October 5, 2003

The new mom called me this evening. She said Voo-Doo had vomited and had diarrhea on Saturday afternoon, and "had some bad dreams while he was napping" but he was fine now. I thought it was just the stress of moving to his new home and assured her he would be fine.

October 6, 2003

This morning (Monday) she called to tell me that he had a seizure at 3:30 and 5:45 and she had taken him and dropped him off at the vet where we had met for the adoption. I immediately had Voo-Doo moved to another one of our vets who is great at treating our dogs and is known to be aggressive in his treatments. He witnessed a "chewing gum fit" later that morning and phoned me with the bad news "Voo-Doo probably has distemper, once it becomes neurological there is not much we can do..." I said it just couldn't be, he was NEVER sick at my house, I have had multiple distemper dogs and I know what it looks like. I told him do not euthanize him and do anything and everything you can for him.

October 7, 2003

He came home with me this morning (Tuesday). He was "normal", acting happy, eating well, playing with the other dogs etc. Late on Tuesday OSU called and said the white cell count was too low to get a buffy coat for the distemper test, and suggested a spinal tap. Tuesday is also the day I put 2 and 2 together, he got the Proheart shot just hours before he started being sick!! I called the vet who gave it to him, of course, and was told: "They had not seen any reactions." I called the vet who was caring for Voo-Doo, he said: "it was possible, didn't really know." I called my personal vet, and they said "Of course, why do you think we don't give it?!?"

October 8, 2003

Wednesday everything seemed good until late in the evening, Voo-Doo seemed a little weak and wobbly in the back end. Thursday: Voo-Doo grew progressively weaker, very wobbly, lethargic and refused to eat. More blood was drawn for Distemper test.

October 10, 2003

Friday: No real change, maybe a little better, still tired, not eating very well. Distemper test came back negative

We started him on Doxycylcine 100MG bid, in case there was dormant erlichia that was activated by the shot. Chemistry has always been normal.

October 14, 2003

Not much change, except he is leaking urine. He is still lethargic, weak, no appetite, looks like a walking skeleton. I just don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. He is holding on, but will starve to death long before the 6 months is up.

I have been in contact with Ft. Dodge Animal Health and of course they say "Voo-Doo was already sick with an underlying illness that was activated by the injection."  Of course the new owner wants to adopt him "if he gets better", but she sure wouldn't want a dog with health problems.  He can stay with me for as long as it takes to beat this, and when he does, we will find him a new mom that will love him no matter what health problems he has or will develop.  I am filling out the FDA form.

Voo-Doo ate a little better yesterday, and woke up twice in the night with the munchies, I have fixed him hamburger and risotto rice, beef liver, and the thing he likes now is chicken livers, cream of Wheat and Plain yogurt, served warm. I now do not give a lot of hope for Voo-Doo's quick recovery.  But, I will hang in there and do anything and everything I can for him.  The day I picked him up from death row, I promised him a better life in a home that loves him, and I intend to see that promise through.

I spoke to another vet and we went over every medication and treatment that we are doing for Voo-Doo and he said he wouldn't change a thing. That made me feel real good! I will be calling the FDA today. Voo-Doo is at the vet today, as I had to return to work after taking time off, so the vet will do some more blood work and see how the platelets are. From what I understand transfused platelets don't live more than a few days, so we need to figure out why he's not making new ones. I cut his prednisone back yesterday from 60mg to 40mg bid, maybe that will help matters. It is so frustrating to not know how to treat him, when I know very well Ft. Dodge vets have seen this exact thing happen to other dogs, and they won't just admit it and help us.

October 16,2003

I spent quite awhile on the phone yesterday with a Fort Dodge doctor, who by the way was very nice and was really concerned for my dog's health.  He told me that Voo-Doo's reaction was not related to ProHeart 6 because it started only 4 hours post injection.  He said that a ProHeart reaction takes 7 days to happen! I have spoke to others and they have been told by Fort Dodge, that if they had a reaction 7-8 days after injection, that it could not be ProHeart because it wasnot  immediate.

