$1200 and counting...

[Steve1968LS2]

Gotta love lifes little surprises..

Our Whippet has been acting a little lathargic the last two days.. eating slow.. not wanting to run.. just out of character.

Took her to the vet today.. $497 for x-rays, blood work, exam and all that..

The x-rays show some objects in her stomach.. sorta like quarters but not metallic. She is not typically the type to eat innanimate objects and stuff, so we have no idea what it is.

They are keeping her overnight for observation and they are going to do the barium deal and take xrays every hour or two to see if there's any blockage... total for that part $600-$700..

$1200ish and counting.. if they have to operate

Hope she is ok.. she's a great dog..

http://www.lifeinwidescreen.com/siihp/athena1.jpg

[Ummgawa]

Did ya ever notice that a Girl's best friend is a diamond but a Man's best friend is his dog?

Hmmm...

[Steve1968LS2]

Did ya ever notice that a Girl's best friend is a diamond but a Man's best friend is his dog?

Hmmm...

Hell yea.. actually Athena is my wifes best bud as well..

The doctor asked if there was a spending cap.. we just said do what's necessary.. what else is there to say?

[Bill Howell]

I will buy penny, since the dog is getting into pennys money. :thumbsup: :rofl:

[mazspeed]

One of the worst problem with dog's and their tracks, is tennis balls.

[Streetking]

Hope everything turns out well Steve. Money would be no object with my two little guys either...

SW

http://www.fototime.com/BF34032B3DF4099/standard.jpg

[Steve1968LS2]

Hope everything turns out well Steve. Money would be no object with my two little guys either...

SW


Yea, they are family..

[Bill Howell]

I had to give up on dogs as pets years ago. It seemed every one I bought would get some weird illness or be in a freak accident. My heart just could not take another lose, so we just gave up. Losing one is losing a family member.

[Sales@Dutchboys]

hope everything goes well....


-Paul

[quadfather]

i feel your pain , my wife and i have 3 yorkies. our youngest was in the animal hospital for 2 weeks . the total was around 2800.00. this was only after having her for 3 days . and paying 2100.00 for her. anyway she had pnuemonia. and her blood suger got so low she was having seisures. but we got asked the same question by the doctor. about a spending limit and even after only having her for 3 days we said get her healthy do what ever it takes. well now she is 2 years old healthy, and worth every penny. so i hope yours story has a happy ending also.

[Hdesign]

Sorry to hear that. We're huge dog fans in my house and it's always tough to be faced with those decisions. Hope all turns out well!

[jimhamptons]

Sorry to hear about that Steve, I hope everything works out.

[jonny51]

We love our dogs also,"do what's necessary" about sum's it up.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/luma51/dogs/DSC03552.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/luma51/dogs/DSC03549.jpg

[Payton King]

I have a lab that my wife found as a puppy when we were dating...I named it.

She is 14 now which is old for a lab. Anyway we took her to the vet because she is losing weight. Basicially she is in kidney failure and may live 2 months or 2 more years.

My other dog had cancer on his leg 2 years ago, he is 12 now. We had the cancer removed but did not want to cut his leg off or do chemo. They gave him 6 months to live as they said it would come back...he is beating the odds and doing great.

Hate to hear that about your dog.

[clill]

Are you missing any car parts ? Need a spare dog ?

[Slick]

Hope everything works out, and I know how everyone feels about their dogs. My girlfriend and I have no kids...but we have 5 dogs between us (I have 2, she has 3) and everyone makes fun of us for treating them like our kids...they are like out kids, and my best friends at the same time :) We say we're done for awhile and 5 is plenty..but the minute my girlfriend sees a sick dog needing a home it will be on it's way home with us....the last one had 5 tumors removed 2 days after she brought it home to "foster" it until they found a good home for it...yeah right, she's a best dog now :)

[markss28]

Sorry to hear about your dog Steve. I pray that God heals her and that she return sakely home.

We have 2 boxers and 2 baset-hounds and we love them all very mouch. Our youngest hound was born in a litter of 3 and the father killed the first one, the second one died 2 days later, but the 3rd (Duke) is still kicking. We had to baby him for about 45 days keeping him in warm blankets, feeding him with a bottle, and the best bed money could buy. He was so litte then now hes 9months old and 70 pounds.

