[Winston's Mom]

This week has been one of the worst in my life. My dog Clementine is very sick and is fighting for her life in the hospital, and I need all your prayers. About three weeks ago, we noticed that Clemmie had stopped eating (she's normally very food motivated) and seemed to be wheezing. So we took her to the vet. They weren't sure what was wrong, but put her on antibiotics and gave her a shot of electroylites. She seemed a little bit better (probably because of the electroylites). We were supposed to get an xray but decided to put it off because she had started to eat a little and seemed better. My husband and I went on vacation, and when we came back, she got worst. She was hardly eating at all, and now had a terrible cough and started regurgetating contstantly. Our poor baby. We kept calling our vet, and had x-rays and more tests done, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong, thoguht maybe bronchitis. The vet changed her medicine again, but it was impossible to get any down her. Honestly, we are very upset with our vet because we feel she should have refered us to a specialist sooner. We kept calling to say she wasn't getting better.

Finally, last Wed., my husband took her to the specialist (he had to carry her to the car she was so weak) and they told us we had a very sick dog and Clemmie might not make it. She has pneuomia, but that was the least of our problems. They said she had a foreign object in her stomach(our vet never looked at her stomach or asked about her bowl movements-just focused on her chest) They put a camera down her stomach and saw that it was filled with compcated grass. So wed. night, they operated to get the grass out. There was nothing else in there, and no one knows why she ate that much grass.

Now, she is on oxygen and on an IV. She has a feeding tube in her stomach but so far she can't eat anything. Her esophygus is very damaged, and we don't know how long or if it will heal. We are waiting for test results on her intestines and gi tract to make sure that she doesn't have a disease. Every day, we go to visit her and she looks so sad.

My husband and I don't have kids yet. But this has been just devastating. We are so worried and the costs of her care are adding up. But we will do whatever we have to to save her life. The only silver lining is I realize how much I love this dog. I've posted before that we've thought about giving her up, but now all I want is for her to come home and be with us. I hope she'll be able to. Please let me know if you've experienced anything like this. I could use some positive news.

P.S. Our other basset Winston had to have minor surgery to remove a lump last monday. Luckily, the biopsy came back benighn and he's okay.

 

[BubbaLeroy]

I'm so sorry about Clementine. Our Bogie has had two surgeries for blocked intestines due to swallowing rocks and was a pretty sick Basset both times, and pulled through OK. Granted he did not have the extra problem of pneumonia that your Basset has, but we will be slinging lots of healing drool for Clementine. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you and Clementine, for a speedy recovery. At least now she is with a specialist who seems to be on top of things now.
I'm so glad that Winston is doing OK.

 

[Baxter Basset]

Clementine has all my prayers and well wishes. Poor thing. You just hate to hear of a houndie suffering. And yes, sometimes it takes a crisis to realize how much we really love our hounds. Keep us posted.

 

[Sabian's mom]

You and your family are in our prayers. Sometimes hounds can be trying but we love them all. We are slinging healing drool from Indiana to Clementine. Please keep us updated.

 

[murraysmom]

You are in my thoughts - I really hope she's OK-

 

[José]

I am so sorry to hear about Clementine. The beginning of your story sounded a lot like mine a few months ago, but unfortunately Josés diagnosis after three tries at medicines was cancer. It sounds promising that they found what was wrong and I will be praying for her to make a speedy recovery. We don't have kids yet and so I can relate to you 100% - but even if we did I don't think that would have diminished the love we had for José or what we would do for him. I think it's wonderful you go see her every day. I did that with José. It's hard to do though, when your baby is so weak but I am sure she loves it. Hopefully your vet hospital staff is good to her & you know how bassets are, anyone who shows them some love is their new best friend! Hang in there & I look forward to hearing some encouraging updates!
Lisa

 

[Havensbane]

Sending love and light and lots of prayers to you and your baby...

 

[Elvismom]

We'll say lots of prayers and send lots of drool for Clementine! Your poor baby must feel so terrible. I'm glad they finally realized what was wrong and that they are now taking care of her.

Give her a gentle hug from all us of. And take care of yourselves, too. It's hard when a loved one is so ill.

 

[faysie]

I'll say a prayer. Keep us posted.

 

[Shermie's Mom]

I am so sorry to hear about what you are going through with your baby. I just went through something similar with Shermie. Hopefully since they now know what the problem was, she can fully recover. Bassets are amazingly strong little guys, and do recover quickly. My thoughts are with you.
Sally

 

[2hounds]

So sorry about Clem, my thoughts are with you. Keep us posted.

~Heather

 

[Rubydoo]

Sending healthy thoughts and prayers.

Janice and little Ruby

 

[Basset Momma]

Sending much love and prayers-

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear how ill Clementine is.Sending tons of drool from Tummy Boy.

 

[shakerag]

My prayers as well
don

 

[Maggie's Mommy]

Sending prayers and good thoughts your way.

 

[Aruuuu]

I think I'd find another vet, if there's one in your area. Your own vet should have insisted on x-rays the first time you brought little Clementine to her, rather than medicating her for unknown reasons. Geesh!

It sounds like Clemmie's in good hands now, and hopefully they'll be able to turn her around. I'm sending strong healing vibes to your girl...........

{{{{{Clemmie}}}}}

 

[Betsy Iole]

Your own vet should have insisted on x-rays the first time you brought little Clementine to her, rather than medicating her for unknown reasons.[/b]

(The following is a general comment, not directed at anyone on this thread and especially not at the OP.)

I don't feel this is necessarily a failing on the parts of veterinarians; they can only perform the diagnostics that the client is willing to pay for. For example, very few clients are willing to pay for urine culture and sensitivity testing up front when the vet thinks their dog has a UTI. The dog gets a course of antibiotics, and diagnostic testing is pursued only if the dog fails to respond.

 

[Winston's Mom]

Thanks to everyone for all of their wonderful prayers. It means the world to us. We feel like we are on a roller coaster ride because there are still so many unanswered questions. One minute we think she will recover, the next we are trying to prepare ourselves for the worst. Clementine is definitely a fighter though. The problem is they don't know why she ate the grass and her esophygus has not yet healed so she can't eat anything. She continues to vomit, but was able to come off the oxygen for a short time yesterday. The vet seems as unsure as we do about her fate, although hopeful.

Aruuuu, we are in agreement. We are furious with our vet. We kept calling them telling them the antiobiotics were not working and that she was not getting better. We took her to the vet for xrays and and would have tried anything they told us to try. What bothers me is that our vet (who I trusted up until this point) did not advise us to see a specialist sooner or even ask us about her stomach. She seemed more focused on the respiratory issues and not the fact that the dog continued to regurgetate for days. I know that it must be hard to diagnose someone who can't talk, but I think when she didn't know what was wrong she should have pushed us for tests or to go to a specialist. Instead, I felt like we were pushing her. Clementine was regurgetating (there is a difference between that and vomitting) about 20x a day before we took her to the hospital. Betty, I hear what you are saying. But honestly, in this case, I think our vet did not act in our dog's best interest, and now we could lose her. We certainly have spent a fortune on her care now (I won't even tell you how much) But I don't care, all I want is for my baby to come home.

 

[Jake's mum]

Jakehound and Harvey Hound wish you well and hope for better news about Clementine soon. xx