October 19, 2003

I think he may have gained a pound or two back. When I talked to the Fort Dodge doctor a couple days ago, I wish he had answered my questions. What it is it about this product that causes the seizures? Is it going to go away? Will he have to be on Phenobarb for the full 6 months? What about after that? Is this affecting his brain? Is it causing damage? Most importantly, how can I help my dog get better?

He developed a temp of 104.4 and I gave him 400Ml sub-Q fluids which made no change. His tummy seems full, he has not had any bowel movements today and I hope it is not full of blood. His tongue is still pink, but his gums are black, so it is hard to tell if he is pale. He is back to the twitching, snapping, and slobbering. He ate no dinner.

Sidenote: The lady who "adopted" Voo-Doo and gave him this shot, actually called me yesterday to gave him this shot, actually called me yesterday to ask if he was ready for her to adopt him. She thought that I would have him all healthy by now and he could come and live with her. I haven't slept more than 2 hrs for the last two weeks, and it is really starting to catch up with me. She asked if he was ready for her to adopt him. She thought that I would have him all healthy by now and he could come and live with her. I haven't slept more than 2 hrs for the last two weeks, and it is really starting to catch up with me.

October 20, 2003

Voo-Doo was better on Monday. A little phenobarb drunk, but ate well and drank a lot. He is at the vet today,he will have some more blood work done,

October 23, 2003

Well, today is an "up" day. He is eating well. We had cut his prednisone back to 20mg twice daily, to see if that helped with the upset tummy. On Tuesday we did blood work again, and found that the red cells are back into the dangerously low level. Hematicrit as low as it has ever been. So, we bumped the prednisone back up to 30mg twice daily. Interesting tidbit: if a dog's system is killing off red blood cells (hemolytic anemia) their temperature is usually high, when the prednisone stops the hemolysis, their temperature will usually go back down. So, I can usually tell what the blood work will say just by what his temperature has been, on Sunday it was 104.4, Monday 103.8, Tuesday. 103.6 Today it is 102.5. so, my theory is that today he is not killing his red cells, due to the increased prednisone. Anyway, at least he is eating. But, he is awfully wobbly, I think that is because he doesn't have enough red cells to carry oxygen to his muscles. I spoke to my friendly Fort Dodge doctor again yesterday. He assured me that he is an animal lover, a pet owner and a vet for over 20 years, He would not work for a company whose products injure animals. Boy, was I glad to hear that! He also told me again, how Voo-Doo was probably having a reaction to something else, has cancer or leukemia, or any number of other problems not related to ProHeart. Even though the label lists "Vomiting, diarrhea, listlessness, weight loss, seizures, injection site pruritis and elevated body temp" , and Voo-Doo has had all of those except the injection site pruritis, he is still PROBABLY not having a reaction to ProHeart. Boy, I sure feel good after I talk to him! I get a warm fuzzy felling when he tells me that he cares about my dog and wants him to get better, but IF he dies, be sure and do a necropsy

November 1, 2003

Thursday the Fort Dodge doctor told my vet that Voo-Doo probably had bone marrow cancer, and is sick from that, not from ProHeart 6. Just exactly why did this bone marrow cancer just sit there lurking until the minute ProHeart was injected? (He said it was probably just a coincidence that Voo-Doo got so sick right after the shot. It was probably a reaction to the vaccinations that he had received 3 wks previously). Why did this bone marrow cancer cause the same exact symptoms listed on the Proheart label as adverse reactions? (they are just common problems that dogs in general have. The only reason they are even on the label is that people call up and report that their dog vomited after the injection and they are FORCED by the FDA to make a report, even though the dog threw up because of something else.) Bone marrow cancer causes vomiting, seizures, weight loss, lethargy, elevated body temp? But not one single time has the Fort Dodge doctor even mentioned helping us with the medical bills.  All I can say is if the reaction rate really is less than 1% as Fort Dodge claims, and that most of those reactions are actually not ProHeart 6 related, then all of us pet owners whose dogs are suffering or have passed, need to go in together on some lottery tickets, because we are the "one in 6 million" people!

