Problems at home with a dog

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O'GodHowGreatThouArt

Puritan Board Sophomore
Our youngest dog has fallen ill.

About a week ago, she went about five days straights in which she ate everything given to her, and them promptly throwing it up within an hour or so. It must've occured 20+ times during that stretch. We couldn't keep anything down.

We took her to the vet to have her examined. The doctors could not find anything, and sent her back home. When it continued, we brought her back up, and a set of X-rays were taken (a blue coating agent was administered to her on one of the sets so that the doctor could check more thoroughly for possibly blockages).

No blockages were found, and there was no sign of cancerous or pre-canerous tumors. The only thing that could be noted was that her liver was slightly inflamed.

It was afterwards that the real problems occured. She simply...stopped eating. Drinking is not a problem, but she simply will not eat. Mom and Dad have resorted to force-feeding her and she's become quite resistant to this. In addition, she has not gone to the bathroom in several days.

Today, she's getting to the point where you have to practically get down on your knees and beg her to come to you. When she was up on my bed, and I was trying to coax her to get down so she can go to the bathroom, she just laid there and stared at me. I had to physically pull her over to the edge and pick her up off the bed.

We're running out of options fast, so I was wanting to know if anyone here have dealt with a similar situation with a dog. Maybe someone here has a tip or two or some insight into this situation that we simply cannot see right now.

Thanks for all the help in advance.
 
No help, just profound sympathy. We love our two dogs and are horrified to hear your story!
 
My parents took her back up to the vet this morning after there were no improvements. There, they ran some bloodwork on her, and discovered some shocking things.

Her Potassium and White Blood Cell count was sky-high, and the doctors were wondering how she hadn't suffered a heart attack yet. They believe she has Addison's Disease, and gave her better than 50-50 odds if treatment was started immediately.

However, if it was not started, she would be dead in 24 hours.

They called me around 10:30 this morning, informed me of the situation, and since I was the closest to her, let me make the call for further action. They recommended that treatments would get started, and even though it would run $600-$700 for it, I elected to have them started.

I had excess money in my savings account, and she has been a fighter all of her life. At the end of the day, I don't think I could've lived with myself if I looked back in 10 years after choosing to do nothing, wondering the whole time if I made the wrong decision.

To do nothing except put her down knowing I had the tools to fight? What an insult to someone who never gives up regardless of the odds.

I know animals have no souls, but I can't help but see her as one of us. Creatures of God created for His glory.

Doctors contacted Mom around 2 today telling her that my dogs was stablized, but we'll likely know more tomorrow morning.

Thank you for the prayers everyone. This has been a real trial for me regarding my faith in so many ways. By helping my dog out, my savings for Georgia State is dwindling rapidly. I trust that God will provide, but it is difficult doing so when you've ran 21 years of your life trusting in no one but yourself to provide.
 
She is nine years old. Her brother (who is the only dog left besides her) is only a few hours younger.

We previously had two dogs: one died last month due to seizures and (possible) brain tumor, the other died last May from cancer. 11 and 12 respectively.
 
The doctors confirmed this morning she did not have Addison's Disease. They injected her with a large amount of steroids trying to get her back up on her feet last night. It did nothing.

The possibility that she developed an aggressive form of cancer only grew stronger. After my parents informed me this morning about what was going on, we decided to have her put down. But I wasn't content with doing that without seeing the results for myself. I asked dad to call the vet and have them forward the blood test results over to us so I could see them with my own eyes.

The blood tests showed that the possiblilites of both cancer and a heart attack remained highly likely, and there was strong indication on the tests that her liver was going to fail, if it hadn't already.

Three problems. Three fronts. There was nothing we could do.

May God use this incident for his own glory and honor, and my prayer is that, even though God chose not to answer my prayers in the way I had hoped, that my faith had at least grown in some way through this. It is proving extremely difficult, even in these times, to place all my trust and reliance on God. Especially since I spent 21 years placing it on myself.
 
Bryan, I know many look at this as insignificant as it does not involve a human being, but being one who loves his dog very much, I understand the difficulty in this situation.

You will be in my prayers.
 
So sorry also. My "Mac"(Shihtzu) and "Mr. Calvin" (beagle) are sitting with me as I write this. Dogs are indeed a dear comfort to us and a blessed providence from the Lord.
 
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