Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I've been checking back here on and off all morning hoping to see some good news, everything is still crossed for you guys

Sonic'

Thanks everyone for the comments

I have spoke with the Vet again about an hour ago, and they said he is much livelier and hasn't been bleeding much, and he may even be able to come home to us today

When I phoned they had only just got him back, and said the Vet will need to check him out first, and to phone back in about an hour (anytime now then) but he is looking better

Thanks Shaggy, as far as plants go he has already ate most of them

The only thing (and I mentioned this to the vet last night) that I cleaned the pond pumps out last week and essentially dumped the contents (thick slimey green algae and fish waste sludge) in the furthest part of the garden (the junk and weed growing (not the waccy baccy kind )) which is an area he doesnt normally bother with and is gated, although the gate has been open for a few days, he dismissed this though

Plant wise recently added some gladioli and I know he ate one or two of the leaves from that (but not the bulbs) other than that everything in the garden is the same

Matteeboy

Sounding very positive indeed

I cleaned off our boat at the end of last year - loads of grim stinking barnacles came off as well as other gunk. The pup (then only about 5 months old) kept sniffing around.

That night she literally crop sprayed the entire utility room - covered the washing machine, tumble dryer and literally went two feet up the walls.
Wife and I had to don wellies, tie scarves around our noses and literally had to wade through the stuff - The floor was completely cleaned with several products (bleach, floor cleaner, etc) - utterly grim at the time (semi funny now) but taught us to be careful about what any dogs sniffs or eats.

Trouble is, unless you are a bit OTT, it's hard to keep an eye on them all the time!

D.K.1

Sounds like foxglove or Lupin...only have gladioli planted, a lilac tree, two (cut down) Hebe's and some random bushes near the pond, nothing that I know of that would be dangerous to an animal, the only new things to have been planted are the gladioli, everything else has been there since before we got him.

Sonic'

Just phoned the Vets back, and they told me Scooby can come home tonight

However they have said that I need to phone them back at 5.30 prior to coming to collect him, as they just want to keep their eye on him for the next few hours just in case he does start bleeding again

Upto now they said he hasn't bled today, as it pretty lively now, which is great news

Not sure what will happen regarding further treatment with respect to Aspergilliosis, I guess I will find out more from the Vet when we collect Scooby

It never even entered my head yesterday, but one of the sales guys here his missus is a Vet, and so I spoke to him today, who has in turn spoke to his missus about Aspergilliosis and the treatments availbe and cost implictations

She has said it is expensive and a long course of treatment (8 weeks of tablets) and it is reasonably succesful

She has said however that if surgery is required then he would have to be referred to University and would be looking at around 2 or 3 grand in addition to the costs already racked up (about 400 quid upto now without ANY Aspergilliosis treatment)

But also that the Tablet treatment can be effective

I dont really want to think too much about that at the moment, but it still is a reality that we may/will have to face over the next day or two once the blood & swab results are back

D.K.1

My guess is that he will need some form of medication no matter what the results show, maybe it is this asperhwatever, but if it's something else, then he will still need treating, fingers crossed he's over the worst and will respond well to whatever meds he gets

Will have to keep a close eye on him here and make sure he's not ill again though

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

That's good news, here's hoping he's over the worst and well on the way to recovering

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

DOG : Fungal Infection : aspergillosis : Aurum met - Veterinary Homeopathy, Homeopathic Medicines for Pets, Dogs, Cats, Birds

james

p1mark

Matteeboy

I'm sure it'll cost a fair bit, but I'm sure it's well worth a bit of financial pain.

***checks Maddy's pet insurance certificate to make sure it covers such a disease*** - it does.

OllyK

Great news - now go and buy some pet insurance!!!

D.K.1

You know what, we were actually looking at pet insurance last night and TBH it doesn't cover a lot of what you would expect which I think is wrong and find a bit odd! From the way things read, It won't cover the meds we will need for scooby, which will probably be the biggest cost in all this

Once he's back to full health I think we should scour some insurances properly in fine detail and get the best one we can find in case anything at all may happen like this again, nothing worse than having insurance then realising it doesn't cover half of what you need!

As far as the money for this lot goes, yes, it will be a struggle, but I would rather struggle and give him the best chance of survival than do what one of the other cases we were told about did and get him put down just because of the treatment cost He's 2 years old and has plenty of life left in him yet, so there's no way *I* will give up on him that easily! He deserves the chance, he got through yesterday and last night, despite being seriously ill and that says something! I am sure we have plenty of things between us that we don't use / need that we could sell to relieve some of the cost, fingers crossed he won't have to go to the university for the op, if he's a fighter he will get through this without it, hopefully

Sonic'

Thanks for that artical Shaggy

although the 400 quid a month is a sum of money we just do not have, if it came to that

Not really sure what will happen regarding any further treatment until the bloods are back and we have spoke with the Vet

But it is good news he can come home


Just edited to add that from an insurance point of view, I think there is little point in getting any yet, as no doubt we will have to declare this illness / episode to any prospective insurers, and no doubt it would be exempt from from any cover we may get

Also if he does go on the course for Aspergilliosis then that is 8 weeks, so insurance would need to sought after that once he is well enough

Tam the bam

So glad to hear he's coming home fingers crossed he makes a full speedy recovery

D.K.1

Sounds interesting, I wonder if it is possible to give him this while he is on the other meds? Scooby's nose looks nothing like the dog on that link, but I guess it depends on how well he responds to treatment as to weather or not he will end up like that as according to the vet it eats away at the bone and attacks the red blood cels, which is what was making him vomit blood

May be worth finding a homeopathic vet locally and asking their opinion, don't like the idea of Scooby getting all depressed etc

ScoobyDoo555

BRILLIANT news Sonic

So glad for ya - bl00dy dogs eh?