Their doctor told me a nice story about how a man came home and found his unresponsive dog in a pool of bloody diarrhea, and that he thought it was because the dog had the ProHeart 6 injection a few days or weeks before. But actually, it was over 100 degrees and the man had left the dog outside in the heat all day and the dog had a heat stroke. But since the owner called Fort Dodge and said that he thought is was an adverse reaction they had to send a report to the FDA. Then that dog got counted as a death from ProHeart 6. You see, he said, most of the reports are from other things, not ProHeart 6 reactions.

November 5, 2003

He has been eating and gaining weight, actually gaining fat. His muscle mass is lacking, his back bone sticks out, but he has a fat layer over everything. His body looks like that of an old dog. His muscles just wasted away, now his belly hangs low, and his back kind of sags, like an old dog. He is actually only about 3 yrs old, not really old. He eats well and likes to go outside with the other dogs, but tires very easily and when he comes back in the house, he just lays on the floor as if he is exhausted. His tail never wags and we haven't seen his toothy smile in over a month. It has been said "he just isn't all there, it's like he's spacey and confused."

November 8, 2003

Voo-Doo is at the vet today. His pupils are dilated and slow to respond to light, they constrict when I shine the light in them, but just barely and they don't close down like they should. Then last night he started acting really drunk. Stumbling all around, veering off to the right when he walked, falling over for no reason. He fell going down the back steps. He was confused and very weak. So, I took him to the vet this morning. His blood work isn't much different from 10 days ago.

November 9, 2003

This morning when I picked up Voo-Doo from the vet, he told me "when we lose this guy, we have got to get him to Oklahoma State University for a necropsy and prove this.  Not "if", but "when"... But, I really feel that Fort Dodge can turn any necropsy result in their favor, there will never be a big wad of Proheart 6 in their belly, just the damage caused by the Proheart 6. How can we ever prove it was the Proheart 6 and not all the other things that Fort Dodge is blaming this on?

November 11, 2003

Voo-Doo is very ill today. This morning he could not get out of bed, when I picked him up and took him outside, he had a very hard time standing. He fell over a couple of times. His pupils are still dilated and almost non reactive to light. He refused food and water for about the last 24hrs. He acts completely dazed, confused and lost. He bends his head in strange angles. I took him to a different vet on Monday, they said they think the problem is not with his eyes, but "behind" his eyes, in the brain. My regular vet seems to have given up on him, writing him off. I can't give up. I know he wants to live. I just don't know how to help him.

November 15, 2003

Voo-Doo is home from the vet now. He has been there on IV fluids for four days now. I have moved him to a different vet. The vet who has been treating him just gave up. Voo-Doo was progressively getting more "neurological" and he just didn't know what else to do for him. So, I moved him to a different vet who is doing everything she can for him. The cool thing about this vet is that there are five vets in the same hospital, a couple of vets who have practiced for 20+ years, and a couple of younger vets, one fresh out of vet school. The younger ones have a huge thrist for knowledge, and love to research this kind of stuff and the more experienced ones have the solid knowledge base, the years of experience. So, I have the benefit of the vast knowledge base of all of the vets combined. They have done blood work (which by the way, is almost all within normal ranges now) they have done x-rays, to find tumors, (none found) they have sent off blood for every test they can think of, and so far, nothing. He is still able to see, at least somewhat, his pupils are dilated and slow to react to light. He just stares out into space. He is unable to walk unassisted

November 21, 2003

Voo-Doo has taken yet another turn for the worse. Today he was still acting drunk as he has for the past 2 weeks. Unable to walk unassisted, wobbly, weak, dazed and confused look in his eyes/face. He has lost about 7#, again. But today, he had a severe seizure. Dummy me, I thought we were past those horrible episodes. If he lives until Monday, he wil be going to Oklahoma State University for a consult with internal med, and hopefully, see Dr. Lorenz for a neurologic consult.

Fort Dodge has offered to pay for this visit and most anything they want to do that day; they will talk about what else they will pay after the first visit at OSU. I spoke to one the vets today, and he is very interested in Voo-Doo, and his case. I really hope we get somewhere with this. Keeping our paws crossed