Dog misdiagnosis

lunkerslayer

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So I was working over by Stanley nd and one day I noticed that neco's eyes didn't look right so luckily the following day we got rained out so I called up one of the local vets to see if I could get them to look at my baby boy. Its was strange that for some reason that he had a large bump on his side close to his front leg. So I asked the vet to investigate in further so that took a xray of the area and concluded that he had in the past a fractured rib which to my surprise he never showed any discomfort of any kind, he gets to be with me all day everyday. I have a job that I'm very grateful to have this opportunity, so the vet assistant informed me that he has gardidia which is a bacterial infection of the intestines. She prescribed antibiotics in pill and pro biotics in powder form, so I was to give him the antibiotics for 10 days and switch to the pro biotics after that.

He was still eating and drinking so I followed the doctors routine until I noticed that his eyes seemed to be getting worse, so I called up the local vet and she informed me that I could bring him in Monday which was yesterday. In the mean time over the weekend he started to really go down hill, he was struggling to breath with one of his nostrils was blocked off because of the infection, that I didn't know was the problem. I called the vet and she recommended me to get him some benadryl to try to open up his airways better. He wasn't getting any better i didn't get any sleep Sunday night because he was suffering from lack of oxygen.

Monday morning as we are driving to the vet and i noticed a big green blob of infection on the corner of his left eye, cleaned it upon the best i could. Brought him in told the vet where he was seen what the diagnosised him with, what medication he was prescribed and she said she would find out what is wrong. She called me back to inform me that the vet misdiagnosed him and that he didn't have a bacterial infection but was a fungus infection. He has Blastomycosis which is a very bad disease that if not properly diagnosed can lead to lung damage skin infection and eye loss. I have been given my baby boy medication that is actually causing him more harm and I have caused him to suffer even more.

I am so in disarray right now that his treatment is going to be as long as 8 weeks and there is no certainty that he will not lose his eyesight and have sever lung damage, what breaks my heart is that he is not even two years old yet, I am so angry that the vet for doing such an incompetent examination that if he was diagnosed properly would have had a better fighting chance to beat this disease.

so now I will need to weigh my options as to if I will be able to take care of him properly, I work in an environment that is filled with dust particles that could cause him great harm and make him suffer even more. It breaks my heart royally that I have to make this decision because he was such a sweet little boy who brought me such enjoyment and purpose, that was all taken away from me.
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ndfinfan

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So sorry lunk...our pups are just like our kids...hope and pray he makes a full recovery and is back to normal ASAP!
 

Up Y'oars

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I feel ya. I just took my hunting partner into the vet last Thursday. She called me on Friday noon to say he has a fast growing tumor inside of his digestive & colon area. No vet around here would be able to operate to remove due to the location. I've been referred to a vet oncologist in Minneapolis, MN. Either way, benign or malignant would require a surgical procedure because the dog cannot crap right now. We quickly changed to prescriptive food, stool softener, and pain killers.

If I don't go to Minneapolis with him he'll die no matter what when the tumor completely shuts off his ability to poop. The cost of the surgery would become $5,000-$6,000 and doesn't guarantee he'd live through the procedure NOR if the tumor started growing all over again. I've been distraught for the past five days as this is my first dog, hunting/fishing partner, best buddy. The vet said he has 90-120 days to live.

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guywhofishes

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dogs are tougher than hell Lunker

I bet yours is too

hang in there

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sorry Up... ugh
 


Kurtr

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Two years old he’s got lots of fight left in him I would run the course and go from there. They are resilient as hell. He will pull through.

up yoars last year my dog had a tumor that didn’t allow him to eat. One of the Toughest decision I have ever had to make. Didn’t want that day of pheasant hunting to end. Still hurts but it was the right thing for him doesn’t make it any easier though.
 

Up Y'oars

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Two years old he’s got lots of fight left in him I would run the course and go from there. They are resilient as hell. He will pull through.

up yoars last year my dog had a tumor that didn’t allow him to eat. One of the Toughest decision I have ever had to make. Didn’t want that day of pheasant hunting to end. Still hurts but it was the right thing for him doesn’t make it any easier though.

Never did I imagine this would be the shock. He's 10yo and I just expected him to be a healthy pooch until 15yo, or so. Not going according to plan...

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so now I will need to weigh my options as to if I will be able to take care of him properly, I work in an environment that is filled with dust particles that could cause him great harm and make him suffer even more. It breaks my heart royally that I have to make this decision because he was such a sweet little boy who brought me such enjoyment and purpose, that was all taken away from me.

I suppose I can question the vet, too, but either way our dogs are leaving us, Lunk! I agree with you, though, I would be much more agitated with losing a 2yr pup than a good life of my 10yo buddy. I feel like such a bumbling woman the past couple of days because I can't keep my emotions in check. I know you'll do what is best. It's just a shitty feeling until that day and then it'll be much worse.
 

lunkerslayer

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Same hear I haven't been this emotional since my grand pa died, I know I did what was expected of me but I still feel that I should have taken him in earlier I may have been able to lessen the damage. I was brought in a time that I probably would not have brought him in the first time, we never went to the doctor unless we we near death..


Only reason I did is because I could afford to pay for a sound component diagnosis and I didn't get that that is the reason why this hurt so awful. The vet.siad that you could see the fungus infection in the xray plain as day and is surprised that they didn't see that. She showed me the two xrays and the one she took looked like a snow globe, its undignified for a grown man to sob like a little girl in front of others but when I seen the difference in the two I could not help myself knowing that the medication I was given him accelerated the growth of these spores.
 

