This was almost a year ago, but I feel the need to share what happened to me & my dog in case it ever happens to anyone else.
Back on July 5, 2018 I brought my dog Sergeant in with concerns for what looked like busted capillaries & small, bleeding cuts in his mouth, along with what looked like hot spots that had gotten really bad all of a sudden - the skin underneath was a deep red, and it was blotches of it on his belly and insides of his back legs. The vet at Crossroads shrugged it off, said he was fine, blamed it on the fact that I raw feed him and "maybe the bones just scratched up his mouth" (although I've done it for his whole 5 years of existence without a single problem - much less tiny cuts in his mouth).
Sent us on our way.
Later that same night (maybe 9-10 hours later), my boy starts peeing blood. Not just a little blood in his urine, either...straight up frank blood - no urine at all. Kept acting like he had to pee, would lift his leg, and nothing would come out after the first time other than tiny dribbles of blood. Went on for about 10 minutes. Brought him back in the house, he wouldn't relax, kept pacing, refused to lay down, kept wanting to go outside...then threw up his whole dinner. Was a total of maybe half an hour between first starting to pee blood and leaving for the EVet.
Took him right to the emergency vet (somewhere else, still in Naples), where his platelet count was 12,000 when it should be between 300,000-500,000. Ended up with a diagnosis of Idiopathic Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia. The petechiae on his gums was still there, and now it was in his ears too. The red skin blotches under his hot spots had darkened to bruises, and more and more showed up literally while we sat in the exam room, me crying my eyes out thinking I'm about to lose my dog who means more than life to me. His blood couldn't clot, and under 50,000 platelet count, you start "spontaneous bleeding". He was bleeding internally, and really badly. Lost about 1/4 of his blood supply in 3 days.
Spent overnight in the ICU while they stabilized him all that day Friday (July 6th)...then since it was about to be a weekend, knew there was no real reason to keep him there all weekend since I could do everything they were doing for him at home - PLUS, at home I could keep him calm and happy (we're extremely bonded, and while he doesn't act like a crazy caged animal in a kennel without me, he just won't sleep...he won't let himself relax if he can't see me or touch me). So they sent us home with all of his medication, instructions, schedules, what to look for over the weekend that would necessitate bringing him back in, and they helped me nurse him back to health.
We (obviously) switched vets & never looked back. July 5, 2018 was my first AND LAST appointment at Crossroads Vet. What an awful taste to leave in my mouth at our very first appointment...you send me and my dog home without addressing my concerns in an earnest manner, and my dog almost died. If I had waited even a few more hours to take him to that emergency vet, he would have bled to death internally.
The same day my concerns about my dog's health get shrugged off, all those concerns I had manifested into the most terrifying disease that almost took my handsome, smart, hilarious, energetic dog from me. My only reason for living. He was reduced to a blood-stained, exhausted mess on my living room floor...that still wagged his tail and gave me kisses, because he wasn't ready to give up the fight.
His treatment took MONTHS...and close to $3500-4000 when all was said and done. I had to call off work for about a month to be able to take care of him every second of every day. I slept on my hard, tile living room floor next to his dog bed for about 3 or 4 months so I could comfort him, and so he wouldn't try to come find me on my bed, try to jump up and rupture something and start bleeding internally all over again. We each lost about 10 lbs - and neither of us had that weight to lose. He from obviously being VERY, very sick - and myself from the stress, crying, and heartache of having to watch my dog go through this and NOT being able to do anything more than what me and his team of vets were ALREADY doing to make it better. I had to have *that* talk...the "how long do I wait before I let him stop suffering if he doesn't improve" talk. We both became very underweight and very weak. That disease doesn't develop overnight. He had it for a while, most likely, and just never showed me (he is a bull breed, after all). And relied on me to help him. And I *tried* - but I lack the necessary medical expertise...that's when I turn to my vet. And in this case, that vet shrugged me off and said this dog who means more to me than words could ever explain was FINE...when, in fact, he was literally on death's doorstep. read more