[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: lame (not GS)
- From: "steve d." <cimarrongsd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <carolynmckenna@xxxxxxxxx>, "'showgsd'" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:12:34 -0500
Carolyn,
I have included two emails from last fall about one of my girls.
She went lame in very early October. By late October, she was dead.
I am not saying this is what your daughter's bitch has.
I am just saying I would never have associated lameness with cancer.
Please see below after your post.....
/steve d.
-----Original Message-----
From: showgsd-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:showgsd-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of carolyn mckenna
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 10:53 AM
To: showgsd
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] lame (not GS)
Hello, listers,
My daughter has a problem with her catahoola bitch. She has been going lame on
her left leg erratically for quite some time. This morning's episode occurred
when she went out to chase a ball during their morning walk. She screamed and
would not put her leg down.
My daughter had to carry her home. This has happened several times. Eventually
she seems to return to normal and will be without pain for some time. She has
been to the vet and has had e-rays and there have been no definitive results. I
have to admit that I have no faith in this vet and have advised her to go
elsewhere. Thought I would ask you if you have encountered anything like this
and see what you think she should do.
Thanks,
Carolyn
(From Oct 31, by Steve D)
This past weekend, I had to take one of my 8 champions in a single litter to the
vet for the second time.
I had previously taken 'Shortcake' to the vet for what had appeared to be a
severe lameness in the left front.
X-rays were negative and the vet seemed to go with the idea that maybe she had
severely hyperextended the leg or torn a muscle or ligament.
For several days now she has been on meds for pain and infection, but Thursday
took a turn for the worse.
Her breathing became very shallow and very fast.
Again I took her to the vets and was there in the emergency room for about six
hours.
The blood work came back normal except for a high white cell count and low
platelets.
The site at which he drew blood took several hours to clot.
Additional x-rays seemed to show a possible buildup of fluids in her abdomen.
The vet tried to aspirate a sample from her abdomen.
This caused her great pain, and she never seemed to recover from this event.
The next couple of hours had her almost screaming in pain periodically, and then
she would fall back into the sleep induced by the pain killer.
The vet wanted to keep her thru the night to watch her.
I reluctantly agreed, realizing that I had probably seen her alive for the last
time.
The following morning, I got the phone call I did not want to hear.
She had passed away during the night.
I agreed to have the vet take some samples to send off to the university to try
to determine the cause of her death.
When I picked her up, the vet told me that some of her lymph nodes were enlarged
and I think he told me she had blood in her abdominal cavity.
This morning, as I am pondering digging her grave, I am wondering how she went
down hill so fast.
(From Nov 4 by Steve D)
Hi All,
First, I would like to thank everyone who sent me their condolences
on the recent loss of my girl, Shortcake.
I was overwhelmed with all the sympathetic and concerned responses.
Many people offered their suggestions on what her possible cause of death,
whether it might be something like tick born ehrlichia, a lymphoma,
or perhaps something like mesenteric torsion or toxic gut.
Sorry, about the following being so long. You might want to go to the very end
for the conclusion.
From what I read in people?s responses, many were concerned about why a dog
went downhill so fast and whether or not this might be a situation they might
find themselves??
Keep in mind that she first became very lame on her left front leg.
She would not use it at all.
After several days of this (my fault for not having her seen sooner),
she went to the vet for x-rays regarding her lameness.
The x-rays were negative for broken bones.
[Later re-examination of these films (after her death) did show some shadowing
in her chest.]
At this time, the vet was thinking, a hyperextended limb, torn muscle or
torn ligament or possibly an infection of some kind.
He prescribed prednisone, clavamox, and tramadol.
This day, October 19, was the same day that her sister was in the vets office
for an appointment.
The vet wanted to do some follow up blood work on her sister about a week after
this appointment.
I had told him it would be a little later than one week due to my upcoming
surgery on October 26.
I came home from the hospital the following day to find Shortcake
with the short and rapid breathing.
I offered her some canned food and she did not eat it.
It was about this time that I noted that her breath reeked of rotting
meat/flesh.
I called the vet to make an appointment for her sisters blood work and
also said that I was going to bring Shortcake in.
Friday, I loaded the two into the vehicle.
Shortcake had cried out in pain (for the first time) while she was out in the
yard pottying.
I thought perhaps another dog was picking on her. That was not the case.
She did move to the vehicle under her own power and
for the most part climbed into it without too much assistance.
During the trip to the vet she did whine occasionally, but I figured this to be
from the discomfort of her sore left front leg.
The rest of the story is pretty much how I described it two days ago.
The vet x-rayed her chest again (sideways and positioned with the legs up)
The films again showed nothing broken, but an increased shadowing
which he attributed possibly to fluid buildup or cancer.
He tried to aspirate a sample from her chest cavity,
but this did not withdraw anything and there was a definite decline
in her health from this point on.
He drew a blood sample & sent to the lab (which was having a bad day getting
things analyzed promptly that day).
The site of the blood draw took forever to clot.
He administered Lasix for the fluid buildup and injectable baytril for possible
infection.
He also injected her with some sort of pain killer that made her drift in and
out of a sleep.
After getting the results of the blood work ( high white count and low platelet
count),
he persuaded me to go home.
He called me about 9 pm that nite saying things were still the same.
The following morning I got the phone call saying she had passed away.
He suggested taking samples to send to the university
to perhaps determine her cause of death.
He took samples of the hardened muscle tissue around her left shoulder,
of her lung, and of a lymph node.
When I picked her body up later Saturday morning, he said that several
of her lymph nodes were enlarged (consistent with infection or cancer)
and her chest cavity had fluid mixed with blood in it.
This evening (now last nite) he informed of the results of the samples sent to
the university:
?Steve
The biopsy on Shortcake came back as cancer (adenocarcinoma) in muscle, lung and
lymph node. These were metastatic from some other place, the pathologist said
probably from the intestine or stomach.
Tom?
The symptoms that were visible to me were:
1. An extended period of severe lameness in a front leg (this would never
have clued me to look for cancer)
2. short and rapid breathing
3. foul breath that smelled like decaying flesh
4. loss of appetite
5. intense pain
(the last 4 occurred within the last 36 hours of her life)
In a nutshell, she was full of cancer.
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