Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / June 2006

IT can make you sick!  Sorry for the typo!

Thanks for the replies, all. Bonnie, I read the sites you gave, and I
do have to admit the information they gave does make me believe the
doctor's diagnosis. The chien-noir site gave an example scenario that
was identical to mine.

Sally, the vet suggested a titer test, but was concerned that it would
take too long to get the results, which is why we began treatment
immediately. He wasn't exactly organized yesterday (which scares me to
no end), but as far as I know he did send off for a test.

Deborah, I'm replying to some of your comments in-text:

She definitely hasn't had any problems like that. The only blood loss
she has had in at least a year is when the vet took a blood sample, and
when he trimmed her nails and went a little too close.

I'm not sure how the vet would look for a bleeding spleen or liver, but
he did take an X-ray and everything looked normal. I'm guessing that he
would have seen a bleeding organ via X-ray?

He did do a fecal test; luckily, I was able to bring in a solid sample
from the night before. I was more concerned with a few black spots, and
wanted to be sure that it wasn't blood (it wasn't, they were caused by
the Pepto I had given her).

He didn't find any abnormalities in the stool.

   <snip>

I feel confident that we're not dealing with worms (unfortunately), but
I do worry about autoimmunie diseases. I was surprised that the vet
didn't suggest anyt tests for that, and when I suggested it, he
virtually blew me off and started going over the reasons why he
suspected ehrlichiosis again.

At least the tramadol and iron helped a little, because she slept
better last night and was a little more active this morning. I know
that I won't see any results from the doxycycline for at least 72
hours, though... I can't stand the wait.

-J

OK, I'm willing to accept ehrlichiosis as a diagnosis, at least until
the titer test comes back. If it really is ehrlichiosis, I'm writing a
letter of gratitude for my vet and sending it to the editor of the
local nespaper.

Anyway, I've been giving her the doxycycline and iron, but I'm still
concerned. Today was her second dose of doxycycline, and so far she's
had 3 doses of iron (2 a day, starting last night).

Like I said before, she slept better last night, and was a little more
active this morning. I gave her the doxycycline first thing, but didn't
give the tramadol because she didn't seem to be in any pain. After an
hour or two, though, she found a soft spot on the couch and stayed
there. All day. The only time she moved was when I carried her to the
bathroom, and once when she wanted some water.

I did give her the iron twice today, but I read online that it
shouldn't be given within 2 hours of doxycycline (my vet didn't tell me
that, so God bless the internet). So I didn't give her the iron first
thing, I waited a little while.

She ate very little. It took some coaxing, but she finally eat a few
pieces of her regular hard food. My girlfriend bought some Purina
Beneful soft food (it seemed to have similar ingredients to the hard
food and we thought the transition would be easiest for her), and while
she tasted it, she didn't really eat much of it. She only drank a
little water.

She only urinated once: a heavy flow that was darker yellow than usual.
She also defecated several times; soft but not mucusy, and very dark
(again, from the iron).

She also has a real difficulty walking, especially going up or down
stairs. She's been like this for a few weeks, and the vet is aware of
it, but today walking seemed especially hard for her.

It's also worth knowing that she had a bit of a gas problem at around
midnight. Her stomach felt tight and I was very concerned about bloat
(even though she had an X-ray just 36 hours earlier), but after she
went to the bathroom, the swelling went down. I massaged her abdomen
for awhile afterwards, and she groaned the whole time (like she has
been doing), but she didn't act like it hurt as badly. I know this is
probably irrelevant, but I'm not a vet so I don't want to leave
anything out.

While massaging her abdoment, though, I accidentally found out that her
hip / upper leg is very sore. I rubbed it with the same pressure that I
was giving her belly, and she yelped in actual pain.

On a positive side, she hasn't been shivering (I credit the iron for
that), and I think her fever has gone down. I don't have a thermometer
to be sure, but her stomach doesn't feel as hot to the touch; still
hot, but not burning hot.

Is lethargy a side effect of the doxycycline? I figured that the iron
would give her more energy, so I was surprised that she was more weak
today than usual.

Knowing this, and the information from the original bloodwork, can
someone please tell me what kind of chances my baby has? I'm just not
psychologically prepared for her to die, it's too sudden and she's too
young!

Forgive my long post. Please understand that I'm very nervous, very
scared, and have slept very little (if at all).

Thanks again for the advice you've aleady given, and thanks in advance
for your patience in advising me further.

- J