Yesterday morning at 7 am he started doing this hacking/coughing/gagging thing. Its not the reverse sneeze type sound, it is as though he's trying to hack something up.
He kept his tail down, ears down, his eyes are watery a bit, and he began vomiting a bile with a pinkish tint. I took him straight to the vet, when he vomited. As I was gettting his records together and such he started a gagging/coughing fit that stiffened up his front legs.
Vet gave him a shot that she said would relax his stomach and help with his pain, said no food no water for rest of the day (a little water later in the evening. i'll get ot that part), told me to give him pepto bismol (which I did), he was somewhat dehydrated, temp of 102.8 (normal, she said). Yesterday evening, at about ten I tried to give him water but he gagged when he tried to swallow, but did show some interest in wanting it.
He had vomited up a bile type fluid approximately 15 times since leaving the vet, and it is getting a bit more red and less pink as it goes on.. like a crimson color. Vet said blood would be darker..
We have no emergency vet services/hospitals in my area. I just moved here approx 8 weeks ago, and honestly am not too thrilled with the vet choices. I have visited four, and wasn't happy, but with this problem picked the best option for me, in this emergency. She fit me in to her VERY busy day, took a lot of time to explain things to me, etc. I really liked her, I just don't know how 'sound' her advice is..
She said if he is not improving by morning, if it's an object and he hasnt gotten it out, to take him back in for bloodwork, and xray, and to be monitored by them. I never mentioned money being a problem, it really isnt.. if it was I wouldnt have dogs.. but she right away said let's make sure it's not something he can take care of before we spend lots of money on expensive tests.
Then he got that much worse. He was coughing/vomiting up blood. Deep red blood all over my livingroom. It was terrible.
I dialed an emergency number for the vet's office where I had taken him earlier in the day. They paged the Dr I had seen, and she called me back within two minutes. She lived fifteen minutes from the clinic and met me there 20 minutes after our call.
Meantime, I live four blocks from there, so I called my mom to come and get me and Dokker and take us, I was hysterical.. the blood just kept coming.
She gave him xrays and did some bloodwork. Found his lungs were filling with blood, bloodwork, however, was normal. After two hours there, she hooked him to an IV and said that the facility was incapable at that point, of treating him, but that he was as stable as she could get him. We had to move. She called ahead to a clinic in Appleton (2.5 hours from me) and between them all they decided it was likely he had gotten in to some sort of rat poison/equivelant poison/toxin, and was 'bleeding out'. Itd be a minimum of 1500 dollars to stabalize him, blood transfusion, something, I didnt care. I said what's the fastest way to get there? When she discovered that his blood that she had drawn wasn't clotting, she knew he needed more than she could give, IV'd him, gave him Vitamin K and told us to get there asap. She was very, very concerned, caring, and wonderful.
So, I held my precious baby boy in my lap while my mom drove, we made it 45 minutes before he started bleeding all over me from his mouth and nose.. five minutes later he looked up at me and I knew he had fought a good fight, but that his little body just couldn't handle anymore. So I stroked his head and whispered how much I loved him, and I told him it was ok.. that he did good, he was a good boy, and mommy loved him, and said it was ok for him to go. And he leaned in to my chest, opened his mouth, looked up at me, and passed away.
I am sobbing so uncontrollably right now. I just feel so lost.
So we wrapped him up and laid him on the back seat, and came home. I came in my house and wrapped Dook up in my arms and cried myself to sleep. Dook is just going crazy right now, wanting to know where his little brother is..
At 8 oclock I brought his beautiful little body to the vet for cremation and a necropsy. She cried, I cried, we all cried. I just can't stop picturing his adorable little face, and big black eyes.
OMG!!! I am so sorry...you had me in tears. My thoughts are with you. I hope they will be able to find what was wrong..I'm sure that will set your mind at ease. Again I am sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry your baby has died, Dook. Very sad. Was he skipperkie? We have a sweetie that looks very much like him in our rescue. Again, I am so sad and sorry that this had happened, such a tradgety.
OMG I am so sorry! He looked like a really sweet sweet boy! I remember that pic of him, I Loved it!!!!! I'm sure he's at the Rainbow bridge running and playing with all the others waiting for you! Again I'm so sorry, I hope they find out what he into or what was wrong.
Oh my gosh, what a beautiful boy he was! I am so, so sorry to hear that he passed away...I truly cannot imagine how you're feeling right now. Please know that you're in our thoughts and prayers.
I am so very sorry.....I know how you feel and can only wish condolences as I know that there is nothing that will make you feel better but time. Just try to remember him as he was, not how he passed. We have had animals(when I was a kid) that dies from D-Con. I REFUSE to have it ANYWHERE near me, it is not allowed in my house, and my animals do not go anywhere where it is. It is a horrible thing. Any animal that eats it, or that eats an animal(mouse, etc) that has eaten it, suffers needlessly, I am not a fan of snap traps but I would advocate them over poison any day.
I am so terribly sorry for your loss. . . He was a very beautiful boy. May he rest in peace and may you always remember his happy face. RIP
Thank you all, it means a lot to me, having support. The vet called and said the necropsy showed (98pct sure) that it was a form of poisoning. Makes me sick, absolutely sick. He did get out of the gated yard about two weeks ago, but it wasnt for long, maybe four minutes between me checking on him, when I didnt see him in the yard I called for him and he ran to the gate like, 'let me in mommy'. But in that three to four minutes he apparently foudn something, as I have searched high and low and every nook and cranny of this house and the yard, and found nothing.
Dook is on Vitamin K, just in case they both got into something, as a precaution. Again, thanks for the kind words and prayers.
From what I have heard & read poisoning generally wouldn't take a couple of weeks to become a problem. As scary as it is since you have been unable to find anything that he might have gotten into is there any chance that some lunatic might have thrown something into your yard? I would be very careful and take a good look around before letting Dook out into the fenced yard.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I've got tears running down both cheeks after reading that. It hurts SO BAD when our little loved ones pass on or get hurt....I know the feeling well. I just can't imagine having my baby pass in my arms like that, but if it had to happen - thats where I'd want it.
You are truly in my thoughts right now and my heart hurts with you. He was such a beautiful dog....a beautiful baby...
Hang in there.....cry it out....let yourself grieve.
Lots of sad news around here lately, but thats what makes us a community.....even though its a small community......we all can understand and help each other...
Thanks again :( Dook is doing fine, still. I have his bloodwork appt on Friday, to make sure there are no signs still, and to make sure that if he did get whatever Dokker got into, the Vitamin K I've had him on has worked.
I will be getting Dokker's ashes back this week as well. Nicholas (boyfriend) dug out a whole new section of his lawn/garden/patio area the evening that he died, and we planted all new bulbs, about forty flowers total, in Dokker's name. I'm having a stone made in remembrance for him as well, we'll put that it there. His little garden :) His ashes I'll put up on the mantle with his pic in a frame that Nicholas's sister and Mom sent. Real cute, a Schipperke frame.
It's definitely getting easier. Time sure does heal us. But he'll never be forgotten, nor will you guys, for your kind words during tough times.
I tried to post on Stormy's thread the other day, but it wouldnt show up. I'm also sorry to her and all the others who've gone through such tough times.
I am so very sorry!
