Please help...hemorrhagic gastroenteritis! - YorkieTalk.com Forums

erika0308 · 09-10-2006, 01:05 PM

First off, I should say "hello". My name is Erika and I just came across this wonderful site while searching for information about my Yorkie, Sammy.

I have two terrific little yorkies, Sammy (8 years old) and Winnie (6 years old). They are both generally pretty healthy, so we should be thankful for that.

Here's the situation we're in. On Wednesday night, we discovered a "hot spot" on Sammy's back that looked very red and the fur was mostly gone from it. He has very sensitive skin and does get these from time to time so we thought we'd watch it for a day or so and see what happens with it. On Thursday it looked the same so we thought we'd just keep an eye on it and maybe it would get better without having to go to the vet for it. Friday it started to get worse looking and we noticed more spots developing on his legs. He didn't eat or drink anything on Friday and also begain vomitting (brownish in color). Looking back, we think he may have not eaten much on Thursday either. By Friday night he was lethargic and not himself, so we decided first thing Saturday morning we'd take him to the vet.

Saturday I get him to the vet in the morning and he is so lethargic and sad looking. The vet was very concerned so she did some bloodwork and had me wait right there for the results. His numbers did not look good at all. Blood sugar was way low and red blood count was really high. I forget most of the other details regarding the blood work, but it seemed that most numbers were abnormally high or low. He was also severely dehydrated. So we took him to an animal hospital, where he is right now, in critical condition.

The doctor's are thinking hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. He's been on IV fluids for over 24 hours now, in addition to IV antibiotics. We went to see him today thinking we'd see some improvement, but not at all. He looks so lethargic and weak and just sad.

My heart is breaking for him right now. My husband and I don't know what to do at this point. We are going to see how he does tomorrow, we're really hoping to see some improvement after 48 hours on the IV fluids and antibiotics.

The other big issue is that right now, we've already spent $1000 and that is just up until tonight. The vet today estimates our total will be around $2000. And we don't even know if he is going to recover from this. I hate to think about money as a factor, but it is because we also have a baby and a 3 year old and right now I am only working two days a week...

I guess I'm just looking for some support, encouragement, or advice. Anyone have experience with this? Or just with big vet bills and medical expenses?

Thanks!

Patti · 09-10-2006, 01:34 PM

Hopefully someone who had gone thru this will respond. I have had many er vet visits with Cali some for vomiting and diahrrea and she gets better in about 48 hours with treatment. Good luck,

RoxyJosMom · 09-10-2006, 01:49 PM

I'm sorry I have no advice, but I will keep you, Sammy and the rest of your family in my prayers. Hopefully, somebody will see this that has experience and will respond for you. Have you talked to the vet he is with about a payment plan? Some do that. I really hope Sammy starts responding quickly and has a complete recovery, poor little guy. Have faith that things will work out and they usually do. Hang in there Sammy, we will all be praying for you to get better.

erika0308 · 09-10-2006, 01:54 PM

Thank you both so much for your responses. Your support means a lot right now, I am so upset. He's all I can think about right now. I'm going to call for an update on him soon, but I'm honestly not expecting him to be any different than he was this afternoon. I'll update here as soon as I have any news. Thanks again.

Fran42478 · 09-10-2006, 01:56 PM

I am sorry..I too have no advice or experience with it but I did find an online article for you...

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/hemorrh...hge/page2.aspx

I wish you luck with Sammy

XoXoXo
Fran

yorkieusa · 09-10-2006, 02:23 PM

I'm sorry about your yorkie. They can become very ill very quickly.

Hey, guys! Don't most vets now have a care credit program or some such thing where they could pay over a time period?

erika0308 · 09-10-2006, 02:32 PM

Thank you Fran and Karen.

Fran that article was helpful. The more I read about HGE the more it really does sound like what he has. The onset was so sudden. It was like one evening we were like, yeah, he's definitely looking lethargic and the next morning he look soooo sick.

They do offer a payment plan, but I looked at the brochure and I think the interest rate on it was around 9.9% or so. In that case, we can transfer our credit card balance to a lower interest rate one. I am just so bummed out that we could possibly lose our dog because we don't have an endless supply of money to spend on his treatments and tests.

I just want him to get better! We miss him!

