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Dog Problems... :(


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So my dog was throwing up yesterday, panting very heavily and shivering. She continued to vomit in to the evening hours and then had blood coming from her butt. This is her 3rd episode of this since 2007 (puking, bleeding, etc.). I took her to emerg vet hospital because it was around 11pm when I noticed the bleeding and they gave me a $1500 estimate for 3 days of hospitilization. She's only 5 years old, she's hypoallergenic, wears a cone around her head half the time because of her allergies and has had these absolutely terrible episodes of puking and bleeding. She takes a pill everyday, gets hardly no treats and the vet told me last night if I took her home she'd die from dehydration.I'm at a real loss here, I love her so much but I'm so afraid she's having such a miserable life with all of her issues and she's only 5. On top of that I have an 8 week old son who's now my #1 priority. I'm afraid of the decisions I'm going to have to make with her soon.Has anyone had similar experiences with dogs like this? She's normally a happy dog regardless of her problems, but especially since my son has been here we haven't been able to give her much attention let alone all of her issues. On top of this, I've spent thousands on her over the past couple years, it's become a real financial burden.

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Do they know what's causing the episodes? What does she eat/take for her allergies?
They don't know what's causing the episodes, most likely she happened to get in to something that doesn't sit well with her. She's part Bichon part Poodle and is a very sensitive dog.She started with Hypoallergy food, but a few months later still had another episode but it was helping with her allergies. So after more tests they came to the conclusion she has some skin disorder. Very thin skin so she's been on a food called Skin Support from Medical. That totally changed her around and was the lost shot at the time of preventing her from getting put down. She had stopped scratching/eating herself for a while although since my son has been born she's been devowering herself again.She's also given Vanectyl P pill given to her in a vegetarian canned food.It took months to get this balance of proper food for her problems. No one knows what has caused the puking/bleeding, she was originally was put on Gastrol food for stomach problems, she's had a billion tests done on her none of which told us what happened. The problem with the gastrol is that it didn't help with the allergies at all.
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Hmm. Well, that's definitely a tough one. Is the bichon/poodle a designer breed now? If so, have you talked to the breeder about trying to find her another home? Sometimes they know people that love the breed(s) and are willing to take on tough cases as long as they're otherwise good natured.

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Hmm. Well, that's definitely a tough one. Is the bichon/poodle a designer breed now? If so, have you talked to the breeder about trying to find her another home? Sometimes they know people that love the breed(s) and are willing to take on tough cases as long as they're otherwise good natured.
No they aren't, infact I think I saved this dog to be honest when I went in there. There were signs it could've been a puppy mill I think I should've reported her. I believe it's why she has problems.
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It is amazing how quick the animals become second fiddle once children come into the picture.My 2 cats have been healthy since my kids have been born so I haven't been put to the decision you are in. Ongoing medical bills can be a real burden in combination with the costs of raising your kids. Tough call.

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Sorry Jay.Sounds like this animal is suffering from some sort of doggy Crones/intestinal/digestive disease. Given your priorities, I say do what is best for the quality of life of this animal, to a point. The problem with pets is that this often comes down to money, which makes us feel like shit if we have to do the unthinkable.But if you love this doggy, and there is not much you can do, don't let her suffer, imo.I feel for ya man. I hope this turns out well. :club:

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I dont want to sound crude by any means... but you should put her down imo... that sounds horrible... when i was 15 my family dog had a tumor in his leg, and was in serious pain for quite some time... I loved him so much and cried for hours that night, but when it came to family vote, I voted to let him go..... He was in too much pain to suffer.... Now I only pet him in my dreams!

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Jay, I went through this a few years back with my Doberman. He had Canine Lymphoma which is uncurable, started with lumps under his armpits and spread from there to include small lumps all over his body. He reached the point within a few weeks of not wanting to eat at all and barely being able to get around. My options at the time were to either say goodbye to him or to spend $3-5000 on treatments that would ease the symptoms a bit but only prolong his life for about 12 months, and even if I had the money to part with (I didn't, not by a long shot) I still would have only been forcing him to live with cancer, in pain, not really enjoying much of his life at all. Had to do what was right for my friend, which was to cook him a big steak, take him for as long of a walk at his favorite park as he could manage considering his pain and weakness, and then took him for his appointment to say goodbye. I'm absolutely not going to tell you what to do, your situation could be and probably is different, just telling you that I know what it's like (which is to say, it sucks hard). If the time is right you won't need to question what to do, you'll know. Sorry to hear it man, let me know if there's something I can do.

