Shiloh (part 2)
A few people have asked what happened, and I know others are scared to ask. Here's the story. WARNING: this is very long and depressing!
Shiloh had his teeth cleaned and a lump removed at work about 2 weeks ago now. After dentistry, all animals routinely go on antibiotics, to prevent infection. Shiloh took his last antibiotics Wedneday, and Thursday I took him into work with me to have his stitches out. At that point, he was 100% normal and healthy, bouncing off the walls because the collar that kept him from chewing his stiches out was gone.
Friday, my siblings and I went to work, and my parents were in & out of the house all day. Shiloh vomited in the morning, but seemed fine otherwise, so my parents weren't too concerned.
When my sister got home from work around 3:30, she put the dogs out in the backyard, and Shiloh seemed quieter than usual. My parents got home a few minutes later, they brought the dogs in, Shiloh sat down and then wouldn't get up. My mom called me at work, and asked if she could bring him in. We were close to an hour behind schedule at work, but I told her to bring him right in. My parents' car was full of groceries, so my sister volunteered to bring Shiloh in while Mom & Dad unpacked.
Jessie arrived at work bawling because Shiloh was now gasping for breath and so weak he couldn't stand. I carried him from her car into the clinic, and she went home because she couldn't see him like that. Dr S put him on oxygen right away, and we took some chest xrays. While the xrays were developing, we took some blood and got it running, and hooked up an iv. At this point I basically stopped working and only looked after Shiloh, while the other girl working that day did everything else.
I lost track of time after that. My parents showed up, Dr S finished the appointments, we had to retake one xray, did some more bloodwork, etc. She really wasn't sure what was wrong. His heart and liver seemed slightly enlarged on the xrays, but not enough to account for this, and his bloodwork showed signs of an infection, but no sign of bleeding. So she thought he may have had an infection from the dentistry that was affecting his lungs and/or heart, so if he got some massive doses of antibiotic and oxygen until he was stable, he could pull through. But she was worried about how his heart sounded, he was getting a little stronger on oxygen but still couldn`t breathe well, and the clinic isn't set up for intensive care like Shiloh needed, so we had to get him to the emergency clinic in Whitby (close to an hour away.) We left for Whitby sometime after 7. Both Dr S and Karen who was working that day stayed at work well over an hour late for my dog.
The car ride to Whitby was one of the worst things I have ever been through. My dad drove, my mom was in the front seat with the directions to the clinic, and I was in the back with Shiloh's head in my lap, praying he'd be ok. When we got to the clinic, Shiloh was too weak to lift his head or respond to anything. I carried him straight into the back, with the staff telling me where to go, and then my parents and I sat out front and waited for the doctor to come talk to us.
The vet finally came out, and she told us that she thought Shiloh was bleeding internally. It didn't show up on the bloodwork because sometimes when there's a lot of bleeding, the spleen contracts and releases blood cells, so the red blood cell count is intially normal.She wanted permission to do an abdominal tap, to see if there was free blood in his abdomen, and if there was, there was no hope for Shiloh and we would euthanise him. My parents said to do the tap, and since it would take about 15 minutes for the results, we decided to go out for some fresh air. It was some time after 10:00.
We didn't get out of the parking lot when the receptionist chased us down, the doctor needed to speak to us. While we'd been discussing the abdominal tap, Shiloh's heart had stopped, and she needed permission to stop doing CPR.
And that was it. He was gone.
The vet at the emerg clinic figured that Shiloh had a tumour somewhere in his abdomen, probably on or near his liver that was never detected. His bloodwork over the last 18 months or so had shown elevated liver values, but additional tests showed no cause, and everyone said not to worry, it was probably normal signs of aging for him. On Friday, the tumour burst, and he bled to death.
Tomorrow, or sometime soon, I will post about happier things like moving, school, and my apartment.
Shiloh had his teeth cleaned and a lump removed at work about 2 weeks ago now. After dentistry, all animals routinely go on antibiotics, to prevent infection. Shiloh took his last antibiotics Wedneday, and Thursday I took him into work with me to have his stitches out. At that point, he was 100% normal and healthy, bouncing off the walls because the collar that kept him from chewing his stiches out was gone.
Friday, my siblings and I went to work, and my parents were in & out of the house all day. Shiloh vomited in the morning, but seemed fine otherwise, so my parents weren't too concerned.
When my sister got home from work around 3:30, she put the dogs out in the backyard, and Shiloh seemed quieter than usual. My parents got home a few minutes later, they brought the dogs in, Shiloh sat down and then wouldn't get up. My mom called me at work, and asked if she could bring him in. We were close to an hour behind schedule at work, but I told her to bring him right in. My parents' car was full of groceries, so my sister volunteered to bring Shiloh in while Mom & Dad unpacked.
Jessie arrived at work bawling because Shiloh was now gasping for breath and so weak he couldn't stand. I carried him from her car into the clinic, and she went home because she couldn't see him like that. Dr S put him on oxygen right away, and we took some chest xrays. While the xrays were developing, we took some blood and got it running, and hooked up an iv. At this point I basically stopped working and only looked after Shiloh, while the other girl working that day did everything else.
I lost track of time after that. My parents showed up, Dr S finished the appointments, we had to retake one xray, did some more bloodwork, etc. She really wasn't sure what was wrong. His heart and liver seemed slightly enlarged on the xrays, but not enough to account for this, and his bloodwork showed signs of an infection, but no sign of bleeding. So she thought he may have had an infection from the dentistry that was affecting his lungs and/or heart, so if he got some massive doses of antibiotic and oxygen until he was stable, he could pull through. But she was worried about how his heart sounded, he was getting a little stronger on oxygen but still couldn`t breathe well, and the clinic isn't set up for intensive care like Shiloh needed, so we had to get him to the emergency clinic in Whitby (close to an hour away.) We left for Whitby sometime after 7. Both Dr S and Karen who was working that day stayed at work well over an hour late for my dog.
The car ride to Whitby was one of the worst things I have ever been through. My dad drove, my mom was in the front seat with the directions to the clinic, and I was in the back with Shiloh's head in my lap, praying he'd be ok. When we got to the clinic, Shiloh was too weak to lift his head or respond to anything. I carried him straight into the back, with the staff telling me where to go, and then my parents and I sat out front and waited for the doctor to come talk to us.
The vet finally came out, and she told us that she thought Shiloh was bleeding internally. It didn't show up on the bloodwork because sometimes when there's a lot of bleeding, the spleen contracts and releases blood cells, so the red blood cell count is intially normal.She wanted permission to do an abdominal tap, to see if there was free blood in his abdomen, and if there was, there was no hope for Shiloh and we would euthanise him. My parents said to do the tap, and since it would take about 15 minutes for the results, we decided to go out for some fresh air. It was some time after 10:00.
We didn't get out of the parking lot when the receptionist chased us down, the doctor needed to speak to us. While we'd been discussing the abdominal tap, Shiloh's heart had stopped, and she needed permission to stop doing CPR.
And that was it. He was gone.
The vet at the emerg clinic figured that Shiloh had a tumour somewhere in his abdomen, probably on or near his liver that was never detected. His bloodwork over the last 18 months or so had shown elevated liver values, but additional tests showed no cause, and everyone said not to worry, it was probably normal signs of aging for him. On Friday, the tumour burst, and he bled to death.
Tomorrow, or sometime soon, I will post about happier things like moving, school, and my apartment.