Cooper's Mystery Disease

[Paulette & Cooper]

Cooper's lab test came back Friday and it didn't look so good. His internist called to inform us that his white blood cells (WBC) are high at 55,000 and his red blood cells (RBC) are low at 26. In October, his RBC was as low as 21 and had to have blood transfusion right away! He has no appetite but drinks water regularly. He's lethargic most of the time. The Oncologist ruled out cancer (which is great!) The Cardiologist also ruled out any cardiac disease. They have done a lot of different bloods tests for different diseases including infectious diseases. They repeated the ultrasound and chest xrays to double check but didn't find anything. They also tested him for Bartnella but came back negative after 4 weeks. Back in late September, during one of Cooper's check ups with the internist, they found 2 of his lymph nodes just below his jaw were swollen. They had to surgically remove these 2 lymph nodes and sent it to the lab in North Carolina who specializes in infectious diseases to culture it to see what bacteria or fungus is in his body that's causing this problem. It came back negative. So to this day we have no diagnosis. What a mystery! It's heart wrenching to see our baby Cooper like this. Cooper is only 7 years old and has never been sick in his whole life until this September.

After discussing our options with the internist, we decided to take Cooper for a second opinion. They are all very supportive of our decision because they have done everything they can. They too want to know what's Cooper's illness, be treated and to get better. Cooper has an appointment with the internist at the Virginia Tech School of Veterinary Medicine Hospital for a comprehensive exam on Monday, Dec 12th. It's about 5 hour drive from where we live. We hope they could give us some answers. Wish us good luck!

[LORRY SWETLAND]

Do they  know how he got Giardia?

[Cathy Murphy]

His giardia  test was negative which is why he just got sicker.  We think Finn's immune system went berserk when he was making antibodies to his Lepto vaccine that he had receive the week before.  In autoimmune diseases the body overreacts.  Finn had had all his vaccines without any issues but for reasons we will never know HIS SYSTEM malfunctioned for this vaccine- it is not the vaccine itself-  it is the manner in which his system dealt with the antibodies.  There was no predicting this.  

[Lindsey Holt]

Good luck and Jake and I are thinking of you all.

[DonMarie and Picco]

I hope they can do something for Cooper.  Good luck with all of this!

[Amy and Annabelle]

I hope the Vet school can give you some answers so Cooper can begin his recovery soon. Sending prayers for Cooper.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Positive thoughts for Cooper tomorrow.  Hope they can find the cause.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

So sorry to hear your sweet boy is having to go through this.  Let's hope a second opinion will be successful and treatment is just around the corner.  Hang in there!

[LORRY SWETLAND]

Prayers and Paws from me and Turbo. Hope all goes well.

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

How frustrating not knowing what is wrong.  Our thought are with you and Cooper.  Please let us know.  Doodle Kisses for Cooper.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Hoping the doctors at the vet school can come up with an accurate diagnosis and successful treatment plan for Cooper! I'm sorry you are going through this.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so sorry that Cooper is so ill.  It is heartbreaking.  Sending positive vibes for a diagnosis and treatment so that he feels better.

[Deborah Shafer]

You are in our prayers!