Our poor Jack

[Wade]

Our 9 year old Bichon poodle, Jack, has been a spunky, energetic, wonderful dog to my family for 8 1/2 years now. On January 7th, I came home at lunch to find Jack still sleeping. He would hardly move.no greeting at all. I figured he just got a puppy flu or ate something that didn’t agree. We just kept a good eye on him all night but noticed he couldn’t eat, drink or move and he was very warm. That night we knew he needed to see the vet bt they didn’t open until 1:00pm. So, we waited it out but he was getting worse quickly. His skin was turning yellow and he now had a dark orange colored urine. He couldn’t move his legs at all and seemed ‘out of it”.
We decided to just show up when the vet opened in order to have him seen asap. The vet took his temp (103.5) and proceeded to say it was possibly kidney disease and it didn’t look good for Jack. He took him to the back room and we prepared ourselves to never see him again. The vet said they would do blood test and call us soon. We went home a mess. The call came soon after and we were told that Jack was very sick. They told us that he likely had an autoimmune disease and that his RBC count was 23? And that number was near death. We were in complete shock because around 24 hours previous he was just fine. Now we are being told he is in serious trouble but they didn’t know what was causing this for sure. They said he was a mystery. The vet said they would give him prednisone, antibiotics and vitamin K and call us later that evening wth an update.
The update came and they said jack ate a small amount and had a little water. He wasn’t very responsive however. The next morning they called again and said that Jack was fairly responsive and seemed more energetic but not out of the woods. Later that night it they said there was no change. This morning the vet called and said jack is much less responsive but is still eating some tube food and water. He basically said it didn’t look good. Curiously, there has not been a second blood test done to this point. The vet just called again a hour ago and said jack is nearly gone. He said if it was his dog, he would let him go. He assured us that Jack is suffering and we said we want everything done to help him. He finished by saying that we can give it the night but doubts he will make it.
We are so confused right know because everything I read says many dogs got transfusions and many blood tests and different meds used. We feel like we are just letting him die in some foreign pet hospital with strangers checking on him 3 times a day because they closed at 2pm Friday, closed today and tomorrow. Any help is so appreciated. We don’t want to lose him but it seems we may already have. I should add the vet said his skin is very very yellow…much worse than day 1. Helpless in Oregon.

[Vally]

Hi Wade, I’m so very sorry Jack is so sick.

Have the vets said what they think may have happened? Can you ask for a copy of any blood tests. Some of the people on the forum are brilliant at understanding what they mean and can help to explain it to you. You can attach them using the Urgent Advice at the top, or you can just type them in. I realise you probably don’t have any of them right now, but if you can ask for them.

Vitamin K is often used for poisoning , is it possible Jack may have gotten into something? It’s not the usual treatment for Auto Immune disease.

AIHA is quite a rare disease and a lot of us have realised (me certainly) that a lot of vets don’t know how to treat it.

The 24 blood count isn’t really too bad. It’s certainly below normal, but not near death, so I’m wondering what the vet means by this.

If the vets are closed, who is looking after Jack right now. Do they have staff working. I really think if Jack can be moved, you would be better at an emergency clinic or a veterinary hospital (if they operate after hours). Jack certainly sounds as though he needs round the clock care.

I’ll keep an eye on the forum, I’m hoping others will be on soon.

Prayers and hugs,
Vally

[admin]

Dear Wade,
I am so sorry you are going through this horrible thing with your beloved Jack. There are many people on this forum that have gone through exactly what you are going through. many on this board have helped people like you understand the disease a bit better, not because we are vets but because we have had a lot of experiance and heard any stories. this disease can certainly be beaten. I am not telling you there is a guarantee, but it has and can happen and you should not loose hope. The most important thing though is to have a vet on your side that also thinks that can happen, that has experiance with the disease and has treated it successfully before. An RBC count of 23 is certainly NOT near death. We have seen dogs that had a count of 9 and they came back to live happy and healthy lives.
At this point I would ask to get your dog. Them being closed is not a reason not to come and meet you so you can get Jack. Before you get him, research if there is an Emergency clinic in your area and this is where I would take him as soon as possible! At an emergency clinic there should be a vet understanding more abut this disease. You don’t need to be forceful, just let your vet know politely that you think there should be an other option and you are willing to try it. The way this is presenting is certainly serious but I do not think you should give up hope at all. Don’t hesitate, get Jack and take him to a clinic where he can be helped. It will be a long road and cost you a lot of money but there is certainly hope.

Best wishes,
Brigitte

[admin]

Wade,
I just googled Emergency Veterinary Clinics in Oregon and came up with this list:

https://oregonvma.org/care-health/emergency-animal-hospitals

If possible you want to see a specialist of internal medicine. I think you should seriously consider it.

Best wishes,
Brigitte

• This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by admin.

[admin]

Hi Wade

We will help you as much as we can – I’m very sorry this has happened to you. When this happened to our pets, it was confusing & heartbreaking & I know you will be feeling very worried, but he can make a complete recovery. Jack’s PCV is not in danger level at all, which is good news. The thought of him being on his own, with strange people around him, is something I would hate too. He does need to be under 24 supervision at the moment & I would not like him to be at a vets that was closed either.

I agree entirely with Brigitte. You need to get Jack to a 24 hour emergency clinic as soon as possible, preferably one with an internist that has experience with this disease, but don’t worry if they haven’t for now. We can give you all the information you need. I presume from the Vitamin K that Jack may have a problem with his clotting time – did they say his platelets were low at all? Could he have ingested some poison? It would be great if you could send us any tests results you have. It is possible that Jack has a problems with 2 cell lines in his blood – that is not unusual – it is called Evan’s syndrome. Without seeing the blood tests, I can’t be certain.

The dark coloured urine is because Jack is destroying his own red blood cells & something called bilirubin is causing the dark colour. From what you are saying about his yellow colouring, he has something called hemolysis. There are lots of tests that need to be done for him and the emergency clinic will be able to do that. He may also need an additional immuno-suppressent on top of the prednisone – most dogs with AIHA/IMHA do to get them better.

I am going to e-mail you a couple of things right now that you can take to the vets & discuss with them. I hope you will find someone with experience – it makes it so much easier if they have treated other cases of this disease properly before. The treatment protocol is very important to get Jack better.

I know you have a lot to think about at the moment, but have a look at the vidoes on here as soon as you can
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/aiha-video-library/aiha-introductory-videos/
This will give you good idea of what is happening inside Jack’s body.

If there is a possibility of rodenticide poisoning, we have some information
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/anticoagulant-rodenticides/

You can also look things up in the AIHA terms if you need to
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/aiha_terms/

Or just ask us on here if you’d rather.

In the meantime, please let us know how you & Jack are doing – I will be thinking about you. Everyone on here will be supporting you through this in any way we can. Jack CAN beat this.

Sending love & supportive hugs
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie x

[Wade]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and information. The vet just called 30 minutes ago and told us that when he arrived this morning, our little guy Jack had already passed. We are a mess right now and can’t think. I am sure we messed up by leaving him there and that will hurt forever.

[admin]

Hi again Wade
I should have mentioned a high temperature could well mean he has an infection.

[admin]

Dear Wade,
this is so sad and I am so sorry this has happened. of course with all that we told you you will have second thoughts and even blame yourself. Please don’t!!! You did the best you could with the knowledge you had at this point. This could have easily happen to me and many others here, because we did not know anything about this disease when our dogs were diagnosed. My dog Kahlu died after fighting the disease for a year and I know the hurt you are feeling. Please try and remember the many good memories you have of Jack.

Please accept my condolances and sympathy,

Brigitte