THAIGER
was sick for about four days with a high fever they diagnosed as Canine
Hemorrhagic Fever. Probably from a tick bite inflicted before we even
owned him. I worked (played) with him every day. We went to training
classes twice a week and he learned so quickly. You could tell he loved
these activities. I am really lost without him
I have read EVERYTHING I can find on this
subject (Ehrlichiosis). I now know what has happened. The disease can
show itself in 2-8 days and is easily treatable OR it can be
misdiagnosed or missed and go into remission. It then comes back in a
very serious form, often after enough damage has been done that the bone
marrow does not produce blood cells and other systems fail.
He had been to the vet weekly for a
bacterial skin infection. Probably due in part to his immunity being so
low. When we first had him we took him to the vet because of a fever
and red spots on his skin. This was the start of the disease I
believe. He was misdiagnosed and from then on was treated only for the
skin problem. We went to four different vets and only the last one
finally did a blood test, after it was far too late. His white blood
cell count was near zero. We even did a blood transfusion but it didn’t
help.
Other side effects are
susceptibility to other infections, thus the skin bacteria etc. One of
the symptoms besides fever is lethargy. When we first had Thaiger,
and thought he was fine, we would often call him "slow motion" because
he moved so slowly. I was not familiar with the breed or the
disease obviously. He just never seemed as active as a normal
puppy. He was always smart and good as could be but just not real
active. He didn't show other symptoms though. But all this
time his blood count was probably getting lower and lower. He
still loved training and would jump and do obstacles and the other
things I asked. It took me about 15 minutes to teach him to “shake
hands”. He was extremely intelligent. It is
difficult to think that he tried so hard and was probably ill the whole
time. Hindsight is always easy.
God I hate this. How do parents deal with losing children?
He was my daily companion and I could not move without him beside me.
Hell, I have only had him a few months. Why do they make you hurt
so much? Dogs come and go daily. It's only a dog after all,
right????
September 2003
