Crash's Dance with Death
10 February 2003 • Monday
(crash and bang, photo taken december 2001)
I noticed some swelling in Crash's abdomen area on Wednesday, January 29th, 2003. She wasn't showing any pain or acting uncomfortable. In fact she showed NO symptoms whatsoever. I brought her to my veterinarian on Saturday and she decided to shoot some x-rays. We found an object on the x-rays and we were also concerned because there wasn't any real definition in the x-ray of her internal organs.
My veterinarian opted to do some exploratory surgery. She found part of an ant trap that Crash had eaten August 2003 in her stomach. The fluid in her abdominal cavity was sent off for analysis.
The surgery went smoothly and Crash began a steady recovery throughout the night on Monday and all day Tuesday. Around 4PM on Tuesday, her temperature was in the 101° range and she had been peeing throughout the day. All of these were GREAT signs that she was on her way back to her regular self...
When we got to my vet's house that night we noticed Crash wasn't doing so hot...her temperature had dropped to the 99° range, she vomited twice, and her gums were quite pale.
Around 8PM on Tuesday night after she didn't improve, we went back to the clinic to draw some more blood work. Crash was in really bad shape. Her hermadicrit was 12, her protein was 2-3, and her albumin was teetering at 0.1!! The veterinarians started to suspect that Crash could be in the early stages of DIC. We proceeded to the Emergency Clinic where we found they did not have the cards for cross typing Crash's blood for a blood transfusion. That's when we went to UT Vet Hospital. Crash was admitted Tuesday night around midnight. The admitting veterinarians said, "These numbers are NOT compatible with LIVING!!" We were at UT until 4AM. UT opted to have her in an oxygen cage and wait until 7AM when their blood people got there so that they could properly cross type her for a blood transfusion. Somehow, Crash made it through the night.
On Wednesday, the big brains at UT were throwing around DIC, Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, a protein losing enteropathy disease, or some type of mass. She received a radiograph (which showed no abnormalities), an ultrasound (which also showed no abnormalities), and they cross-typed her blood. She also started her blood transfusion on Wednesday. There was concerned Wednesday evening because her abdominal cavity started filling with fluid again and this time it was mostly blood. They were also concerned whether or not her body would attack the blood she was receiving.
By Thursday with the results of many of the tests back they ruled out DIC, anything auto-immune, and everyone was still scratching their heads about WHAT had happened. But, Crash was holding steady and slowly improving. She didn't seem to be rejecting the blood transfusion. She even appeared to be auto-transfusing (reabsorbing) the blood-fluid that was in her abdominal cavity.
On Friday, her blood work values were Hermadicrit = 38 (up 8 from Thursday), Protein = 7 (up 2 from Thursday), Albumin = 2.3 (up 0.3 from Thursday), and Gums the nice pink color that a normal dog should have. Crash auto-transfused all the fluid that had been in her abdominal cavity and they released her into my veterinarian's care over the week-end.
There are still no answers as to WHAT or WHY anything happened with her. The foreign body in her stomach everyone has said is totally unrelated to what happened. It's just LUCKY that my vet cut into her when she did. The fluid that was sent off by my vet and from UT came back with no abnormalities. This case has everyone at UT Vet Hospital from the department heads down to the first year vet students scratching their heads. Her blood work has continued to be monitored and she also received a bile-acid test which showed normal function of her liver and kidneys.
It surely was a roller coaster of emotions, and we had to face some very serious and grave decisions with Miss Crash!! Thanks to my family and friends for all of your continued support, thoughts, and prayers throughout all of this.
I truly view her recovery as nothing less than a modern day miracle.
Crash seems to be her regular self these days -- bratty as ever and ready to hunt once baby season concludes. She will be monitored at UT Veterinary Hospital at the end of April 2003 when they will evaluate her progress. We all hope her values continue to be at the normal levels!!Last modified: April 11, 2003
copyright © 2003 by Mary Beth
Page Title: Crash's Dance with Death
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