Broken Heart... Deathly Ill?

[mbc1963]

I walk every morning with a woman and her lab, Abby. This woman has a great relationship with her ex-husband and his new wife, who own a Weimeraner, Sasha. When ex-husband and new-wife go out of town, my friend will watch Sasha. She's told me several (several!) times, "I can't watch this dog anymore! Every time they go out of town, the dog gets sick, and then they blame me when they come home!"

 

Seriously: the dog had kennel cough once, some kind of infection another time. Literally, every time the owners leave town, the dog gets sick with something.

 

This time, only the wife went out of town, so hubby was home, but he works all day. (Sasha is usually home with the wife all day.) The woman went on a business trip of close to 3 weeks. Right away the husband noticed a change: the dog peed on his bed, and then my friend, babysitting, noticed the dog startling awake from sleep and peeing in her bed.

 

So... coupla days goes by, the guy thinks the dog is missing his wife and just acting out. But my friend notices that the dog is really lethargic and reluctant to even jump into the car. She said, a week ago, "I don't know if this dog is going to survive until her mother gets home." Finally, the guy takes the dog to the vet, who finds her dehydrated and with a very high white blood cell count. IVs of fluid, IV antibiotics, and the dog perks up a bit and goes home.

 

FINALLY, new wife comes home on Friday night, to a dog who now appears to be on death's door. She seems to be in severe pain, trying to curl up on herself, not moving or active at all, not eating or drinking.

 

So, Sasha's now in the e-vet, awaiting an ultrasound in the a.m. to see if they can find out what's wrong with her. They think it's a very serious condition, whatever it is.

 

I'm sure there's some real physical problem internally with Sasha, right at the moment - but what do you guys think? Is it possible that the increased stress level this dog feels from missing her owners when they leave could actually wallop her immune system, resulting in this series of illnesses over the years? We've been debating this question for a couple days. You hear of people dying of a broken heart - I wonder if there isn't an immune system pathology that gets set up by the incredibly stess?

 

(Talk about not wanting to leave the dog alone when you go on vacation!)

 

Mary

[juliepoudrier]

Well it's a fact that stress can adversely affect immune function, so I don't see why it's not possible that this is what's happening with this dog. She may have some sort of chronic condition that her immune system generally holds at bay until stress enters the picture, her immune system tanks, and the illness takes over.

 

J.

[IPSY]

I walk every morning with a woman and her lab, Abby. This woman has a great relationship with her ex-husband and his new wife, who own a Weimeraner, Sasha. When ex-husband and new-wife go out of town, my friend will watch Sasha. She's told me several (several!) times, "I can't watch this dog anymore! Every time they go out of town, the dog gets sick, and then they blame me when they come home!"

 

Seriously: the dog had kennel cough once, some kind of infection another time. Literally, every time the owners leave town, the dog gets sick with something.

 

This time, only the wife went out of town, so hubby was home, but he works all day. (Sasha is usually home with the wife all day.) The woman went on a business trip of close to 3 weeks. Right away the husband noticed a change: the dog peed on his bed, and then my friend, babysitting, noticed the dog startling awake from sleep and peeing in her bed.

 

So... coupla days goes by, the guy thinks the dog is missing his wife and just acting out. But my friend notices that the dog is really lethargic and reluctant to even jump into the car. She said, a week ago, "I don't know if this dog is going to survive until her mother gets home." Finally, the guy takes the dog to the vet, who finds her dehydrated and with a very high white blood cell count. IVs of fluid, IV antibiotics, and the dog perks up a bit and goes home.

 

FINALLY, new wife comes home on Friday night, to a dog who now appears to be on death's door. She seems to be in severe pain, trying to curl up on herself, not moving or active at all, not eating or drinking.

 

So, Sasha's now in the e-vet, awaiting an ultrasound in the a.m. to see if they can find out what's wrong with her. They think it's a very serious condition, whatever it is.

 

I'm sure there's some real physical problem internally with Sasha, right at the moment - but what do you guys think? Is it possible that the increased stress level this dog feels from missing her owners when they leave could actually wallop her immune system, resulting in this series of illnesses over the years? We've been debating this question for a couple days. You hear of people dying of a broken heart - I wonder if there isn't an immune system pathology that gets set up by the incredibly stess?

 

(Talk about not wanting to leave the dog alone when you go on vacation!)

 

Mary

 

Hope they find out whats wrong with poor Sasha . What Julie suggests seems highly likely given the way it starts .

Thats why I dont want to vacation . I could never enjoy myself knowing my dogs arent with me. They would be in perfectly good hands , but even so , I couldnt leave them.

My husband understands ( GOD BLESS HIM ) and we make arrangements to go somewhere I can take my dogs.

I think a three day trial is a perfect getaway though . His GSDs are easier for him to leave , he worries , but they are easy compared to the BCs. But BCs need "special care" , right ?

[sea4th]

I had a similar situation with Pete. Pete was my heart, my soulmate. He'd go everywhere with me. Back in March of 2001, I had to go away for 2 weeks on a work-related business. I left Pete at home with my daughter. He was one of two dogs who got to stay home while I boarded the rest. What I came back to changed my way of looking at my relationship with my dogs -- for the better, I hope.

 

I had written his story in this link. It's much easier for me to refer to this than try to remember all of the twists and turns his life took over the ensuing months. (It's not a plug for this particular food. I haven't fed it for years, but I figured Pete's story was worth telling)

 

http://www.morigins.com/pete.html

[mbc1963]

It's bad news. They operated on Sasha Monday and found a canteloupe-sized, 3-lb tumor on her liver. I can't believe something could progress that far, so fast. Honestly, the dog looked fine 10 days ago when I last saw her.

 

They're going to do a biopsy and then potentially chemo. I feel bad for the owners.

 

Mary

[juliepoudrier]

I'm sorry that the news is bad. I guess at least they now know what's ailing her. It may have been growing for a while and just recently got large enough to cause her obvious problems. I hope it's something that's treatable. Best wishes to her and her family.

 

J.

[Journey]

Oh Mary that's terrible news. At least they know now what is wrong and hopefully she can get relief.

[bc friend]

They operated on Sasha Monday and found a canteloupe-sized, 3-lb tumor on her liver. I can't believe something could progress that far, so fast. Honestly, the dog looked fine 10 days ago when I last saw her.

 

Mary

 

I've been away from the Boards for a few days so I'm a little late getting in on this but ....

 

It really depends on the type of cancer on how fast it progresses and how the dog appears to be affected. Sara had two tumors: one tennis ball sized and the other softball sized - diagnosed as hepatacelluar carcinoma and she looked/acted perfectly healthy. It was discovered during a routine checkup when there appeared to be nothing wrong with her. After surgery and with supportive meds, she did great. Than she developed a relatively small hemangiosarcoma, was sick almost immediately and lived only about 10 days after the diagosis.

 

Hoepfully Sasha has a treatable type that gives her months/years of quality time yet.