hearts and roses
Mind Reader
Our dog Sophie, an almost 8 year old cairn terrier, has been very lethargic, eating snow, and losing weight the past couple of weeks. And her hair looks funky, not full and fluffy like normal - it's tufted and strange looking, almost greasy. She's peeing and BM-ing okay, but despite upping her food intake, she is always ravenous.
Today she went to the vet to get checked out. One look at Sophie's gums and our vet said she was severely anemic. After some initial bloodwork, the vet said that Sophie's red blood cell count should be between 30-35 and her's is only at 13, less than half normal. By all rights, the vet said Sophie should've collapsed by now and was amazed at her stamina (because she's barking, walking and eating). This is where the confusion comes in - she has an appetite.
They took a lot of blood and made her drink water by putting treats in it. They gave her two handfulls of treats and she ate them and was looking for more. They also took two stool samples from her. They have checked preliminarily for certain parasites and those tests came back negative. They also checked for a parasite that is related to lymes and since she has had lymes, they figured it was worth a shot.
The final blood work will determine whether or not her body is battling something that is preventing her bone marrow from producing normal red blood cells or if it's not making it at all, which leaves us on the edge of our seat. If her body is not making it at all, they can try a few things, but basically, it means she likely has cancer and will decline rapidly. The vet said rapidly only because her symptoms to date came on so fast. on the other hand, if there is something attacking her bone marrow, they can try various antibiotics and steroids.
The vet said we have to keep a close eye on her because she could collapse and we'd need to take her to the animal ER for a blood transfusion. We also have to feed her beef and poultry livers, as well as her normal vitamins and an iron supplement they gave me today.
I cannot even tell you how astounded I am - easy child was with me and we were both dumbfounded by this news. Sophie is the dog who is all puppy - even at 8 years old; she's playful, full of energy, teases and barks at everything. She runs off, comes back, does giant donut rounds in the yard, burrows through the snow and is polite when you give her a treat. Never bites. And loves to snuggle. She is also kinda sort difficult child's dog.
I am keeping a positive thought that this is something Sophie can overcome. Please throw up a prayer, if you will, for I do not want to lose Sophie and I especially do not want difficult child to lose Sophie. She's the blonde one in my avatar.
Today she went to the vet to get checked out. One look at Sophie's gums and our vet said she was severely anemic. After some initial bloodwork, the vet said that Sophie's red blood cell count should be between 30-35 and her's is only at 13, less than half normal. By all rights, the vet said Sophie should've collapsed by now and was amazed at her stamina (because she's barking, walking and eating). This is where the confusion comes in - she has an appetite.
They took a lot of blood and made her drink water by putting treats in it. They gave her two handfulls of treats and she ate them and was looking for more. They also took two stool samples from her. They have checked preliminarily for certain parasites and those tests came back negative. They also checked for a parasite that is related to lymes and since she has had lymes, they figured it was worth a shot.
The final blood work will determine whether or not her body is battling something that is preventing her bone marrow from producing normal red blood cells or if it's not making it at all, which leaves us on the edge of our seat. If her body is not making it at all, they can try a few things, but basically, it means she likely has cancer and will decline rapidly. The vet said rapidly only because her symptoms to date came on so fast. on the other hand, if there is something attacking her bone marrow, they can try various antibiotics and steroids.
The vet said we have to keep a close eye on her because she could collapse and we'd need to take her to the animal ER for a blood transfusion. We also have to feed her beef and poultry livers, as well as her normal vitamins and an iron supplement they gave me today.
I cannot even tell you how astounded I am - easy child was with me and we were both dumbfounded by this news. Sophie is the dog who is all puppy - even at 8 years old; she's playful, full of energy, teases and barks at everything. She runs off, comes back, does giant donut rounds in the yard, burrows through the snow and is polite when you give her a treat. Never bites. And loves to snuggle. She is also kinda sort difficult child's dog.
I am keeping a positive thought that this is something Sophie can overcome. Please throw up a prayer, if you will, for I do not want to lose Sophie and I especially do not want difficult child to lose Sophie. She's the blonde one in my avatar.