Mybabe4me · 09-10-2006, 02:33 PM

I am so sorry to hear about Sammy. I do not have any advice on the medical aspect of this but I can try and help where the bill is concerned. I just went through a bunch of medical bills when my baby broke his neck. I took him to the ER also and they had a pamphlet there for CARECREDIT.COM it helps with the bills. IT is like a credit card and it is intrest free for a year if you take that plan. It is great in a pinch like this. And it is so hard to worry about bills when your baby is sick. A lot of ER's offer this. You should ask your ER if they except it and if so you can go online to get an approval with in seconds. You put in the amount you might be needing. (I put in a thousand more than I needed)
This card can also be used for other things medically also. But the hospital bills for the baby is what you would be using it for. The whole process is very easy to go through on the website.
Good luck with everything. And I hope Sammy is feeling better when you see him later.
Val

Fran42478 · 09-10-2006, 02:34 PM

Where in NJ are you located?? I used Garden State Vetinerary Services in Tinton Falls if you want to go there they are excellent too...I know there is also a great vet hospital in Red Bank...

erika0308 · 09-10-2006, 05:02 PM

Yes, that is where we are going! Sammy is in the ICU at Garden State Veterinary Services in Tinton Falls. So far they have been nice and I've heard great things about them. We are remaining optimistic.

I called for an update and they said he has not vommited anymore, he did have diarrhea, but if there is no more vomitting over night, they will try to feed him bland foods tomorrow. I am praying that he can keep down some food and that maybe getting some food in him will help. Please think healing thoughts for my Sammy. I would truly appreciate it.

Gizmo's Mom · 09-10-2006, 05:16 PM

My Gizmo went thru this months back. He was bad enough that he was actually standing in a puddle of his own blood on the vets table. Doesn't sound like your baby is to that point so just give the meds and time a chance. Giz made it and there is always hope your baby will make it too. This disease comes on very quickly and can be caught in time, but is sad to watch. It is hard to leave them at the hospital, the worry. Vet told me he would give Giz meds to keep him "comfortable" during the night so I'm sure yours will too. I will remember you and your little one tonight, don't give up on him hun...it ain't over til it's over.

erika0308 · 09-10-2006, 05:24 PM

Denise, your post has me crying again. What an emotional time this really is. I'm so happy your little Gizmo made it through...I just don't want to get my hopes too high up again. Last night when we called for an update, they said he seemed "better". When we went to go visit him today, I immediately started crying because, in my opinion, he did not look better. It was a different doctor and he hadn't even seen Sammy yesterday, so I don't know what he was comparing when he said he seemed better.

I know there's still hope. It just seems like he has such a long way to go to get better. How long was Gizmo in the hospital? What was it like when you brought him home?

Val, I'm sorry I missed your post. I am going to look into the CARECREDIT website right now. We've already put $1000 on our credit card but I am going to still look into it. I sooooo wish I had known about that. Thank you so much. It doesn't help that not only are you devastated about your baby's condition, you are also worried about putting yourself in a bad financial situation.

Thanks again for the well-wishes!

Lacy's Mom · 09-10-2006, 05:33 PM

So sorry your baby is sick, but as far as the bills go, they just can't be helped. Fran just spent about $7,000 on her baby, MeganS had a liver shunt surgery on Tucker which had to be 3 or 4 thousand so it's unfortunate, but necessary.

Just concentrate now on getting your baby well and deal with the finances later. We will all be praying for a positive outcome. Please keep us posted.

doortego · 09-10-2006, 05:46 PM

Prayers for your little sick baby. I will keep him and your family in my heart.

Gizmo's Mom · 09-10-2006, 05:51 PM

Oh babe I didn't mean to upset you, was just trying to show you as bad as it was he got better. Me and my mouth. Giz was in ICU for 2 days. Seems to me the whole thing was a little over 500. Vet let me pay half and write a bunch of post dated checks that I didn't know or care if they were going to be good or not at the time. When you look in those eyes nothing else matters. ok, now i'm upsetting my dam self. Honey, you go see your baby in the morning and hopefully will perk him up. Be strong and fight for him, sounds like he is in a top notch place. I know they will do everything for your little love.

