Kacy

rebbyreb99, Actually, Lucy was not in a shelter. She was turned into a rescue group by the owner and was in a foster home. I wasn't really trying to find fault with the rescue group, although it would be wonderful if they were a little more up to date with the effects of all of these vaccinations and treatments and at least would not allow multiple vaccinations to be given at one time - especially to a sick dog. I really do feel that the vet in this case should have known better. That was really my point. I think Lucy knew she was loved. I told her every day! Kacy

Thank you, Mary and Marty for sharing the links. The sad part is, I have Dr. Kay's book (one of about 20 books on natural healthcare for animals) and also subscribe to an online newletter from Dr. Becker and have read many of her articles. I think that's why I feel so guilty. I should have known better. Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I'm way past feeling good about taking my dogs to the vet to get their "necessary" annual vaccinations or giving meds prescribed by them. I think the saying "ignorance is bliss" applies in this case. rebbyreb, I'm so glad you found a vet you are comfortable with. It's very hard to find one who balances both traditional medicine and holistic medicine without going too far either way. I truly love my regular vet (not the one who prescribed the meds for Lucy), but she is a traditional vet so believes in traditional meds. She is not against alternative treatments at all - just concerned about how they will work with the medications she is prescribing. I can't fault her on that. I had planned to take Lucy to a holistic vet as soon as we recovered from the expense of two visits with the cardiologist and several with our regular vet. We were just getting to that point when she died. Without going into Lucy's whole history, I was so upset when I re-read the paperwork we got from the rescue group when we adopted her two years ago. I had looked over them a few times before, but apparently it didn't all sink in. Lucy was an owner surrender and had a terrible skin condition that the vet thought was mange. She was started on ivermectin within a few days of coming into the rescue, which is the traditional treatment for mange, and also an antiobiotic. One month later, she was put under anethesia for a dental (had 4 teeth pulled), put on a pain medication (Rimadyl, which is controversial itself), given her rabies vaccine, her distemper/parvo vaccine and a vaccine for leptospirosis (which is vaccine known to cause side effects and, even more importantly, is controverisal about whether it is even needed or not unless a dog is around water a lot - hunting, hiking, etc.). That was all done in the same day. It's almost like the cards were stacked against Lucy. First an owner that didn't take care of her and allowed her to be get into a terrible condition, then being blasted with traditional medications when her immune system was totally shot and having to work her way out of that, and then being hit with the heart disease and treated traditionally for that. That's an awful lot for a little 16 lb dog. I'm still waiting to hear back from my regular vet about my questions regarding the one medication. I'm also trying to decide what holistic vet I will use for my other 3 dogs so that some good comes out of all of this. But I can't get past thinking this it all at Lucy's expense. Thank you all again. Kacy

rebbyreb, I want to thank you so much for your post. I read it early this morning when I got out of bed because I couldn't sleep. I have a little candle by Lucy's picture on my desk by the computer, and I always light that first thing when it is still dark outside. This morning, it is a little memorial to both Lucy and your little Jack Russell on the anniversary of her death. It is so thoughtful of you to think of others on this day and such a tribute to her. As far as coming to peace with Lucy's death, I have not been able to do that. I had to take one of my other dogs in for his checkup last week and had a long talk with our regular vet (not the vet who prescribed the medication that I am questioning, but who agreed that it should have been given). I expressed my concerns about the medication and she promised to look into the questions I had with it. I know that the drug has helped other dogs, but I do feel that it should not have been given to Lucy. I agree that we need to question our vets before just giving everything they prescribe. Some people are not comfortable doing that, but I learned long ago that sometimes these medications cause more harm than good. I did question the cardiologist about the 3 drugs she prescribed because I'm basically afraid of all of them. But she assured me that Lucy needed all three. I was afraid to give them and afraid not to give them. When I looked online afterwards, all I was finding was glowing reviews on the medication - until after her death. It would be impossible to prove that the medication caused her death because dogs with cardiac disease can die suddenly, but due to Lucy's past issues that relate to immune system problems, I think it was just way too powerful for her. That's where I disagree with traditional vets. Everything seems to be cut and dried. With a holistic vet, they will look at other issues and past problems and go from there. I find that regular vets are sometimes set in their ways and not willing to change or see things differently. Some are still pushing the annual vaccines, and some people go along with that without question. I do think we need to educate ourselves and then make our decision based on that. But I have gotten way off the subject here, and I apologize for that. Thank you again for your kindness and support. I truly appreciate it. Please know that others are sharing your pain today also. Kacy

