Urgent Question For Adopter-

[BluegrassGrey]

I received this information from an adopter in this area (edited to remove names etc). Just wondering if you all could help.:

 

 

Peter is now at the vet this morning - when I walked him this morning he was peeing blood and his eyes and gums were a yellow tint. If you have any information suggestions, please let me know.

 

 

History from the adopter:

Peter adopted back in 2004.

 

Over the weekend, he was not really himself and threw up twice when we got home from shopping on Saturday. Now, he has a tendency to swallow things like socks and washcloths so we have been very careful about what we leave lying around recently. Usually we dont know he has swallowed anything until he throws it up - his symptoms are not very pronounced. After the weekend, he seemed to be back to his usual self, happy and excited.

 

Then on Tuesday (wednesday morning actually) , he woke me up at 4:00am and needed to go outside (which is not common , he is never up at that time). He had thrown up his dinner on the living room floor. He seemed a little out of it but then on Wednesday he proceeded to throw up several more times (more than 5) while my husband was home. We called our local vet and took him there for a 3:00 appt. They did a physical exam (he was well hydrated and alert but a bit grouchy when the vet did an exam of his abdomen). They took xrays which showed he had nothing in his intestines or stomach. He was actually well cleaned out with nothing impacted or causing a blockage. The only thing they noticed were some pockets of gas.

 

They gave him a shot of Cerenia to keep him from throwing up and gave him Pepcid and 500mg of Metronidazole. I just wanted to check with you to see if you had any knowledge of these medications and if they are OK for Greyhounds. He is pretty solemn today (yesterday 9-6-07), not eating but drinking a ton of water. We are watching him to be sure is he is having bowel movements but not much is going on since he hasnt eaten since yesterday. He doesnt even like cheese!

Edited September 11, 2007 by BluegrassGrey

[Guest Tenderhearts]

No suggestions here other than wondering why the vet didn't run a blood chemistry panel. When Skittle went off feed and then became jaundiced, they ran a panel and her bilirubin was off the charts.

 

Unfortunately we never did find out what happened despite xrays and a sonogram at the 24 hour clinic, other than she went in to complete liver failure

[ZoomDoggy]

I don't know what cerenia is, but metronidazole is a common drug (never heard of it being unsafe for greys, used it on mine several times) for treatment of intestinal upset.

 

Oh, and Pepcid is the commercial name for Famotidine, which is an acid reducer. Also safe for greys.

 

I also think a urinalysis and blood test would be in order.

[MarcR]

Looks like Cerenia is for vomiting and motion sickness. This from the FDA: FDA Approves First Drug To Prevent and Treat Vomiting in Dogs.

 

I'm also surprised they didn't do blood and urine tests.

Edited September 7, 2007 by MarcR

[Burpdog]

He needs blood work and a different antibiotic. Sending prayers.

[Guest SusanP]

Please keep us posted as you learn more.

[Guest trevdog]

Blood work and chemistry....I wonder if he ate something poisonous? That sounds like liver or kidney failure/issues......

[Guest greytexplorer]

Go back to the vet and get those panels done.

 

Now.

 

This could be potentially VERY serious.

Good luck and keep us posted on the results.

[BluegrassGrey]

Thanks everyone.

 

Burpdog- why do you think he needs a different antibiotic? because the current one is apparently not working?

 

Also, I just heard from the family that he has had no blood or urine tests to their knowledge. This really concerns me! They think he is going to have some this morning.

 

I also suggested using a muzzle when he is better so he cannot get into things and eat them.

 

 

[Greytlady94]

Blood work and chemistry....I wonder if he ate something poisonous? That sounds like liver or kidney failure/issues......

 

This was my first thought upon reading the post. They need to insist that a full comprehensive blood panel is done and a urinalysis.

 

If they are in Lexington they are about 4 hours from Ohio State University. If this was my dog I would head there right now......

[Burpdog]

Yellow gums indicate liver failure. Why it's failing is to be determined. She either needs a different vet or to drive to OSU. Fast--this is not a wait and see or the vet doesn't have time today.

