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Another Chloe thread....I need help...she is sick

4K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  blueberry 
#1 ·
Good Afternoon,

Sorry, I have been away for a while. We moved 800 miles back to Virginia. I have been very busy with the move and trying to find new jobs. We are living with Bob's mom until we find the right house to buy.

Chloe had kennel cough in March. I went back and forth to the vet because the cough would not clear. She was taken to the cardio doctor for a ultrasound and given the all clear. Heart in great shape. The cardio dr. said the cough should clear up soon. And it did for the most part. She said it could take a while before it was totally gone. We move at the end of July. I think it was a hard move on Chloe. Within a few days she got the "runs" and the coughing returned. Off to the vet we go...only a little bacteria growth. She did get a few licks of ocean water. The vet said the stress, ocean water, and bacteria was probably the cause for the upset tummy. However, they want her to come in in 2 weeks if the cough is still present. A few days later she is sick, she wont eat....a real red flag for Chloe. We take her in that day. She has a fever. They take x-rays of her chest. They find a mass...the vet said its probably cancer. We need to take her to the emergency doctor. we do...they get her stable and do a biopsy of her lung...looking for cancer, bac. pneumonia, and fungal pneum. The radiologist says its not a defined mass.
So it could be pneum. or cancer. She is there for 2 days. We pick her up and she starts running a fever again and wont eat. We stay with her until the fever breaks and she starts feeling better. Much better

Then on Wednesday she goes back in for a check up and more x-rays. There is no change to the x-rays and not bacterial growth. we are still waiting for the fungal growth test results. She came home sick feeling, but is starting to feel better. She coughed all night last night. I wake up every time, I feel so bad for her. I started a new job yesterday and I'm so tired from not sleeping. We are up with her all the time. Sometimes I sleep next to her on the floor if she's not feeling well.

This is what she has been checked for....First Round
1. Biopsy of lung tissue--consolidated and inflamed, some cells were abnormal but that could be from inflammation or it could be cancer/looked for fungal infection, mycobacterial infection, and protozoal infection--negative so far

2. Miravista urine antigen
Blastomyces--none detected
Histoplasma-- ''

3. Cultures
Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial--no growth so far
Fungal--no growth so far--could take up to 4 weeks to grow

Second Round
1. Second round of x-rays unchanged--Undefined mass on accessory lower lobe.

Toxoplasmosis--results pending
Neospora--''

They said it still could be bacterial, fungal, or cancer....

If the results are still inconclusive... they want to do a CT scan and then remove part of her lung. This will cost another 6-8K. I don't know what to do....Chloe is not doing well... I don't know if we should put her through all of that....this is very hard on all of us. We love her so much. I hate to bring money into this but we are 6K in so far. We do have insurance but its still expensive. Both of us have been out of work for 2 months because of the move. On top of this we are staying with family right now!!! Please help....I don't know what to do. Any suggestion of what it could be?

I know this long....sorry. Robin
 
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#3 ·
Blueberry, I am so sorry to read this, but I am no good at offering any advice. My heart goes out to you. Only one time have I been in the situation with a dog that the vet could not find what was
wrong. I had imported a Staffybull from UK and she was sick soon after. Surgeries, every kind of antibiotic, bacterial or viral, they could not determine which. Many, many tests done on the poor little girl. It has always been a mystery. So much $$$$ spent on her which I don't regret, but what we put her thru I do regret. I still think about it. I am just so sorry you and Chloe are going through this. I can only offer my best thoughts and prayers for you.
 
#6 ·
Thank you so much! I'm sorry you had to go that. This is just nuts! She's 9 and I don't know if I want to put her through the surgery. And then if we find nothing out....the vet is talking about her like she is a "case to solve" and not my beloved pet....I hate to think of the money right now but we kind of have to....staying with family is kind of hard. And my teaching certificate has not came through yet so I being paid as a long tern sub.
 
#10 ·
First, I'm SO sorry - I can't imagine how stressful this is for you.

A couple of questions. You said Chloe has seen the cardiologist and her heart looked good. Just to clarify that - did she have both an echo and a 24 hour holter done? I only ask because I do know dogs can have completely normal echos even in full fledged DCM, but have very abnormal holters, even in the end stages. I don't know if that would be true with CHF, which would produce the coughing, but, just to rule that out as a possibility?

Like Mel said, if you're looking for "what would you do" types of advice....my *personal* inclination with a senior dog would probably be to wait and see if the medications do anything...wait long enough to see if it may in fact be fungal or bacterial. I honestly am not sure I would put a 9 year old through that kind of surgery - it would be a really tough call for me. It's not just the financial component (and I don't think it's wrong for that to be a factor, insurance or not), but simply the affect that such a surgery has on a senior dog and the quality of life. I don't think it's a wrong decision if that's what your gut is telling you.

If you feel like you want to do the surgery, I also don't think that's a "wrong" decision, though. I think it really depends on whether you think she's physically up to such a surgery, whether you can handle the stress of it (financially, emotionally, etc).

It's so incredibly stressful when there isn't an easy answer of what the problem is in the first place, because then we can't even weigh the options very well. I'll be thinking of you guys. I don't think you can make a bad decision here - any decision you make will be one you make out of love for Chloe, and that's all any of us can do. You'll do the very best you can for her with the information you have.
 
