Pet problem - recurring

[skinnyman]

TweetI had posted back in Feb about my boxer, Zeus. Became very ill, spent mucho dollars on tests and rehab to determine cause. no determination but the treatment seemed to work...at least till recently.

Had such a great TG holiday and cut our tree down the next day, hung decorations, xmas music going and everything. that evening Zeus collapsed again. rushed him to the pet emergency room and once again, very anemic (low red blood cell count and therefore lack of oxygen to vital organs). Was given another blood transfusion (had two done in Feb/March), hormone shot, steroids and other meds that help the body in accepting the tranfused blood. After another $1.7k was able to bring him home sunday. Not even going to mnetion what i spent back in Feb/March cause i'm sure some would think i'm an idiot. Well, Picked three other meds at $250 and need to monitor and call Vet tomorrow.

Wife and kids very upset and i'm not looking forward to this call cause i fear what he will tell me.

Sucks

[guns01]

Tweetthat sucks bad man. hopefully it is something that can be treated. my dog's name is zeus also.

[ls1x]

TweetSorry to hear Bro. Hope the best for your four legged friend.

[BABY1]

TweetI remember what you went through with ZEus, poop pup. Please keep us updated on how he is and know that you have been doing evrything you can to help him. We would have done the same.

[MrzDiva]

TweetI love to hear people show how much they love their pet like part of the family. Your story is very touching and I hope Zeus feel better.

[Ezskanken]

TweetI feel you bro. My Great Dane was a rescue, came from a bad place, but had the heart of a champion and lover. He was already 6-7 years old when we got him, so he was an old man. My wife and I contemplated his hip surgery, that would run us $1,800. We decided that we rescued to give the dog a better quality of life, so we did it. Sadly his years caught up to him about a year later, and he was gone. But in that time, I discovered how high he could jump, how fast he could run, and how silly he was because he was happy and in much less pain. I am almost going to cry typing this, because he was a great dog that we shared our home with for 5 years. He watched my son and daughter grow up, let them crawl all over him, and all he would do was complain lol.

His name was also Zeus, and we miss him dearly. How old is your dog and what is the average life span of Boxers?

[Dzone]

TweetGosh dang, Im really sad to hear about your dog Bro. I admire you for doing that for your dog. Sure hope Zeus comes thru this ok.
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[skinnyman]

Tweetdidn't realize Zeus was that common.....love that name.

Zeus is our second boxer. Our first was female, Laila (Muhammad Ali's daughter's name) who developed lympnode cancer and passed at an early age of 6. Cancer is prone to boxers due to all the in-breeding done in the 50's and 60's. When she passed I researched boxer breeders and found one that supposively genetically corrected the imperfections of the boxer. This fella, rick Tomita, was very well know throughout the country and loved his works and even more so his dogs. His written several books and won several awards for his work and breed. Check out his sight at Jacquet Boxers - American Boxer Club Award Winners. so, we made an appoitment to meet with him and, if he agreed, he would let us adopt one of his babies. this is wehere found Zeus. Jacquet boxers are supposed to live 12-14 yrs per Rick tomita, breeder.

Back to Zeus. I made the call to his Dr. and the Dr. seemed very optomistic. Made reference to several other cases where the anemia only happened once and others where they happened more than once. Those pets were put on life long meds with little to no side affetcs and for which they would live a normal life. Since his transfusion took place Saturday, we have an appointment with the Dr on Wed to see how his body reacted.

Will keep you posted and thanks for asking.

[jipped genes]

Tweeti dont think your crazy for spending $ on your dog. i would do the same. hope he gets better

[skinnyman]

Tweetok just got the call from the Dr regarding his blood work that was sent out yesterday. it was sent for this test that provides a count on the immature RBC's, the more there are means his bone marrow is producing. unfortunately the count was very low. my wife right now is taking him back to the Dr to get another hormone shot to try and stimulate the marrow. His meds were increased a bit more and we have weekly visits with the Dr now for blood count and won't know if the shot is working for a few weeks. if, after the few weeks the marrow is not producing, he'll need another blood transfusion. Dr does not know the prognosis but we'll have a further discussion after the few week period.

Tell you though, Zeus has been active, playing with his toys and eating up a storm. Just doesn't seem right to see him so active but to also think he has a big medical problem.