Please help, Mason is anemic!

[ShellKaye]

Is there anything I can do or something I can feed him to help Mason if he is anemic? I was pet sitting Mason's litter mate last week for my mom. Mason is 5.1 pounds. Jake, Mom's dog is 3.6 and my Peekapoo Murphy is between 11 and 12 pounds. My two dogs play so well together and Murphy is very gentle with Mason but my Moms dog is 3 pounds of dynomite. Adding a third dog to the mix really caused some action at my house. They played very well together but got very rambunctious. Wednesday night, right before my parents came home to pick up Jake, the three dogs were running and chasing each other through my living room. They were having a great time. They ran from the carpeted room with mason in the lead and hit my tile floor in the kitchen. When Mason made the turn to go into my kitchen they all slid into each other and crashed into the corner of my kitchen cabinets. Mason took the force of the collision. He yelped but seemed to be fine. By the time my parents got there, he was a little subdued but still wagging his tail and playing some. I didn't worry too much. But by the morning, Mason was not himself. He only wanted to lay around and if you picked him up, he groaned. I got him to the vet and after several xrays they found out that he had nicked a blood vessel that only runs on the right side and his chest cavity and was bleeding internally. By the time I had gotten him there, he was so anemic and had almost bled to death internally. You wouldn't believe how much blood they pulled out of his chest. I was devastated and felt so guilty. The only thing that saved his life was a blood transufusion from a Great Dane that had blood with a very high platelete count. He was not stable enough for surgery and his only hope was if he clotted the nick in his vessel on his own. My vet gave me very little hope and I went home thinking that I had lost him. But to everyone's surprise, he made it. My vet and all of his staff told me later that they never thought that Mason would survive. He told me that it was truly a freak accident and that he may not see another case exactly like mason's again for 10 years. He said that Mason must have been stretched out just perfectly when he hit the corner for it to have caused that injury in that location. He is home now and so far is not having any of the adverse side effects (heavy panting and pale gums) that my vet told me to watch him for. He is on antibiotics. He is getting a little better each day but is still not back to himself. I was expecting him to be back to himself or close to it by now. Could he still be anemic? Are the meds making him feel bad? His ears have dropped. I hope they perk back up soon. Does that mean he still feels bad or could this be permanant. I don't care about it other than using his ears to gauge how he feels. If anyone has dealt with severe blood loss, please give me some advice. He is better but I am still very worried about him.

[Tiggerwit]

I don't have the answer you are looking for but just wanted to say Wow, I never would have thought. I'm glad he seems to be okay.

[ShellKaye]

Thanks. I felt so guilty. Maybe I should not have been letting the smaller dogs play with Murphy. But I have had Murphy and Mason together for months now and there has never been a problem. Murphy being 1/2 peke is very laid back and even protective of Mason. He gives in to him with everything. Mason steals his toys, food, anything that Murphy touches immediatley becomes Mason's property. My vet assured me that is was truly a fluke.

[Tiggerwit]

Don't feel guilty. They were playing, it was just a freak accident that could happen to any one of us. You didn't do anything wrong at all.

[KimberlySRN]

So happy to hear your baby was saved. Did the Vet let you know what to expect, such as recovery time? If you are still nervous about his condition maybe schedule a check-up?

Don't blame this on yourself, unfortunately no matter how much we try to protect our pups accidents still do occur.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ShellKaye