[Guest trevdog]

If it is a failure, he won't have much time....something needs to be done NOW. If that vet can't get to the answer immediately he needs to be rushed to someone that can.

[BluegrassGrey]

This is the update I just got from Peter's family:

 

 

We just heard back from Peter's vet. Peter is on liver support medication, potassium, sugar (he had low glucose), and antibiotics. They did do blood tests, an found that his red blood cells are normal. I asked about the Babesiosis, and she said that it was not indicated because usually the red blood cells are anemic, and his look very healthy (she seemed to have some experience with that). The vet said that they did a basic ultrasound of his abdomen and found an enlargement of part his liver, and an enlargement of one of his kidneys. She has laid out the following:

 

1.) Severe infection of some sort, and they are treating him with broad-spectrum antibiotics. She said that they should see some improvement in 24-48 hours if the infection recedes.

 

2.) Toxicity of some sort that is specifically attacking the liver. I asked about the Cerenia drug, since it is new, and if it is a possibility. She said that it's possible, but not likely at all. She said the liver support medication should help him clean the toxins out, if that's what it is, and the liver can repair itself, but it depends on the extent of the damage done. We've been trying to think if anything has changed recently in the past few days - cleaners, anything, and we can't come up with anything. We don't fertilize or treat the back yard, which is his domain, and nothing that we can think of has changed around the house...

 

3.) "Neoplasm" (a.k.a. cancer) of the liver, which she said is a sort of distant 3rd, since the onset was so fast. She said that if that is case, the prognosis is very poor.

 

She said the generic term, regardless of what caused it, is "acute hepatitis" or liver failure, and that his survival chance is probably 50% at this point, maybe less. We have told her to make him comfortable and to keep us updated of his condition as much as possible.

 

They are contacting a board-certified ultrasound specialist to try to get them to look at him today to see if they can rule anything in or out. The vet also said that exploratory surgery is an option, but she said that in his condition, the anesthesia alone could put him down - he's not really stable enough for that to be a viable option.

 

Thank you for your help and support in this very excruciating time - if there is anything that you can think of that might help to pass along to the vet, we would be grateful...

 

 

[Burpdog]

How old is he?

 

I'd give him a shot of doxy just because and you can do a tick panel but other than the "normal" ones, it won't show up unless you send off for PCR and those take time.

 

Where did he race?

 

Here are some of the symptoms for erlichiosis:

 

QUOTE

weakness

cough

labored breathing

fatigue

pneumonia

intermittent fever

arthritis

muscle wasting

discharge from nose or eye

depression

weight loss

anorexia

increased thirst and urination

incontinence

sensitivity of the skin

head tremors

disorientation

seizures

neck or back pain

bleeding tendencies

pallor due to anemia

retinal hemorrhages

bleeding into the skin

rash

nose bleeds

spontaneous bleeding

abdominal tenderness

swelling of the legs

swollen lymph nodes

 

Certain features of ehrlichiosis may mimic the following diseases:

 

systemic lupus erythematosus

brucellosis

blastomycosis

endocarditis

immune mediated diseases

thrombocytopenia

pancytopenia

myelophthisis

cancer of the spleen or liver

Valley Fever

plasma cell myeloma

leukemia

 

 

Sometimes the TBD test can come back negative yet the dog will respond to doxy or doxy/pred.

[Guest SusanP]

[feemandvm]

I would get the hound to Ohio State's Greyhound clinic ASAP!!! The dog likely needs a liver aspirate or biopsy to determine the cause so the most appropriate treatment can be started. They can call OSU at 614-292-3551.

 

 

 

 

[Guest Tenderhearts]

Skittle was on an IV with several antibiotics and meds for the liver in a 24 hour care facility, and we still lost her

 

I can't imagine this dog being sent home with a 'wait and see' approach

[Guest kgildea]

[Guest GreyDad]

Hi all

 

This is Peter's dad - thank you so much for all of your suggestions... Currently he is on SAM-e, potassium, a "broad spectrum antibiotic (I didn't get the name)", and a sugar medication because his glucose was pretty low.

