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by Dr. R. Lee
Just
For The Lick Of It Part 2
Just
For The Lick Of It Part 3
BackTHE HORRIBLE ODYSSEY
by Dr. Roberta Lee
On January 10, 2000 I took my eleven year
old female Doberman into the vets to get
a heartworm check. I wanted to get
her back on Program for the spring and summer
months. I had used Program with her
for 7 1/2 years with absolutely no problems
whatsoever. I also knew that I would
have to put her back on Sentinel this year.
Being new to the Southeast and coming from
California where we don't have heartworms,
I had only used Sentinel the previous year,
but with no problems.
The test was taken, blood panel done, and
everything was in fine order. So, on
the 12th of January, my husband, Alexandria
and I went back in to get the Program and
Sentinel. While we were talking with
the vet, she suggested that maybe Revolution
would be easier to use because we wouldn't
have to give the tablets. I asked what
it was and she said that it was for fleas,
ticks, and heartworms, and that it was applied
to the back of the neck. With that
she left the examining room and came back
with a package of Revolution. She showed
it to us, and then she said let me show you
how it is applied.
What I expected was that she was going to
demonstrate "only" how it would
be applied "if" we chose to use
it. But to the astonishment of both
my husband and I, she actually applied it
to the back of the neck of Alexandria.
I wasn't very happy about this, but, I liked
our vet so I just let it slide. Because
she had opened the package we were expected
to purchase it. The cost of the product
was $93.00.
It is important to note that at this time
Alexandria weighed 53 pounds and it is fair
to say that she is a very picky eater.
She was raised on a special diet due to living
outside of the country where canned dog food
was not available. So when she went
off her food on the 14th of Jan. I wasn't
too concerned. I had also noticed that
she didn't seem as peppy as normal, so I
called my vet to see if maybe there was a
virus that was affecting dogs going around.
I was told not to their knowledge.
I also checked with an Internet group WellPet
to see if any of them had noticed a flu or
virus that was floating around. None
of them had.
By late afternoon her nose was running, dripping
actually. This concerned me, as I had
never seen her do that before. Also
I noticed that she was drooling, something
that she had never done. She seemed
very woozy, not quite stable on her feet
and again, for her that just isn't right.
Even at 11, she is quick, nimble and active.
I was concerned, but I thought that maybe
it was a passing thing. We retired
for the night but later she woke me, and
when I went into the kitchen, she had had
diarrhea all over the kitchen floor.
She had NEVER had a bowel movement in the
house since she was housebroken at the age
of eight weeks. I was shocked.
I cleaned it up, put her back to bed, and
went back myself. When I got up in
the morning she had had diarrhea in three
different places. This was quite appalling
to her and her personality showed it.
I took her outside and had to help her stand
to urinate. I got her back in the house,
called the vet, and explained what was happening
and she said bring her in. I took her
back in on the 15th and the vet said that
she just had a bug and would be all right.
She did not run any tests but suggested that
I give Alexandria Imodium for the diarrhea,
and put her on soft food. She hated the Imodium
and it made her vomit. So I put her
on Pepto Bismol. She picked at the
boiled chicken that I fixed for her but she
wouldn't eat the rice. She was eating
but so little that it really worried me.
On February 4, 2000, I took her back in and
said that we had to do something, she was
declining so rapidly. At this time
she weighed 45 pounds. In two weeks
she had lost 8 pounds. The vet
ran a CBC on her resulting in the following
values:
WBC........4.5/L
MCV..........60
RBC.........5.54
MCH..........20.3
HGB........11.2/L
MCHC........33.9/L
HCT........33.1/L
RDW..........17.2/H
PLT........156/L
MPV..........11.3/H
DIFF:
LYM........13.9
LYM...........0.6/L
MON.......5.0
MON..........0.2/L
GRA.......81.1
GRA...........3.7
ALB.......2.0/L
ALP.......399/H
CA++....12.8/H
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At this date X-rays were also taken.
The findings were normal with the exception
of an enlargement of the spleen.
