Yesterday we we were called to friends for emotional assistence because one of their dogs had to be put asleep due to kidney failure

The dog had been examined many weeks before as she so often refused to eat and was quase always just lying on the ground. The first Vet, they consulted, just treated her with with antibiotics and inflammatories. Just as attempt, just in order to be able to exclude certain causes.

I wouldn't have accepted that, I find it absolutely irresponsabel. This is for me no examination, this is a treatment out into the blue. The Vet couldn't know yet what he was treating at all. He made no bloodtest, no x-ray, no CT, nothing.

Our friends finally changed the Vet. But they had trusted him and waited too long. The second Vet then made a bloodtest. The result came yesterday morning. He then couldn't help any more.

Does any one of you know if there should have been made one ore more additional tests before taking that final decision? Well, I tend to believe that euthanizing was now necessary, She was in a very bad shape, was trembling all over, had convulsions, her eyes weren't functioning normally and she wasn't able to hold herself on her legs.

I'd really appreciate to know on what to insist, when we consult a Vet.

I have a yearly blood test done on any dog I own.

Not just heart worm but a full workup.

That may have gotten ahead of this problem but it's hard to say now.

I think, "IF" you insist, a vet should be able to at the very least tell you why not.

Thanks, Bob. Yes I also have a yearly blood test done. But our friends, who lost their dog didn't. This a mistake, sure. But the most horrible mistake was the vets one. He should have informed those people, that it is absolutely necessary, especially in a case, when the dog aleady isn't well.

Our vet does it, when we ask for it. But I regularly have discussion because I'm feeding raw. He sais I'm running a great risk they will catch salmonellas, listerias or other things. I've been reading so much about raw diet and I I feed it even if he doesn't disagree.

Same wrong infos about the yearly vaccinations Yes we should of course inform ouselvrs thoroughly as far as we can.

But for me I get get the impression I shoukd study veterinary medicine first before consulting a vet.

No need to study it in order to question it.
Any good vet should be happy to explain what he/she is saying.
Feeding raw today is little risk when done properly and I suspect your doing.

Yes, I at least think so as I have a good LB book about it. I made very good experiences with it and I guess I'll start raw feeding myself too.

You said the dog was seen many weeks ago for refusing to eat and basically lethargy. Most vets will pull blood and do at least a CBC - but many of us know all too well that a CBC may show an infection, it won’t tell you where the infection is.

Chronic kidney disease comes on gradually and can be caught on a routine blood test, but sometime it can come on very fast and a blood test won’t always catch it. Also there are so many things that can cause kidney failure that it’s hard to predict.... even with a blood test.

The dog wasn’t eating so the initial problem could have been a routine intestinal infection... now it’s not common, but sometimes a routine intestinal infection can make a dog go septic and kill it within days.... blood tests, ultra sounds, etc won’t help in those situations.

I am an advocate of always knowing what the vet is doing with your dog and why they are doing it.... but sometimes even the best vets in the world miss a diagnosis and lose a patient. Hind sight is always 20/20, but in the moment, you treat what you think the problem may be and if there is no change you try something else... sometimes you just don’t get the time to try something else....

I wasn’t there and I don’t know what the initial diagnosis was or why they treated without doing blood tests, but veterinary medicine is not an exact science- many times it’s just making your best guess and hoping you get a second chance if you are wrong...

Yearly blood work ups will help catch the more chronic issues, but lots of things still can’t be caught- Drift had been to the vet just the month before the hemangiosarcoma took her from me- and her blood tests were all within normal ranges.... even though the mass had likely been growing for many months before that. Sometimes you just can’t catch everything....

Routine vet care is essential, but you also need to know what is normal for your dog and what isn’t. Sometimes just a minor behavior change can catch major issues. And being very specific with your vet about those behavior changes can help diagnose an issue. Like instead of saying the dog is laying around and not eating, noticing if it is laying in a different position, seems restless at bedtime, drinks more water... those things can all be symptoms of different issues and help the vet narrow down what the issue may be.

Just throwing in my 2 cents - take it for what it is.

Great infos, Kelly, thanks so much. I'll follow them for my own dogs and pass them to my friends. For Tina, the now euthanised dog, I must perhaps add that my friends did not do any routine tests at all while Tina went well. I also don't know until now, how well they observed her.

I certainly do understand that Vets can't always discover everything. What I personnaly reproach to their first Vet is thathe didn't even try to diagnose at all. He has asked some questions and watched the dog I know he scanned her by hand but didn't even measure if she had fever and didn't auscultate her.

Maybe I'm wrong, but i wouldn't have accepted a treatment with antibiotics after such a "diagnostic". Would you?

I'm not at all against antibiotics, though even after a thorough diagnostic I'd not easily accept it without asking if there is really no other way. I don't need to tell you about the problems with antibiotics nowadays.

Here they prescribe them very lightheartedly, also for humans. You even get them in the pharmacy without presciption! Someone without medical education can't know which antibiotic to chose for his individual problem.