** Updated** My little pup is sick... :(

[RedLS1GTO]

Out of the blue on Sunday, my little pup Tank, on the right in the picture, suddenly lost all of his energy. On Saturday he was bouncing around, rambunctious as can be and on Sunday he couldn't even walk. His gums were almost completely white. We took him to the vet who ran some bloodwork. His red blood cell count and platelets are off the chart low and his white cell count is crazy high. I've spent most of the last 2 days in the doggie hospital with him (yea, that's cheap.) He has been on an IV with all sorts of drugs in him. No transfusion needed yet but he is close. They have narrowed it down to some sort of acute Leukemia or a somewhat rare immune deficiency. The positive is that he had at least a small response to the drugs and his RBC count has stabilized at least temporarily. Fingers crossed that it goes up in the next day or so. The majority don't respond, and if not... the worst is pretty much inevitable. Hopefully it is the deficiency as opposed to the Leukemia and my guy is a fighter and the medicine will take hold.

Don't know why I'm posting this, but we're pretty torn up about it. The little fella is only a year and a half old. He has lots more life to live and lots more to destroy around the house.

My little boys, Brees and Tank. They are usually going at it, but since Tank has been sick, Brees has been right at his side. Dogs really are amazing. :angel:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p90/botch1980/IMG_20130625_072541_443_zpsa27e624f.jpg

[JRD77VET]

Dogs are people too :yesnod: ( actually more loyal )

For being "just an animal" they hold a special place in our hearts.

Hope Tank keeps responding to the treatment :angel:

[LilRedCorvette]

So sorry to hear this news...thoughts and prayers out to you all, hope he gets through all this OK. :angel:

I love dogs...it hurts so much when they are sick....

[Stangkiller]

awww no! so sorry to hear this, I hope he makes a quick and full recovery!

[bsmith]

:angel: for Tank and the rest of the family. :angel:

[Burro (He/Haw)]

Hang in there Tank, and you too Red Goat. :yesnod:

[Bill]

Damn, I hate threads like this. Champ and I are pulling for Tank. Hopefully Tank will be back tearing up your crap in no time.

[DukeAllen]

:sadangel:

[VITE1]

Good luck Tank :angel:

[Defib1961]

:angel::angel:

[VatorMan]

:angel:

[69camfrk]

Dogs are people too :yesnod: ( actually more loyal )

For being "just an animal" they hold a special place in our hearts.

Hope Tank keeps responding to the treatment :angel:

What he said!

[Marc]

:angel::angel:

[simpleman68]

Sure hope it is just an immune issue and the meds and he fight it off. :sadangel:
Scott

[jda67gta]

Get Well Soon, Tank!!!

[MrPeabody]

Hope he gets better soon. I had mine at the vet today also. $81 to have a foxtail removed from her eye.

[DAB]

My doggie Leah and I say get better Tank!!! Woof!!!

[Craig]

Sad as hell.

Hug Tank for us, and Bree's too. Good looking friends, you've got there.

Ruf says get well, Tank.

[RedLS1GTO]

Thanks for the well wishes all. So far so good tonight. He still has no energy but he ate on his own for the first time in a couple of days so that's a small positive.

Don't think I'm gonna get much sleep tonight.

[LisaJohn]

Prayers for Tank!

[99 pewtercoupe]

:sadangel:
Hope that they can figure out whats wrong and get Tank on the mend

[VetteBoy1979]

Prayers for the pup man!

[wwomanC6]

:sadangel:

Chip, Dale, and I are pulling for Tank to a speedy recovery! Prayers sent!

:angel:

[Ms.Gem]

Hope Tank improves quickly and it's nothing major. Well wishes.

[Burro (He/Haw)]

How's Tank this morning? :waiting:

[Superstreet]

Sorry to hear about one of your pups. :( Prayers for an improving recovery for Tank. :angel:

[Yamma]

Praying that it's something minor and curable and he's back to his old self very soon.

[Kerrmudgeon]

I trust they checked his digestive tract for twists or blockages? Poisons? Get well soon pup.:sadangel:











.

