Sheltie very sick with anemia, eating problems, even eye problems

Lady is our 8 year old sheltie. She is very sick right now and it is breaking my heart (and my kids). She stopped eating about a month ago - which is the first time we took her to the vet. She tested negative for parasites and was put on an antibiotic and a special diet and pepcid to calm her stomach. She liked the diet as it was mostly chicken, what do doesn't like meat? She went through her antibiotics.

As soon as we stopped the treatment she went back to not eating. I tried a dog food recommended as tasty for dogs, no dice. This whole not eating little to nothing has lasted for about a month now. I got her to eat the last few days by adding canned dog food to her dish. Then she had diarrhea and some vomiting.

In addition she seemed to be having trouble seeing and getting around. She has always been a very agile dog, a fast runner and jumper so this is very unusual.

We went back to the vet today and they said she was anemic and definitely having vision problems. They would have done a screening to check all her organs, but we couldn't afford it. So, the second option was to put her on prednisone. The vet said it would make Lady feel better , should get her eating and drinking a lot. But it would not be a cure, only a treatment for the symptoms. So, we are trying that out. He did indicate that he thought it could be a problem with her red blood cells somehow.

Sorry this is so long...

This all seems very serious to me. Has anyone else had this happen to their dog? Or heard about it? We are just really concerned about our pup but can't afford expensive tests or treatments.

Hi, I know vet bills can be very expensive. I'm American too and we had a cat that shattered a leg a long time ago and the surgery was going to be over $3000 so we ended up having to put the cat down.

Vet bills can be insane, and sometimes the doctors are thinking more about their pockets than your pet because vet prices are VERY different per veterinary clinic, I've noticed.

This is also evidenced by the Science Diet pet food they always try and sell you, which is PROVEN to be absolute garbage and way too expensive as well. They offer this because most of the vets went to Hills Vet School and are promoting their stuff.

A vet I was sent to by the shelter I got my new puppy from told me that Science Diet was the best thing my dog could be on and that "If he did well on Blue, then he guessed that would be okay". Blue is a GOOD food and it's much better than Science Diet!

SOME vets will offer payment plans so that you can pay the huge vet bill over time, but they usually want like half up front, which might be too much for you, depending on your budget.

You can also take out credit in some vets, but know that this will likely in the end make you have to pay far more than you owe in the end. In other words, prepare for some debt.

Your vet is most likely correct in his assumption of her red blood cell count or whatnot. Vets usually have a good feeling about this stuff. You owe it to your dog to try and get her some additional help.

Look for low cost vets in your area, and see if one exists. They sometimes offer cheaper services and better payment plans depending on how much you make. Or perhaps you can take her to a no-kill shelter or something and ask if they can help. Maybe you can borrow the money, or sell or pawn something?

Sorry to hear about your poor girl. My dog suffered with serious stomach problems intermittently for nearly 2 years, but just like your girl, when she was on ab's she would be fine and then resort back to feeling sick and not eating at all

My new vet since we moved to another area last year, decided it was a form of irritable bowel and decided to put her on ONE metronidazole low dose antibiotic tablet every day for life I didn't like the idea, but 6 months down the line, I have to say, touch wood, we have had no recurrunces of any refusal of food or sickness. It's a stab in the dark, BUT, it might be worth a mention to your vet, as metronidazole is an anti inflammatory similar to a steroid but with less side effects, although my dog has gained a lot of weight but that's the least of her worries if she stays as well as she is. My dog was only 3 when all this started with her.

Parasites yes, could be something that the stool sample hasn't picked up, so again, I think you could ask your vet about a dose of Panacur over 3 days as this would clear all manner of worms and parasites, especially giardia. Has he mentioned giardia to you at all, and if not, ask him about this.

Eyes I don't know about, could just be a coincidence, but some parasites do go into the eyes if left long enough don't they, so again, a good dose of Panacur (it's very, very safe) should cure a lot if it is.

Sometimes vets get stumped with this kind of thing. I know this, because my last vets were a large animal hospital, so my dog saw quite a few vets and yet none of them managed to diagnose/cure her, and yet this one new vet seems to have done just that. I hope you will be as lucky as I am, and good luck with her.

My Jack Russell, had anemia and very similar symptoms. We ended up under a top European specialist and he was diagnosed with IBD. He had a bleed in his stomach which caused the anemia.

IBD is treatable but there is not a cure and unfortunatly because my JRT was actually allergic to all food stuffs and proteins we sadly lost him when he was just 4 years old.

Perhaps mention IBD and a stomach bleed to your vet. The only way to diagnose it properly is by endoscope.

I can feel your pain and understand what you are going through. I really hope you can get Lady stabalised and find the problem. Please give her gentle hugs from me.

Hi Maybe go down the homeopathic route,look for things to help suppressed immune,there is a lot out there if you can strengthen the immune,you will have a fighting chance,because you dont want the dog getting any weaker,As you are in the USA it would be better if you did a google search there as we may have differant names for things over here.keep us posted crystalgirl

Hi Have found a link which cld give you more info,think its US based.crystalgirl

http://www.nativeremedies.com/petali...-remedies.html

You guys have all given me some things to think about and try. I really appreciate it. Lady is such a sweetheart and I can't stand to see her wasting away.

I have no advice, but am wishing Lady well and hope that you can sort this problem out.

You must be so worried.

Like the last poster, I don't have any advice to offer, but I am sorry your lovely girl is having these problems. I do hope that you can find some way of helping her. Hugs to you both x

My pom has a problem so much like your dog. My vet told me to feed him raw hamburger a little at a time to help with blood count.
My pom has this problem all since December his blood cell count went down so low we had to do a transfusion it helped but then it went down again he was jaundiced also we put him on a liver med that helped with the jaundiced condition. We couldn't get him to eat either so my vet told us to feed him raw hamburger a little each day that along with steroids and a kidney med for humans has kept him going the kidney med is about 14.00 since I quarter it last a long time it is for people who have had kidney transplant so the body doesn't reject the new kidney this is a long drawn out process and I've had to force feed him baby food meat also but get the chicken first step one . Good luck to you I feel for you as it is very costly at the vets but keep on praying and trying get blood count done first.