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Lost My 4 Y/o Chinese Shar Pei


CHERYL ANNA

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HELLO everyone, brand new to this board,

just having a hard time with the loss of my 4 1/2 y/o shar pei.

Started back on Aug 10th, my initial vet said she had Lymes disease, and gave her doxycycline to speed healing, but even after a week no changes, so the

vet took her off doxycyline and put her on amoxycyline, for 5 more days,

this still did not help, so vet took her off ALL meds for 5 more days,

then put her back on doxycyline, i still see no improvements, vet said

she is a "slow healer", etc.....then she was switched to Doxycyline again, once i reached the 30 day period with no improvement the vet finally takes

an xray and finds anemia, which she didn't have Aug. 10th, and also

resp. infection and bronchial infection and needs internal specialist.

I feel that this vet mis diagnosed my Dakota (4 1/2 y/o name) and should

have done something sooner, after spending thousands of dollars and

so many antibotics, Dakota never got better, only worse, on Sept 25th

the internal specialist couldn't even see her "heart" thru the Xrays

cuz there was sooo much bacteria/infection covering, and she was just

getting worse, and had the hardest time breathing, and had to put my

"baby" down.

Its been well over 3 weeks, I feel the pain more with Dakota cuz she was

so young, and I wonder if the vet should haved done something more

after a few days on doxycyline when i brought her in on Aug 10th....

and if the vet did something maybe Dakota would be alive today.

She was my lil' girl, Dakota, I still have my 2 other Pei's at home,

who I adore, 5 & 1 y/o...but Dakota is gone, and she took alot of

my heart with her.

Just any help during this time would be great, I am so much need

of support.

thanks for listening!!

((((Cheryl Anna)))))

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Cheryl Anna,

I'm so very sorry you and treasured girl, Dakota, had to go through such an awful ordeal, and that now, in the end, you've lost her. We all know how very much this hurts, believe me. They DO take our hearts with them. Someone else once said she felt like a heart without a home now, and I feel that's right on the mark.

While I can't comment on too many specifics because I wasn't there, generally-speaking it doesn't sound like this doctor was doing enough, or fast enough, to help your baby. I've had a fair bit of experience with antibiotic use (though drugs weren't ever our first choice, but a last option instead) and it doesn't sound reasonable to continue using what already didn't work, especially having tried antibiotics for so long a period, with no good results. Normally, if they're going to work, their action begins w/i about 2-3 days, and changing types may be warranted if some, but not enough, effectiveness is seen, or if there's some other problem with the particular drug. But if they're not working at all, other things should have been considered. Basic, if not specific bloodwork should have at least been done if nothing was responding well, as well as possibly x-rays earlier on, depending on suspicions. As well, they could have and should have done a culture if possible, to check which type of antibiotic might be best indicated (if any), seeing as there was no good effect happening. If this was my vet, I'd be looking for a better one, pronto. At least, that's my opinion.

It might be a very good idea to speak again to both the regular vet and the specialist, to gather more information about what happened. You should be able to ask as many questions as you like, w/o encountering resistance from either one, as this is often a standard follow-up part of loss when an animal is under someone's medical care....just as with humans. If they won't help you understand things or can't offer a reasonable explanation of protocol, that will tell you how much they care or don't care.

I'm so sorry for your loss and hope that you not only find more answers, but that your remaining furkids and you can help each other through this, as well as us helping here.

Edited by Maylissa
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thanks Maylissa: I did write a letter to my EX vet...explaining

all the details, taking my Dakota back 5x during 30 day period, amnd

even reading about if Doxycyline does not work for lymes, **take other

tests** she never did that and never responded to my letter.

Unfort. the Internal Vet was great, she sent me flowers and sent a card

to me, explaining that they could not determine Dakotas death cuz the

antibiotcs she took did not help, she only got worse....it just sickens

me that the 1st (ex vet) could have done something, well maybe not...but

I think Dakota was too far along with being sick that there was no help

for her, she also lost 12 lbs in the 6 week period...I feel awful, dog

only 4 y/o and i sometimes wonder if vets know what they are doing.

I know I can never bring her back (dakota) but if more measures were

taken for her life, she could still be here....and I know that there

is grief, blaming, etc...I am not blaming my vet for no apparent reason,

I do have good reason, and I was shocked when my Internal Specialist told

me ***Dakota NEVER had lymes disease*** and ***that is why the doxycyline

DID NOT WORK****, so yes, I am mad, still grieving, won't bring Dakota

back....but I now have to live with this pain. The best I could do

was write a letter to the ex vet, and I wrote it not blaming, but asking

questions.....with no response back from her.

I guess it is so hard to lose a dog, that was so young, and so

precious.

Thank you all for listening!!!

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Dear Cheryl Anna,

Yah, that's BAD....very bad. You could always report your former vet, but most often nothing is done by the vet. boards, no matter which one it is. However, if it makes you feel better, it might be worth doing anyway. In my estimation, this was sheer and blatant negligence.

From my experience and what I've seen and heard from so many others, I truly believe there are far more bad, incompetent and uncaring vets out there than people want to realize. I know we have many terrible ones around us, some of whom ought to have had their licenses taken away many years ago (one is a known, active alcoholic!), but who are still practicing and (somehow) gaining new clients everyday. The medical profession protects its own, still. But it's the same as with human docs. For every great one, there are usually 10 really poor ones, and some mediocre ones as well. All you can do is be the best, darn consumer you can and spread the word if you're unhappy with service....plus always stay vigilant and learn as much yourself as you can, both beforehand and as things happen. This is also why I wouldn't use anything less than a holistic vet. Just as with holistic human doctors, more of them care more about the individual, and are more prone to search for answers as well as spend more time on a patient's case. They've often become just as disenchanted with mainstream doctoring as consumers have. If we don't demand better care, we're not going to get it.

I'm so glad to hear about what the specialist did for you afterwards, though. That's more like it (and certainly more professional!), even if it can't bring Dakota back. At least it shows some compassion.

I don't suppose you requested an autopsy be done, did you?

No matter their age, it's so hard. We lost our boy, Sabin (the black one) when he was, and I'll say, ONLY 13, versus his sister Nissa (the grey one) at 19 yrs., 7 months of age. And while Sabin's death was far more shocking to me, and Nissa's slow decline was equally as hard but more expected, long-term, they were just as hard, only in different ways....well, Nissa's still is as it was only just over a year ago. There have been many people, too, who've lost their beloved animals at even a few months old, yet the quality and depth of their relationships with them made their grief just as hard to handle as those that were much longer. Time alone doesn't determine the depth of love.

They're all so very precious in our hearts if we had loving relationships with them, and that is part of what we cherish and miss so deeply once they're 'gone'.

Edited by Maylissa
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