[RedLS1GTO]

How's Tank this morning? :waiting:

He looks a little better this morning but still far from great. He has a very little bit of color back in his gums which is promising. He struggled a bit with his food that looked like a bowl of Lucky Charms with all of the pills but got most of it down and some water... lots and lots of water. He is on Prednisone which makes him drink and pee like never before. He had to go out 4 times through the night but managed not to pee in the house which was a bit surprising.

Today is a day to watch him and tomorrow he goes back in for another round of tests. We should know pretty definitively what it is and if he has a chance of recovery tomorrow. I've got my fingers crossed.

I trust they checked his digestive tract for twists or blockages? Poisons? I hope that CL asshole didn't do anything to him. Get well soon pup.:sadangel:

Dude... I think you have the wrong Red. :rofl: I'm not the guy in the craigslist fight.

But yea, all of that was ruled out pretty quickly. My first thought was that he probably got into something and it was a poison as well.

[TabuIsMe]

Sending good wishes your way so Tank will feel better soon.:cert::kimblair:

[onedef92]

Don't know why I'm posting this, but we're pretty torn up about it.

I know why, and I know what my immediate response is, too.

God of the universe, be present with Tank your creature. Bless him to recover to full health and bless Red Goat who cares for him, now and always.

Remove all sickness, disease and infirmity by the stripes you suffered on the road to Calvary's Mountain and through your precious shed blood on that old, rugged cross.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. :angel:

[oyealiz]

Hope your baby is able to pull through! So sad that he's so sick. :(

[HeatherO]

awwww prayers for your baby dogs speedy recovery!!!:angel:

[09CTSV]

Hope Tank pulls through. We went through a very tough spell a few years back with our Aussie Holly. She had a disease which attacked her Immune system. We ended up trying blood transfusions but in the end we lost her. She died in our arms in our room. I get choked up thinking about it now.
I hope he is doing better.
:sadangel:

[78SA]

:angel:

[MEC5LADY]

Awww damn prayers for the pup.

[RedLS1GTO]

A Tank Update...

Just left the vet and so far the news seems to be about as good as you could hope for. He definitely has some autoimmune issue, although what exactly is still unknown. The really good news is that he has a very high young RBC count and his overall count has come up a few points. He is far from being out of the woods, but the outlook is at least somewhat positive now. He is on strict bed rest for the next 7 days which is hard to imagine for this little guy. He'll probably have to stay in the crate for most of that with Brees around. There is no stopping those 2 when they get together.

I hate to think this way, but I do know that it's not going to be cheap... even in the absolute best case scenario, he is going to be on a fairly massive drug plan for at least a few months and will have to have bloodwork on a very regular basis until the dosages can be figured out exactly. I guess that's definitely better than the alternative though.

Thanks so much for the continued well wishes! :angel:

[Burro (He/Haw)]

I hate to think this way
We all think this way when Rover is looking at some serious coin. Pretty normal. My wife kind of put this in perspective when our Dachshund was draining my savings account: We're lucky. We don't have to make decisions about his future because of financial constraints.

I give you a lot of shit Red Goat, and I hope this doesn't come off as condescending. Hats off to you for living up to your commitment of having a pet. Sometimes it's hard as hell.

Glad to hear he's improving.

[DukeAllen]

:hurray: Glad he's doing better. It's like having a child get sick.

[Superstreet]

Glad to hear that he is getting better. :angel:

[RedLS1GTO]

We all think this way when Rover is looking at some serious coin. Pretty normal. My wife kind of put this in perspective when our Dachshund was draining my savings account: We're lucky. We don't have to make decisions about his future because of financial constraints.

I'm lucky that way too. I'm far FAR from wealthy but at least for the time being we are in a place where we can give him what he needs. My biggest issue now is with time from work to take him to these countless appointments. Most people don't quite have the understanding seeing as it is a pet as opposed to it being a sick kid or something like that where it wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

I give you a lot of shit Red Goat, and I hope this doesn't come off as condescending. Hats off to you for living up to your commitment of having a pet. Sometimes it's hard as hell.

