Annika needs your prayers - Page 6

Sorry to say, I have very little confidence in vets. I had a shepherd that stopped eating one day. Took him to the vet and was told there was nothing wrong, he probably just had gas. Two days later he still wasn't eating and his sides felt bloated. The vet ran a few tests and still couldn't find anything wrong. A week and 4 more visits to the vet later they still couldn't find anything wrong. The poor dog still wasn't eating, was still bloated and getting weaker every day. So I drove 200 miles to a vet recommended by a friend. She took one look at the dog and said something was seriously wrong. Felt his sides and told me he probably had cancer and would do an immediate ultra sound to verify. She was right. The dog had stomach cancer that was too far advanced to do anything about. I asked if I could please bring him hone so I could spend one last night with him. It was actually a selfish thing to do as all I did was make him suffer one more day. How can the first vet not have a clue after seeing the dog so many times and the second vet diagnose the problem almost on sight? I worry about Annika hoping and praying her vet is not like the first vet I brought my dog to. I doubt my dog could have been saved even if the cancer had been properly diagnosed a week or so earlier by the first vet, but it is tough to fathom how a vet can say there is nothing wrong with a dog when it hasn't eaten for over a week and had sides that got more and more bloated with each visit. Still wishing the best for Annika and hoping for that miracle...

triodegirl, right there with you. I had one with liver shunts, the dogs belly was hanging towards the ground, not sideways, filling out. Vet told me he was to fat, put him on a diet. Idiot that I am, thinking I am going to the best vet in the area. Took him back 3 times telling him something is wrong. Same anwser PUT him on a diet. Fianlly the groomer for the vet agreed with me and went and got the partner. Needless to say 2 days later he was at Rainbow Bridge.

I took her back in for one more look see and this is what we found... She was anemic and had lost another 3lbs since I brought her home last Friday. Upon palpation the doc felt a lump in her abdomen that we hadn't felt last week. We redid the ultrasound and her spleen was even larger than 3 weeks ago and her lymph nodes were now enlarged. She was so weak she couldn't even stand on her own, let alone make it through any sort of treatment(for what we still don't know). We had to let her go, it wasn't fair to make her endure anything else.I have to say we and the docs did everything we could for her, we ran every test known to man, aspirated her spleen and lymph nodes, did joint taps, took x-rays and did a CT scan. Today is the first day that we saw anything definitive and we still don't have a full diagnosis. We are taking tissue samples from her spleen and lymph nodes to see if we can get a definitive answer... Run free "Punkie", Mommy and Daddy love you so, so much!!! Darlene Vom Herrenhaus German Shepherds

I am so very sorry. I cry with you.

My condolences. I had so hoped for the best. Please know we share your pain.

Darlene-- You had a last few days with her at home. At the end, she wasn't with strangers, but in the arms of her family. Thankfully, you both had that comfort. I am so sorry.

She and my Dylan are healthy and happy now running free as the wind. So sorry.

You & Annika gave it everything you could. I know how much it hurts. I am so sorry.

Oh...thats so sad to hear. I came in feeling good after playing with all of my dogs. I can't help but tear up. So sorry for your loss.

Darlene, Im so sorry for what you had to go trough. I have lost several dogs that I was very attached to, and you never get over things like that. I truly feel your pain, and I know it is difficult to have something like that happen. You have to look at the bright side of things, which I know is hard after something like that. She isent suffering anymore and is in a better place, no leashes in doggy heaven! Its ashame they never did get a full diagnois on her, it might have helped ease the pain a little bit more. Again, Im very sorry for what happend :(. Best Wishes to you and your family, Andrea