Our dachshunds' brush with death

Hubby and I were planning to fly to Seattle on Thursday for a 4 day family visit to include my father's 65th birthday and a big family reunion.

So, Monday, Hubby took the dogs in for their annual booster shots so they'd be all caught up on their vaccinations before we boarded them.  Both dogs threw up right after the shots, but the vet wasn't concerned and said it was a pretty common reaction.  Hubby brought the dogs home.

When he got them home, Buster wouldn't come out of his carrier.  Hubby pulled him out and discovered that he had pooped himself with diarrhea.  Buster also wouldn't walk or stand.  He just laid on the floor breathing funny.

As Hubby prepared to take him back to the vet I started researching online and discovered that Buster was displaying classic symptoms of an anaphylactic shock allergic reaction to vaccination.  Apparently the progression is vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, coma, then death. 

Fortunately, we caught it in between diarrhea and convulsions.  Hubby got Buster back to the vet and they gave him a shot of antihistamine and steroids, hooked him up to an IV and sent Hubby home while they kept the dog for observation.

By the time Hubby arrived home, our other dog, Junior, had begun scratching at his face.  This was an early symptom of a less severe but still potentially deadly allergic reaction of hives and swelling.  Sometimes the swelling closes the airway so Junior had to go back to the vet for shots and observation as well.

We ended up leaving both dogs there overnight, both to ensure that they could continue to receive IVs and other care as necessary, and because we were completely freaked out and exhausted and would not be able to rest if we felt compelled to wake up every 5 minutes and check on them ourselves.

Hubby picked them up this morning.  Junior seems to be fine.  Buster is still quite sick -- pooping blood, not eating, unable to rest comfortably, wheezing, coughing, and hobbling around looking miserable.

Although Buster appears to be on the road to recovery, we're still concerned because one of the things I read when I was researching this is that anaphylactic shock can cause permanent damage to the dog's liver, stomach, or intestines.  So we are waiting to see if he develops any other problems.

Another couple of interesting things turned up during my research: 

Dachshunds, especially miniature dachshunds, as a breed are extremely prone to allergic reactions to vaccines.  So much so that there is a researcher at Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine studying dachshund vaccine allergic reactions.  I contacted him and we will be sending him samples of our dogs' blood for his study.  He believes that the allergy is to a protein that is created as a byproduct of the vaccine manufacturing product, but he needs to narrow down which protein and then which vaccines it is in.

Also, I found several sites arguing that annual booster shots for dogs are an unnecessary practice.  They say the reason dogs receive annual vaccinations is that there wasn't any research on the continued efficacy of dog vaccinations after one year.  So the vaccine manufacturers recommended that all dogs be re-vaccinated annually, and most vets go along with this.  Now there is new research emerging that shows that dogs are actually immune for life or several (5+) years after their initial vaccinations, which means annual booster shots are unnecessary and not worth the risk of potentially deadly allergic reactions.  I need to do more research on this to discover how credible these assertions are in case they are just the dog version of the OMG VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM! myth.

Unfortunately, with Buster still as sick as he is, Hubby is going to have to stay home and keep an eye on him.  A small kennel is a really bad place for a dog with diarrhea.  Also, we just can't trust the boarding place staff to monitor him frequently and closely enough.  (The last time we boarded our dogs with a vet, they came home 20% underweight and severely dehydrated.  We got a new vet!  But it shows that you can't trust these places to take sufficient care of a healthy dog, much less a sick one.)  So I will be flying to Seattle alone on Thursday.

Comments

[ElfNinosMom]

I had never heard about this problem before, but it's always good to know!

We just had a horrible vet experience ourselves, I posted about it on my personal blog at http://elfninosmom.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/540/

[Nat]

Hoping Buster and Junior get better soon!

[bbartlog]

My rules in dealing with any medical professional (doctor, vet, dentist, chiropractor or whatever):

1) Do not use their services unless you (or your child, or animal) are, in fact, already sick or injured.
2) Make sure that you have already found out as much as you can about your situation and verified that you can't treat it yourself (or heal it via rest).
3) If possible, know exactly what it is that you want your doctor or other medical professional to do for you before you go to see them. (Obviously, if you haven't diagnosed your illness this may not be possible).