Dan

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

also worth mentioning my local chemist stocks animal medicines at a much reduced rate to that of the vets, about 40% less iirc! I can get the price list from them if you like, more use once you know what he is to be treated with though.

if you ask for a prescription from the vets they cannot charge you for the paper prescription by law now and must give it to you.

hth

james

David Lock

One of our dawgies was on some long term fairly expensive treatment. We asked the vet to write out a monthly prescription, valid for 6 months, and got the script' from the local chemist. This was quite a bit cheaper than paying the vet for the same things as they do add a bit to the drugs charge!!

Might save a bit on Scooby's pocket money!

If your vet doesn't mention it I would ask if he needs a mild sedative to calm him down when he gets home. I am not saying he does (what do I know ) but I'd hate to think of him jumping around and kicking off another mild bleed. Just my two biscuits' worth. d

Shaggy beat me to it......

Note most animal drugs are used on humans as well.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

just had an idea.........what about suggesting to your vet that you buy the drugs off the internet, saving yourself up to 75%, and the vet uses then on your dog. my mum was able to do something like that for her cat, definately worth a try

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Aspergillosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

according to the above it Aspergillosis affect wildfowl quite badly. Wasnt there a mild bird flue outbreak in St Helens a few weeks back? Connected maybe?

Anyway, hope the little fella perks up and makes a full recovery.

D.K.1

I never knew that!!!! I certainly do think we should ask the chemist if it's that much cheaper!!! I don't want to sound stingy in any way, but why pay so much more when you can get the same thing for so much less?

Jaybird-UK

Im so happy to hear your dog is coming home tonight


I never knew you could buy the pet drugs off tinternet, people like these I assume?

Bestpet Pharmacy - online pet pharmacy buy Drontal, Fortekor, Metacam, Rimadyl, Vivitonin, Vetoryl and much more.

Im always wary of net pharmacy companies but these people look very real

Bestpet
Unit 2
Block A Macmerry Industrial Estate
Macmerry
East Lothian
EH33 1RD


Tel: 0845 053 5050
Fax: 01875 619 689
E-Mail: info@bestpetpharmacy.co.uk

Farmpharm Limited is a company incorporated under the Companies Acts (company number SC233078)

VAT Registration Number: 817 2771 20

D.K.1

We discussed something like that last night, because he does tend to get excited and jump up a lot and I wondered if a sedative would be needed to keep him sleepy and as still as possible in case any more bleeding starts with the jumping, I guess the vet will be able to tell us TBH

D.K.1

Sara and Jaybird, most definitely woth looking into also, thank you all!! It's astronomic when you think how much gets charged like this when they already know that people struggle with costs *boo*

Jamie

Box glove
Laburnum tree ?

get well soon pooch

Sonic'

Jay there was a mild outbreak I even posted it up on here

It was about a mile from my house or thereabouts

The guy at work said its possible that (as aspergillus) can be found on mouldy food, and it is spore based, then its quite possible that a neighbour could have had some old mouldy food somewhere and it just so happened that scooby was effectively in the wrong place and the wrong time, and the apergillus spores where in the right place at the right time

My concern is if it happens again, so I need to speak to the Vet and see about possible recontamination

He also said there is a slight danger of human risk to Aspegergilliosis and recommended not letting Scooby sneeze in our faces, but he never really went into any depth on it, as he had other patients waiting, my concern from that aspect is Donna is expecting, and we already have 3 young kids who love scooby to bits

Interesting about the alternatives with the prescriptions etc, the Vet already knows we are not insured and are stretching things with current costs, but if he can prescribe itraconazole, and /or fluconazole and we can effectively get it over the counter at a much reduced cost then that has got to be more beneficial to us all

It is administered in tablet form and at home over an 8 week period

We still dont actually know if it is that, but certainly all pointers indicate to that, the blood tests wont necessarily confirm either, as in all cultures only about 40% come back positive, and also there can be traces of Aspergillosis in all dogs anyway, something to do with the antibodies

I have thought about sedation, and they suggested it last night, and my initial thoughts were that it might not necessarily be a good idea, if he sedated and vomits, he could potentially choke on it

At home he does jump up a lot, and tips his head back, something which I have read you must never do with a dog with a nose bleed, and this could explain the large quantities of blood in his stomach

With regards to him having eaten anything suspect, I dont think this is / was the case as normally there is a problem with the Stools, and in Scoobies case they have been as normal as a dogs can be

D.K.1

Maybe his bowls should be thoroughly cleaned after each meal, even water bowls?

I wonder if any of the bird food most of us on the street have hanging out goes mouldy and has the spores?

Could be mouldy food in bins and the spores release on collection day, could be anything really

Markus

Glad to hear he's feeling better, Lily has a little message for him:

Jamie

Nice touch markus i might get my lab to do the same

D.K.1

Awww Markus!!! That's so sweet LOL I will tell Steve to look when he gets back in

Well, we're collecting him at 6 this evening They didn't say anything over the phone so I guess we'll be given any advice / details when he's picked up Will be good to have the stinker back