Keep believing for the best. A miracle will happen.

[DRJDVM's '69]

Hey Steve
Sorry to hear about your dog.

Does you're vet have access to an ultrasound machine ??? In my experience barium series are very expensive and usually dont tell you very much. It usually ends up costing alot and you still have to do other tests or do a surgical exploratory to get an answer or correct the problem anyway. I prefer to spend the $$ in other ways that have a better cost/benefit ratio.

See if your vet can have a radiologist do an ultrasound for you. There are mobile radiologists or possibly somewhere close that you take your dog to to have it done and return to your local vet. In my opinion you're better off spending the $$ that way. Theres nothing wrong with a barium series per se, but they are getting to be considered "old school" and for the cost tends to eat up alot of an owners budget for an often small yield on results.

Let me know if I can help answer any questions etc. Obviously your vet is going to be the best source since he/she is in direct contact with your dog and knows the whole situation, but I may be able to clear up any confusion you may be having.

I am a vet by the way..... DRJDVM's '69

[Kustom_dude]

All I can say is that dogs are better than people some times, they just know whats up.

Good luck Steve I had a scare a few months a ago with my new pup.

Here's the ruff life they have pool side... waiter ...biscuits

[Steve1968LS2]

Hey Steve
Sorry to hear about your dog.

Does you're vet have access to an ultrasound machine ??? In my experience barium series are very expensive and usually dont tell you very much. It usually ends up costing alot and you still have to do other tests or do a surgical exploratory to get an answer or correct the problem anyway. I prefer to spend the $$ in other ways that have a better cost/benefit ratio.

See if your vet can have a radiologist do an ultrasound for you. There are mobile radiologists or possibly somewhere close that you take your dog to to have it done and return to your local vet. In my opinion you're better off spending the $$ that way. Theres nothing wrong with a barium series per se, but they are getting to be considered "old school" and for the cost tends to eat up alot of an owners budget for an often small yield on results.

Let me know if I can help answer any questions etc. Obviously your vet is going to be the best source since he/she is in direct contact with your dog and knows the whole situation, but I may be able to clear up any confusion you may be having.

I am a vet by the way..... DRJDVM's '69

NOW YOU TELL ME!!!! :faint: :lol:

Athena is back home.. Everything checked out ok and they have no idea what was in her stomach but it's gone now.. Bill only came to $1042 (only??) but then again they didn't find squat.

So I don't get how they take x-rays.. see stuff there that looks odd.. then poof everything is gone.. Don't they know how to read x-rays? at least the barium show that all the plumbing is working..

Some antibiotics due to a slighly elevated liver enzyme level and she is resting.. should know in a few days if she is back to her old "running around" ways.

Thanks guys!

[jack67rs]

Steve, glad everything came out alright! We lost both of our Italian Greyhounds in the last year. One from old age the other got very sick and the bills got to high with no clue as to what was happening. They were just going to have to open her up and go from there. Try explaining that to the kids. We are now looking to get a whippet or two. Do you know of any litters available, they are tougher to find than the Italian Greyhounds.

[hapevo]

Hey Steve,

Glad to here she is doing better!

My wife and I have three dogs and two have been to vet way too many times lately. Thankfully we have pet insurance! It has helped ease the pain of the larger vet bills.

Of course we would not hesitate to pay whatever it takes to make them better. :)

Ross

[jonny51]

Nice, glad to hear she is doing good and back at home.

[quadfather]

maybe buisness was alittle slow at the vet. so they put some coins down on the x-ray table first. make a little extra cash. (lol) . but i'm glad to hear it's all cool.

[DRJDVM's '69]

maybe buisness was alittle slow at the vet. so they put some coins down on the x-ray table first. make a little extra cash. (lol) . but i'm glad to hear it's all cool.
Not funny.........