Glad to hear he's improving.

It's all good. It's the interwebs. Everybody gives everybody shit. I am most definitely not innocent in that regard. :D :cheers:


I've had dogs my entire life and wouldn't know what to do without them. They can most definitely be hard as hell sometimes especially when things like this go wrong, but it is most definitely worth it in the end. ...even with a rambunctious, crazy, mofo like this one. I never thought I would see the day that I was hoping for Tank to start being crazy again. :willy:

Hopefully I'll be able to get a little sleep tonight. I've spent a good part of the last few nights laying on the floor. Apparently I'm getting too old to do that without paying for it the whole next day.

[LilRedCorvette]

Cosmo and I send Tank continued prayers for good health! :angel:

[Burro (He/Haw)]

Too many sick dogs here of late. Lets knock it off already. :yesnod:

[LilRedCorvette]

Too many sick dogs here of late. Lets knock it off already. :yesnod:

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

[onedef92]

He is on Prednisone which makes him drink and pee like never before.

Is it making him more aggressive, too? My wife was on that stuff nearly two years ago after a serious, near-fatal, bout with hymolitic anemia (red blood cells literally turned on each other) and it made her as mean as a rattlesnake during the 12 weeks or so she was on it.

Seriously, in all of 17 years of marriage, it's the closest I ever came to exclaiming the "D" word!

[RedLS1GTO]

Is it making him more aggressive, too?

Only a very slight change so far. He has growled a few times at Brees which is not at all like him, but towards humans he has not been aggressive at all so far. I know that the aggressiveness can come with the Prednozone so we are trying not to put him in a bad position. For the time being he and Brees are staying separated as much as possible and he is being handled with kid gloves until we can see exactly how he reacts.

He could be on the Prednizone for an extended period so I'm really hoping it doesn't have a serious effect on his attitude.

[onedef92]

Only a very slight change so far. He has growled a few times at Brees which is not at all like him, but towards humans he has not been aggressive at all so far. I know that the aggressiveness can come with the Prednozone so we are trying not to put him in a bad position. For the time being he and Brees are staying separated as much as possible and he is being handled with kid gloves until we can see exactly how he reacts.

He could be on the Prednizone for an extended period so I'm really hoping it doesn't have a serious effect on his attitude.

Me, too. It is some brutal shet. God forbid my wife ever has to take it again. She swore she'd die first. Yup, it's that bad.

[carlton_fritz]

He is on Prednisone which makes him drink and pee like never before.

Is it making him more aggressive, too? My wife was on that stuff nearly two years ago after a serious, near-fatal, bout with hymolitic anemia (red blood cells literally turned on each other) and it made her as mean as a rattlesnake during the 12 weeks or so she was on it.

Seriously, in all of 17 years of marriage, it's the closest I ever came to exclaiming the "D" word!
Doug?:leaving:

[OddBall]

Sending prayers for Tank :angel:

[JRD77VET]

Only a very slight change so far. He has growled a few times at Brees which is not at all like him, but towards humans he has not been aggressive at all so far. I know that the aggressiveness can come with the Prednozone so we are trying not to put him in a bad position. For the time being he and Brees are staying separated as much as possible and he is being handled with kid gloves until we can see exactly how he reacts.

He could be on the Prednizone for an extended period so I'm really hoping it doesn't have a serious effect on his attitude.

We had to have Mochi ( our late 165lb greater swiss mountain dog ) on Prednizone a few times.

He would go from OK to snarling in a split second. I even got bit once.

Give him a wide berth and if what you're doing even might be annoying to him at all, watch out. It's the meds, not the dog :yesnod:

[CP]

He is on Prednisone which makes him drink and pee like never before.

Is it making him more aggressive, too? My wife was on that stuff nearly two years ago after a serious, near-fatal, bout with hymolitic anemia (red blood cells literally turned on each other) and it made her as mean as a rattlesnake during the 12 weeks or so she was on it.

Seriously, in all of 17 years of marriage, it's the closest I ever came to exclaiming the "D" word!

Dammit! ?

