Lexie & Lucie's Gammie
07-04-2006, 11:37 PM
Late April, my grand-dog Lexie (8 lb Maltese) stepped on (I assume, but not sure?) a bee. Within moments she vomited, her bowels emptied and she became unconscious (at the time I thought she was dead – her tongue was hanging out and her eyes had rolled back). It was an early Sat morning so there was a delay finding a vet in my small town. When we finally arrived at the vet (about 20 minutes), her eyes began to flutter, I knew then she was alive. The vet gave her several shots and diagnosed her as severely allergic and prescribed pain medicine and emergency epinephrine for future use.
Later that day, she began urinating solid blood and her stools became solid blood. Back to the vet, he guessed the bleeding may be due to stress, gave her IV fluids, antibiotics and more pain medicine. Two days later, she was still lethargic; I brought her back to the vet (after reading on the internet about the toxicity of insects) and I requested a full blood work up. The blood work indicated liver damage and her white blood cell count was extremely high. More antibiotics, liver enzymes and Hill’s L/D Diet.
Two months have gone by, Lexie is still not herself. I took her back for follow up blood work, which shows improvement in some areas, but her white & red blood count remains high, her platelets, hemoglobin, and hematocrit are elevated above normal, more now than before; her B/C ratio, Sodium, LDH, CPK, SGPT, Cholesterol, Neutrophils, Eosinophils – are higher than the normal range, but have improved since the first blood test.
The vet now says there may have been a pre-existing condition that the insect bite aggravated and since we don’t have a pre- trauma blood work to compare it to there is no way to know. More antibiotics, pancreas enzymes and Hill’s L/D Diet.
I can’t say for sure whether she was 100% healthy, my daughter rescued (purchased because of the horrible condition the breeder had her in). However, she was extremely playful, high strung, and full of energy before this episode and now she plays for brief moments, her eyes are glazy all the time, and she pants, breathes heavily even when she is going to sleep.
My question to the forum – has anyone experienced such a severe reaction to an insect bite? Any suggestions for treatment? In the midst of all this, my father passed away - (a lover of dogs), that grief on top of Lexie's lack improvement is getting the best of me. I am not real happy with the lack of enthusiasm from my vet and I am thinking about asking him for a referral to the LSU Veterinary School. Thanks for the feedback.
Later that day, she began urinating solid blood and her stools became solid blood. Back to the vet, he guessed the bleeding may be due to stress, gave her IV fluids, antibiotics and more pain medicine. Two days later, she was still lethargic; I brought her back to the vet (after reading on the internet about the toxicity of insects) and I requested a full blood work up. The blood work indicated liver damage and her white blood cell count was extremely high. More antibiotics, liver enzymes and Hill’s L/D Diet.
Two months have gone by, Lexie is still not herself. I took her back for follow up blood work, which shows improvement in some areas, but her white & red blood count remains high, her platelets, hemoglobin, and hematocrit are elevated above normal, more now than before; her B/C ratio, Sodium, LDH, CPK, SGPT, Cholesterol, Neutrophils, Eosinophils – are higher than the normal range, but have improved since the first blood test.
The vet now says there may have been a pre-existing condition that the insect bite aggravated and since we don’t have a pre- trauma blood work to compare it to there is no way to know. More antibiotics, pancreas enzymes and Hill’s L/D Diet.
I can’t say for sure whether she was 100% healthy, my daughter rescued (purchased because of the horrible condition the breeder had her in). However, she was extremely playful, high strung, and full of energy before this episode and now she plays for brief moments, her eyes are glazy all the time, and she pants, breathes heavily even when she is going to sleep.
My question to the forum – has anyone experienced such a severe reaction to an insect bite? Any suggestions for treatment? In the midst of all this, my father passed away - (a lover of dogs), that grief on top of Lexie's lack improvement is getting the best of me. I am not real happy with the lack of enthusiasm from my vet and I am thinking about asking him for a referral to the LSU Veterinary School. Thanks for the feedback.