With Jasmine unable to get up on her own, barely making it out to potty, peeing brown, there we were, on our way to the emergency.
And all that from trying to diagnose her episodes...
How could this be happening? Could whatever was causing her episodes have something to do with all this?
That was the emergency vet's question also.
They wanted to know why was Jasmine in for the x-rays in the first place.
They were expecting us and when we arrived they came out with a cart to load Jasmine on.
They checked her out and asked about what preceded the situation. Jasmine's temperature at this time was actually below normal, so was her heart rate. There was bruising on her tongue, which we did notice, and more bruising on her abdomen, which we were unaware off.
They took her in the back for testing. They gave her IV fluids, tested her blood, took some x-rays, and whatever else they did back there.
When they returned, they presented us with x-rays and horrible news.
They told us that either her liver or kidneys were failing, and her platelets were tanked (thus all the bruising everywhere).
The biggest bomb was when they showed us on the x-rays what they believed was intestinal perforation.
Basically, they told us that Jasmine was finished.
There we were, shaking in shock. This cannot be!
They asked us whether we wanted to put Jasmine down or get a second opinion at the teaching hospital.
Last thing we wanted was to prolong Jasmine's suffering.
If she was finished anyway, wouldn't euthanasia be the humane thing to do? But where the heck would the intestinal perforation come from? None of what was happening made any sense.
We decided, that before ending Jasmine's life, we wanted a second opinion. Got the referral papers, and left for the teaching hospital.
That was a decision that saved Jasmine's life!
As we arrived to the teaching hospital, they too took her in the back for their own testing (And yes, we got to pay for everything twice). After what seemed like eternity, they came out with their verdict.
Jasmine's kidneys were fine, her liver shot but not beyond repair.
There was no intestinal perforation!
Instead, she had a large abscess in her abdomen. They would need to operate as soon as possible, but would have to wait for the platelets to get up to safe levels. They explained all that would need to be done to treat Jasmine and gave an estimate.
All we wanted to know, if we did all that, was she going to be ok.
They said that if everything went right she should fully recover. And even though it was a very rough journey for her, she did!
This was four years ago. Four years Jasmine almost didn't get to have!
Had we accepted the emergency vet's diagnosis and prognosis, Jasmine would have not been here today.
I don't know what the emergency vet was seeing, but they were seeing wrong. And it almost cost Jasmine her life.
PS: Another thing I had a hard time getting over was a note on the emergency vet's file which I got to see after Jasmine's vet uploaded it to her online medical records: "Owner insists that if you get Jasmine in standing position she will be able to hold herself up."
OK, I get it that one cannot trust everything the owners say, but to assume we're so dimwitted that we couldn't tell the difference between a walking (even though with extreme difficulties) and non-walking dog? Truly?
We had the same difficulties trying to be heard at the teaching hospital that prior to the incident Jasmine was walking perfectly fine. Once they saw bi-lateral cruciate surgery, they were convinced that was why Jasmine wasn't walking the entire week she was hospitalized, even when we had Jasmine's main vet telling them otherwise. We were very concerned that her mobility was not improving but they wouldn't pay attention to it because they had made up their minds about the cause.
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Our Of Jail Free Pass
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First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)
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If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Jasmine
Practicing What I Preach: Jasmine's Semi Annual Wellness Exam
No Skimping On Oral Care
Our Own Emergency Vet Horror (Part I)
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I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
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Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
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