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Old February 7th, 2012, 10:20 PM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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What on earth is this?

Just to put this out there right away, he has been to the vet and is on medications however my in laws have NO answers to what is wrong with their dog. And now... I am second guessing what happened to Meiko and his diagnosis.

Here's the head scratching question with detail.

Today my inlaws rush their collie in to the vet with the following symptoms:
-bloated
-lethargic
-drooling
-retching
-constipated
-unable to walk really as he is hunched into a ball (roached up)
-circling
-disoriented ( highly)
-snappy
-whimpering

Those were the EXACT symptoms I rushed Meiko into the vet with when he got "sick" last summer.

I thought Meiko was impacted or had bloated and that is why we went in, I thought my inlaws dog was impacted or bloated so when they called me for the vets number and what I thought I told them to get in asap, and they did.

Now, this is where it is weird and really making me feel worried/scared/sad

The vet told them exactly what i was told about Meiko at first, they had to treat it like rabies and asked them all the rabies questions under the sun.
Sent their dog in for xrays, showed nothing but backed up bowels and gassy stomach.
The vet then reached in his rectum and pulled out a little "turd" and LIKE MEIKO, it was dirt. NOW... Meiko got sick in the summer, there was plenty of dirt, it is the middle of winter now, and there isn't a great abundance of dirt for dogs to eat ( which I have been told they will do to settle their stomach)
Meiko had blood work done checking for other things and I can't remember what it was and it breaks my heart to pull that bill and see everything we had done that day but Odie did not have blood work done.

Odie was sent out to walk around and had pooped, so he did not need enema's like Meiko had, but after 2 enemas Meik still did not poop and nothing had moved in his intestinal tract the next day, the x rays looked exactly the same.
Odie has pooped a couple times but is still very lethargic and is quite doped up.
He is on tramadol and novalexin ( I believe) for the next few days.

When I asked my inlaws what the final diagnosis was they said " We didn't get one, we just have to give him these and this and this" (in reference to the medications)

After Meiko's final diagnosis the next day being neurological problems because oh yes, when they did the foot flippy test (good and technical) where they flip their paws as their standing, Meiko did not put his paws back when they did his hind ones, his x rays had shown bad deterioration in his spine and all of his problems were pretty much summed up as being because of that and possibly a brain tumor or something going on in there.

Odie did not flip his paws at the back into the proper position either when they checked him, but for what ever reason they did not look back at the spine. Perhaps because i was more persistent to know what was wrong with my dog and didn't just take the medications and think "there now he's going to get better" but pushed for more of an answer???

My bill after all of that at the same vet was near $1000.00 plus medications where Odies was $300 meds included, Just putting that out there for comparison on how many more tests we had ran for Meiko, and he had 3 xrays done as well, not just one.
Now, I ran way more tests and pushed more for answers and still ended up putting my boy down, I'm worried about Odie, I am going to go over and check on him tomorrow and if he's not looking better I will take him back in for the inlaws, but I really hope he does pull through.

Thing that is baffling me, yes most of the signs point to rabies however both of them were vaccinated for it and after most of the blood work with Meiko the vet had started leaning away from her initial rabies concern, but even still when Meiko was sent over to the bridge he still had to wear his "party hat" which his sweet vet had referred to his muzzle as.

Does any of this sound like something any one here is familiar with? I'm at a loss, and yes where Meiko was worse off than Odie as his hind end had all together stopped doing anything except sort of walk, but nothing on the inside was moving out ( poop) or even trying. And Meiko would only circle to one side, I think it was left but don't quote me. Odie circles left as well.

I'm second guessing if I was too quick to listen to the vet that it was neurological, I hope and pray Odie makes it, but it is so strange that they both are doing the same thing, with the exception that Odie is still going to the bathroom where Meiko wasn't.
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Old February 7th, 2012, 11:14 PM
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Are they sure it was dirt, erykah? Could it have been something like sawdust?
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Old February 7th, 2012, 11:46 PM
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Apparently they pulled some out and it was dirt, they think from the xrays that there could be a bit of metal or something similar mixed in it
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Old February 8th, 2012, 12:52 AM
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Are they going to make an effort to discover what the metal is?
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Old February 8th, 2012, 05:29 AM
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I was always under the impression that the shot does not prevent our pets from getting rabies, it just prevents them from passing it on to other animals......could the dog have eaten dirt from a house plant and the metal be from the potting soil?
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Old February 8th, 2012, 08:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Melinda View Post
I was always under the impression that the shot does not prevent our pets from getting rabies, it just prevents them from passing it on to other animals
Nope, the rabies vax does prevent those vaccinated with it from getting rabies: http://www.drugs.com/cons/rabies-vac...amuscular.html

