[nucleuscracker]

Please pray for our 2 year old Golden Retriever, Sadie, to recover from whatever it is that is slowly eating away at her.

At her peak she weighed in at a whopping 80 lbs. Last night she weighed 59 lbs. She has our vets stumped. They took 8 x-rays last night - found nothing. They tested her blood for the "tick panel" to rule out any tick related diseases and they came back negative. This has been going on for almost 3 months. As soon as she appears to be getting better - she start to go down hill again.

She limps (all 4 of her legs at varying times), slight fever, (103.7, normal is 102), doesnt really eat, and overall has no energy.

Those of you that consider pets as part of their family, know what we are going through right now....

But to everyone..please pray. The last thing we want to do nor have the strength to do, is of course putting her down.

[Aragorn]

All our best to Sadie and your family. This really tugged at the ol' heartstrings my friend. We all will say a prayer for her. Best wishes.

[jwtrojan44]

How sad. It sounds almost like some type of cancer. Having always had dogs, I feel for what you and your family are going through, especially the kids. We had a boxer several years back that developed an infestation of some sort of mite that literally ate the hair follicles away, leaving the skin raw and bare. After six months of treatment (experimental AIDS drugs, no less) we made the painful decision to put her down. I cried for two hours. Now with another boxer who is aging gracefully, we appreciate the joy and security dogs bring to our lives. I hope all goes well, but if not, I hope you will see fit to be humane to your good friend. Best wishes.

[nucleuscracker]

thanks aragorn..

things are tough are here. I did bring up the possibility of cancer but since nothing showed up on her 8 x-ray's, they are 99% sure she does not have cancer. They do have a radiologist that comes in every friday to view their x-rays from the week to make sure they have not missed anything. we're supposed to call friday afternoon..

What makes the "choice" that much harder is her age. When I was growing up we were always putting pets down but they were 12, 13 years old and blind and or deaf or with other age related problems. But 2 years old...

[scubadude]

Man Im so sorry...I was posting my trip to hawaii...and blasted right past this unnoticed!....Sadie looks like she has filled your family with years of enjoyment and love! She only deserves the best, which Im sure you are giving her your undivided attention. You can bet that she and you and your family will be in our prayers! Have you gotten a 2nd and maybe 3rd opinion? It could be something that the Vet is possibly overlooking? I know that it has been an emotional roller coaster for you but you might want to check into some other Vets, which may even require you travelling out of state.

[nucleuscracker]

thanks scubadude..Well 3 of the 5 vets have now seen sadie at the practice we usually visit. My wife and I have said that if she is not better within a week, off to michigan states veterinary school. (about an hour away) I also got the name of a vet in hillsdale michigan recommended by one of my doctors (note: I'm a pharmaceutical sales rep) who owns sporting dogs.

We have no kids as of yet, the dog, the cat and our fish are the rest of the family (for now). :P.

She has been at least eating and drinking water when we get her up to take her outside. (where she than wants to run around)

dunno, maybe she just wants to see me work harder and make some more money so we can pay her vet bills. While we are not out to spend $1000's on her for testing and such, we will give the same quality care back to her that she has given us for the last almost 3 years. (okay, minus all the socks she has taken)

Enjoy hawaii scubadude, we did when we were in hawaii last may for a sales meeting. Just stay away from that NASTY pink stuff thats made from root..(can't remember the name..buts its gross..lol)

[Firefish]

I’m no doctor but I do know arthritis can raise a temp. I don’t know if the x-rays will pick it up in the early stages. Maybe an anti-inflammatory to see if it will ease the pain, wouldn’t hurt either way…Makes me very sad when animals suffer, pure innocence .

[thezookeeper]

Nucleus:

My prayers are with you, your family, and most importantly Sadie. I know how you feel, I've been there. I, too, have no children and our pets are the kids. It's heartbreaking and I know how helpless you all must feel. Just keep that love going towards Sadie. They know and can feel the love. I'll be praying for a quick turnaround and recovery. Take care now and keep us posted

Joanne

[Biomanjcs72]

My prayers are with you and you beloved pet...

[nucleuscracker]

well so far nothing major to report. She has been eating for the past 3 days but still needs help getting up. Once she is up, she walks around trying to get into trouble like she always has (stealing socks, kleenex etc.)

The radiologist did see something in her lung that concerns him and he thinks that with her occasional cough, she may have pneumonia (sp?).

the specialist wants to do a joint tap to see if she has an autoimmune disease. Problem is this: costs between $600 and $800 for the whole thing. (testing, overnight stay, etc) We are going to sleep on it and decide tomorrow. I am getting some new meds for her in the meantime - a stronger antibiotic and a stronger cortizone.

thanks again for all the words of encouragement - Keep praying -

[drlowz]

Did they check for parvo??

[nucleuscracker]

dr lowz...I dont they did test for parvo but all of her blood work came back normal, including wbc.

I'll check with the vet when I talk to them tomorrow....

thanks for the tip!

[golfish]

I know how you feel, I lost my 11 year old Golden about 2 years ago.

hang in there

[nucleuscracker]

well she's going in on monday to the specialist for her joint tap. She has showed signs recently of letting whatever it is win. . She still has some puppy in her.. ...

We should know by tuesday the results of the joint tap. The specialist is thinking that she MAY have poly arthritis... ...


to be continued...

hopefully my next post will be what has been making her sick...

[nucleuscracker]

Last night at 4.30pm we got a call from the specialist. They have figured out what Sadie has.

After they did the joint tap and they found blood, they were concerned because there was blood in the joint fluid. They than checked her x-rays again and made a "conclusion" that what was thought to be pneumonia showing up in her lungs, could actually be blood.

Her fever is gone. she has gained 2 lbs since tuesday of last week (we are reversing the trend )

Sadie has what they call in short ITP. Also known as immune- mediated thrombocytopenia. After seeing the blood in her joint taps they decided to take a blood sample and test her platelets. BOOM! Her platelets were at 6,000. Whats normal you ask? 100,000.

She is on some strong steroids (prednisone, 120mg a day) till Wednesday when we take her back to our vet so they can test some more blood to see if the attack on her platelets has reversed and basically her counts are rising..(Even if its slowly)

Thanks again for all the kind words. As many of you know this is a stressfull thing to go through.

To be continued!

[Aragorn]

That truly is good news.

[thezookeeper]

I'm SO happy to hear that! Give her a hug from me.


Joanne

[nucleuscracker]

Not much to update. As the days go on she starts acting herself again. (this morning at 5 am she had to go outside and pee.. )

We take her in again the end of next week to have her blood checked again. When I took her in on Wednesday she had gained a couple pounds and she has been eating her own food for the last day and a half (with no extras added to get her to eat like vegetables).....

[drlowz]

Sounds like shes trying....

[DukeDog]

Thats great that she going to be ok Keep us posted on the recovery.
Jeff