Action taken. We were sent home with
new dog food. The vet said that she
suspected cancer, that the bone marrow had
quit making the red blood cells and that
we were indeed in trouble. At this
time, I asked if it could be something else.
For example, the Revolution. I told
her that Alexandria had been healthy, active
and happy until she received the application
of the Revolution. The vet very adamantly
said, "No." At this time
Alexandria weighed 42 pounds. She was given
a steroid injection to help stimulate the
manufacturing of the RBC's. This visit costs
$250.00
Feb.7 Alexandria is now weighing 40 pounds
- We went in for a check up and another blood
test.
Hemoglobin.......9.8/L
Absolute Polys..........1984/L
Hematocrit.......28.8/L
Absolute Bands.........0
WBC................3.2/L
Absolute Lymphs.......512/L
RBC.................4.72/L
Absolute Monos.........544
MCV...............61
Absolute Eos..............168
MCHC............34.8
Absolute Basos..........0
MCH..............20.8
Reticulocytes.............0.0/L
This is the report that was sent back with
the blood test results:
Cytology
Microscopic Description: there is no visual
evidence of regeneration of the anemia, but
this should be evaluated with a reticulocyte
count. Though low in number, the WBC
distribution appears fairly normal with podominantly
segs, lesser lymphs and few monocytes and
eosinophils. Some of the lymphs are
reactive. Platelet numbers appear to
be low normal.
Diagnosis: No specific abnormalities found.
Comment: ////
Jan L. VanSteenhouse, D.V.M., PH.D., Dip.
A.C.V.P.
On Feb.13, 00 we went back to the vets for
blood work. Alexandria weighs 40 pounds.
All values were up with the exception of;
Hemoglobin.........10.6/L
Hematocrit..........33.7/L
Everything else was in the normal range.
Low but normal.
Feb.19, 00: Back to the vet's for Blood
profile.
Hemoglobin.........9.5/L
Hematocrit.........27.7/L
RBC.................. 4.43/L
All else was in the normal range.
Feb.29, 00 Blood work and office visit.
Reticulocytes............ 0.1/L
Alkaline Phosphatase 214/L
Calcium...................
8.6/L
Hemoglobin.............
6.7/L
Hematocirt..............
19.6/L
RBC.......................
3.4/L
After this test Alexandria was put on steroid
pills b.i.d. to stimulate her appetite.
They have helped. She was also put
on a vitamin called NutriCal. In 30
days the pills cost $72.00 The NutriCal will
cost $36.00
We are not at the end of this Odyssey.
We are still battling the loss of weight.
Alexandria still only weighs approximately
45 pounds. She has good days and not
so good days. Some days she eats up
a storm and others I have to hand feed her.
It is my personal opinion that the cause of this problem was a reaction to the Revolution that was applied without permission. Because Alexandria is an older dog, it is much harder for her to bounce back. It has been painful for her, and as the one who loves her more than my own life, I can't even put into words what is has cost me. Not in the dollars spent, but in the fear, apprehension and despair.
This should not happen. It must not
be allowed to happen ever again to anyone's
beloved pet.
Submitted with hope,
Dr. Roberta Lee
Post Script: 4/13/00 Today a doctor from the Pfizer company called me. She was very nice. She said that somehow they had gotten one of my letters and she wanted to check and see how Alexandria was. She asked if I would mind sending her a copy of the records and I told her I wouldn't mind at all, they also offered to pay for the treatment costs.
I just added up the cost to date. It
is $1623.91. I don't want people to
think that money is the issue. IT WASN'T.
But as you know there are people that just
couldn't afford this.
Editor's note: Dr. Lee has offered to discuss
this with anyone whose dog may be exhibiting
symptoms or who may be concerned about safety
of this product. Please respect her
time and privacy but if you have a problem,
she can be reached at mailto:drlee@thedogplace.com
And as a result of our communications with
Dr. Lee, we found her to be a warm, intelligent
person with a broad range of knowledge.
We've asked her to join TheDogPlace Advisory
Board and she has graciously agreed.