 

A board-certified ultrasound/sonogram vet is on her way to take a look at him.

 

To answer some of the questions:

 

He's about 7 years old (practically a puppy still, to me), and was 100% healthy until about 2-3 days ago.

 

The racing record we got from greyhound-data.com shows Bluffs Run (Council Bluffs, IA) as the only place he has ever run.

 

The "doxy" that was suggested - is that doxycycline? And I'm assuming the "pred" is prednisone?

 

As far as the TBD testing, what do we do in the meantime until the tests come back? I can't imagine that he's going to be able to be like this for another couple days waiting on results...

 

We're so worried about him.... We can't understand what could have happened so quickly.

 

 

[Guest GreyDad]

Peter's dad again...

 

Just off the phone with the vet, and here's the list of what he's on in addition to what I listed before:

 

metronidazole

baytril - antibiotic

prednisolone (Vet said that this is what prednisone breaks down to, so he doesn't have to process it via liver)

 

Also, I forgot to mention in the previous emails that his red blood cell count looked normal, but liver enzymes were elevated.

 

I requested a full tick-borne disease panel, and she said that they will send it off today, results in a few days.

 

She said that he hasn't gotten any worse, but hasn't gotten any better either - he's still Jaundice and lazy, but awake and alert, no vomiting, no blood in his stool.

 

I passed along the information on the erlichiosis and the babesiosis...

 

What else can we do? What else can we ask the vet to do?

[Guest trevdog]

Have you vet contact OSU at the above number. They do a lot of research with greyhounds and may be able to offer some other help.

And yes, that's what doxy is. I'd ask about that as if it is tick related even though test results don't show it, it will help. See if he can take that as well...

[ahicks51]

Peter's dad again...

 

Just off the phone with the vet, and here's the list of what he's on in addition to what I listed before:

 

metronidazole

baytril - antibiotic

prednisolone (Vet said that this is what prednisone breaks down to, so he doesn't have to process it via liver)

 

Also, I forgot to mention in the previous emails that his red blood cell count looked normal, but liver enzymes were elevated.

 

I requested a full tick-borne disease panel, and she said that they will send it off today, results in a few days.

 

She said that he hasn't gotten any worse, but hasn't gotten any better either - he's still Jaundice and lazy, but awake and alert, no vomiting, no blood in his stool.

 

I passed along the information on the erlichiosis and the babesiosis...

 

What else can we do? What else can we ask the vet to do?

 

Do you have any blood panel results- any white cell counts to substantiate the suspicion of infection? In fact, if you have blood results and can post them here (or at least any elements that are out of the normal), that would be helpful.

 

Baytril is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, same class as Cipro (ciprofloxacin). Metronidazole (Flagyl) is an antibiotic that is also effective against some types of parasites.

 

If you have reason to suspect tick-borne diseases, beginning treatment *may* be merited before you get results back. See also:

 

http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/2099.htm

[Guest IndyTwister]

I've seen two dogs with lepto have very similar symptoms brought on by liver failure (due to lepto). It was missed in the second dog until the necropsy due to the lepto just attacking the liver and not the kidneys (more common). Doxy would have been the treatment for lepto as well.

[BluegrassGrey]

Just wanted to clarify, Peter's dad is now on the board, and he has posted in this thread as Greydad. I don't think he can received PMs yet, so please post any suggestions in this thread. I will be away from the computer for awhile, and I don't want to not be able to pass along anything in the urgent matter.

 

This is from a PM a person sent me:

 

"Not to be a broken record, but they might ask about adding a Coombs test to the battery of tests. That is what happened to my girl when she had Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. She was pooping blood, peeing blood and throwiing up blood. She went from fine to dead in less than 48 hours."

 

 

 

 

Come on Peter, I know you can pull threw this!!!!

[Guest GreyDad]

We have passed along the OSU number to the vet, and recommended that she call to consult with the vets at OSU about his symptoms and tests.

 

We'll keep you updated as we hear more...

 

Thank you all so much - it's a shame that we've only found this forum today...