Is there anything I can do or something I can feed him to help Mason if he is anemic? I was pet sitting Mason's litter mate last week for my mom. Mason is 5.1 pounds. Jake, Mom's dog is 3.6 and my Peekapoo Murphy is between 11 and 12 pounds. My two dogs play so well together and Murphy is very gentle with Mason but my Moms dog is 3 pounds of dynomite. Adding a third dog to the mix really caused some action at my house. They played very well together but got very rambunctious. Wednesday night, right before my parents came home to pick up Jake, the three dogs were running and chasing each other through my living room. They were having a great time. They ran from the carpeted room with mason in the lead and hit my tile floor in the kitchen. When Mason made the turn to go into my kitchen they all slid into each other and crashed into the corner of my kitchen cabinets. Mason took the force of the collision. He yelped but seemed to be fine. By the time my parents got there, he was a little subdued but still wagging his tail and playing some. I didn't worry too much. But by the morning, Mason was not himself. He only wanted to lay around and if you picked him up, he groaned. I got him to the vet and after several xrays they found out that he had nicked a blood vessel that only runs on the right side and his chest cavity and was bleeding internally. By the time I had gotten him there, he was so anemic and had almost bled to death internally. You wouldn't believe how much blood they pulled out of his chest. I was devastated and felt so guilty. The only thing that saved his life was a blood transufusion from a Great Dane that had blood with a very high platelete count. He was not stable enough for surgery and his only hope was if he clotted the nick in his vessel on his own. My vet gave me very little hope and I went home thinking that I had lost him. But to everyone's surprise, he made it. My vet and all of his staff told me later that they never thought that Mason would survive. He told me that it was truly a freak accident and that he may not see another case exactly like mason's again for 10 years. He said that Mason must have been stretched out just perfectly when he hit the corner for it to have caused that injury in that location. He is home now and so far is not having any of the adverse side effects (heavy panting and pale gums) that my vet told me to watch him for. He is on antibiotics. He is getting a little better each day but is still not back to himself. I was expecting him to be back to himself or close to it by now. Could he still be anemic? Are the meds making him feel bad? His ears have dropped. I hope they perk back up soon. Does that mean he still feels bad or could this be permanant. I don't care about it other than using his ears to gauge how he feels. If anyone has dealt with severe blood loss, please give me some advice. He is better but I am still very worried about him.

How scary.

What food are you feeding?

[ShellKaye]

Right now he is eating Blue- Chicken and Rice Recipe. I live in a rural area and this is the only better quality dog food that can be found in my area. I still have to drive over an hour to the nearest PetSmart to get it. He hates the antibiotic so I am mixing it with tuna to get him to take it. I hope that is ok because I can't get him to take it any other way. I tried mixing it with different things, but as soon as he smells it, you can forget it. My thinking was that the tuna may mask the smell of the meds enough for him to eat it. He is getting a little better each day. As soon as my vet opens this morning I am going to call and see if his recovery rate is normal. He started playing some yesterday. So I am definitely seeing improvment. His ears are still not standing back up so that may be why he still looks down. Could his blood loss affect his ears to the point that they never stand back up? It doesn't matter to me, it is just that it is odd. He doesn't look like himself right now.

[ShellKaye]

Originally Posted by KimberlySRN

So happy to hear your baby was saved. Did the Vet let you know what to expect, such as recovery time? If you are still nervous about his condition maybe schedule a check-up?

Don't blame this on yourself, unfortunately no matter how much we try to protect our pups accidents still do occur.

This probably sounds crazy, but I was so relieved that he survived that I didn't even ask about length of recovery. My vet just told me what to be watching for. He did tell me that Mason lost so much blood, that his body was going to be working overtime to make new blood. In order to compensate, his system could be releasing "immature" blood into his bloodsteam to make up for what he lost. This is what he said could lead to anemia. But the signs he told me to watch for has not presented. But I have been anemic before and know that it causes extreme fatigue. His energy level is not back to normal. But he is playing some and not sleeping or lying around as much as he did the first few days.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ShellKaye

Right now he is eating Blue- Chicken and Rice Recipe. I live in a rural area and this is the only better quality dog food that can be found in my area. I still have to drive over an hour to the nearest PetSmart to get it. He hates the antibiotic so I am mixing it with tuna to get him to take it. I hope that is ok because I can't get him to take it any other way. I tried mixing it with different things, but as soon as he smells it, you can forget it. My thinking was that the tuna may mask the smell of the meds enough for him to eat it. He is getting a little better each day. As soon as my vet opens this morning I am going to call and see if his recovery rate is normal. He started playing some yesterday. So I am definitely seeing improvment. His ears are still not standing back up so that may be why he still looks down. Could his blood loss affect his ears to the point that they never stand back up? It doesn't matter to me, it is just that it is odd. He doesn't look like himself right now.