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What makes this an especially tough call is the fact that this doesn't seem like a terminal illness, and the dog has a good quality of life for the most part (if I'm understanding the situation correctly). I have no idea what I'd do in this situation...the time, expense, his discomfort, etc., are all very difficult and legitimate reasons for letting him go.

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brings back memories of my rottwieller <sp> 6 or 7 yrs ago .. she started puking alot and it was foamy and greenish and id always yell at her and give her a kick or 2 into her kennel thinking she was getting into something she wasnt suppose to, until one day she looked so weak and cld barley walk we took her in and she had some kind of cancer and was put down i cried like a baby that night and feel bad about getting so angry at her time n time again when she would throw up :(i know what your going thru and its the tuffest part of owning a pet gl

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I hate stupid people so much. I know that everyone does...even stupid people probably do, not knowing that they're stupid themselves...but I felt like saying it anyway. Like, you know, not necessarily people who didn't get good SAT scores, but people that are jackasses.

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So I was able to take her home last night. I called the vet and they said she was doing very well, responive, drinking water, although she was still bleeding from her rear, the puking had stopped.So I got her home and surprisingly she just started seeming like herself. I have to give her a couple more meds, 1 is a liquid similar to pepto bismol for us. It just coats the stomach so it's easier on her. The other is an antibiotic to heal her up. She's back on Gastrol canned food which is for an intestinal disease (easy to pass). They told me I should talk to my regular vet and consider getting her scoped up the butt to find out what's really going on in there.So I think I'll talk to my vet this week and get some suggestions.Thanks for the support!

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Gov, I've watched a lot of House episodes and I'm fairly sure that your dog has either lupus, heavy metal poisoning, or leukaemia. You might want to pass this info on to your regular vet so he can narrow it down further.

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Gov, I've watched a lot of House episodes and I'm fairly sure that your dog has either lupus, heavy metal poisoning, or leukaemia. You might want to pass this info on to your regular vet so he can narrow it down further.
If you'd really watched a lot of House you'd know this was amyloidosis.
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Does anyone have any experience with pet medical insurance? I've been looking into getting a policy for my dog, but I really don't want to wind up with a provider who will happily take my money every month, until it comes time to pay out, when they'll make me have to hire a lawyer...

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Gov, I've watched a lot of House episodes and I'm fairly sure that your dog has either lupus, heavy metal poisoning, or leukaemia. You might want to pass this info on to your regular vet so he can narrow it down further.
If you'd really watched a lot of House you'd know this was amyloidosis.
me2: if this isn't pillow talk...speedz: go on...me2: I'd prefer to just trail offHouse: autoimmune
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Does anyone have any experience with pet medical insurance? I've been looking into getting a policy for my dog, but I really don't want to wind up with a provider who will happily take my money every month, until it comes time to pay out, when they'll make me have to hire a lawyer...
good luck with that.
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Does anyone have any experience with pet medical insurance? I've been looking into getting a policy for my dog, but I really don't want to wind up with a provider who will happily take my money every month, until it comes time to pay out, when they'll make me have to hire a lawyer...
Actually I'm interested in this too, but I got a feeling with the history of my dog there's no way in hell an insurance company would sign the papers unless I pay an arm and a leg.
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Actually I'm interested in this too, but I got a feeling with the history of my dog there's no way in hell an insurance company would sign the papers unless I pay an arm and a leg.
I did some initial research on it - insurance provisions are always crazy, but it seemed to be one of those situations where they only covered appointments and regular maintence. i.e. you might pay $50 a month instead of $600 a year, but the coverage for real emergencies was very limited.Plus, unless it is from a reputable breeder, all the 'pre-existing condition' clauses are arguable.I suggest talking to your vet though, there are several larger companies out there, maybe some people have had good experiences.
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if it's only covering known expenses, you're just handing them 3%+ for processingidk, I probably wouldn't bother. how expensive is the most expensive procedure for a cat/dog?
My kitten needed a surgery that required only an overnight stay that would've cost more than $3K, though probably only $1500 if I lived in a bigger city. Procedures for dogs tend to be more expensive, and can easily run a few thousand.I do agree though - most that I researched seemed to be just spreading out expenses, which is pointless and increases costs. If they are administered by reputable companies, who wouldn't balk at a real emergency, they could be worthwhile.
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