Our puppy is sick and our vet is stumped, as are we. I thought I would ask here to see if anyone might have experienced something similar.
A little history: We adopted our chocolate lab from a shelter when he was 7 months old. He was surrendered by his owners. They said they had both lost their jobs and could no longer afford him. He was very malnourished when we got him, but were told by the vet at the shelter that he was otherwise healthy. Within the first couple of weeks of him being with us, he got sick. He was lethargic, wouldn't eat, wouldn't play, and was urinating a lot (even in the house a few times). I took him in and they said based on the symptoms, it was likely a UTI. They didn't do any testing, but gave me an antibiotic. He improved with the antibiotic. About two weeks after finishing the antibiotic, he started displaying the same symptoms. I took him in again. This time, they did a urinalysis and blood panel. The urine came back fine, no bacteria. The blood work came back with very elevated white blood cell counts (54,000 when it's supposed to be 15,000). Again, they gave us a strong antibiotic. They told me to bring him back when the antibiotic was finished for another blood test. We took him Saturday, and the vet called this morning. The white blood cell count is 28,000 so it's still high. He wants me to bring him back in another 2 weeks to have it checked again.
I can't understand why such a young dog could be so sick. I wonder if the original owners knew he was sick, and that is why they gave him up. I hope we can find the answers soon and for not too much more money. We've already spent $600 trying to figure out what's wrong.
If anyone has experienced anything similar with their dog, please let me know. Thanks in advance!
54,000/ul is an extremely high white blood cell count. I would request a referral to a veterinary internist. If you are in the Chicago area, there should be some options. Best of luck.
I'm assuming they've tested for tick-borne illnesses? Some illnesses don't show up for months after the bite, and kidney issues do present after they go awhile with no treatment. Hope this helps.
http://www.akcchf.org/canine-health/your-dogs-health/cari...
Sounds to me like the owners knew he was not well and they gave him up so someone else had the expense.
It is sad but people do that. My neighbors found a pure bred Maltese walking in our street. We all tried with no avail to find the owners. So this neighbor decided to keep him and within a month he had to have kidney surgery. Since they has spent well over $1000 at this point, there is no way they would give him up. They have had him 3 years now. Same happened with my best friends in her neighborhood... found a Yorkie and after nursing him back to health, they kept him.
Drop offs happen often in my neighborhood. I found a pure bred poodle about 6 weeks ago and I tried to locate an owner. After 24 hours, I was sure this would be our 3rd dog. Much to my happiness and the owners... we found them. The dog had been missing over a week and presumed stolen or dead so they stopped looking. All the while, he was stealing my heart!
It is hard for the vet to diagnose because they don't know his history. Have you tried different foods? Tested for allergies?
I am no vet but I have 2 dogs that I adore and I have spent some major $ on their health issues. I hope you find out what is going on with your pet. Best wishes to you.
Interesting article on petcarerx.com on what could cause this. Personally I think the owners knew he was really sick and decided to dump him instead of treating him. They probably got a correct diagnosis and didn't pass that info along.
http://www.petcarerx.com/article/what-causes-high-white-b...
Might he be diabetic?
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/diabetes-dogs-symptoms-treatme...
Could your vet request the shelter's records? Is it possible that when the puppy was taken into the shelter that they at least did a basic blood test which would show his white cell count? I don't know, but it seems that if a shelter takes a dog in, they would at least do a few tests just to make sure that the dog doesn't have anything contagious or have a serious medical problem. Since it was only two months ago, they might still have his initial records. That might tell you if he was actually sick when his previous owners gave him up.
Good luck with your puppy.
what has he eaten?? some things are toxic to dogs.. for example .. grapes are toxic for dogs... is he eating things in the yard or house that is making him sick..
What kinds of tests did they actually do on the dog? Just getting a white count isn't really that helpful. Did they look for antibodies to tick borne illnesses? There are a lot of tick borne illnesses, not just the well known Lyme Disease. We found out our dog had been exposed to Ehrlichiosis (tick borne) by blood work. A simple course of a common antibiotic was able to clear things up.
It would be helpful to know what tests they actually ran. Good luck.
---
oh.. I wanted to add/ask.. somebody correct me if I am off base, please.
You've spent HOW much on a physical exam, some antibiotics, another office visit and a blood panel/urinalysis? Wow. Our dog was hospitalized for 4 days, a few blood panels, on IVs for nutrition and sedation, diazipam to stop seizures, and then put under to check for vestibular issues/infection, came home on 3 or 4 meds (including antibiotics and steroids, plus anti-seizure meds and thyroid meds)... and the whole thing cost us about what you've paid.
Wow.
Can you shop around for a vet who is more reasonably priced for good service?
You might inspect your home,kitchen floors for things he could be licking/eating? grapes, garlic? sometimes things land on the floor...kids eating m &m's drop on the floor and oops, bad for puppy. We tend to ignore a lot of this. Any chipping paint, tastey enough I hear...do some detective work you might be surprised.
Maybe the original owners knew and maybe they didn't. Doesn't much matter at this point I would say since you adopted him. I had a dog once who started having health issues very early (6 weeks). It can be a sign of poor breeding so be warned you could be in for the long haul. I would ask your vet to consider things like Cushing's disease, diabetes and/or kidney failure because those symptoms in part at least match your description. Good luck.
Did they run a fecal test, heartworm/parasite blood test? Giardia? EPI? Kidney function and any abnormalities with his growth? Leukemia?
It seems the owners most likely knew about his conditions. Poor breeding, feeding, and genetics, and overall care can result in this condition.
It could be a number of things, or simply just stress from being in a new environment.
Switch to a grain free kibble, add goats milk as well as coconut oil to his food.
Any issues with stool?
What food are you feeding him? My dog can only eat grain free dry food and homemade wet food.
