So sick--Please help!!

Our Cavalier Charlie is not doing well at all. He's only a year old, and has always had great health until now. His heart has always checked out clear. On Dec. 18, he was a little bit lethargic in the morning, but not so much that I was concerned. Around lunchtime, he suddenly started limping with his left hind leg. I called my husband at work, and he came home on his lunch break to see Charlie. We were worried but because we couldn't think of any way that he could have been hurt, we decided to give it a few hours. Charlie mostly laid around in his crate for the rest of the day, and we decided to take him to the vet in the morning. But when my husband went to take him out before bed, Charlie couldn't walk. My husband picked him up, and Charlie yelped. When he put him down in the yard, he collapsed and yelped again. My husband rushed him to the emergency clinic, where they did x-rays and an exam. They couldn't find anything wrong, so they gave Charlie a tentative dx of a cruciate ligament injury, and put him on Rimadyl.

The next morning Charlie was acting a lot better, walking around and only limping a bit, less than originally. We felt pretty good about the medication, but we didn't want Charlie to hurt himself, so he still spent most of his time in the crate for that day and the next. (We just took the crate with us from room to room). However, on Dec. 21, he went from seeming to feel well to feeling terrible. He wouldn't come out of the crate, and he didn't want to eat. His limp got much worse, and when my husband carried him out to pee, he would just stand there, not moving at all. Then he would take a step or two and then his hindquarters would just kind of collapse. He went to our regular vet on Monday, who said that he now thought that Charlie had injured his other rear leg from trying to compensate for the original injury. He said that we should completely confine Charlie to his crate and keep him on the Rimadyl.

Over the next few days, Charlie continued to decline physically. He went from being a little off his food to not eating at all. He stopped drinking entirely. We bought some chicken broth, which he liked at first. By Christmas, though, he would only lick the broth very slowly from my husband's fingers. He also started having respiratory symptoms, coughing and making this wheezing almost purring sound when he breathed and having nasal drainage. And he wouldn't walk almost at all. He went to the vet the day after Christmas, and had a fever of 104.5. The vet still wasn't super worried, but we insisted that he put Charlie on an antibiotic. By that time, we had taken Charlie off the Rimadyl, because after doing some research, we were also worried that he might be showing the signs of a bad reaction to the medicine. The vet didn't think so, but he went along with us and put Charlie on a different pain medicine.

Charlie has contined in our eyes to decline. He is on prescription invalid food, which my husband has to force-feed him. He will not drink anything, so my husband has to pry his mouth open and use a medical syringe to squirt it down his throat. The vet has injected fluids under his skin twice to stave off dehydration. He will almost never walk, and he is now showing a limp in the front as well. His respiratory sounds have gotten louder and more frequent. He won't take his medication unless my husband forces it down his throat. He still has a fever, his eyes look so sick, and he just lays there for hours and hours, mostly sleeping, but almost never moving.

When his bloodwork came back, he showed two high enzyme levels that the vet said show liver damage. He talked to an internist, and their best guess at this point is leptospirosis. They ran the test, and the vet said if we're lucky, we might know the results tomorrow. Charlie does have many of the symptoms, but he has been on antibiotics for nearly a week with no improvement at all. Up until yesterday, he showed no signs of kidney problems, but yesterday morning, he had peed all over his crate overnight. And now he pees more frequently, and in really large amounts, much more than usual, even though he's not taking in much fluid. He's also starting to limp with one of his front legs as well.

We just don't know what to do. If it is lepto, it must be really bad, since he's not responding to the antibiotics. And if it's not lepto, what could it be? We never really thought that he was injured, and with the other legs having problems, we're virtually certain the lameness goes along with the illlness. I keep bringing up Lyme disease to the vet, but Charlie has absolutely no history of ticks. Besides, the vet says that his lymph nodes are completely normal and that Charlie would certainly be improving by now from the antibiotics if it were Lyme. He'll go back to the vet in the morning, but we just don't know what we're missing. Does anyone recognize these symptoms? Or has anyone experienced a Cavalier having problems like these?

Thanks so much,
Andrea

Andrea, I am so sorry you are experiencing this. It must be scary and agonizing for you to be unable to find the exact problem and know how to treat it. I don't have any advice, but I wanted to let you know I am thinking of you, and I am sure someone on this board will come along that might have some answers.

The only suggestion I might make is for you to get another opinion from a different vet. It sounds like they haven't been real agressive with trying to diagnose the problem. That may be incorrect, but sometimes you just need a fresh opinion from a different doctor.

Hugs to you all and I hope you get some answers soon and that Charlie recovers quickly.