09-10-2006, 01:05 PM	#1
erika0308 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 12	Please help...hemorrhagic gastroenteritis! First off, I should say "hello". My name is Erika and I just came across this wonderful site while searching for information about my Yorkie, Sammy. I have two terrific little yorkies, Sammy (8 years old) and Winnie (6 years old). They are both generally pretty healthy, so we should be thankful for that. Here's the situation we're in. On Wednesday night, we discovered a "hot spot" on Sammy's back that looked very red and the fur was mostly gone from it. He has very sensitive skin and does get these from time to time so we thought we'd watch it for a day or so and see what happens with it. On Thursday it looked the same so we thought we'd just keep an eye on it and maybe it would get better without having to go to the vet for it. Friday it started to get worse looking and we noticed more spots developing on his legs. He didn't eat or drink anything on Friday and also begain vomitting (brownish in color). Looking back, we think he may have not eaten much on Thursday either. By Friday night he was lethargic and not himself, so we decided first thing Saturday morning we'd take him to the vet. Saturday I get him to the vet in the morning and he is so lethargic and sad looking. The vet was very concerned so she did some bloodwork and had me wait right there for the results. His numbers did not look good at all. Blood sugar was way low and red blood count was really high. I forget most of the other details regarding the blood work, but it seemed that most numbers were abnormally high or low. He was also severely dehydrated. So we took him to an animal hospital, where he is right now, in critical condition. The doctor's are thinking hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. He's been on IV fluids for over 24 hours now, in addition to IV antibiotics. We went to see him today thinking we'd see some improvement, but not at all. He looks so lethargic and weak and just sad. My heart is breaking for him right now. My husband and I don't know what to do at this point. We are going to see how he does tomorrow, we're really hoping to see some improvement after 48 hours on the IV fluids and antibiotics. The other big issue is that right now, we've already spent $1000 and that is just up until tonight. The vet today estimates our total will be around $2000. And we don't even know if he is going to recover from this. I hate to think about money as a factor, but it is because we also have a baby and a 3 year old and right now I am only working two days a week... I guess I'm just looking for some support, encouragement, or advice. Anyone have experience with this? Or just with big vet bills and medical expenses? Thanks!

09-10-2006, 01:34 PM	#2
Patti Donating YT 30K Club Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 35,509 Blog Entries: 6	Hopefully someone who had gone thru this will respond. I have had many er vet visits with Cali some for vomiting and diahrrea and she gets better in about 48 hours with treatment. Good luck, __________________ Cali Pixie Roxie : RIP Nikki; RIP Maya;RIP my sweet Dixie girl 1/17/08 http://callipuppyscastle.bravehost.com/index.html

09-10-2006, 01:49 PM	#3
RoxyJosMom Love The Verminator! Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: ny Posts: 4,282	I'm sorry I have no advice, but I will keep you, Sammy and the rest of your family in my prayers. Hopefully, somebody will see this that has experience and will respond for you. Have you talked to the vet he is with about a payment plan? Some do that. I really hope Sammy starts responding quickly and has a complete recovery, poor little guy. Have faith that things will work out and they usually do. Hang in there Sammy, we will all be praying for you to get better. __________________ Roxy loves Alphy Remi loves Millie [COLOR="Purple"]Mom to RoxyJo & Remington , Fozzy Bear & Chloe

09-10-2006, 01:56 PM	#5
Fran42478 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 1,731	I am sorry..I too have no advice or experience with it but I did find an online article for you... http://www.petplace.com/dogs/hemorrh...hge/page2.aspx I wish you luck with Sammy XoXoXo Fran __________________ Fran, Sophia Rose and Jake We Miss You Always Sammi 11/29/03 - 8/20/06

09-10-2006, 02:23 PM	#6
yorkieusa Crazy about Kacee! Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kansas Posts: 21,173	I'm sorry about your yorkie. They can become very ill very quickly. Hey, guys! Don't most vets now have a care credit program or some such thing where they could pay over a time period? __________________ Karen Kacee Muffin 1991-2005 Rest in Peace My Little Angel

09-10-2006, 01:54 PM	#4
erika0308 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 12	Thank you both so much for your responses. Your support means a lot right now, I am so upset. He's all I can think about right now. I'm going to call for an update on him soon, but I'm honestly not expecting him to be any different than he was this afternoon. I'll update here as soon as I have any news. Thanks again.

09-10-2006, 02:32 PM	#7
erika0308 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 12	Thank you Fran and Karen. Fran that article was helpful. The more I read about HGE the more it really does sound like what he has. The onset was so sudden. It was like one evening we were like, yeah, he's definitely looking lethargic and the next morning he look soooo sick. They do offer a payment plan, but I looked at the brochure and I think the interest rate on it was around 9.9% or so. In that case, we can transfer our credit card balance to a lower interest rate one. I am just so bummed out that we could possibly lose our dog because we don't have an endless supply of money to spend on his treatments and tests. I just want him to get better! We miss him!

