Charlie our barely 11 year old golden lab/retriever mix was a joy
from the moment we brought him home.
My son shared him in his kindergarten class and he grew with our
children until this year when he started coughing.
I should have taken him in early but thought it would go away;
when he suddenly had trouble getting up after sitting limping
and lost his appetite.
I made that fateful decision – the wrong one – and took him to a vet
who was recommended. (He was so healthy and didn’t have a regular vet.)
They misdiagnosed Charlie with bronchitis and after a week he did not
get better and coughed up blood stained mucous…
When I took him in again I had spotted a large pregnant TICK attached
and the vet yanked it off him.
I asked about LYME DISEASE and she said Tetracycline would
not properly treat his bronchitis.
HOW I WISH I WOULD HAVE INSISTED ON TRYING TETRACYCLINE –
I know now because of an article on EHRLICHIOSIS I pulled up the
night he died in the office of a vet I had taken him to for a second opinion
(he looked up at me turned around and coughed – a pool of blood was
the only indication he was gone forever).
CHARLIE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED – 98% OF DOGS GIVEN TETRACYCLINE
IN THE ACUTE PHASE OF EHRLICHIOSIS MAKE A COMPLETE RECOVERY.
His blood panel had come back the first time with a LOW PLATELET warning
but the vet never mentioned it.
PLEASE FORGIVE ME MY BEAUTIFUL BELOVED CHARLIE –
MY HEART ACHES AND I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL EVER GET OVER MY GUILT
AT NOT FINDING YOU COMPETENT CARING MEDICAL EXPERTISE…
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU AND I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE –
MY HEART IS BROKEN
AND
DADDY SEAN AND VAL ALL ARE FEELING THE SAME –
I just have to live with the guilt and remorse that your life was cut years short
because I didn’t pull up that article in time or demand a different antibiotic…
My heart is heavy but will always keep you in it.
Love
Your Mom
| Cathy and Family |