TooTooMommy
Active member
- Jun 17, 2016
- 200
- 61
- Country
- USA
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Meaty, Sophie, & sometimes fosters
PLEASE, PLEASE watch your babies for TICKS !!!!!!!!
**UPDATE 2 days later ** (6/13/20)
Our precious 9-year-old girl crashed in the critical care unit when she
stopped breathing. They intubated her, but she did not make it.
She had been at the specialty hospital overnight and had done FINE----her breathing did not become dangerously labored until being completely fine for 14 hours.
I had called at 4:30 in the morning to check on her, and the tech said she had been sleeping, breathing fine, and was now wide awake, looking around at all the activity. The tech also said "she is SO cute!" I was soooo happy to hear that she was doing well, and no supplemental oxygen was needed.
Besides the utter heartbreak of losing her, I feel horrible for my
hubby, who is blaming himself for not noticing that damn tick on her.
He's convinced that she was probably bitten a few days before her urine turned red, and that by then, it was too late.
Needless to say, we have cried a lot for the last 2 days, and there are times it's so shocking, it's hard to actually believe she's gone. We always assumed her 11-year-old brother would go first; but you
just never know.
----------------------------------------------------------------
(My original post 2 days ago)
I did a search first, to see if there are any threads about this already, but
couldn't find any. That's probably due to our vets telling us it is RARE!!!
Our sweet, 9-year-old Sophie's urine was red, and she was MILDLY panting---so we took her to the vet;
assuming it was a urinary tract infection. Nope---she had a big, engorged (yuck!) tick on her neck, and the bloodwork shows
BABESIOSIS---a rare, possibly life threatening tick-borne disease
She was NOT in any distress, but her MILD panting was concerning. Since it was after-hours, (they so nicely "squoze her in" at the end of the day), our pawsome vets encouraged us to take her to the emergency hospital. They said we COULD
leave her at their office overnight, but they don't have 24-7 staff, and she MIGHT need oxygen, a blood transfusion, etc. Either way, they offered to start whatever medication she required right away.
They also saw infiltrates on her lungs. Her platelets are low, and thankfully, the
ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder were okay. I read that it CAN severely
affect the liver, but none of the 3 doctors mentioned anything liver-related.
Poor Sophie---she also had her spleen removed last year, so this also lowers
her immune system, and also ( I think---not sure) effects her blood clotting properly. By the way, she only had it removed because it was very enlarged and could have burst----she did NOT have cancer or anything else serious, thank God!
One of our vets has been practicing for 35 years, and has only seen ONE other case of babesiosis !!!!!!! That's how rare it is!
Please let me know if you and/or your doggie(s) have been through this (just like LYME and other tick-borne diseases, humans can also get babesiosis. And yes, we use monthly flea/ tick prevention. Tomorrow, she will see a specialist. Our poor girl, I just hope she's not afraid, being in a cage by herself all night. I hope she doesn't end up dying overnight and we weren't there with her to comfort her --that would make this even sadder !!!!
**UPDATE 2 days later ** (6/13/20)
Our precious 9-year-old girl crashed in the critical care unit when she
stopped breathing. They intubated her, but she did not make it.
She had been at the specialty hospital overnight and had done FINE----her breathing did not become dangerously labored until being completely fine for 14 hours. I had called at 4:30 in the morning to check on her, and the tech said she had been sleeping, breathing fine, and was now wide awake, looking around at all the activity. The tech also said "she is SO cute!" I was soooo happy to hear that she was doing well, and no supplemental oxygen was needed.
Besides the utter heartbreak of losing her, I feel horrible for my
hubby, who is blaming himself for not noticing that damn tick on her.
He's convinced that she was probably bitten a few days before her urine turned red, and that by then, it was too late.
Needless to say, we have cried a lot for the last 2 days, and there are times it's so shocking, it's hard to actually believe she's gone.
We always assumed her 11-year-old brother would go first; but youjust never know.
----------------------------------------------------------------
(My original post 2 days ago)
I did a search first, to see if there are any threads about this already, but
couldn't find any. That's probably due to our vets telling us it is RARE!!!
Our sweet, 9-year-old Sophie's urine was red, and she was MILDLY panting---so we took her to the vet;
assuming it was a urinary tract infection. Nope---she had a big, engorged (yuck!) tick on her neck, and the bloodwork shows
BABESIOSIS---a rare, possibly life threatening tick-borne disease
She was NOT in any distress, but her MILD panting was concerning. Since it was after-hours, (they so nicely "squoze her in" at the end of the day), our pawsome vets encouraged us to take her to the emergency hospital. They said we COULD
leave her at their office overnight, but they don't have 24-7 staff, and she MIGHT need oxygen, a blood transfusion, etc. Either way, they offered to start whatever medication she required right away.
They also saw infiltrates on her lungs. Her platelets are low, and thankfully, the
ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder were okay. I read that it CAN severely
affect the liver, but none of the 3 doctors mentioned anything liver-related.
Poor Sophie---she also had her spleen removed last year, so this also lowers
her immune system, and also ( I think---not sure) effects her blood clotting properly. By the way, she only had it removed because it was very enlarged and could have burst----she did NOT have cancer or anything else serious, thank God!
One of our vets has been practicing for 35 years, and has only seen ONE other case of babesiosis !!!!!!! That's how rare it is!
Please let me know if you and/or your doggie(s) have been through this (just like LYME and other tick-borne diseases, humans can also get babesiosis. And yes, we use monthly flea/ tick prevention. Tomorrow, she will see a specialist. Our poor girl, I just hope she's not afraid, being in a cage by herself all night. I hope she doesn't end up dying overnight and we weren't there with her to comfort her --that would make this even sadder !!!!
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