I have a 4 yr. old female GSD. She had a litter of 7 healthy pups Jan 21st. After the 4th week of nursing she developed a limp. shortly afterward she had a temp of 105.5 and dehydrated. I rushed her to the vet and the combination of IV antibotics and fluids brought her around She then had a relaps 4 days later which we treated with zenaquin and rimydal. Since then she has not had a fever but lost all her energy and haad a severe limp and muscle loss in her left shoulder. I had her tested for lyme and the organism was present but because she was vaccinated the antibodies are also present. She also tested negitive for Eurekia. Her white count is normal and so far after $1000.00 with repeated x-rays and the cost of medicine she was no better and continued to decline. I took her to a holistic vet and spent another $1000.00 on supplements which caused her to vomit a vile yellow slime and found streams of blood in her feces.After 4 days of not eating and refusing food she was at deaths door. I took her off the supplements and began to liquify venison and pedialyte. I had to use a childs medicine syringe to feed her and at times pry her mouth open. The only supplement I gave her was the vitimin b and c.Its now been 6 weeks and I still have no clue whats wrong with her. I will be taking her to Cornell University this Monday as I am desperate. I have 2 other GSD's who are doing fine and co-exist in the same house. This is a long shot but around the time she began to get sick our city started a floridation additive in our public warer. When I changed to bottled water 3 weeks ago she began to eat and seemed to recover somewhat but not even close to what a 4yr old GSD should be. She has lost around 20lbs and is now losing some motor skills. She responds to commands and struggles to keep up but is far from able. She has also been tested for pyrometra and heartworm. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to build her up or has had s similar experience. I hope Cornell is everything I've heard it is as this is my last hope and all I can afford at this point. Say a prayer. N. Damore

Good luck.

Dear Nancy,

I know this must be heart breaking for you. I am so sorry to hear she is so ill. Please keep us updated as to how you do at Cornell.

I pray that your girl will be O.K.

Joyce M. Burrows

Ouch, sounds scarey. Nothing worse than NOT knowing what's wrong.

Without knowing what all was tested for and what the results were- from the symptoms- Addison's is a possibility also. She's the right age, the right sex and had a recent high stress event. Do you know if they tested for that? Addison's can be very hard to diagnose, the symptoms can be vague or mimic other diseases.

Anna

Our Prayer's and Thought's are with both of you.

sending mybest wishes to you and your dog

we are thinking of you westleavale

i'm so sorry about your dog...cornell is a good place to go...i hope they are able to help

You've got my prayer Nancy. Good luck with her.

Nancy, I'm so sorry for you and your dog! I hope that you can find out quickly what is wrong and that you are able to cure her!! Best of luck..

Since my last post the chain of events at Cornell have been positive and mind boggleing. Never being there before was an experience in it self. Belle' Amie' was admitted into the ICU upon arrival. After intense blood work and as many minimal invasive techniques along with 2 blood transfusions because of a red blood count of 15 (should be 45) and the medications Clavamox, and Doxycyciline She LIVES! She was in ICU for 5 days. The Diagnoses: Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia of unknown etiology, presumptive vasculitis. in other words she had a immune disorder brought on by unknown causes. Most likely triggered by hormonal changes in her reproductive cycle. I must add that the Dr's at Cornell were the most caring individuals I have ever met.Just before they were going to start a treatment to supress her immune system she improved for unknown reasons at a amazing rate and is now to the best of our knowledge fully recovered. I have to thank all of you for your posts and prayers of encouragement because for awhile I was unable to respond. This is something I will have to moniter for some time but for now the celebration of her life is in order