One of our dogs is very, very ill

[Nicholas]

Today was a very stressful day. A few days ago we noticed that one of our dogs seemed to have down with something, but we passed it off as some sort of stomach flu initially. However, sometime during the weekend he started to get worse, with his urine turning some sort of rust color, followed by him refusing to eat or drink and began to run a fever. We kept an eye on him, but late last night he started urinating blood, at which point we scheduled him a vet appointment at the very earliest possible time possible. The vet ran some tests, and it seems that his bladder and colon were filled with blood, and while they weren't sure what exactly was causing it they said it was either an infection or he had gotten into something toxic. Seeing as we had nothing he could have gotten into, and the fact he was running a high fever, we're leaning towards infection. He is currently still at the vet and being treated with a course of antibiotics, something to coat his GI tract in case it was somehow something he ingested and prevent further damage, and fluids to rehydrate him.

The good news is, the vet called to say his fever is going down, so he seems to be getting better, but we're all worried. What's scary is how fast this happened, and how lucky we were to catch it when we did. A day earlier and the vet wouldn't have seen any real symptoms to know anything was wrong, any later and they said he might have gone septic.

[justgin]

Awwww, bless him.

[Nicholas]

Awwww, bless him.

Thank you. He's still at the vet, so that they can keep hydrating him, but they said he's much more alert and active, and his urine is no longer bloody, so it looks like he's recovering.

[Teallaura]

I'm glad he's doing better.

[Manwë Súlimo]

I <3 dogs.

[Nicholas]

Just thought I'd update you guys on his progress. We talked to the vet earlier this morning. Huckleberry is doing much better. However, based on all of the symptoms they think that he might have Addison's disease and that he had what is known as an Addison's Crisis. If it is Addison's, it would actually account for all of the symptoms. However, we will have to wait for the blood tests to come back before they can confirm it.

However, there is one odd thing. Some of the initial blood tests they took when he was initially taken in showed a normal white blood cell count, however the most recent blood tests show a really high count, so now they think it might more likely be an infection. In either case, he'll have to be medicated because he has an enlarged heart and currently has some breathing problems. If it is Addison's, the treatment for it would help the heart problem at the same time, but if it isn't he'll have to have to take separate meds for it.

[Teallaura]

My Scooter takes heart meds and they work very well. He's 14 and hasn't quite figured out that he isn't a puppy anymore.

I hope everything turns out well for your dog.

[Hamster]

I'm sorry about your dog, I know how frightening and stressful situations like that can be. I hope everything comes out alright

My dog ingested rat poison a few months ago. We caught her really early though and so she didn't suffer any damage (other than having her head and upper body shaved and generally being scared by all the commotion) . Now I'm super overprotective

[Brown Cat]

[Nicholas]

Huckleberry is finally back home. The tests for Addison's came back negative, however we know now it was an infection. The Vet is pretty sure that he was suffering from Sepsis, so the infection had actually gone Septic. From what I understand, it's basically a miracle that he survived. While he has recovered from it, we will have to give him treatment for an enlarged heart and some breathing problems he has.

[Manwë Súlimo]

Yay, doggy!

[Teallaura]

I'm glad he made it.

[Nicholas]

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how things progress with his breathing and such. The people at the Vet were amazed at the fact that he got through a septic infection, which from what I understand is very rare.

[justgin]

Being "septic" is bad indeed. I'm so glad he's pulled through!

[Teallaura]

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how things progress with his breathing and such. The people at the Vet were amazed at the fact that he got through a septic infection, which from what I understand is very rare.

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10)

There may just be more to that than you realize, Horatio.