AngieW in Texas Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Here is a link to my previous post: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=406534 I just don't know what to do. We have already spent a LOT of money trying to figure out what's going on with her. She's had x-rays, ultrasound, and blood tests. The last blood test (about 3 weeks ago) still showed anemia. The tick panel was negative. The resting cortisol was normal but not high enough to rule out atypical Addison's. The ACTH stimulation test was normal. We went ahead with a 3 week course of doxycycline in case the tick panel was done too early to show evidence of the problem. She has been eating fairly well for the past several weeks, but now has not eaten since Saturday night (and it's Monday morning now). When I say that she has been eating well, I mean that she does eventually eat the same amount of food that she has been used to eating, but she used to eat her food within seconds of getting the bowl, and now she eats it in dribs and drabs throughout the day. Her bowl was empty by the time I got up yesterday morning, but when I gave her food, she just sniffed at it and walked away. She wouldn't even take any from my hand. I added some canned food to the bowl and she still just sniffed at it and walked away. I cleaned out her bowl and replaced it with fresh kibble after several hours, but she still hasn't eaten. I don't know what to do now. She isn't vomiting and doesn't have diarrhea. She just won't eat. She also seems to be walking a little stiffly (back legs seems stiff, not front). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Is she on prednisone? If not, she may need another round. It could just be an autoimuune disease. Dogs get them, they don't always have to be tick borne. Not to mention there are probably a bunch of tick diseases we don't know about yet. But stiff plus anemia plus appetite change says autoimmune or tick to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 I called in to the vet's office. They're going to have the vet on duty call me back after lunch. I can't actually take her in to the office today unless absolutely necessary because I'm in a rental car. I'm hoping they might possibly just write up a prescription for prednisone without seeing her first. We've certainly done a LOT of testing over the past several weeks. The other thing going on now is that she's panting a lot. Sometimes really heavy and other times lighter, but she only stops panting for short periods of time. She is drinking water and I got her to eat a dental treat, so at least she has something in her stomach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 You might also have her tested for pancreatitis. Panting, not eating, make sure that she is drinking. Hoping that she feels better soon know matter what. it can be very,very hard to find out what is wrong with our furry friends when testing is not always definitive! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinD Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Where we are, there's a big round of fungal pneumonia going around that has those symptoms...my friend's dog is just getting over it now. You might want to ask them to check for it...I think it's caused though old plant materials and similar things that are everywhere in summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I called in to the vet's office. They're going to have the vet on duty call me back after lunch. I can't actually take her in to the office today unless absolutely necessary because I'm in a rental car. I'm hoping they might possibly just write up a prescription for prednisone without seeing her first. We've certainly done a LOT of testing over the past several weeks. The other thing going on now is that she's panting a lot. Sometimes really heavy and other times lighter, but she only stops panting for short periods of time. She is drinking water and I got her to eat a dental treat, so at least she has something in her stomach. Hmm...the panting does concern me. Have you checked her gums to see if she is pale? (press on a pink area, it should return to normal in 2 seconds about...if it doesn't that is an issue. If they are very white that is NOT good.) Anemia can cause panting, but so could something like an abdominal/splenic tumor......have they done any abdominal xrays in any of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 A tumor on the spleen was actually the second thing the vet thought about. 1st - possible vaccine reaction because all of this started the day she got her vaccinations for lepto, bordetella, and I think rabies (not sure about rabies now). The vet gave her a steroid injection and cirenia for the vomiting. The vomiting stopped and switched to diarrhea, so I gave her a metranizadole (spelled something like that) from when she'd had diarrhea back in November. Just one dose stopped it. Vomiting and diarrhea stopped, but she was still refusing food and acting lethargic. 2nd - Relief vet did bloodwork which showed she was anemic. Immediate thought was tumor on the spleen (very common in golden retrievers). Vet took xrays and did ultrasound. No sign of problems. Relief vet talked about doing a tick panel and I thought that was what she did when we went back, but apparently she just did cbc again which still showed she was anemic. 3rd - Regular vet back. She ran a full tick panel and did a resting cortisol to check for atypical Addison's. We went ahead and started doxycycline for ticks. Resting cortisol didn't rule out Addison's, so we did the ACTH stimulation test for Addison's and that was negative. Tick panel came back negative too, but we finished off the 3 week course of doxycycline anyway. Bloodwork still showed anemia. She was eating again at this point and acting just fine, but instead of cleaning out her bowl in less than 30 seconds, she was eating her food in dribs and drabs througohout the day. She was finishing her regular amount of food, but spread across the entire day instead of in two meals. 4th - Started refusing food again on Sunday morning. She didn't eat anything on Sunday at all. She didn't eat anything on Monday until she got excited about my 14yo's pancake and we let her have it (no syrup on it). She was panting a lot through the whole morning and early afternoon, but that stopped. Her back legs were obviously stiff. She was drinking plenty. 5th - Vet said to try giving her 1/2 75mg Zantac to see if maybe she has acid reflux. She took that around 6:30pm. I made her chicken and rice and put that in her food bowl with her kibble from this morning and she ate it all when I gave it to her about 9:30pm. I don't know if the Zantac made the difference or if it was the chicken and rice (she actually usually doesn't care for chicken and rice because she gets it whenever she has stomach problems and prefers kibble). I have a rental car until tomorrow afternoon. The vet said if she seems to still be doing okay, then it should be fine to wait until Wednesday (when I have my own car) to bring her in. They'll go ahead and do a cbc again to see if she's still anemic (or more anemic) or if anything else shows up. I figure we'll do at least that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Ok, good, glad they ruled out a tumor. Really does sound like an autoimmune problem triggered by the vaccines. Lepto in particular is one of the most reactive. I've seen it happen several times over my career. Treatment is generally steroids whenever it flares up. If she is still stiff she is probably pretty painful, and could use the steroids