I will be thinking of you and hope you are able to get to the bottom of this. His health has so declined that SOMETHING is being missed. I assume they have checked for autoimmune hemolytic anemia? I'm not talking about the inherited kind, but the idopathic type. It is easily found if they do a PCV. Lethargy is very consistent with hypothyroid but not the weight loss. It would be the opposite – he would gain weight without eating much. Please let us know. This is very sad.
Deb
Any chance you would be open to taking Booger to a totally new vet/clinic. A fresh pair of eyes to look at the situation. Ask for his records and just get a second opinion. To use a lame quote – sometimes one can't see the forest for the trees and I'm wondering if this isn't the case here.
Deb
Poor Booger! Fingers and paws crossed here.
I am so sorry to hear about Booger, we are sending out healing vibes and hope you have some better news soon.
My prayers are with you and Booger - Gossy sends lots of basenji hugs too.
Good healing vibes and prayers sent your way from me and my pack. Keep fighting Booger.
First, thank you everybody for every prayer, thought, well wish, good vibe, hug & piece of advice.
Lvoss, I followed your link & read up on this disease. About half of the symptoms seemed to be a good match, the other half not. I brought it up with the doctor today, and she said this tick disease causes nose bleeds because the dog's blood can not clot. Booger isn't having nose bleeds, its drops of blood in his sneezes due to dried out nasal passages from sneezing so much.
I mentioned the thyroid issue, and she doesn't think its thyroid related.
She is most concerned now with just how miserable he is. The sneezing is one thing, the 24 hour sleeping & being too lethargic to greet us when we come home is very worrying to her. Although she originally did not want to do a blood panel because she didn't think it would reveal anything, she now wants to do a full blood panel to see if it reveals something.
We are scheduled to go in tomorrow evening at 7 to get blood drawn, and hopefully will know something sometime this weekend.
As far as getting a second opinion… the first vet recommended benadryl. I spoke with another vet over the phone & listed his symptoms. This vet pretty much concurred with Dr. DeHaven... probably not thyroid or tick disease. She also recommended going to an internal medicine specialist.
I will continue to update.
Blood panels is the first thing I insist on…. regardless of what a Vet would tell me... because while it might not show exactly what is going on, it can rule out lots of things.... and I make sure we have a base line beginning at a very early age... but that is me...
I hope and send prayers for the best for Booger... and that you get to the some answers.... just a point here that the blood work could be hard to figure out or what it shows. Since he has been going down hill, some of his organ values could already be compromised in his condition.... That is one thing about have consistent blood work done, you have a base line to compare what was before to what might be going on now...
Get well soon little Booger. HUGS
Prayers and good thoughts to Booger, and to you too, I'm sure you are worried sick.
I so hope you find something soon.
Hugs to Booger, get well soon.
Andrew, are you saying that a blood panel HASN'T been drawn on Booger at all? ! Please do ask the vet to run a PCV which will show his red blood cell level (hemotacrit). With his lethargy I definitely think anemia needs to be ruled out. How do his his gums look? Inside of the ears? Toenails? Bright pink?
I totally agree with Pat, I'm big on blood panels also, and especially a baseline which is usually done when they are spayed/neutered.
deb
Oh, my, blood work is always my first request for any sick dog.
Maybe I missed why this wasn't done, but hopefully, it will be done asap.
Hugs to you and your sick boy.
Do let us know what you find out.
The blood panels haven't been done yet because the vet initially thought it was something irritating the nasal passages, such as a blade of grass or a bad root in his teeth or a tumor. She didn't think the blood would reveal anything. While speaking with her last night, she asked me to bring him in to do blood. We took him in this evening & should get results on the blood panel and urinalysis back tomorrow.
Today he did not get out of bed until 6 pm when the door bell rang, not even to go out or eat. I had to feed him in my bed. After work I picked up some wet food, so he was a lot more interested in his evening meal.
I will continue to update y'all, and please keep the suggestions coming. I have run every single one of them by the vet, and I have also researched them all online to see if I think they fit.
The advice, suggestions and well wishes are invaluable. I don't think I could make it through this without this forum and the friends I have made here.
This may be way off base, but if he is not eating also, could there be a problem with his teeth? Dental problems can cause an odd amount of symptoms. Just a suggestion.
The bloodwork/urine must say something. We are thinking of you.
I saw that you mentioned the doc recommended Benadryl for the nasal irritation….are you still using that? Benadryl can be a sedative. I am reasonably sure that your vet would have realized this, and discontinued the Benadryl already..but I thought I would throw it out there.
I am so hopeful the blood work will point you in the right direction.
Hugs, hugs, hugs.
I am sending lots of positive thoughts your way and am hoping for a answer soon for you and Booger.