Garlic is not healthy for any dog but a dog with anemia problems should not have it at all. It has the potential to destroy red blood cells. I would switch foods.

[ShellKaye]

I did go and check the bag and saw that it does contain garlic. I did a search on dog food and Blue was the best that you can find in my area. My vet carries ProPlan and when I first got Mason that is what I had him on. A friend of mine here on YT told me that it was not a good food and gave me the web site that analyzes dog food. Like I said earlier, I have to drive over 1 hour to even get that. Do you know of another food that Pet Smart carries that is better than Blue. When I tell you that I live in a rural area, I mean boondock rural. We have no stores, no redlights, not even a caution light. PetSmart is the only pet supply store even remotely close to me. There are several feed/seed stores around but they do not carry quality dogfood.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ShellKaye

I did go and check the bag and saw that it does contain garlic. I did a search on dog food and Blue was the best that you can find in my area. My vet carries ProPlan and when I first got Mason that is what I had him on. A friend of mine here on YT told me that it was not a good food and gave me the web site that analyzes dog food. Like I said earlier, I have to drive over 1 hour to even get that. Do you know of another food that Pet Smart carries that is better than Blue. When I tell you that I live in a rural area, I mean boondock rural. We have no stores, no redlights, not even a caution light. PetSmart is the only pet supply store even remotely close to me. There are several feed/seed stores around but they do not carry quality dogfood.

I really have no recommendations.
I would not feed Proplan.
I'd pick the highest quality with no garlic.
Does Petsmart carry Natural Balance?
Maybe Science Diet Nature's Best (I know SD isn't great but in this case the Nature's Best might be better than Blue)...

[ShellKaye]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I really have no recommendations.
I would not feed Proplan.
I'd pick the highest quality with no garlic.
Does Petsmart carry Natural Balance?
Maybe Science Diet Nature's Best (I know SD isn't great but in this case the Nature's Best might be better than Blue)...

After some online research, I found an animal/farm supply store about 50 minutes from my home that is supposed to carry Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. It ranks pretty high on the analysis list. Do you know anything about this food? It has the same star rating as Blue but I didn't see garlic on it's ingredient list.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ShellKaye

After some online research, I found an animal/farm supply store about 50 minutes from my home that is supposed to carry Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. It ranks pretty high on the analysis list. Do you know anything about this food? It has the same star rating as Blue but I didn't see garlic on it's ingredient list.

Dogfoodanalysis.com is a good site and I have used it but some of it is based on the opinion of the authors. While I agree that the ones they rate 1, 2 and 3 are probably not good, that doesn't mean the ones that are rated 6 are good either (in my opinion). Nothing replaces personal research on ingredients and quality control of companies. That being said, Chicken Soup is okay and I'd feed it over Blue in this case. It is a Diamond food though and that company has had some quality control issues.

[ShellKaye]

I just got off the phone with the vet and he told me to definitely give Mason 10 to 12 days in order to get back to 100%. He goes back next Monday for a follow-up anyway. This will give him time to finish the antibiotics. He said that Mason is where he should be in terms of recovery. I just need to watch for any regression and bring him in asap if I notice any. If someone saw Mason, they would not think anything is wrong, but I know his personality. He is not back to himself and you know we just worry about our babies when they are down. I just want to snap my fingers and have the old Mason back. I just need to mellow out and be patient.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[ShellKaye]

Mason licked my face this morning and woke me up. He hasn't done that since he was hurt. It is his hint that it is time to go potty. His ears are standing up, too. They still droop a little when he gets tired but I can tell that he definitely feels better.