Steve
Everything in the intestinal tract is constantly moving and changing. Its like taking a picture of a big snake curled up in a box and then looking at the box again hours later and it may look completely different. Look at an xray... its made up of several different shades of gray composed of multiple tissue all piled on top of each other. All in one dimension....Its not nearly as straight forward as people seem to think it is. If it was, there would be no need for ultrasounds, MRI and CT scan machines.

People seem to base all their perception of medicine on TV shows etc and nothing could be farther from the truth. I drive my wife crazy when we watch medical based shows and I completely rip apart the medicine and quick definitive conclusions they make off one tiny bit of info.

If you look at it from a car analogy...... if you have a car that sputters or hesitates in 3rd gear at around 40 MPH but doesnt do it all the time... so what causes that ??? Gee where do we start....... there are about a dozen or so causes...... sometimes reading the spark plugs help but not always.... sometimes those changes to the spark plug color etc can be caused by several different problems.... you may narrow it down but cant jump right to "its the jets" or "its the rings".... you need to narrow it down and systematiclly eliminate each possibility. Sometimes its a quick answer... sometimes before you know it, you have the whole motor torn down...

You also need to stop looking at it from "they didnt find squat".... just because the test didnt say what it is, doesnt mean the tests were a waste of $$. Each test allowed the vet to eliminate possible causes of you pets illness. They know she isnt in kidney failure, doesnt have diabetes, doesntt have a bowel obstruction, doesnt have a stomach torsion etc etc etc........ all the $$ you spent eliminate alot of possibilities and your pet is getting better with the treatment they did.

I'm glad your dog is doing better. We all hope to get a definitve answer on why some things happen and what caused them, but the world of medicine isnt that straight forward quite often.

[BC69]

Glad to hear everything is okay Steve! Never want anything bad to happen to a pet!

I am a vet by the way..... DRJDVM's '69

I always wondered what your SN meant when your name is Ned. Now we know!


Tim

[quadfather]

Not funny.........

Steve
Everything in the intestinal tract is constantly moving and changing. Its like taking a picture of a big snake curled up in a box and then looking at the box again hours later and it may look completely different. Look at an xray... its made up of several different shades of gray composed of multiple tissue all piled on top of each other. All in one dimension....Its not nearly as straight forward as people seem to think it is. If it was, there would be no need for ultrasounds, MRI and CT scan machines.

People seem to base all their perception of medicine on TV shows etc and nothing could be farther from the truth. I drive my wife crazy when we watch medical based shows and I completely rip apart the medicine and quick definitive conclusions they make off one tiny bit of info.

If you look at it from a car analogy...... if you have a car that sputters or hesitates in 3rd gear at around 40 MPH but doesnt do it all the time... so what causes that ??? Gee where do we start....... there are about a dozen or so causes...... sometimes reading the spark plugs help but not always.... sometimes those changes to the spark plug color etc can be caused by several different problems.... you may narrow it down but cant jump right to "its the jets" or "its the rings".... you need to narrow it down and systematiclly eliminate each possibility. Sometimes its a quick answer... sometimes before you know it, you have the whole motor torn down...

You also need to stop looking at it from "they didnt find squat".... just because the test didnt say what it is, doesnt mean the tests were a waste of $$. Each test allowed the vet to eliminate possible causes of you pets illness. They know she isnt in kidney failure, doesnt have diabetes, doesntt have a bowel obstruction, doesnt have a stomach torsion etc etc etc........ all the $$ you spent eliminate alot of possibilities and your pet is getting better with the treatment they did.

I'm glad your dog is doing better. We all hope to get a definitve answer on why some things happen and what caused them, but the world of medicine isnt that straight forward quite often.
ease up dude i was just making light of it. i glad to hear his pup was ok that's all. :wow:

[Speedster]

Our dog just passed away this afternoon. He was a black lab and was going to be 15 later this year. So, I am glad that everything worked out with your dog Steve, it is never fun losing one. Actually, it pretty much sucks.

[Streetking]

Our dog just passed away this afternoon. He was a black lab and was going to be 15 later this year. So, I am glad that everything worked out with your dog Steve, it is never fun losing one. Actually, it pretty much sucks.

Sorry to hear about your dog, we lost our Samoyd after 15 years also, I know how you feel...

SW