again. Why can't you take her to the vet in the rental car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 Prohibited by Enterprise. That was the first thing they said when I picked up the car. The rental car they gave me is brand new. It had just 30 miles on it when I first got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 I took her to the vet this morning. The stiffness in her back legs got a lot worst overnight and she was barely able to walk. I had to have the kids help me to be able to get her to the car and then a vet tech had to help me get her into the building. The x-rays showed bridging in the LS area, so the vet is thinking primarily of lumbosacral disease although more imaging (probably ct scan) would be necessary for a diagnosis. The vet also did bloodwork which will come back tomorrow. We need to see if she is still anemic or not. If the bloodwork is good, then it's probably LS and we will go for a consultation with the orthopedic vet to see what the best options are. We have had good results with acupuncture when she's had a pinched nerve (has happened twice). If the bloodwork still shows anemia, then we may be looking at leukemia. If it's leukemia, then we'll go for a consultation with the oncologist vet, but I don't know what we'd actually do. She's 9.5yo old and the average life-span for a golden is just 11-11.5 years. Depending on prognosis, we'd probably opt for just palliative care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reflections Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 5th - Vet said to try giving her 1/2 75mg Zantac to see if maybe she has acid reflux. She took that around 6:30pm. I made her chicken and rice and put that in her food bowl with her kibble from this morning and she ate it all when I gave it to her about 9:30pm. I don't know if the Zantac made the difference or if it was the chicken and rice (she actually usually doesn't care for chicken and rice because she gets it whenever she has stomach problems and prefers kibble). With such good results I would try the Zantac again. I hope she gets better soon - or at least that you can make her comfortable. :grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 The bloodwork came back and it was awful. The vet got us an emergency appointment with an oncologist because her bloodwork was so bad that she was certain Goldie wouldn't make it past this weekend without some kind of treatment. It's acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The oncologist thought her original bloodwork was pretty baffling. Goldie had bloodwork done three times over a period of about 2 weeks. While all three showed anemia, it seemed to be getting a little better. She had a shot of steroid a few days before the first bloodwork and the oncologist thought that may have caused all the bloodwork to be kind of screwy. They actually use steroids in their chemo regimen, so her thinking was that the steroid put her in a really short remission (as well as I can remember from what she was telling me). They dosed her up really well with steroids and we have steroids and painkillers to get her through her last days. We doubt she'll make it more than a week or so. She is eating really well again and she's walking a little better too. She doesn't seem to be in pain right now. We're all trying to spend as much time with her as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Iam so sorry. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I'm so sorry, Angie. :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 She actually died a few hours ago. She was at home and she wasn't in pain. I'm glad that the end came pretty quickly. I just didn't want her to be scared or in pain. The meds the vet gave us yesterday took care of all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry, Angie. I just read this for the first time and am shocked at how quickly things happened. I am so sorry for your loss.:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry :grouphug:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Big hugs :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:. My golden is almost nine and I am already dreading the day I have to say goodbye. I'm glad she went quickly and you didn't have to make the tough decisions. Rest in peace Goldie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wren5 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 :grouphug: :crying: :grouphug: I am sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry, Angie. Being one of the few people here who actually got to meet her in person, I can say that she really was a sweetheart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 Her decline was very fast. We knew something weird was going with her health-wise (look at the first post in the thread), but we didn't know we were really approaching the end until yesterday. Even after that, I thought we'd have at least several days before we got to the point we were at this morning. I'm just glad that she was able to be at home and didn't have pain or fear. I did have the vet come pick her up afterwards for cremation. They're making paw-print plaques for the girls to keep (a service that comes with the cremation). We're going to wait a bit before getting another dog. I just can't go there again right away, even though I do very much want another dog. I also want to make sure our next dog is smaller. It took me and all the girls to get her in to the van for the oncologist visit yesterday and she could still walk a little then. I want to be sure that I can lift the dog when fully grown. Goldie was exceptionally large for a golden retriever. She was 80 pounds at a healthy weight and was taller than any male golden I've ever seen in person (females are usually 50-70 pounds and males are usually 60-80 pounds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry. :grouphug: We lost our first Golden 4 years ago to cancer. He actually lived 2 years after he was first diagnosed. It was terribly hard, he was our first baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 We're going to wait a bit before getting another dog. I just can't go there again right away, even though I do very much want another dog. I also want to make sure our next dog is smaller. It took me and all the girls to get her in to the van for the oncologist visit yesterday and she could still walk a little then. I want to be sure that I can lift the dog when fully grown. Goldie was exceptionally large for a golden retriever. She was 80 pounds at a healthy weight and was taller than any male golden I've ever seen in person (females are usually 50-70 pounds and males are usually 60-80 pounds). Our Tommie was huge for a Golden. He was 85lbs and very thin, he was never an ounce overweight. I know exactly what you're talking about, it was impossible for me (5'0") to move him around. We lasted 6 months before we got another dog (another Golden). This one is much smaller though, he's only 65lbs., full grown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: to you all. So sorry for the loss of your friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Island Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 :grouphug:I am so sorry!:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Very sorry for your loss!:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajudy Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry, Angie.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm so sorry Angie. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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