Mary and KayC, Thank you both for responding to my post. It's helpful to have others that seem to understand what I am going thru right now with Lucy's death. Friday will be two weeks since her death and, as you probably know, many friends at that point will probably feel that I should be over losing her. So, it's good to have a place where people understand. Since I have other dogs of this same breed, that is known to have a high rate of heart disease, I feel that I have to get answers to some of my questions. When I reach the point that I feel like I have those answers, I am going to speak with my regular vet (not the cardiologist) to let her know my findings and how I will proceed in the event another one of my dogs goes into congestive heart failure. I do agree that at some point I'm going to have to accept that this happened, and whether any of us were at fault or not, the outcome now is the same. While the pain of losing Lucy will lessen a bit over time, I don't feel that the guilt will and I will have to accept that also. Thank you again. Kacy

On February 7th, we suddenly lost our little dog, Lucy, to congestive heart failure. When I say suddenly, it was because she was doing very well and had only been diagnosed two months prior. What I didn't know at the time of her death was that one of the side effects of one of the medications she was being given was "sudden death". She was only 8 years old. Although she was of a breed that did not generally have the longevity of most small dogs due to heart issues, that was still young. While I have lost other dogs in the past and had a difficult time dealing with their deaths, Lucy's death has hit even harder, in some ways. Our two previous dogs died after many years with us and both had chronic health issues. So in some ways, it was easier to accept that we had to let them go. They were both struggling. It was still very difficult though. Lucy had had a few difficult days since her diagnosis but seemed to be doing well - eating well and her respirations were normal. She was dancing around for her breakfast that morning, as usual, and ate well. She wanted out about an hour later. She was only outside for about 5 minutes because it was so cold, and then came to the back door. I let her in, and she immediately collapsed on the floor. Within a few minutes time, she was gasping for breath and then died. We rushed her to the vet, but I knew it was too late. They told us she probably died of a ruptured chord in the heart. While that could have possibly happened without the medication, a ruptured chord was the cause of the side effect of "sudden death". I am having a lot of diffuculty accepting that it was really her time to go. We were never told by the cardiologist about that particular side effect. I questioned giving the medications because I feel like, at times, they create more problems than they solve. But she assured me Lucy needed to be on all 3 medications. In doing some reading online and comparing Lucy's ultrasound results after her death, I'm finding that her heart itself may have been strong. We knew that the one valve was faulty. According to what I'm reading, the one drug may have not been appropriate because it actually strengthened the heart further, causing the blood to flow more forcefully, and then possibly rupturing the chord. I just feel so many different emotions - overwhelming sadness, guilt and anger that the cardiologist did not fully explain the side effects. If she would have, I would have proceeded with just the two other drugs (which are ones that vets have used for years in these cases) and not given the new medication that I think caused her death. We could have easily done this, even if just on a trial basis for a few days or weeks to see how Lucy did, and then added the other drug in if absolutely necessary. I'm finding most people don't really understand why I feel like I do. They keep telling me how lucky Lucy was to have a family that cared about her so much, even if it was only for such a short amount of time (2 years) and that it was just her time to go. I don't feel that way. I just don't know how I'm ever going to resolve these issues when I feel that Lucy's life was cut short thru our own fault and the vet's fault, and it should have never happened. While we all are going with our lives, Lucy's life is over. To make matters worse, she did not have a great life before coming to us, and she was just one of the sweetest dogs you could ever ask for. I apologize for the length of this post but wanted to explain why I feel like I do. Thanks. Kacy