Tucker doesn't like kibble ...

[BabyReba]

oddly, tucker is wolfing down this urinary diet food, and i worried that he wouldn't like it. i'm sort of wondering if his body is telling him not to eat the other foods because something's wrong ... who knows ...

i'm half-tempted to go button's vet, which is who we were using before all this happened ... i chose this new vet because he was highly recommended by our boutiquey-vet friends, but now i feel very confused and extremely conflicted about what i'm reading/hearing vs. the instruction i'm getting from the vet.

i'm also a bit pissed off because they told me that we had to worry about parasites and worms, and they made a huge deal about the fact that dogs can get tapeworms from fleas, so we should just do a precautionary worming just in case, even though the fecal samples were negative for worms ... i understand that they don't always show up in fecals, so i told them i usually worm them with panacur and would order some or pick some up just in case, but they insisted it was urgent that we reworm again now, since tucker is anemic and it shouldn't wait and that i could buy wormer from them and get it taken care of immediately. of course i'm concerned about my dog, so i agreed and told them i'd pick it up and worm them immediately. so last night, i picked up enough wormer for all 3 dogs from them, and it was pre-loaded into syringes without any label telling me what kind of wormer it was. i asked, and they told me it was strongid. so i the asked why we were doing strongid, if we were worried about tapes (strongid doesn't work on tapes) and why we wouldn't be using something that would also cover whipworms (strongid doesn't cover that either), since we wanted to do this as a precautionary measure. why wouldn't we use drontal or panacur or something more comprehensive ...

the answer was that "this is what the doctor said you need" ... so i paid $78 for enough wormer for them all, which isn't even covering all of our bases, and now i'm headed out to tractor supply to pick up a fresh batch of canine safeguard so i can worm all the dogs with that myself next week, to make sure we're totally covered. which is what i wanted to do in the first place.

i'm irked, to say the least. and now wondering if this vet is really the right vet for me. i'm thinking not.

[jamielvsaustin]

I'd be pissed about the wormer too. Can you actually speak with the doctor and find out his reasoning behind it? And if it doesn't satisfy you-explain to him the extra measures you had to take because he wasn't being...methodical enough?

What's the likelihood of having to start all over at Button's vet? Would they simply take the information you have from the first vet and move forward from there? Or would they want to run their own tests as well?

[BabyReba]

i'm not sure, but since this vet wants to re-run all the tests next week anyway, maybe that'd be ok if they wanted to run their own tests. i wish button's vet wasn't 35-45 minutes away. it makes getting out to the appointments a half-day-off-work ordeal. blah. we might stick it out here a bit longer and try to get some resolution on this first.

[Misskiwi67]

Hematocrit is the red blood cell percentage. Many blood machines also measure hemoglobin and red cell numbers, but hematocrit is the most common way to measure red blood cells. I asked because you had said Tucker was anemic.

I'm glad to hear Tucker likes the food. They add a lot of flavorings to make the foods irresistible. The diet doesn't do us any good if the dog won't eat it. Which food did they put him on?

I would imagine they were pushing the dewormer so hard because you are in the heart of worm-city. The further south you go, the more problems you see with intestinal parasites. I have heard stories of dogs that die from whipworm infections down south, but I see maybe 2 dogs with them a year. Its probably completely location and experience based, and since I'm not in practice in that area, I would say to go with that doctors expertise in that area. I prefer panacur too, but if you recently used panacur, it also makes sense to use a different medication. I'd be pissed they wanted to treat whipworms and gave you something that wouldn't treat that parasite though, and the lack of labeling concerns me too. Even when we draw medications in syringes, the bags they go home in are labeled with the medication, volume, and administration instructions. This is actually required by law when giving any prescription medication.

[BabyReba]

Which food did they put him on?

It's the Royal Canin prescription diet. Apparently, this vet really loves that line. The food is, oddly, a very odd yellow color. It practically glows! I guess maybe yellow is the color of chicken?

I'll ask about the hematocrit level when I go in again ... they told me he was anemic and explained how the red blood cell count was low and the various things that could cause it, but they didn't give me a number. Now that I know what it is, I'll ask.

The meds thing was very odd to me ... there was a label on the bag of syringes, and it told me to administer one dose to each dog now, followed by another in 2 weeks, but no other information. Which did strike me as very odd when they handed it to me ... I was like ... "Uh, before I pay for this, can you tell me what it is?" The first response was "worming medication." And I had to ask them to tell me specifically which one. The lady who was about to take my money had no clue and had to get someone from in the back to tell her, then relay the info to me ... again, struck me as very unusual. Most vets I've seen have been pretty thorough about making sure you know exactly what's being prescribed, what it's supposed to do, and how to administer it.