[Jay13]

Hope Tank is continuing to improve. :angel:

[onedef92]

Dammit! ?

DIVORCE! Prednisone is some brutal, personality-altering shit!

[RedLS1GTO]

Another night... another small improvement. :hurray:

Still not really eating, still pissing all over because to the Prednizone, still not much energy, but each day has been a little better than the last. More numbers getting checked tomorrow.

This is brutal!

[RedLS1GTO]

Another night... another small improvement. :hurray:

Still not really eating, still pissing all over because to the Prednizone, still not much energy, but each day has been a little better than the last. More numbers getting checked tomorrow.

This is brutal!

[oyealiz]

Improvement is good. :)

[LilRedCorvette]

This is brutal!

I hear you loud and clear on that one. :yesnod:

Improvement is good. :)

:iagree: :seasix:

[simpleman68]

Too many sick dogs here of late. Lets knock it off already. :yesnod:

:iagree: Get better soon Tank.
Scott

[Superstreet]

Another night... another small improvement. :hurray:

Still not really eating, still pissing all over because to the Prednizone, still not much energy, but each day has been a little better than the last. More numbers getting checked tomorrow.

This is brutal!

Small steps. Glad Tank is improving. :cert:

[wwomanC6]

Hang in there Red!!

My neighbors dog was poisoned with rat poison. It took several days at the vets and lots of meds. Then when the dog came home with lots of love and care, meds and close supervision her dog made a slow recovery and is doing fine now.
I have faith your pup will recover!

I pray Tank makes a full recovery from what might be ailing him! Your both in my thoughts and prayers!

[RedLS1GTO]

A month (and a shitload of money) later and the story is still somewhat the same. It has been rough for both us and the little fella. As soon as he started recovering a bit from the initial anemia, he all of a sudden developed the worst case of liquid projectile shits that the World has ever seen. This went on for weeks. 2 ultrasounds, about 5 X-rays, 3 vets looking, and who knows how much money and zero answers. He was pulled off of different meds, put on special food, given other meds... NOTHING helped. My living room carpet is destroyed. :ack: Last Saturday he was laying on the ground puffed up and bloated like nothing I have ever seen. It looked like someone put an air hose in his mouth and turned it on. He was obviously in a lot of pain so off to the vet again. Still no answers, although after 2 days in the doggie ICU the bloating went down significantly.

He came home and wouldn't ya know... pooped out a gigantic chunk of a chew toy (1 of the kind they are actually supposed to be able to swallow). The anemia is still taking it's toll it seems. Some days good, some days not so much. He still doesn't have much color in his gums.

After all this time, the vets (3 different ones) still have ZERO idea what is going on with him. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are just guessing at this point and tossing random pills at him. Most of the time it seems like their primary objective is to see how big they can run up the bill. There is also little doubt that the massive amounts of medications are making him feel terrible. He is not his usual happy self. He can't go for more than about 4 hours without peeing all over the place so even keeping him in his crate during the work day is next to impossible.

After a lot of talking and some rough days, we are going to go at it alone and see what Mother Nature has in store. We are going to keep him on a small dose of Prednizone which seemed to have a good effect on the initial anemia but pull him off of the rest. For Tank's sake, I don't think it is right to keep him in this constant state of medically induced misery. Fingers crossed that the Prednizone alone is enough to get him through!!!!

[Sea Six]

:angel:

[Burro (He/Haw)]

Hang in the Red Goat, and kudos to you for not giving up on him.

Just a thought, does your University have a Vet hospital? Ours is top notch.

[Yamma]

Hopefully the chew toy causing a blockage was the main issue. After a while, it can build up, and might take a short while to 'clear out' until he gets back to normal.

[78SA]

:angel:

[Stangkiller]

Hopefully that toy was the root cause and pulling him off the Meds will help!

[Bill]

Hang in the Red Goat, and kudos to you for not giving up on him.

Just a thought, does your University have a Vet hospital? Ours is top notch.

That's exactly what I would have typed, all of it.

I know if my dog was sick and my vet couldn't figure out what was going on or how to fix it, I'd be running down to the Texas A&M vet school.

