ok not good day

last night we noticed something seriously wrong with one of our outdoor dogs.... she was stiff could barely walk let alone take a step up to get into the house, we had to help her... she had diareah, she was panting... her eyes were red and she almost seemed congested or something. so i calle the vet he said to meet him at the clinic. ok so we met and the first thing he thought was either a poisoning or invenomation. so we left her there he was going to do a blood work up and a toxocology test.... well come to find out she has heart worms but we cant worry about that right now because she has some sort of auto immune disease... could be secondary to the heart worms or could be independant or inconjunction with some other sort or illness like cancer, lupis ect. she is very sick and i don't know if she will make it through this auto immune thing... it is VERY bad.... this dog is 5 years old and has energy like a puppy can play frisbe all day long... play ball... and still has so much energy she bugs the crap out of you but she could barely walk or even keep her head up yesterday night.she had shown no signs of heartworms so thats why they do not think the auto immune thing is related to them and that other illnesses can cause the auto immune onset extremely fast. they will do a chest x-ray today to see if they can find out anything else.
she is my "pickle butt" (thats her name , we mostly call her pickles though) and i am afraid of the worst but we will have to wait to see how she respondes to the treatment it will be day to day for the next couple, if she makes it that long.

Robin I am so sorry your dog is ill, I will keep you and Pickles in my heart and in my thoughts.

Robin,

Sorry to hear about pickle butt. It sucks when an animal gets sick, since they can't tell you what is bothering them. I hope they can find out what is going on and make things better.

So sorry about your "Pickles"....I'll keep you all in my thoughts. Are they going to do more testing to see exactly what is causing the autoimmune problem? Or are they just doing supportive care right now until she's strong enough to do more work on her?

Heartworm can cause a wide variety of complications, it's an awful thing, yet sadly so easily prevented. I just spent over $300 (EESCH!)today getting the heartworm preventative (once a month pill) and Frontline for my doggies....but you only have to do it once a month, and it saves so much in the end.

One thing I'd suggest....(thinking POSITIVE HERE....she WILL make it just fine to the point of treating the heartworms! ) when you do treat the heartworms......if you can, I'd talk to your vet about using an alternative treatment to the Immicide they normally use. The Immicide is dangerous in itself, and the treatment alone can kill the dog, besides being VERY expensive. I have a good friend that runs a rescue in Michigan, and he routinely takes in dogs that would otherwise be euthanised because they are heartworm positive, and for whatever reason, the owners decide not to treat the dog, or if it's found hw positive in a shelter, it's usually an immediate death sentence. He has been using an alternative treatment for several years now, and it works well, and is MUCH safer for the dog, however it's a long term commitment. Instead of giving the dog one massive dose of Immicide, the dog is started on steroids and anti-inflammatory meds for about 2 weeks, then they are given a size appropriate dose of Ivermectin. They do get sick, but NOTHING compared to what the Immicide causes. The Ivermectin is continued monthly (with a dosing of aspirin a couple days before and after to thin the blood). This treatment may take up to 2 full years before the dog is heartworm FREE, but it they will not get sicker. It actually only kills the filaria and young in the bloodstream, and bascially the already adult worms die from "old age", lol.....but they can't multiply, and by not killing all of them off at once, there's a MUCH better chance that they won't cause a "clot" and stop blood flow.

I'm currently treating a rescue of my own this way, and it seems to be helping greatly, but it's only been 6 months. He's stopped his hacking (from the heartworms that migrated to his lungs) and he's putting on weight. You have to remember it'll take time, but if it's safer.

If there's anything I can help with, please let me know.

That really blows, Robin. I truly feel for you. I hope all goes well. Take care and keep your chin up.

thanks guys for all your kind words.

cathy as of right now they are doing supportive care until she is strong enough and simple bloodwork... her platelet count is WAY down they say anything under 47,000 and can go in to instant hemoriging... her platelet count as of last night was 24,000 and he also today was going to an xray of the crest to see if has any tumors,how progressed the heartworms are and look for frungus. she is having liver and kidney problems and she has very imflamed mucus membranes apparant by looking in her nose and down her throat. she can only stand up for a minute or two before she lays back down. she is not eating but she is on interveinious fluids two kinds of antibiotics and they are doing a risky procedure by giving her cortazone for 1) the inflamation but also to try and get her platelet count up.
in all the years we had dogs we never had any on heartworm preventative and not one animal of ours died because of heartworms, so that was not something that crossed our minds even though it was suggested..... needless to say morgan her outside playmate will be getting tested on saturday for HW. and soon after that our inside dog daisey

Robin I just read this and I am so sorry about Pickles. I will be hoping and praying that she makes it.

Awww, I'm sorry to hear about your pup. I know you're doing all you can, so just keep positive thoughts! Good luck on the hw testing on the other two, hopefully it hasn't spread.

Keep us posted.

I know what you mean robin.....so many people just don't think of it, especially when you are in an area where it isn't prevalent. There have been cases around here, but very rarely until the last couple of years, and it has EXPLODED here (along with the skeeter population, I suppose)....and I know WAY too many people who have lost dogs to it....GOOD owners who loved their dogs very much, but just never thought to have them tested or put on the meds....but they didn't purposely neglect it, it just wasn't something vets pushed.

Every time you walk into the vets office around here now, the first thing they ask you is if your dog has been tested for heartworms, and if it hasn't, it's pretty much not an option to say you don't want it done.

Keep us posted, I am anxious to hear how things go....

Robin, Im so sorry about Pickles and I hope she does well and pulls threw for you!