This is at variance with the maintenance and preventive care business model that essentially all medical professionals like to promote. You may of course choose to believe that booster shots, regular chiropractic adjustments, dental cleanings, and annual checkups of various stripes are essential to good health. I think they're good for the medical bottom line and are thus promoted beyond their actual usefulness (as always, incentives matter).

[Philip Welch]

bbartlog, you've just written us all a recipe for dying of prostate cancer. Or breast cancer, as the case may be. Because by the time you're sick enough to notice you have cancer, heart disease, or AIDS, it's usually too fucking late.

Look, it all depends on how much you value your own health. Folks who can afford it often get full blood tests and full-body MRI's on a preventative basis, and I don't begrudge them that. I don't usually get a full annual checkup, but I do like to get flu shots (having the flu sucks and interferes with my busy life) and dental cleanings (I do not want my teeth to fall out in old age like my parents). Chiropractic is in almost all cases an unnecessary scam: the only exception is when you actually have spinal issues, in which case it's somewhat useful, not because of the validity of chiropractic theory but because by historical accident, chiropractic happened to develop a usable remedy for spinal issues. Some of your more honest chiropractors will admit this.

Incentives do matter. For instance, health insurance companies encourage routine care because they don't want to get stuck paying for emergency care that you could have prevented. Doctors and other health care providers encourage it because if you go to the emergency room, they have to treat you even if you'll never be able to pay the bill, and they don't want to eat the costs.

[bbartlog]

dying of prostate cancer. Or breast cancer, as the case may be. Because by the time you're sick enough to notice you have cancer, heart disease, or AIDS, it's usually too fucking late.

If you do enough research, you can identify specific diseases for which it makes sense to do some sort of checkups or screening even in the absence of symptoms. In that case, you would be able to devise a routine that was superior to my simple heuristic. But as for prostate and breast cancer, let's see: the effectiveness of screening for prostate cancer is actually unknown, see here.
Quote: 'At present, however, it is not known whether routine prostate screening saves lives.'.
Breast cancer screening has a better record; despite some criticisms (Google Gotzsche+Olsen+Lancet if you want to see those) it looks like having zero screening versus having everyone over 50 screened would result in about 10,000 excess deaths per year (USA). Of course, medical errors result in about 200,000 deaths per year, so you need to keep things in perspective.

Folks who can afford it often get full blood tests and full-body MRI's on a preventative basis

Do you know what overdiagnosis is? There is considerable risk involved in inviting a medical professional to find something wrong with you.

I do like to get flu shots

Those work, though for people under 50 the reduction in mortality is marginal (flu wouldn't kill you anyway).

and dental cleanings

Out of curiosity, is there any literature anywhere on the effectiveness of flossing and/or (professional) dental cleaning on incidence of cavities, or health in general? I've tried to research it and come up almost empty, which makes me (paranoid fellow that I am) very suspicious - but on the face of it there's no reason it couldn't help.

Anyway, I am playing devil's advocate to some extent. A cautious person who doesn't just believe everything their doctor tells them can surely benefit from some diagnostic and screening services, especially as they get older. But if someone under 50 had the choice of either
- going to the doctor every six months for a checkup, and taking the doctor's advice, or
- following the advice I outlined above
... I think they'd be better off with my approach.

[Philip Welch]

Do you know what overdiagnosis is? There is considerable risk involved in inviting a medical professional to find something wrong with you.

I'm sure that doctors specializing in routine care for rich folks know about this.

Those work, though for people under 50 the reduction in mortality is marginal (flu wouldn't kill you anyway).

The objective isn't just to stay alive. I had the flu once. It was a miserable experience. My productivity and quality of life were severely diminished for well over a week.

Out of curiosity, is there any literature anywhere on the effectiveness of flossing and/or (professional) dental cleaning on incidence of cavities, or health in general?

Dentists don't exactly have a vested interest in selling floss (I don't think). Anyway, you should also check the relevant literature on gingivitis and periodontitis. The gums are just as important as the teeth, maybe even more so.

[Philip Welch]

It's also worth noting that if we had a free (or freer) market in health insurance, the benefits of routine care would quickly and efficiently be evaluated by people with something close to the right incentives.

[ElfNinosMom]

How are your dachsunds doing today?