally with the white fur.

outlaw it good to here your dog is doing better. keep tricking her in to eating, good luck at the vets an keep us posted :)

Here's my 30lb Bischon

Ron P has a friggin Bichon........oh geesh.....whatta HOMO!!!!!!!!

Oh wait a minute......so do I.......;)

How in the hell did you get it to 30LBS........feedin that thing lead pellets or what??????........mine is just about 6 1/2 years old and she weighs in at a svelt 14 LBS.......and she has had two litters and NO stretch marks........and hardly a pound heavier....

Uh Oh I think I'm gonna get it for that one........ :rolleyes:

You shouldn't project your frustrations onto you animals, Shor! :p :eek:

:D