09-10-2006, 02:33 PM	#8
Mybabe4me YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 713	I am so sorry to hear about Sammy. I do not have any advice on the medical aspect of this but I can try and help where the bill is concerned. I just went through a bunch of medical bills when my baby broke his neck. I took him to the ER also and they had a pamphlet there for CARECREDIT.COM it helps with the bills. IT is like a credit card and it is intrest free for a year if you take that plan. It is great in a pinch like this. And it is so hard to worry about bills when your baby is sick. A lot of ER's offer this. You should ask your ER if they except it and if so you can go online to get an approval with in seconds. You put in the amount you might be needing. (I put in a thousand more than I needed) This card can also be used for other things medically also. But the hospital bills for the baby is what you would be using it for. The whole process is very easy to go through on the website. Good luck with everything. And I hope Sammy is feeling better when you see him later. Val

09-10-2006, 02:34 PM	#9
Fran42478 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 1,731	Where in NJ are you located?? I used Garden State Vetinerary Services in Tinton Falls if you want to go there they are excellent too...I know there is also a great vet hospital in Red Bank... __________________ Fran, Sophia Rose and Jake We Miss You Always Sammi 11/29/03 - 8/20/06

09-10-2006, 05:02 PM	#10
erika0308 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 12	Yes, that is where we are going! Sammy is in the ICU at Garden State Veterinary Services in Tinton Falls. So far they have been nice and I've heard great things about them. We are remaining optimistic. I called for an update and they said he has not vommited anymore, he did have diarrhea, but if there is no more vomitting over night, they will try to feed him bland foods tomorrow. I am praying that he can keep down some food and that maybe getting some food in him will help. Please think healing thoughts for my Sammy. I would truly appreciate it.

09-10-2006, 05:16 PM	#11
Gizmo's Mom No Longer a Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 1,490 Blog Entries: 7	My Gizmo went thru this months back. He was bad enough that he was actually standing in a puddle of his own blood on the vets table. Doesn't sound like your baby is to that point so just give the meds and time a chance. Giz made it and there is always hope your baby will make it too. This disease comes on very quickly and can be caught in time, but is sad to watch. It is hard to leave them at the hospital, the worry. Vet told me he would give Giz meds to keep him "comfortable" during the night so I'm sure yours will too. I will remember you and your little one tonight, don't give up on him hun...it ain't over til it's over.

09-10-2006, 05:24 PM	#12
erika0308 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 12	Denise, your post has me crying again. What an emotional time this really is. I'm so happy your little Gizmo made it through...I just don't want to get my hopes too high up again. Last night when we called for an update, they said he seemed "better". When we went to go visit him today, I immediately started crying because, in my opinion, he did not look better. It was a different doctor and he hadn't even seen Sammy yesterday, so I don't know what he was comparing when he said he seemed better. I know there's still hope. It just seems like he has such a long way to go to get better. How long was Gizmo in the hospital? What was it like when you brought him home? Val, I'm sorry I missed your post. I am going to look into the CARECREDIT website right now. We've already put $1000 on our credit card but I am going to still look into it. I sooooo wish I had known about that. Thank you so much. It doesn't help that not only are you devastated about your baby's condition, you are also worried about putting yourself in a bad financial situation. Thanks again for the well-wishes!

09-10-2006, 05:33 PM	#13
Lacy's Mom YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 3,065	So sorry your baby is sick, but as far as the bills go, they just can't be helped. Fran just spent about $7,000 on her baby, MeganS had a liver shunt surgery on Tucker which had to be 3 or 4 thousand so it's unfortunate, but necessary. Just concentrate now on getting your baby well and deal with the finances later. We will all be praying for a positive outcome. Please keep us posted.

09-10-2006, 05:46 PM	#14
doortego Little Bit & Buttons Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: US Posts: 2,160	Prayers for your little sick baby. I will keep him and your family in my heart.

09-10-2006, 05:51 PM	#15
Gizmo's Mom No Longer a Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 1,490 Blog Entries: 7	Oh babe I didn't mean to upset you, was just trying to show you as bad as it was he got better. Me and my mouth. Giz was in ICU for 2 days. Seems to me the whole thing was a little over 500. Vet let me pay half and write a bunch of post dated checks that I didn't know or care if they were going to be good or not at the time. When you look in those eyes nothing else matters. ok, now i'm upsetting my dam self. Honey, you go see your baby in the morning and hopefully will perk him up. Be strong and fight for him, sounds like he is in a top notch place. I know they will do everything for your little love.