[Murfins]

Which food did they put him on?

It's the Royal Canin prescription diet. Apparently, this vet really loves that line. The food is, oddly, a very odd yellow color. It practically glows! I guess maybe yellow is the color of chicken?

That's what our vet has our cat, Duffy, on who has been battling UTIs and struvite crystals for months now and about 2-3 weeks ago x-rays showed stones so I gave in and agreed to put her on the Rx food. It is disgusting smelling and the colour is so off putting, isn't it? Gag.

[BabyReba]

yeah, it is ... but if it's really what the vet thinks we need to do, i'll do it. most of our vets have understood our food-related concerns and have worked with us on avoiding doing the corn-based day-glo foods, but until we have a stable dog, we'll stick with the protocol.

i drove the 45 minutes to button's vet today after work, just to talk to them and learned ... that button's vet has left the practice! boo. now i don't even have a local vet that i love anymore to talk to. he's the only vet i'd used down here for button and tucker and now he's gone. i do like the staff, though, and they talked to me for a while about tucker and his situation and they explained to me that rounds and hooks are more common around these parts than whipworms or tapeworms, so the strongid would tackle those. but they did say that the other vet never called to get tucker's records (even though they said they were going to do so) before treating him. and i found that odd. so they asked if i wanted them to call over and offer to do a paper exchange (so both offices would have one another's files, just in case) and i said sure. after i left, button's vet called and told me that the new vet's office declined and said that they would require me to sign a release form to share tucker's records ... with his original vet office! the one who has his medical history on file! the one the new vet was supposed to be in touch with to get his history to begin with.

i've heard of that for people's med records, but never for vet offices. so weird and not really cool at all, as far as i'm concerned.

[Timas Mom]

Well its really not ok to hand you meds at $78!!!! (omg most expensive strongid ever) and not have a label or anything.
And totally pointless if they are worried about tapeworms.
I would mention this to the vet and get clarification as its the wrong med for the wrong concern HE had!!!

And the food issue....I dont get why the food is so important to only check in a week....there would be next to no difference int hat time period! Treating for a condition that may not exist is very upsetting (even if the treatment is only food)

I am sorry this has to be so difficult for you, it really shouldnt!

Its a legal requirement here for the owner to sign for record release due to new privacy policies.

[Murfins]

yeah, it is ... but if it's really what the vet thinks we need to do, i'll do it. most of our vets have understood our food-related concerns and have worked with us on avoiding doing the corn-based day-glo foods, but until we have a stable dog, we'll stick with the protocol.

Absolutely, this is one of the few times I'm going with the Rx food as well - blockage is not something I am willing to risk.

[dogs4jen]

The other vet's (Button's)sounds more on the ball from what you've said, could you just stick with them?

[BabyReba]

I'm afraid to be too hopeful or excited about this, but Tucker hopped right out of bed this morning, and I think the flush is coming back to his gums ... maybe the worming and/or urinary diet is indeed the right course of treatment. He's pretty tuckered out after his morning walk, and he's resting, so he's still not better. But I **think** we're seeing some improvement. Hopefully this keeps up.

[Ilovethepits]

I am hoping Tucker continues to improve.

[Misskiwi67]

I saw my first case of severe whipworm over the weekend... dog presented nearly dead - Temperature 89, heart rate 30, severely dehydrated. If this is what happens in the South on a regular basis, I'd be drowning dogs in dewormer too!!! The dog did fantastic by the way... fluids are a magical thing sometimes...

Glad to hear Tucker is feeling better!

[Red]

I'm afraid to be too hopeful or excited about this, but Tucker hopped right out of bed this morning, and I think the flush is coming back to his gums ... maybe the worming and/or urinary diet is indeed the right course of treatment. He's pretty tuckered out after his morning walk, and he's resting, so he's still not better. But I **think** we're seeing some improvement. Hopefully this keeps up.

That's great to hear, been reading about poor Tucker's issues.

[BabyReba]

tomorrow at 9 am he goes in for his followup ... he's going through all the normal motions, he's eating, and he's going for walks and he's hopping out of bed in the mornings, but something is still just not right. i can't even totally put my finger on it. he's just not as spry as usual, and i can tell he's not feeling well. i'm going to insist on xrays tomorrow, no matter what they think. he's been sick for about 2 weeks now, and i'm afraid to dick around waiting to see if these little things pay off or not.