toxins and dogs

My toy poodle has had a history of illness, and she seems to have more to come in our future. i’ll try to make a long story short. she is my maggie mae, my baby girl.  i have 2 poodles, but she is my sick girl. to begin with, when i brought her home from the pet store, she had really bad ear infection, which i fought for at leats a year and half, before my vet finally gave her a new medicine that has actually seemed to cure that problem. back-stepping,when she was 3 months old, she started pulling her hair out on her thighs and legs. i thought she had got into an ant bed, as they were tiny red spots where she was biting.so i doctored her for that..2 days later i took her to my vet and he said she had alergies. i was afraid of this, but was not sure. she didn’t scratch, she just pulled out little patches of hair with her mouth and would bite herself where the bumps were . so he put her on Temaril-P, he said for the rest of her life. like a fool, i took his advice and gave it to her faithfully for the next 2 years. well,during the two years she turned into my fat girl, as we called her.she looked like a pot belly pig, i swear. she could never get enough food, and when i wouldn’t over feed her, she would drink water till she would look as though she would pop.she also was very en-active,and didn’t seem very happy much of the time after she started the temaril, and had given up all the toys she use to love to play with. she periodicly would vomit, for no apparant reason,and she did this most all of her life.  then about 3 months ago, she started getting these scalbs on her back, and i thought, oh no, the alergies are getting geared up to start the smelly itchy things that go with that. but..instead, she got violently sick, for three days and she only got worse till i had to take her for an emergency vet visit. she was dehydrated, had high fever,was almost non-responsive. they wanted to keep her overnight and put her on iv’s, but i couldn’t leave her there and her so sick when i knew no one would stay the night with her. so i begged to bring her back home and take care of her myself, which i was allowed to do. i gave her pedilite and gator aid every 30 minutes with a syringe, and she seemed to get better in a few days. on the emergency visit she was given a shot for fever, a shot for vomiting, and a shot for pain, as she also seemed to be in extreme pain in her stomach.she was sent home with 4 prescriptions, for all of the above things. we nursed her and willed her back to life, which took a week of constant care for her and constant hand feeding and watering. she was lifeless. she got better after a couple weeks,started acting like she should and was happy again.. so we started her Temaril-P back, as usual, and 3 days later, she was right back in the condition she was in when we had to take her in for the emergency visit. so back we go to the vet with her, we got more prescription to keep her from vomiting and from pain, AGAIN, and nursed her back to heatlh again. only this time, my vet said to take her off the tematil, because that was what was causing her problem, that she’d had an alergic reaction to it, and it made her toxic. whatever that meant???. i immediently searched the net for answers, which i’d been doing all along, to no avail. but this time i was searching under the side effects of the temaril-p. i learned that she had a toxic poisening from this medication that i gave her for two years. NO-ONE told me of side effects, she was also suppose to have blood work before and every 6 months while on this medicine, but i was never told that, either. now, nearly 3 months later, i am having problems with her still. i am afraid to trust my vet, and plan on finding a new one. but still i ponder about taking her at all. but i know by the way she is acting, something is wrong with her, i just don’t have a clue, what and i have to do SOMETHING. she has weird behavior…really weird. she does lick her feet a lot, bites her toe nails. she runs around with her tail tucked, and in a crouched position half the time running from place to place like she is afraid of something. i checked her for anul problems, but she looks normal back there???she will run to me and jump in my arms and just shake and tremble for 10 minutes ot longer. she seems unhappy again, and she stays in her bed when she’s not doing these weird things. she is only taking benedryl now, about once a week, as the dumb vet told me to give her for her alergies to repalce the temaril. her hair on her ears and tail is falling out as i comb her hair. her pom pom tail is gone, and her thick beautiful long balck ears are deminishing. she’s not pulling it out,i can comb it out, and poodles hair does not shed..
i know this is long, but i have searched every where on the net to find answers, and fear i have to trust yet another vet, which i’m not sure i can do right now.i have had pets all my adult life, and i am 58 years old. they are my babies, and i treat them as such. i have always trusted vet’s, but over time and many pets, i have come to totally dis-trust them. my magie mae, is now a normal size for a toy poodle, but she eats very little, and drinks even less. she rarely goes out to pe pe, and her bowel movements are distant, but mostly normal when she goes. she still throws up at least twice a week, but only foamy green stuff. does anyone out there know anything they can tell me about all this, or know of a site i can find answers to the many problems she seems to have.thankyou in advance for reading this long post and hopefully i get some responses to it.
lyndac

Although somewhat rare in toy poodles SA could be part of the problem. I think SA is covered somewhere else on this website. Also, being that the toy breeds can exhibit a lower tolerance to drugs, I would suggest having a liver test done on your dog to see if it has been damaged by the drugs. I donot know where your at, but if a veterinarian college is within driving distance, I’d take her to it for a more extensive work-up. Being centers of learning they are more up-to-date in diagnostics and testing equipment than most local vets.