Quote:
Rabies vaccine is an active immunizing agent used to prevent infection caused by the rabies virus. The vaccine works by causing your body to produce its own protection (antibodies) against the rabies virus.
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Old February 8th, 2012, 09:47 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Nope, the rabies vax does prevent those vaccinated with it from getting rabies: http://www.drugs.com/cons/rabies-vac...amuscular.html
True but no vaccine is 100% effective on every individual so rabies is a possiblity but highly unlikely. Even less likely now that we use killed virus.

Could the soil have been contaminated with something poisonous to dogs? I guess analysis would have shown that though? If, say, antifreeze had been dumped on the ground? Antifreeze is sweet and I can see why a dog would eat it, dirt and all. Antifreeze is just what pops into my mind first, there could be other things in dirt.

I'm not even sure if those are poisnoning symptoms, but, is there a nasty neighbour around who might have flipped something where the dog could get at it?

Boy, hate health related mysteries. Hope you all get this resolved without further incident.
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Old February 8th, 2012, 11:09 AM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Nope, the rabies vax does prevent those vaccinated with it from getting rabies: http://www.drugs.com/cons/rabies-vac...amuscular.html
the reason I thought this sugarcatmom was my sisters dog was in a fight (15 yrs ago) with a rabid fox and the vet kept insisting that their dog had to be put down because he would get rabies.....they were to surrender him immediately..................umm funny thing...the dog couldn't be found, my sis hid him at a family farm.
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Old February 8th, 2012, 11:09 AM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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I don't think my mans mom has any plants in the house, I could be mistaken though. As for poisoning, the vet sent him home with antibiotics and pain killers, same things as Meiko was sent home with.
I'm on my way to work now and going to be stopping by to see how he is doing. Hopefully he's better today.
As for the metal like specks, I don't think they are going to figure out what they are, these vets although great for livestock are kind of laid back about pets I find.
When i took Marv in a few months ago for strange swelling in his leg and an abscess like ball up by his armpit the vet actually told me what I had told her when I walked in. I said " I think its an abscess or bite but the swelling is freaking me out in his lower leg" when I left, the diagnosis was " I think its an abscess or bite but the swelling is strange" then I was sent home with anti inflammatory medications, pain killers and told to cold hose his leg.
Thats what you do for a horse... $400 later and told nothing but cold hose his leg. I had him on the medications for a day and a bit but stopped and put him on benadryl because now his face had started to swell up too, and the benadryl ended up solving it all.
Kinda irked me really.
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Old February 8th, 2012, 05:31 PM
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It always baffles me when I read about vets giving antibiotics and hoping for the best,without knowing if there is any kind of infection,my old vets did the same.
Tramadol is the same painkiller I am on for Osteo-arthritis except it's called Tramacet.
Is there no other vet in the area??
I hope Odie will be ok
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Old February 8th, 2012, 07:58 PM
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How was he today, erykah?
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Old February 8th, 2012, 09:30 PM
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Erykah, what about lead poisoning?

http://www.thedogbowl.com/PPF/catego...94/dogbowl.asp

I looked it up because we've lost a cow with it in the past, and a friend lost a dog, but see where it mentions snapping? I'd have Odie tested for that. My friend's dog got it simply by climbing up on some timber she'd been given, timber that was painted with a lead based paint. It was wet weather and he'd come inside and lick his feet.
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Old February 9th, 2012, 06:15 PM
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Odie is still a bit stiff looking to day but is moving around better now today, he has been pooping like a mad dog but all in all seems to be on the mend.
There are plenty of vets in the area but because it is their livestock vet they took him there.
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Old February 9th, 2012, 06:46 PM
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Glad he's doing better! Wish they could figure out what happened, though.
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