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Can I get a little love for Heartly?

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waterfaller1

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I am disappointed with my vet.:sad8: On the way to the vet's the other day, I noticed blood in Heartly's eye. I was driving, but there was clearly blood in the corner. There was a spot in his eye. We noticed last night it is still weeping blood. I did point this out when we got there. The vet and assistant looked at it. The vet said they would give me something for it, but when the tech came back to explain the meds and such, she said they decided it would "heal on it's own".
Well it hasn't. I called last night late, and they put together a prescription for him, which I will pick up this morning. For nearly $300. you would think they wouldn't have dropped the ball this way. I never have really liked this particular vet in the practice, over recent years I have made sure a woman vet that is there is available when we go. Do you think I should insist they look at it again, free of charge? I wonder if they would even be willing to do this? It is disappointing to say the least. Judy told me things like this can turn into an ulcer.:( I have no clue how this happened, but assume it happened when he hurt his leg. I am starting to think he chased a cat, or for some reason ran into the fence. Please keep him in your thoughts. He is also still very much limping and refuses to put weight on his leg at all.:(
 

kcbee

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Can you tell where on his leg is hurt? Can you ice the spot?

What did they say is wrong with his eye? Is it just a broken blood vessel? If so that should heal up no problem in 10-14 days. Or is he actually leaking blood out of the eye?
 

waterfaller1

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No, we have been all up and down the leg several times. He gives no indication what part actually hurts. It's the Akita in him TMS says....
The eye continues to bleed or weep blood from the spot, which is in the white part of the eye near the edge.
 

kcbee

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No, we have been all up and down the leg several times. He gives no indication what part actually hurts. It's the Akita in him TMS says....
The eye continues to bleed or weep blood from the spot, which is in the white part of the eye near the edge.
It sounds like it's just a broken blood vessel, which is harmless and heals up in a couple weeks. I wouldn't rush him back to the vet right now, but keep an eye on it and if it starts looking worse or he seems in pain then I'd take him back.

I found this from Merck:

Subconjunctival hemorrhage may arise from trauma or blood dyscrasias and certain infectious diseases. It does not require therapy, but close inspection is warranted to determine if more important intraocular alterations have occurred. If definite evidence or history of trauma is not present, then systemic examination is indicated to determine the cause of the spontaneous hemorrhage.[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]


Feel better Heartly! You need to be running around ASAP! :hug8:
[/FONT]
 

birdlady

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Awe he is gorgeous! So happy it wasn't anything really serious. Hope he gets back to his normal self real soon.
 

Anne & Gang

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oh yes, INSIST that they look at it free of charge and insist you get a different vet tech this time.
 

Greycloud

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It is is still weeping call and talk to the vet. Definitely pick up the meds and administer. Maybe since you are heading that way take him a long and ask them to check it. It should be free of charge!
 

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I don't know that I would pick up a prescription for $300 for something the Vet Tech so casually 'blew off'. I would ask that the Vet sees Heartly again and look at his eye and give you a diagnosis. I would also let the VET know that you now have traveled 3 hours and you are getting ready to do another hour drive home all because Heartly's eye was not taken serious by the Tech. Vets aren't cheap and they need to treat their clients the way they should be treated! Which means, listening and diagnosing a possible problem! And, yes, it should be free!

Definitely say something, Carole. When I moved back here Farfey became egg bound and I took her to a Vet on Falls Rd. $450 dollars later he was sending me home with her vent lubed and told me she should lay the egg within 12 hours. Well within 2 hours she was laying on her side and dying. I called them back and they told me the Vet was now in surgery and they could do nothing to help Farfey! They wouldn't even see her! Well, Dr Zantop saved her and it was very very close! I never followed up with that Vet and I should of and to this day I regret not speaking my mind.
 

Love My Zons

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Carole, I am glad that he is okay :hug8:I would call the Vet out on his decision of not examing that bit further as to why. Usually a broken vessel self absorbs but they should not bleed unless he has a scratch around the edge that is weeping. Call me out on this if you feel that strongly about it, I would!
 

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If nobody tells you something is wrong you can't fix it. Plus it has an exponential effect in that the next time somebody comes in with the same thing they will continue to blow it off. Also could the leg and the eye be connected? Could Heartly have been struck by something or somebody? Could there be something vascular going on? Some kind of blockage somewhere that's causing both issues?