Hi Lyndac, I think StdPoodle is on to something with the suggestion to have your dog’s liver function checked. Repeatedly throwing up foam on a regular basis can be a sign of liver problems. I also agree that it’s time to find another vet since your current vet didn’t follow the protocal for administering Temaril-P. You need a vet that truly knows what he or she is doing. Depending on what area you live in, I know that the University of Michigan in Lansing has a very fine school of veterinary medicine. If you can’t go there, check if a major university near you has its own veterinary school.

Thx for your replys. I did take her to a new vet today. They did a sonagram, and x-ray, complete blood work up, urine test sent off. I will get the results on the blood work tomorrow, and will post the results. Also her liver looked good, not enlarged as they were afraid of, just slightly, but they will keep a check on that in the future. the kidneys had no stones or crystals, but some infection. they gave her an anti bitoic prescription for the kidney infection. they are currently working on a plan to put her on for her allergies. He said in the future she may require more prednezone, but it will be under their strick control if it becomes necessary.They want me to consider ATOPICA, for the future. Told me to research it and let him know what I think. I told him she would recieve NO drugs I didn’t research first, from now on. He understood my dis-trust in the vet at this point, but assured me he’d explain and go over any treatment with me, and allow me to decide what I wanted. He speacializes in small animals and runs a vet-hospital. So I selected a very well known place with lots of crudentials. Cost me a bundle today, but I now have hope for my Maggie Mae.
Thx, again, LyndaC

Lynda, I’m so glad you were able to find another vet who is willing to take your concerns seriously and communicate with you. It sounds like you are off to a great start together. I’m glad to hear the liver only sounds slightly affected. Hopefully this vet will get a handle on the situation and increase the quality of your Poodle’s life. Let us know how the bloodwork comes back. 

blood work and urine test are back.. long story short, she has no permanent damage. her liver will be kept a watch on in the future. the weird way she’s been acting and the 2 seizures, he said, are due to her withdrawal from the temaril-p. he said her hormones are all up in a frenzie, but within a month, they should be settling back down and her adronal gland should be back working normally for her. that is the gland the temaril was doing it’s job for, and it should come back full force after several months off the drug with her test being so good. so, all looks good for maggie mae, right now. will see how this new plan for her allergis works, and hopefully, she will live a normal, healthy, fun life. ,
Thanks for everyone thoughts and support.
lyndac

  p.s. forgot something…If nothing else, i hope this message gets out loud and clear!
I HOPE EVERYONE WILL SEARCH AND RE-SEARH ANY MEDS THEY PUT THEIR PETS ON AND DON"T TRUST THEIR HEALTH TO ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!
Learned the hard way…lyndac

Hi Linda, it sounds like your dog’s health is going to improve quite a bit in the coming weeks. Glad to hear it. And I agree with you, arm yourself with research whenever you can. Vets are only human after all, and some are far better at their job than others. It sounds like your new vet really has a handle on the situation.

By the way, does the new vet plan to do allergy testing to find out exactly what your dog is allergic to, or did that battery of tests already reveal something?

Hello Lyndac - I want to let you know that I think your little Maggie May is a very lucky little girl to have to as her guardian. It sounds like you both have been through a terrible ordeal and happily Maggie May is on the road to recovery and good health. I am very glad you found a new vet - I know how hard it is to trust someone after the problems you had before.

lyndac - 07 July 2009 05:58 PM

  p.s. forgot something…If nothing else, i hope this message gets out loud and clear!
I HOPE EVERYONE WILL SEARCH AND RE-SEARH ANY MEDS THEY PUT THEIR PETS ON AND DON"T TRUST THEIR HEALTH TO ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!
Learned the hard way…lyndac

This is excellent advice. It goes for people and their pets. You have to really research everything. You have to be the expert in your dog’s health (as well as your own).

My doctor told me that she wanted me to be the expert on my condition so I could tell her what new things are available. The same goes for our pets. Know about their health inside and out. The vet knows the basics, but it’s hard to know each animal’s condition thoroughly.

I’m glad your dog is doing better. Terry is right, she is very lucky to have you to take care of her.