I would like to share with you how my precious Black Lab, Cody became suddenly ill in July. We live in the Midwest, Missouri to be exact, in a typical subdivision. We walk our dogs daily and take as many precautions as possible, to keep them safe, after all they are our four legged kids.
Cody is typically a happy, three year old, mischief making, black lab mix, whom I adore. A couple of weeks ago during a hot and humid week in Missouri, Cody became lethargic, not coming when called, and moving slowly around the house. At first I attributed these signs to the heat and humidity, even though my dogs spend most of the day in the air conditioning. He was eating and drinking normally, so I wasn’t alarmed at this point at the slight changes in his behavior.
When my family returned from Michigan later that evening, they noticed that Cody didn’t greet them at the door. He usually runs to the door with several toys wanting attention. When I petted him, he seemed uncomfortable and warm to the touch. We immediately took him to our local animal hospital. Upon examination, the vet found that Cody was dehydrated and had a temperature of 104. He was admitted and given IV fluids, blood tests were taken and our lives were suddenly turned upside down.
After blood tests, X-rays, and careful examination, we still did not have an answer. The next day Cody was sick, very sick, not eating, and still had a fever. They continued to give him IV fluids and called in a surgeon/specialist who suggested that they do a spinal tap on Cody. Then the word “meningitis” entered the picture. What? At this point I was practically hysterical. How could this happen to such a sweet dog? And with very little warning. We agreed to the procedure, and Cody was taken into surgery. The doctor came out and told me that the surgery went well, and it would take a few days for the results. He stayed another night at the hospital and my heart ached for him. We missed him and his cute little face.
Cody was put on two antibiotics and prednisone for his symptoms. By the next day his fever was coming down and I was able to take him home as long as I kept tabs on his temperature. We were so happy to have him home. At this point we still didn’t have any answers. He was still tired, walking slowly and stiffly and sleeping a lot, but he was back home with us where we could baby him.
The next day we got a call from the vet to tell us that the spinal tap was negative. Good news, but still no diagnosis. In the meantime the vet sent off more bloodwork to test for: toxoplasmosis, neospora and rocky mountain spotted fever. I was glad to know they were covering all the bases. We received a call a couple of days later informing us that the test for rocky mountain spotted fever came back positive. Cody had been bitten by a tick. When and where, we don’t know. Cody continued to improve at home taking two antibiotics along with prednisone, and lots of TLC!
The final result came in today, August 2nd. Cody tested positive for toxoplasmosis. This is a common parasitic disease. You can read more information about toxoplasmosis on the PetMD website, a great source for information.
Our family is thankful that we got Cody to the vet hospital in time, and for all of the great Veterinarians, the Vet Techs, and all of the other support people at Midwest Veterninary Referral Center in Chesterfield, Missouri. They are a state of the art 24 hour vet hospital, you can visit their website at:
http://www.midwestvetreferral.com/
Cody is a three year old Lab mix. We adopted him through Petco during an adoption event. He is loving, funny and adorable. I ask myself everyday, “Who Rescued Who?”
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