Trust Your Gut, Visit Your Vet, & Get Insureance - What I Learned From Being Ill

Looking back at this situation it is clear, logical and it make some sense. But, in the moment life was fuzzy, scary and even worse, unknown.

Let me take you back to July 11th, while my humans were away at work I decided to see if I could dig around in the garbage to find some treasure. When my mom came home to a mess all over the kitchen she noticed I ate all the chicken bones from supper the night before as well as over left overs. That night and next day my humans watched me like a hawk to make sure I didn’t injure myself from eating those bones. On July 12th, I threw up a massive pile including my food and numerous bones. My humans continue to monitor me closely making sure there was no evidence of blood in my stool, I was eating and drinking fine, my stomach wasn’t hard, etc.

All was fine until the week of July 18th when I developed an ear infection in my left ear. Still having medicine from my ear infection this past winter my humans started me on flushes and antibiotics. I was still myself until that Friday when my humans noticed an elevation of my third eye lids causing my eyes to roll back. This became increasingly worse over the weekend as well as having a hard time getting comfy. My humans really started to worry and wonder, was this from my ear infection or could the chicken bones be causing some damage.

Finally, Monday morning came and my mom called our local vet to see if they could sneak me in. Our small town veterinary clinic with 4 outstanding vets was all booked and they already had a handful of emergent cases come in. However, they said my mom could drop me off and sneak me in when they could. Perfect! I was in a safe place with amazing people. My mom sharing every symptom I was experiencing with the vet, as well as me getting into the garbage and my ear infection.

After a couple of hours I was examined, had blood work done, as well as an x-ray to see whether or not there were any chicken bones remaining. The findings came back and I was chicken bone free, however, my ear infection was sever. I was sent home with 3 medications and wanted to be seen on Friday to follow up with my ear infection.

Over the next three days my health continued to deteriorate. A new batch of symptoms emerged and the vet was concerned. She asked my humans to write down a complete list of symptoms I was experiencing no matter how minor it seemed and when they started.

My Symptoms Included

• Weight Loss (6 pounds in 2 weeks)
• Third Eye Lid Elevated
• Not Eating
• Incontinence
• Restlessness
• Lethargic
• Dry Heaving
• Weak Pulse
• Unsteady
• Frequent and Small Urination
• Left Ear Infection

This time my dad brought me in first thing Friday morning. After running more test and all four veterinarians consulting on my case I was referred to the Cities to see an Internal Medicine veterinarian. Upon immediate findings, Addison’s disease seemed to make since. I was immediately started on Prednisone and able to go home. Not all of my test results were back, however, their were going to call the next day to either confirm or rule out Addison’s disease.

Saturday morning I woke up and was almost back to myself, full of energy, wanting to play, waking my humans up, eating my hard food, able to walk with no help, and was able to hold my bladder until I as outside. We were so happy to have answers, the treatment, and clarity to this ordeal.

However, we finally got the call saying the results were in and it wasn’t Addison’s disease.

Seriously, now what’s going on? Why was I extremely ill and after one dose of medication almost better? Still, so many questions and now answers.

Upon being evaluated on Friday the vet noticed my spleen was slightly enlarged. The next step was to have the my spleen biopsy sent into the pathologist to rule out cancer. During this wait I was to remain on the Prednisone until further instruction and continued to improve.

Monday morning we got the call from the Internal Medicine doctor who said my biopsy came back and I was cancer free. She stated after all the lab work, biopsy, x-rays and ultrasounds came back normal, she couldn’t find the source of my illness, wasn’t able to explain why I became so ill. One theory is, when I got into the garbage I ate something that wasn’t good for me and my body was fighting it off and out. She gave my humans instructions on titrating me off the Prednisone and wanted me to be seen in a couple of weeks.

I wanted to share most of the tests and exams I went through including their prices. The reason why I want to share the prices is for you to consider getting insurance for your pets. My humans have been going back and forth for months on which insurance to get, what deductible are they are willing to pay, etc. After this how ordeal, they finally pulled the plug and got me on insurance. You never know when something is going to happen and you have to make the tough decision between paying the bills or your pets health. This is a conversation I don’t want any of you to have. I will share more about which insurance they selected and why in a future post.

Exam and Testing Done and their Price

• Medical Exam - $45.00
• X-Ray - $64.00
• Complete Blood Count (CBC) - $31.50
• Profile, Blood (9 pk) - $59.50
• Microscopic Exam - $17.00
• Progress/Follow Up Exam - $30.00
• Urinalysis - $16.00
• X-Ray - $64.00
• X-Ray (different angel) - $68.40
• Schirmer Tear Test - $15.00
• Consultation with Internal Medicine - $149.50
• Ultrasound, Abdomen - $415.00
• Chem 8 - $79.00
• ACTH Response (pre and post) - $147.25
• Testing Spleen Biopsy - $228.75

Here are the top four things I from this situation:

• Don’t hesitate to go to the vet.
• There are hidden dangers all over the home.
• Trust your human’s gut.
• Get Pet Insurance!

I would love to hear from you, do you have pet insurance? If so, what company?

*We here at Spencer the Goldendoodle are not medical professionals. We are not a veterinarian. If you have a medical emergency or questions regarding your pet’s health, please seek veterinary attention.