THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sick Dog

My dog is sick. We aren't sure what it is.

It started out with Cesar not eating. Then he became lethargic. (I hear no food could cause this)

So, I made him an appointment with the vet. They did a blood test ($245) and said they would call me the next day with the results. They did, white blood cells are very high, red blood cells are very low. They couldn't find any "immature red blood cells". Plus a bunch of other medical terms and counts. So, they want to X-Ray his liver to make sure there are no masses ($145). X-ray results showed no mass.

Now, they want to refer him to a specialist to do a bone marrow test. ($600-$800).

I don't have that kind of money. I can't afford the test.

After explaining to the vet that I really could not afford another small fortune she suggested that we try to boost his iron levels. So a vitamin B-12 shot and twice daily liquid iron supplements for a couple of weeks and then bring him back in for another blood test.

Now, the damn liquid iron is messy, thick, stinky and he has to have it twice a day. We can't squirt it down his throat because he spits it back out. So, I am using hotdogs. Yup, I slice up a couple of chunks of hotdog, hollow our a little center and put the crap in there.

He loves it.

I know the bone marrow test would tell us whether or not he has leukemia but what happens then? Would the treatments be worse than the disease?

5 comments:

Avitable said...

That's always a difficult decision. I hope the iron increase helps him!

BlondeBlogger said...

Oh I'm so sorry. We went through this with my beagle last year. The tests and treatment were just too expensive. And it was fairly obvious by x-ray she had cancer. She was old, but still. It's just the hardest thing and I'm so sorry for your pup.

Have you heard of Pill Pockets? I use them for Sophie for her daily medication, and I'm thinking you could squirt liquid into the pocket as well.

Of course, hot dogs are probably a lot cheaper. :)

Anonymous said...

Awww very sorry to hear! I hope the vitamins help. I think when your family pet gets sick it's as hard as one of your children.

Tricia said...

How horrible! If your pet is anything like mine, it is a family member. You must be so upset.

I'm outraged at the cost of vet care. We took our dogs for a checkup last week, it was over $500! I hope what you are doing now works, and that you aren't faced with more testing.

Train Wreck said...

It is so expensive for our little four legged family members!! And hard on our hearts and pocetbooks!! I hope he gets better!