#16 ·
Please excuse my delay....I wanted to spend all weekend with Chloe. No, she has not had a recent holter. I was not aware she could have DCM with a clear ultrasound. Yikes! I'll look into that. Thank You

I really don't want to put her through a lung reduction. I think she's too old to go through it. I guess I was looking for someone to say its alright to not have it. It's so stressful... we love her so much. I need to get out of the mindset that if we spend enough money that we can fix her. We have been down this road before with Blueberry. The outcome was not good. I guess we are still hopeful it's pneumonia.

Thank you for your kind thoughts.
 
#11 ·
Sorry to read this BB . Hope Chloe gets well very quick .

I agree with MC , I would do every test there is before a surgery on a senior + you said she is not eating very good . Did you ask what the Drs thought on her chances ? Either way , with or with out surgery ? Time ? Is she at a pet hospital ? Or being treated at one ?


Best of luck ! Thoughts a prayers from Indiana
 
#18 ·
The vets are still running test and waiting for results. Once the results are in...then we will have that talk. She is home now. She was in the hospital. We probably will not have surgery. Bob and I agreed that she is too old, so we are trying everything else. The one thing I don't like is the DR. is starting to refer to her as a 'interesting case" I don't really like that....she's my family. Thank you for your thoughts.
 
#12 ·
BB ,I would also like to add , if you have any questions about your baby , get a second opinion ! I don’t if this just happened to us , but you can take your dog to two different vets and sometimes , get two completely different opinions , this happened a month ago with our Miss Ali . Ask questions to your vet , NO question is a dumb question and done be intimidated , ask away .

We do lots of research here on the farm , I also do this with our Dobers ! When talking to our vets , I like to be prepared as to what there saying , yes , ole Doc has pizzed off one or two , with my research = questions , matter of fact , one said I read to much , lol knowledge is knowledge !

Now my question time :x how is Chloe ? Like does still have a routine she always had ? Play ball or what ever ? What are her eyes telling you ? Eyes tell a lot !

I wish you the best , I know , it’s a tuff deal , you have lots of great friends and support on here , lean on them , if need be ,

Doc
 
#15 ·
Hoping to hear a good update.
 
#20 ·
Chloe is home and resting. She still wants to go on walks but eating has been a challenge. Her meds will be finished on Wednesday. I hope her some of her drive to eat comes back. I have never had a hard time getting her to eat in the past. She's kind of a hog! I'll update once we receive results.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and thoughts. Chloe is dear to us...She is the oldest doberman I have had as an adult. Huckleberry was 6.5 and Blueberry was 4 when they died. We are just in a state. The Chloe, move, new jobs, and not having our own house yet has been tough. Another teacher walked in my classroom on Friday and I was crying....the first time I meet this man....he probably thinks I'm nuts!!! Not a great first impression....:2smile:
 
#25 ·
I've always had good luck using canned Trippett green tripe to help dogs eat - you can get it on Chewy.com and they ship quickly.

https://www.chewy.com/petkind-tripett-original-formula/dp/44461

I'd also try things like canned sardines mixed into her food, canned tuna with the juice, even just some chicken broth added in might entice her to eat.
 
#22 ·
Whatever you decide to do for Chloe will be the right decision because you love her and she is your family not some special medical case.

Its hard because you have moved and have a new vet too and don't have a trusting relationship yet. Cocos vet and the whole clinic were very good to us when she was not well but we had a 10 year relationship with them and I trusted them because they were just as upset as we were about the old gal.

Love and spoil your gal. Enjoy her and whatever happens remember that Chloe loves you and Bob and knows you will always do the right thing for her.
 
#26 ·
Scrambled eggs always did it for Coco if she wasn't eating. Since she was having eggs she also had a piece of bacon. Why not? I just wanted to get her back to eating and didn't worry what she was having because it was just to jumpstart her.

How is Chloe doing? How are you holding up?
 
#27 ·
Thanks everyone....we have had some luck with getting to eat but we have to change it every few days. She will lose her taste for it.....However, she is eating dog food right now! She was off it for almost a month. All of the test came back negative. I think she has cancer. We will not be having part of her lung removed to find out. We are going to make her comfortable.
 
#28 ·
Blueberry , my heart goes out to you and your husband , this is very tuff deal to deal with .

I know you have been busy and all , and probably have not had the time to read my tread on Ali is not well . I think if you read that tread , it may help answer some of your questions you are thinking about .

See , Ali girl has a mass in her intestine area , it all started out with her just quitting eating , out of the clear blue . I got on here to ask our dober friends , then she was diagnosed with her mass .

Then our group here , jumped in for support , which I just can not put into words how much that helped us . We discussed the day , when will we know ? And even thou we have had dobers since 1981 , this is our first and hopefully the last time we have to deal with cancer in a dog . It is the worst thing we have gone threw here .

I sent PM s to some on here , some I knew that had gone threw this and they responded to me . One PM , I would love to post up on here , I think that it would help others in this bad time .

If you want to talk to me , I will send you my cell number , anything to help you as the others on here has helped us

Thoughts and tons of prayers

Doc
 
#29 ·
Yeah .....unfortunately you and ECIN are dealing with "making your dogs comfortable" at the same time.
Feel free to lean on us or ECIN if you need to....... because we all know..... that our day will come when we will need to lean of the both of you......
Wishing peace to be with you and your famliy during this precious time with your pups. :crying:
 
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