Champ and I are pulling for y'all, OP.

[Bill]

Hopefully that toy was the root cause and pulling him off the Meds will help!

:iagree:

[MEC5LADY]

Prayers the little fellow has a speedy recovery.

[JRD77VET]

Hang in the Red Goat, and kudos to you for not giving up on him.

Just a thought, does your University have a Vet hospital? Ours is top notch.

That's exactly what I would have typed, all of it.

I know if my dog was sick and my vet couldn't figure out what was going on or how to fix it, I'd be running down to the Texas A&M vet school.

Champ and I are pulling for y'all, OP.

I was talking with another pet "owner" ( sometimes I wonder who owns who ) and he was having problems finding out what was wrong with his dog. He went to the local vet university and they did find out what was wrong. He also said the cost was the same as the vet but you have more folks on the problem since it's a teaching hospital.

Good luck with your buddy :angel:

[RedLS1GTO]

Damn good idea to check the schools. I will most definitely be doing that. :cheers:

Hopefully that toy was the root cause and pulling him off the Meds will help!

Unfortunately that is not the case. He first got this toy after the initial anemia episode.

For any other dog owners out there, this is what caused the blockage:

Pur Luv Grande bone.

Pur Luv Dog Treats at DrsFosterSmith.com (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=22926&cmpid=01csegpl&ref=6111&subref=AA&CAWELAID=745981575&catargetid=1570178606&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla)

As I research... holy f**king shit. :willy:

CHICAGO (CN) - Sergeant's Pur Luv dog treats can leave indigestible "rock-hard chunks" inside a dog, injuring or killing it, a class action claims in Federal Court.
Lead plaintiff Edgardo Duran sued Sergeant's Pet Care Products.
The complaint states: "Sergeant's manufactures, markets, and sells Pur Luv pet treats, a semi-soft chew treat for dogs. In marketing materials and packaging for Pur Luv treats, Sergeant's describes itself as 'providing the products you need for the health, well-being and happiness of your pet' and describes the treats themselves as 'nutritious.' Sergeant's website depicts stethoscope-adorned veterinarians and claims to be 'pet health central.'
"In truth, however, Pur Luv pet treats are not wholesome and healthy for dogs. The treats can cause serious injury, illness, and even death in dogs. Specifically, certain parts of the treat tend not to dissolve or otherwise break down after dogs ingest them, but instead persist as rock-hard chunks which can cause bowel obstructions and other serious injuries.
"Many dog owners have watched their pets suffer after consuming Sergeant's Pur Luv treats, and many dogs have required expensive, life-saving veterinary care. Despite these widespread problems, Sergeant's continues to sell Pur Luv pet treats without any warnings or notice of the treats' inherent danger."
The complaint cites numerous bad reviews on Amazon.com. It cites one Amazon reviewer as saying: "After hundreds of dollars on X-rays, urgent care vet visits, etc. - we finally found out the source for all my pup's pain were these treats. The centers DO NOT dissolve in their stomach, and if they do not vomit them back up, they get constipated and cannot excrete, which leaves them in tremendous pain. [...] I thought it'd be a good alternative, as he likes to chew and there is no rawhide in them, but the center does not break down, and he had one part lodged in his small intestine and another stuck in his stomach. I cannot express how awful it is to see your pup in pain, and it is not worth the risk to try these products. I hope in some way I can save another pup from having to go thru the pain and experience mine went thru - and the owner lots of spendy vet bills." (Brackets and ellipsis in complaint.)
Duran claims that "no reasonable person would feed treats to their dog knowing that doing so would lead to a substantial risk of injury to, or death of their dog. Pur Luv treats are accordingly worthless, and any consumer who purchased Pur Luv treats has sustained economic damages in the amount of the purchase price."
The complaint does not say if Duran has a dog, or whether his dog suffered from eating Pur Luv treats, only that he purchased the product.
He seeks an injunction, restitution and damages for violations of consumer laws.
Duran is represented by Joseph Siprut.

You can guaran-damn-tee that I will be in contact with Mr. Siprut.