Ginger
 

waterfaller1

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Thanks everyone!!:hug8:
I am going to go get the medicine now, and see if that doesn't help clear it up quicker. I do think the eye and leg are connected. I just went and walked the fence perimeter, and found a part of the chain link that is sticking inward and is sharp. He could have run smack into it judging from it's position,and the leg went through the fence possibly.There is a big upheaval of dirt at that end of the fence where he always runs and stops short. I am going to have Troy fix it today when he comes home.
Thanks for all the advice and love.:heart::hug8:
 

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:hug8::hug8: Hugs for you and Heartly, hope he is feeling better soon
 

waterfaller1

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Thanks Crystal.:) They gave me an ointment to put in his eye twice a day.
 

Ziggymon

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Poor Heartly. :hug8:

I gather they think it's a sprain, not just soft tissue bruising? With the latter, I've had steroids precribed, which got Jack back to his old self within a day. A sprain takes longer - is he showing any improvement at all yet?

I would definitely voice your concerns to the vet. Last year, just a few weeks after I adopted her, Gracie came back into the house on three legs after I'd let the dogs out. It was late on a Friday afternoon, and I knew I couldn't get her to my preferred vet before their office closed (he's about an hour away), so I took her to the nearby vet I use for more routine matters. I had tried to quickly examine her paw, but it was obvious that it was very painful, so off we went. The vet examined her paw, said she had no cuts or punctures, did x-rays, no broken bones, so diagnosed a sprain and sent us home with an anti inflammatory pain med. I questioned whether he was sure there was no puncture in the paw, because it had certainly seemed to me that it was the paw which was painful. He assured me - no puncture. By Sunday morning, no improvement, and the paw felt hot tgo me, so I gave her injection of antibiotics and Monday morning we were at my preferred vet's office, waiting for them to open. He was on vacation, and we saw another vet in the practice. Gracie had two puncture wounds, and an abcess had formed. The antibiotics started having their effect by that evening, and she started using the leg. Later that week, I noticed that she was having trouble swallowing - back to the vet. They couldn't find anything wrong in her throat, but to me, she was visibly deteriorating even while we were there, so they sent us to the U of I to be scoped. Fortunately, there was a doctor there who had seen cases of tetanus in dogs (most vets will tell you that dogs don't get tetanus), so she was diagnosed almost as soon as we walked through the door. I walked out the door after leaving her in intensive care (where she remained for ten days, with daily visits from me) and having put down a $5,000 deposit. They had never had a dog survive tetanus before - Gracie was their first. It took a couple of months for her to recover fully - I slept on the floor with her, so that I could hold her when her night time muscle spasms threw her body around. The poor dog went through hell.

I had already called the vet who missed the puncture wounds after that Monday morning when the other vet had seen them and put her on antibiotics. I called again and told him about the tetanus. Needless to say, I have never gone back to him.

It also taught me once again a lesson I had already learned earlier - to never, ever, ignore my own instincts when it comes to judging what is wrong with one of my animals.
 

waterfaller1

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WOW..what a story! Amazing!! I am so glad it had a happy ending.:hug8:
No improvement. They just said soft tissue injury. They gave me Rymadyl{which I refused} and something called Tramadol Hydrochloride for pain. The first one would have helped with swelling, which I do not see. But I have always been afraid of that drug. I have been sent home with it before, and thrown it away after paying for it.
 

Ziggymon

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Carole, I would monitor the leg carefully for heat. "Soft tissue injury" to me means bruised muscle rather than a sprain, and I wonder why they didn't try a steroid if that is what they think. But even with a bad sprain, I would think that he would be feeling a bit better within a few days. Did they do x-rays to rule out a fracture?

Yes, Gracie is a bit of a celebrity now at the U of I clinic. :) When I asked whether they had ever had a dog survive tetanus, they said no, but protocols were constantly improving. I hadn't known Gracie long at that point, but I knew her to be young, healthy, energetic, and afraid of absolutely nothing, as well as very intelligent - I figured if anyone would have a chance, it would be she. In those first days, though, I have to tell you that I felt sick with the thought that I might just be extending her suffering. I don't think that a dog with a nervous temperament could have survived it.
 
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Holiday

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Just now saw this. Sending some good thoughts for Heartly :hug8:
 

Birdiemarie

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Oh...I'm sorry Heartly is still having trouble with this injury. Since you found that section of the fence that looks suspicious could he have chased something and got snagged on the fence?

Not knowing for sure what's going on is so frustrating. Saying prayers he will be alright. :hug8:
 

waterfaller1

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Thanks for the advice Heidrun.:hug8:I will keep an eye out for the heat. Yes, they charged me twice for Xrays. No fractures.
Thank you Holiday.:hug8:
Thank you Marie.:hug8:That is possible about the fence. Two black cats, or one of them, keeps coming over from that side. Troy went and fixed the fence, and tomorrow I am going to take a shovel and flatten out his shortstop mound. It's huge!:eek: I should take a picture.:p
 
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