My doggie died :( (What's wrong with my dog??)

I am so sorry; it is obvious he had a wonderful life with you.

 

I'm so sorry.

 

I am so sorry.

 

I'm lucky in that the animal hospital that I go to has at around 6-8 vets so if one vet doesn't know what's wrong they can get advice from others. When my dog had a terrible ear infection that didn't clear up after a month, my (younger) vet conferred with more experienced one to figure things out. At one point we had 3 vets in the room with us talking about the test results and they were finally able to figure out what they should do (my dog must have very stubborn ears). If I can help it I will never go to a veterinary clinic that only has 1-2 vets in residence.

 

^ That's great, I like that! The next dog I get, I want to belong to a bigger veterinary facility. Not that the one I had w/ my last dog wasn't good, but he was just the 1 vet.

 

Yes, they are amazing. They are located in a very small town so I was surprised they had such a great facility. It's only about 20 minutes away from where I live so it's not too far in case of an emergency.

 

So sorry for your loss. Our pets are really our babies! Although the end was not pleasant, try to remember all the good memories you had with your pet. I do know what you’re going through as I lost one of my cats two weeks ago. She was 18 years old, and she was the cat my children grew up with. It is hard, but the sadness does pass. I am so glad she passed before our area felt the real impact of Covid-19 because that would have made things much more difficult!

 

I am so sorry I know how hard it is to lose a beloved member of the family

 

This is my Oso's last camping trip. It was 2 weeks ago, 2 days before he got sick. So it was recorded and edited before all that, hence all the smiling in the video. Then when he got sicker and passed away I didn't want to deal with it, but then I thought, this was his last camping trip, I don't want it to be forgotten, I want to be able to look back later. I did add a tribute and some information at the end, so if you ever lost a pet, you might cry I did while I was talking.

 

So sorry to hear the news. I remember how awful I felt when my doggie passed. 20 years later i still feel the pangs. Sending you best wishes...

 

I am really sorry! Over the years, I have had2 pets that I loved so much. It is hard when they pass on because they carry so many memories of our lives with them. 1 of mine went through divorce, a death, and empty nest syndrome with me.
Mine died a couple of yrs ago, I decided not to get another do to time constraints.
I hope you can remember the happy times you had with Oso and smile at some point. <3

 

OP, I am very sorry for the loss of your dog - been there, done that. As the wife of a veterinarian, however, I feel that I should explain some things that apparently weren't made clear to you when you conversed with your vets. A lot of times vets choose to admit a pet into the hospital because there are more forms of monitoring that can be done by trained personnel. One example would be monitoring the heart, BP, urine concentration, blood work that would indicate internal bleeding, kidney failure, and the list goes on. I can conceive of ways that several of these results may have helped lift the veil of what was going on. While in the hospital, someone who is medically trained is monitoring the animal, and looking for things differently than you might on your own, and then they start to put the pieces together to form a diagnosis. I would not go so far as to say that hospitalizing your dog would have changed the outcome, but maybe have provided the information to make an informed decision about euthanasia.

The last dog of my own that needed a small animal vet was showing neurological symptoms when I got home from school. Hubby and I monitored him for an hour or so, before making the decision to take him to Animerge. Their exam indicated what I already knew in my heart. It appeared to be a neurological problem, most likely an injury. I accepted their recommendation to go to a well known clinic with many specialists, another hour down the road. The clinic did blood work, xrays, monitored vitals, and then we talked. The next step would be a CAT Scan, since there were no marks outside on his body. As I spent time with him, he slowly started to show more neurological symptoms - I used to work in an ICU, and I recognized them all to well. At that point, through the tears, I called my husband and son to tell them that I felt there was only one humane thing left to do, despite how much we loved him. Through tears, we all agreed. I was given some time alone with him, with lights softened, to say goodbye. When I was ready, it was a simple injection in his IV line, and I am the last touch he felt, the last person he saw. I was left alone for as long as I wanted to be with my dear friend. When I was composed, he was prepared, ready for burying or cremation. He looked, truly, like he was just sleeping. I got home just in time to go to work that next morning, so I couldn't truly grieve until later that evening.

Because hubby is a vet, I'm cognizant of what prices are, and why. Obviously, had I been aware of how it would play out, I could have put him to sleep at home. But disease is an ever changing, almost living event, and what I could tell at six in the evening was quite different from the symptoms I could see at 10, and again at 3 in the morning. The work that was done on my dog was exactly what I needed to make an informed decision. I am a science teacher, and I needed the science to help me understand what was happening and how it would affect any outcome. I know that the prices you were quoted took you by surprise, but the best small animal hospitals are very sophisticated. If you think that is bad for a large dog, you should hear some of the estimates for horses that must be hospitalized - those prices often force owners to choose euthanasia because the prices are steep. There are reasons for these high prices - many vets have done internships or residencies. The price of the building and the "toys" inside are extremely high, so much so that most new vets now must work for someone long enough to earn enough or learn enough to find partners to get the start up capital. My husband is still a solo practitioner, but with a specialty that has him do farm calls. He doesn't miss having to put down animals that he may have seen born, and treated all their lives. That was hard for him.

Once again, sorry for your loss. It is never easy to lose good friends.

 

Thank you. I understand what you're saying but I still feel that vet prices are outrageous.
I have talked to a friend who has had many many dogs over the years and had 5-6 dogs died of heart failure (and ultimate heart attack) and they had the same symptoms as my Oso did, including the hiding under the bed, the harder / faster breathing at the end and the vomiting of blood at the end. He said he was 100 % positive that he died of a heart attack.
I googled it, and the symptoms are the same, even including the constant drooling which he had during this time.
This sort of gives me some peace, because even if the vet would have known, there would be nothing they could have done, and his heart was just giving out. It was just his time to go. Maybe he was older than I thought, instead of 8 or 9, he could have been 10 or 11 easily.

But I also know that paying $3500 for them to monitor him for 24 hours would have not done anything and an abdominal ultrasound wouldn't have showed this. So I would have just paid $1000s, and who knows, what if he died there in their cage, all alone, thinking I abandoned him??
It's hard either way, and I am heartbroken although slowly healing, and I'm not directing my anger at the vet(s). It's just an observation, that out of all the experiences I have ever had with them, they actually never new what was wrong with my dog (2 different occasions) and never could help him.

 

UPDATE ON OUR YORKIE - He's recovered!
Well this was a learning experience. When I was a kid, lessons learned cost your butt. Like most learning experiences as an adult, it cost money. For all of you who give dogs scraps, you may be killing your pet with love. We have done this for years. Small treat size portions. Not all dogs can digest fat well. Prior to our dog getting sick, he and the other dogs got small portions of steak scraps. The fat effects the pancreas and makes them really sick. We got a printed sheet this and pills for 10 days. Now none of the dogs get anything unless it is for dogs. He is fully recovered and back to being naughty, loud, and wondering "where's the scraps?"
Say NO to scraps!