It does sound like your Charlie is very sick but I don't have any knowledge re: his symptoms. Is there a University Vet Hospital within driving range? Feels as tho' your vets are not finding the cause unless the blood test comes back positive and that is why I ask about a University Hospital or a large Vet Clinic with specialists aboard. These places usually see many types of illnesses and, by that, have large experience. To me it sounds as if he should be on IV fluids as a start to keep up his hydration and should be being observed in a Hospital setting . I know you are very concerned and :hug: to you during this hard time. This is so difficult to deal with during a Holiday. Keep him hydrated-dehydration can really interfere with wellness. :xfngr: Wish I could help you more.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I can only echo what Frecklesmom said about getting Charlie to a specialist. Could you bring him to the internist that your vet consulted with? Maybe if he saw with his own eyes how ill Charlie is, he might have a better idea of a diagnosis. In my mind, he needs to have constant observation and IV hydration. It's so horrible when our babies are sick. Good luck to you.

A word of caution, please be careful administering fluid from a syringe. Don't squirt it down the throat, introduce it gradually via the pouch at the side of the mouth.
If given wrongly the fluids could reach the lungs which you obviously don't want.

Hope you get some answers soon, poor boy.

Hi Andrea, what a nightmare! I have no experience of these conditions.

It is staggering to me that you and your husband are having to perform such high level nursing to what is obviously an incredibly sick little boy. The current vet doesn't seem to be grasping just how ill Charlie is.

Like the others I am of the opinion he should at the very least be on an IV and receiving constant care. If I can offer you advice it would be to get him that care NOW, even if you change vet / ideally are able to go to a larger practice they can always liase with your current vet for test results tomorrow.

:flwr:

"he just lays there for hours and hours, mostly sleeping, but almost never moving"

My Mum who's a nurse just read this is disbelief, and highlighted the problem of pressure sores together with dehydration etc (prevention is better than cure).

Poor poor Charlie get him to the emergency vet!

Good luch Andrea!

Please please get him to a vet that is only bit of advice I would give
---Aileen and the gang(Barney----Jazzie---Jane)

Thank you everyone who has responded so quickly. I want to reassure you that we are trying the best we can. We unfortunately do not have a lot of money so we have been trying to go through the regular vet as much as possible. We have already spent almost $1000 in the last two weeks, and we still don't really know what's even going on with Charlie. My husband is a teacher and I stay home with our youngest little boy. We have discussed hospitalization several times with the vet, but he keeps trying to reassure us that Charlie is not dehydrated and hasn't lost much weight and that his kidneys look good. He says that these are signs that Charlie is not gravely ill. I don't really agree with him; I live with Charlie and can see with my eyes that he is really sick. But we don't have an endless amount of money to spend. I asked the doctor what they would do for Charlie if we hospitalized him, and he said that they would put him on an IV and monitor him. This would cost us around $300 a day. If you add additional testing in, it could easily cost us $3000 for this next week. We don't have that kind of money to spend. We have already spent most of our emergency savings.

I do agree with you that something else needs to be done. We are going to contact animal hospitals in our area and see what they say. We are in the DFW area if anyone on this board knows where we should take him.

Thank you,
Andrea

I've been thinking about Charlie since I first read your post and if you have an emergency center near you, I would get him there ASAP. I know I would feel better if someone were watching over him constantly and is able to respond immediately if his condition deteriorates further. Keep us updated.

Keep thinking about your boy and wondering how he's doing. His respiratory sounds could be caused by taking food and liquids by mouth when he is so weak. Some of the food or liquid can go into the trachea instead of just down the esophagus and he can then have aspiration pneumonia which can be very serious, that's why such a sick little guy needs to be on I.V.'s. He could have regular pneumonia from lack of moving about for so long-either way his increased respiratory sounds need to be addressed. Please let us know how he's doing and please take him to a good emergency care today-don't wait for tomorrow. You've done a heroic deed getting food and fluids into Charlie-so unnerving for pet parents to deal with such a sick fellow :xfngr: for Charlie's wellness. You won't be out of our thoughts and prayers.

Oohh! Your poor little dog! I sure wish I could offer some useful advise. But since I can't really, I'd just like to let you know that many of us will be checking this post regularly in hopes of hearing of some positive response from Charlie. I do agree though with others that have replied that Charlie certainly sounds like he should be in the hospital on IV.

Where are you from; is Leptospirosis (sp?) know to be a risk in your area? Was Charlie vaccinated?