BrokenBackJack

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So sorry to hear what both of you and your pets are going through. Been down this trail many times in the past and it never got any easier, only harder. We don't have pets anymore as i couldn't take losing them, as it got harder and harder.
Do i miss them? Absolutely and wish i could have another but can't go through the pain anymore.
Pray for you both and your pets. Please keep us updated!
 
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Duckslayer100

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To be fair, unless you were hunting in northern MN or something, I guess I could see a vet misdiagnosing Blastomycosis. That's more commonly found in damp, spongy, wooded grounds, and one of the hotbeds is northern 'Sota. If you're in ND, I don't think it's nearly as common.

Still sucks -- I've read a lot about Blasto as I hunt in MN a fair amount and know folks who have gone through it. Interestingly enough, people can even get it I believe (of course if you got it now, they'd just chalk it up as another 'Rona positive case lol).

And Up, that really sucks. Prayers all around.

My hound went through some crap this summer and I thought he was a gonner. Guy is right, thought: It's amazing how tough these SOBs are.
 


lunkerslayer

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I live in wooded grounds my yard was covered in dead leaves but it doesn't tell me how a vet who has the schooling to make a decision that was absolutely wrong. It would be like a doctor looking a chest xray looking at your stomach to see you have ulcers by not noticing the large white growth on your liver. A healthy dogs lungs look exactly like ours you can see all the airways very plain looking but a dog who has some kind of infection or human those clusters stick out. No that was incompetents plain and simple I believe since I wasn't from the area they were worried they weren't going to get paid. I'm sorry but these people should not be allowed to look at anyone's animals, I know that is impossible to happen but they took away from me my perfect little boy. He is alone in a metal cage by himself struggling to breath and most likely blind
 

Bacon

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Feel bad for you Lunk. I love my dogs more than most people and it sucks when something is wrong with them. I’m hoping your guy pulls through.
 

zoops

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Seems like an odd misdiagnosis; isn't giardia basically a digestive infection while blastomycosis is in the respiratory tract? Seems like an odd miss.
 

lunkerslayer

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No shit I could see if they didn't take the xray then you could have an argument but the xray showed these cluster clear as day, is it wrong to want to sue these people for malpractice I mean if this was a human case there would be no doubt to what would be the best option to take, how come our pets cant be given the same fairness. I will be writing a letter to them once this is all done but is it wrong to feel like I should hold these people accountable even though its a dog

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Also neco had gardidia before and he never looked the way he did, that because they also told me in person but not on my official paper work that he had spotted mountain fever which is again another disease that is bacterial related. Which is the reason why I waited so long before I took him in the second time.
 

ktm450

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prayers for both of your dogs.

this stuff scares the crap out of me as i just celebrated my first dogs second birthday a week ago. i couldnt imagine him not standing at the window watching and waiting for me to come home.

i know what your feeling lunk, i just had to take my boy to the vet after a 3 day hunting trip in iowa. he was wearing a chest protector and we had 3 very wet days of hunting and the vest rubbed him raw. i didnt notice it and he never showed any discomfort with it. Only noticed when i got back and was gonna give him a bath. he had scabs, and it smelt awful. He wouldnt let me touch them either. That feeling of knowing u did that to your boy is just terrible. Hauled him to vet the very next day to get it cleaned up and some antibiotics.
 


snow

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AH Man this sucks guyz,lunk gotta agree with kurtr,our pup's are resilient as hell,at 2 yrs he's strong like bull,be positive,no matter the out come lunk I would hold that vet accountable,check with legal counsel to compebsate you're grief ,expense and pup's suffering.

up ,just a thought but a trip to the U of M small animal vet for a second opinion would be worth while,emergency small animal care will get you in pronto just show up and hope for the best,you'll be in good hands there.
 

lunkerslayer

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Thank you snow for the kind words as well as everyone else that has posted on this thread, I am going to look further into what is my best options going forward, he is all I got right now in my life. Since working on the road which for me was my best option to strengthen my retirement plan since I only have 20 years left. He is my little buddy, he didn't just bring me joy there are many others who have been touched by is happy wagging tail.
 

Kurtr

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Thank you snow for the kind words as well as everyone else that has posted on this thread, I am going to look further into what is my best options going forward, he is all I got right now in my life. Since working on the road which for me was my best option to strengthen my retirement plan since I only have 20 years left. He is my little buddy, he didn't just bring me joy there are many others who have been touched by is happy wagging tail.


my first dog Winston spent a lot of time in the Aspahlt lab with me on the road. Everyone gets to know them and they are like part of the crew. It’s not the same being in there with out a dog. Everyone I worked with had one along
 

Up Y'oars

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I was able to have the vet consider a few diagnostics before just giving up today. Next week she will give him a chest/body x-ray and send it off to the Pathologist in Mpls. to view and consider. Will also do an ultrasound to look at the tumor and see what it tells her, then a possible local biopsy to find out if the cells are benign/malignant. That saves me that drive to Mpls, at least, for now.

I also asked about steroids or immune system aids to control or lessen the the size. She thinks a steroid might be possible but cautioned me that the side effects affect larger dogs more than smaller dogs.

So, Lunk..... it's not over until it's over! Update us all once the weekend is over on the pup's condition.
 

NDSportsman

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Sorry to hear about your pup lunker. I lost a yellow lab pup at less then a year old from a blood disease. It was the hardest thing to get over knowing she didn't get the chance for a long fulfilling life. Hoping for the best and a full recovery for Neco!
 


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