I must admit that going by your description, I agree that some of your vet's approaches to this seem -- well, bizarre and rather indifferent. I'd have gone to a different vet for a second opinion or to a specialist via a vet school. I'd also be concerned that the respiratory problems getting louder may be because you are accidentally syringing fluid into his lungs and this alone could be a major contributing factor to his decline. I know of dogs that have died from being syringed with water incorrectly -- they actually drown -- so as Ruth notes, this is really something to be very cautious about and to make sure is being done correctly.

Keep in mind that seeing a regular vet who is unable to diagnose correctly, rather than a specialist, may well end up costing far more in the long run -- a specialist can often pick up the problem immediately.

To me this does sound like an emergency case however -- it is very alarming that he is so ill that he barely moves all day. But maybe you are seeing more problems than are actually there -- which can be easy to do, and it is very hard to know. I would get a second opinion -- I think you need this because either your vet is not getting to the problem, or you need to be reassured by a second opinion that you are perhaps seeing a larger issue than is actually there.

Andrea -- I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. I would second and third the suggestion to take him to a different vet, one at least affiliated with a 24 hour emergency care center. My vet is associated with one such center and I know that the DVM's there are trained well in diagnostics and emergency care. I also know that there are often "good samaritan" funds in place at such centers. I just had a rescue that I picked up spend 2.5 days at my vet clinic -- he was treated for an infection, fleas, had vaccines, bath, anal gland expression and general around the clock nursing care all for just $140. You may be surprised to learn that emergency care is more affordable than what your current vet is telling you.

Please keep us informed and know that you're in my thoughts and prayers.

Andrea-

I live in the DFW area and have PM'ed you my vets information.

Where in the Dallas area do you live???? There are emergency clinics all around. We had to take one of our dogs to one and they were great.....

Charlie's story is just breaking my heart. I think I would get him to an ER vet as soon as possible. I'm sorry but it sounds like your regular vet is not taking this seriously enough. He most definitely is not well. Hoping and praying Charlie is going to be okay. Please keep us updated. I'm going to be worrying and thinking about him, and knowing the kind of anguish you are going through as well.

Thanks so much to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

We live in Bedford, which is in the Mid-Cities area. I am willing to travel a distance if necessary. Right now, my husband wants to take Charlie to our vet once more early in the morning. Our guy will be on vacation, so we'll actually deal with the other vet in the practice; she hasn't seen Charlie yet. I don't have a lot of confidence that they'll say anything new, but we will get to see if the results are in from the lepto test. We also want to get the medical records so that we don't have to start from scratch with a new vet or a specialist. I found one place online that looks promising. It's called the Veterinary Referral Center of North Texas, and it looks to have multiple specialists. We need a referral from our vet to go there, though. Does anyone else have any specific suggestions for hospitals in the area? I tried to look up University hospitals, but I must admit, I'm not really sure how to find them. A&M is unfortunately way too far away.

CVFlagg--I will call Lover's Lane Clinic in the morning and talk to them. Thanks for that.

As far as Charlie goes, there's really no change to report either way. He's been mostly sleeping all day, and as my husband described it, he's limping with his whole body, if that's possible. He did swallow all of the food and his pills this morning, and he actually drank his water out of my husband's hand (he's the best nurse!). He left the crate on his own a couple of times today (he has done that a few other times) to try to be near us. He almost immediately goes back to sleep once he lays down again though, so I don't know if that's a good sign or not.

I also want to reassure the people that are concerned about Charlie's lungs that the vet did listen to them closely on several occasions, and he said that they sounded completely clear. He said that the wheezing sound was coming from his nose and throat, not his chest. Other than the limping getting a bit worse today, I would say that Charlie seems just the same, still sick, but not declining any further. I wish that I could say that he is better; I don't even really know what to look for in terms of improvement.

Obviously, I was somehow hoping that someone here would have had experience with at least some of these symptoms with their Cavs. I must admit that it's really scary that no one has had any of this happen with their dog. I really appreciate people taking the time to be so kind and helpful to us. And please rest assured, we have listened to your advice. We will definitely take Charlie somewhere else tomorrow.

Thank you so much,
Andrea

you and Charlie will be in my thoughts tomorrow. Please post an update. I hope to hear that things are looking better by then.

Oh Andrea, I am so upset just reading your post. It does seem that your vet is a bit dismissive of what you are telling him, in light of the extreme symptoms that you are observing. Please keep us posted on little Charlie's progress, and hopefully you can find a specialist who can get to the bottom of this and diagnose and treat him properly. You might also see if there is a payment program that you could take advantage of in light of the expenditures that are taxing your family. Will keep your family and Charlie in my thoughts and prayers. :hug: