Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Help! Advise needed, Benny is sick again Update 4
Update 4
It's time for the next update as many of you were asking already how Benny is doing.
We still don't have a clear diagnosis and still not everything is alright again....
He didn't have any fever anymore but he is suffering from diarrhea all the time. I got medication from the vet and everything is alright when we give him the pills. As soon as his poop is normal for a couple of days and we stop giving the medication it starts immediately again.
At least Benny seems to be happy and he eats normal (but I must say he never was a good eater except for treats).
Another strange thing I realized is that he has a new strong body odeur. He smells somehow like stinky human feet, like stinky cheese. The smell is so strong that the whole house is starting to smell, even with the door to the garden being open the whole day.....
I thought it might be that his skin is overproducing talc because he swims several times a day but I have the feeling that it is getting worse and worse. I haven't mentioned that at the vet but will at the next appointment. Until then maybe somebody else has an idea what that could be? I have googled a bit around and found so many explanations that this only confused me more.
So we got old and new symptoms but no solutions.....I am starting to feel desperate and I would be even willing to accept a really serious diagnosis if I only would finally get a clear diagnosis so that we can do something about it. We have been seeing now so many different vets and we have even been to university clinic but still noone has a clue.
Sorry that I don't have better news and thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for poor Benny.
But I saved the best for the end:
My boyfriend came home last week with 2 13 weeks old rabbits and Benny looooooves them and even the cats have found an arrangement with them immediately.
So slowly our house is turning into a little farm. But now we really cannot adopt any more pets as otherwise we will need to buy a bigger house lol.
I don't have much time at the moment for DK so I apologize if I didn't respond very fast to all your comments.
I hope to update you soon with some better news!
Update 3
I have received some comments that I haven't posted anything again about Benny and therefore I am now finally writing another update and it gets weirder and weirder....
So far he didn't have any leaking issues anymore and it didn't happen anymore that it seemed as if he had lost muscle control in his legs. He wasn't weaving anymore when standing and had periods when acting as always and being a happy playful doodle.
But and here comes the but:
He vomited several times now but only and always in the mornings after getting up. It happened since the last update 4 or 5 times.
Yesterday morning he had severe diarrhea. He even couldn't wait anymore for me to get dressed and walk him in the park (never an issue so far) but needed to go into the backyard immediately and then he "exploded". He was pooping everywhere and he seemed to have cramps as well as he was moving strange (hard to describe what I saw). Afterwards he walked in with a low head and tail and layed down immediately again on the couch. It was obvious that he wasn't feeling well.
I had to leave for work and asked my boyfriend to be a bit more alert with him.
When I returned from work Benny was laying on the couch again and I went to him to give him a cuddle. I realized then that he was really really hot and I checked his temperature. My boyfriend said that during the day he was playful again and didn't have any more diarrhea attacks, that he ate normal and seemed happy. He said that only the last 30 minutes he was laying that lethargic on the couch again. Benny had high fever and I called the vet just before they closed. After I told them what was going on they asked us to come over even though they were closing any minute (thank god for such a vet). When we arrived we still had to wait a few minutes. I had put on Benny's cooling collar and he was laying on the cold stone floor in the waiting area of the vet. This seemed to have lowered his fever again because when the vet checked the temperature again it was almost normal again.
No one has a clear diagnosis of what is going on with him and still it is searching around.
Today the day passed with Benny again having fever peaks and him laying around and then times when suddenly the fever is gone again and he is playful.
The vet is doing some more blood testing but has no idea what it could be. To be on the safe side they gave Benny a worm treatment again but I haven't seen anything in his poop today.
The vet said that definitely something had upset his tummy as the noises didn't sound normal.
So again I asking for advise as I start to get a bit desperate......
Thanks to you all for taking the time and reading through my story!
Update 2
First of all I want to thank everyone for sharing your thoughts with me even if it was only to wish Benny well. This means really a lot to me.
But coming now to the important part.
I have been to the vet with Benny and they had received already the report from the emergency vet so they knew what the current situation was although I brought a copy as well just in case.
During the rest of the weekend Benny didn't loose any urine anymore and he seemed to become slowly more and more active.
He doesn't have any fever anymore but he is also getting medication to keep the fever down.
Our vet did again several neurological tests with him and he responded to all of them immediately - good!
Furthermore the vet thought of Addison´s disease which is really rare but still there is a chance that Benny could have it. Therefore she tested his blood right away to check the concentration of calium and natrium in his blood. But the results are normal, so no indication for Addison's disease either - thank god!
Our vet told us from hearing all the symptoms Benny showed that it seems that he didn't have control over his muscles anymore, therefore the leaking and swaying while standing.
At the moment it is very hot here in the Netherlands and humidity is high so it is not nice to be outside. The explanation of the vet was that it is possible that he was so exhausted from his walk and all the playing and swimming that he collapsed. Even if he is used to this and his condition is excellent but under these weather conditions it can knock out even a young dog.
The urine was also tested again. On Friday night is was really watery, clear and almost with no smell. White bloood cells were normal, no bacteria, contrentration was ok but the ph was very low.
Now everything was tested ok.
In the end we still are without a clear diagnosis but at least Benny is doing much better and it seems that the medication from the emergency vet worked and still is working.
Our vet asked us to monitor him and if we see any change that we should come back immediately. Furthermore we should take him only for short walks as long he is still taking the antibiotics and it is still so hot.
I only can hope that is was only exhaustion or overheating and the first thing I did after the vet was to buy with his favourite treats and a cooling collar and a cooling mat (will write a product review about it lol).
At this point I also want to thank Petplan as they have so far reimbursed all my vet bills without complaining or trying to deny them and I can tell you guys that Benny had already a LOT of vet bills.
I keep my fingers crossed that from now on finally he will have some more luck and that he doesn't get anything for the next at least 10 years :)
Thanks for all your support, you are the best!!!!!
Update 1
Here is my first update about Benny, as it is still Sunday and our regular vet is still not open we couldn't get further information on what is going on with him but at least I can give an update on his condition.
It seems that the antibiotics and the inflammatories are helping as his fever has gone away, he is not loosing urine anymore and he is standing more stable. He still is sleeping most of the day but during the times he is awake he doesn't seem this lethargic anymore.
When I took him for a small walk yesterday he even jumped immediately into the water for a swim before I could stop him. I guess this is a good sign.
Tomorrow we are going to take him to our vet to do some bloodtests and I hope we are going to find out more.
Thank you all for your support and the best wishes for him. It's good to know that you are not alone in hard times!
My poor Benny had to go through so much already in his young life and just after his cornea injury has healed he is sick again.
It started yesterday. The whole day he is was as always active, funny and playful. My boyfriend took him on a walk in the evening and after they returned after an hour Benny jumped onto the couch to snuggle next to me. So far nothing to worry about.
What made me then getting a bit suspicious was he slept the whole evening at least for 4 or 5 hours without changing his position or lifting his head out of curiosity. But still I just thought that he was exhausted because my boyfriend told me that he had played a lot and that he swam a lot during the walk.
Before we wanted to go to bed my boyfriend woke him up to go for a short walk potty walk before bedtime.
It took Benny quite a while to wake up and stand up from the couch and he seemed lethargic to me.
After he stood up I wanted to take his blanket back in place when I realized it was soaking wet. More than it could have been from his wet fur. I smelled and I realized that it was urine. Poor Benny had been laying in his own urine for several hours....
While Benny was still standing in the hall waiting for his collar and leach I realized that there were drops on the floor and I looked at him and saw that urine was constantly but slowly dripping out of him. So my first thought was a bladder infection and I went with him on the potty walk to see how he would pee. He needed to pee immediately and it was quite a huge pee. I also realized that he didn't seem to able to stand stable. He was kind of moving from left to right as if he was dizzy. His tail was hanging really almost between his legs and he was holding his head really low so it was obvious that something was wrong with him.
After the walk I decided that I didn't want to wait until the next morning although is was already 1 am so I called the emergency hotline for vets. They promised me that a vet would phone me back asap. 5 minutes later a vet phoned me and I told her all the symptoms which I had seen. I also checked his temperature. It was too high but not that high that it would be concerning. I asked the vet if we could come over with Benny as she was now awake anyway and she agreed as she had a strange feeling about the whole thing as well.
When we arrived there she checked his urine and it turned out that his urine was almost only water which is not normal but she couldn't find an indication for an infection.
Furthermore she checked almost everything on Benny and finally also did some neurologic tests with him where you cross the legs and look if the dog is correcting it immediately for instance. One of these tests showed a really slow response of Benny's left front leg which was alarming.
She said that all the symptoms are not showing a clear indication for a certain illness and that his symptoms are really complex.
What she did then was give him a shot of antibiotics, painkillers and something which works against infections and also gave us pills for at home.
As Benny had a meningitis as a puppy and almost died from it and this here looked somehow familiar again we were really worried. The vet said that there are this time no clear indications for a meningitis and that we should monitor him, check his temperature regularly and do some of those neurological tests several times a day to see if it gets worse.
Otherwise we should just wait until Monday when our own vet is open again and then consult him for further tests like blood tests etc.
When we returned home I used one of my boyfriends undies and cut a hole for the tail into it. Then I took it on Benny and stuffed it with puppy pads as I didn't want him to lay in his own urine the whole night.
When we woke up this morning Benny had taken off the shorts by himself during the night but must have had it on for quite a while as the puppy pad was soaked full with urine. Furthermore I couldn't find any urine drops on the floor and also there wasn't a lake of urine in his bed. I checked on his body and everything was dry so obviously it had stopped during the night and therefore Benny decided that he didn't need his diapers anymore :)
Furthermore he seemed more awake to me than yesterday evening although his tail and head are still quite low but he also seems to be able to stand stable much better.
He now is sleeping most of the time but he went for one of toys and played with it for 2 minutes which is a good sign I think. But still he is not himself.
After I have told you guys now all the details here is my question. Does all of this sound familiar to anyone, has anyone experienced something like this or has an idea what it could be as the vet couldn't make a diagnosis.
I am really worried especially because he has been sick already that often and got antibiotics already that often so I that fear that they won't work anymore from on a certain point.
Please share your thoughts with me.
Thanks Zoe and a sad doodlesmile from Benny
It's time for the next update as many of you were asking already how Benny is doing.
We still don't have a clear diagnosis and still not everything is alright again....
He didn't have any fever anymore but he is suffering from diarrhea all the time. I got medication from the vet and everything is alright when we give him the pills. As soon as his poop is normal for a couple of days and we stop giving the medication it starts immediately again.
At least Benny seems to be happy and he eats normal (but I must say he never was a good eater except for treats).
Another strange thing I realized is that he has a new strong body odeur. He smells somehow like stinky human feet, like stinky cheese. The smell is so strong that the whole house is starting to smell, even with the door to the garden being open the whole day.....
I thought it might be that his skin is overproducing talc because he swims several times a day but I have the feeling that it is getting worse and worse. I haven't mentioned that at the vet but will at the next appointment. Until then maybe somebody else has an idea what that could be? I have googled a bit around and found so many explanations that this only confused me more.
So we got old and new symptoms but no solutions.....I am starting to feel desperate and I would be even willing to accept a really serious diagnosis if I only would finally get a clear diagnosis so that we can do something about it. We have been seeing now so many different vets and we have even been to university clinic but still noone has a clue.
Sorry that I don't have better news and thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for poor Benny.
But I saved the best for the end:
My boyfriend came home last week with 2 13 weeks old rabbits and Benny looooooves them and even the cats have found an arrangement with them immediately.
So slowly our house is turning into a little farm. But now we really cannot adopt any more pets as otherwise we will need to buy a bigger house lol.
I don't have much time at the moment for DK so I apologize if I didn't respond very fast to all your comments.
I hope to update you soon with some better news!
Update 3
I have received some comments that I haven't posted anything again about Benny and therefore I am now finally writing another update and it gets weirder and weirder....
So far he didn't have any leaking issues anymore and it didn't happen anymore that it seemed as if he had lost muscle control in his legs. He wasn't weaving anymore when standing and had periods when acting as always and being a happy playful doodle.
But and here comes the but:
He vomited several times now but only and always in the mornings after getting up. It happened since the last update 4 or 5 times.
Yesterday morning he had severe diarrhea. He even couldn't wait anymore for me to get dressed and walk him in the park (never an issue so far) but needed to go into the backyard immediately and then he "exploded". He was pooping everywhere and he seemed to have cramps as well as he was moving strange (hard to describe what I saw). Afterwards he walked in with a low head and tail and layed down immediately again on the couch. It was obvious that he wasn't feeling well.
I had to leave for work and asked my boyfriend to be a bit more alert with him.
When I returned from work Benny was laying on the couch again and I went to him to give him a cuddle. I realized then that he was really really hot and I checked his temperature. My boyfriend said that during the day he was playful again and didn't have any more diarrhea attacks, that he ate normal and seemed happy. He said that only the last 30 minutes he was laying that lethargic on the couch again. Benny had high fever and I called the vet just before they closed. After I told them what was going on they asked us to come over even though they were closing any minute (thank god for such a vet). When we arrived we still had to wait a few minutes. I had put on Benny's cooling collar and he was laying on the cold stone floor in the waiting area of the vet. This seemed to have lowered his fever again because when the vet checked the temperature again it was almost normal again.
No one has a clear diagnosis of what is going on with him and still it is searching around.
Today the day passed with Benny again having fever peaks and him laying around and then times when suddenly the fever is gone again and he is playful.
The vet is doing some more blood testing but has no idea what it could be. To be on the safe side they gave Benny a worm treatment again but I haven't seen anything in his poop today.
The vet said that definitely something had upset his tummy as the noises didn't sound normal.
So again I asking for advise as I start to get a bit desperate......
Thanks to you all for taking the time and reading through my story!
Update 2
First of all I want to thank everyone for sharing your thoughts with me even if it was only to wish Benny well. This means really a lot to me.
But coming now to the important part.
I have been to the vet with Benny and they had received already the report from the emergency vet so they knew what the current situation was although I brought a copy as well just in case.
During the rest of the weekend Benny didn't loose any urine anymore and he seemed to become slowly more and more active.
He doesn't have any fever anymore but he is also getting medication to keep the fever down.
Our vet did again several neurological tests with him and he responded to all of them immediately - good!
Furthermore the vet thought of Addison´s disease which is really rare but still there is a chance that Benny could have it. Therefore she tested his blood right away to check the concentration of calium and natrium in his blood. But the results are normal, so no indication for Addison's disease either - thank god!
Our vet told us from hearing all the symptoms Benny showed that it seems that he didn't have control over his muscles anymore, therefore the leaking and swaying while standing.
At the moment it is very hot here in the Netherlands and humidity is high so it is not nice to be outside. The explanation of the vet was that it is possible that he was so exhausted from his walk and all the playing and swimming that he collapsed. Even if he is used to this and his condition is excellent but under these weather conditions it can knock out even a young dog.
The urine was also tested again. On Friday night is was really watery, clear and almost with no smell. White bloood cells were normal, no bacteria, contrentration was ok but the ph was very low.
Now everything was tested ok.
In the end we still are without a clear diagnosis but at least Benny is doing much better and it seems that the medication from the emergency vet worked and still is working.
Our vet asked us to monitor him and if we see any change that we should come back immediately. Furthermore we should take him only for short walks as long he is still taking the antibiotics and it is still so hot.
I only can hope that is was only exhaustion or overheating and the first thing I did after the vet was to buy with his favourite treats and a cooling collar and a cooling mat (will write a product review about it lol).
At this point I also want to thank Petplan as they have so far reimbursed all my vet bills without complaining or trying to deny them and I can tell you guys that Benny had already a LOT of vet bills.
I keep my fingers crossed that from now on finally he will have some more luck and that he doesn't get anything for the next at least 10 years :)
Thanks for all your support, you are the best!!!!!
Update 1
Here is my first update about Benny, as it is still Sunday and our regular vet is still not open we couldn't get further information on what is going on with him but at least I can give an update on his condition.
It seems that the antibiotics and the inflammatories are helping as his fever has gone away, he is not loosing urine anymore and he is standing more stable. He still is sleeping most of the day but during the times he is awake he doesn't seem this lethargic anymore.
When I took him for a small walk yesterday he even jumped immediately into the water for a swim before I could stop him. I guess this is a good sign.
Tomorrow we are going to take him to our vet to do some bloodtests and I hope we are going to find out more.
Thank you all for your support and the best wishes for him. It's good to know that you are not alone in hard times!
My poor Benny had to go through so much already in his young life and just after his cornea injury has healed he is sick again.
It started yesterday. The whole day he is was as always active, funny and playful. My boyfriend took him on a walk in the evening and after they returned after an hour Benny jumped onto the couch to snuggle next to me. So far nothing to worry about.
What made me then getting a bit suspicious was he slept the whole evening at least for 4 or 5 hours without changing his position or lifting his head out of curiosity. But still I just thought that he was exhausted because my boyfriend told me that he had played a lot and that he swam a lot during the walk.
Before we wanted to go to bed my boyfriend woke him up to go for a short walk potty walk before bedtime.
It took Benny quite a while to wake up and stand up from the couch and he seemed lethargic to me.
After he stood up I wanted to take his blanket back in place when I realized it was soaking wet. More than it could have been from his wet fur. I smelled and I realized that it was urine. Poor Benny had been laying in his own urine for several hours....
While Benny was still standing in the hall waiting for his collar and leach I realized that there were drops on the floor and I looked at him and saw that urine was constantly but slowly dripping out of him. So my first thought was a bladder infection and I went with him on the potty walk to see how he would pee. He needed to pee immediately and it was quite a huge pee. I also realized that he didn't seem to able to stand stable. He was kind of moving from left to right as if he was dizzy. His tail was hanging really almost between his legs and he was holding his head really low so it was obvious that something was wrong with him.
After the walk I decided that I didn't want to wait until the next morning although is was already 1 am so I called the emergency hotline for vets. They promised me that a vet would phone me back asap. 5 minutes later a vet phoned me and I told her all the symptoms which I had seen. I also checked his temperature. It was too high but not that high that it would be concerning. I asked the vet if we could come over with Benny as she was now awake anyway and she agreed as she had a strange feeling about the whole thing as well.
When we arrived there she checked his urine and it turned out that his urine was almost only water which is not normal but she couldn't find an indication for an infection.
Furthermore she checked almost everything on Benny and finally also did some neurologic tests with him where you cross the legs and look if the dog is correcting it immediately for instance. One of these tests showed a really slow response of Benny's left front leg which was alarming.
She said that all the symptoms are not showing a clear indication for a certain illness and that his symptoms are really complex.
What she did then was give him a shot of antibiotics, painkillers and something which works against infections and also gave us pills for at home.
As Benny had a meningitis as a puppy and almost died from it and this here looked somehow familiar again we were really worried. The vet said that there are this time no clear indications for a meningitis and that we should monitor him, check his temperature regularly and do some of those neurological tests several times a day to see if it gets worse.
Otherwise we should just wait until Monday when our own vet is open again and then consult him for further tests like blood tests etc.
When we returned home I used one of my boyfriends undies and cut a hole for the tail into it. Then I took it on Benny and stuffed it with puppy pads as I didn't want him to lay in his own urine the whole night.
When we woke up this morning Benny had taken off the shorts by himself during the night but must have had it on for quite a while as the puppy pad was soaked full with urine. Furthermore I couldn't find any urine drops on the floor and also there wasn't a lake of urine in his bed. I checked on his body and everything was dry so obviously it had stopped during the night and therefore Benny decided that he didn't need his diapers anymore :)
Furthermore he seemed more awake to me than yesterday evening although his tail and head are still quite low but he also seems to be able to stand stable much better.
He now is sleeping most of the time but he went for one of toys and played with it for 2 minutes which is a good sign I think. But still he is not himself.
After I have told you guys now all the details here is my question. Does all of this sound familiar to anyone, has anyone experienced something like this or has an idea what it could be as the vet couldn't make a diagnosis.
I am really worried especially because he has been sick already that often and got antibiotics already that often so I that fear that they won't work anymore from on a certain point.
Please share your thoughts with me.
Thanks Zoe and a sad doodlesmile from Benny
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Leslie and Halas on
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I have no idea, but I hope your vet can figure something out. Halas and I send doodle hugs your way for Benny and you. Hope he's feeling better. Let us know what you find out at the vet.
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Permalink Reply by Michele, Biscuit & Mo on
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I'm so sorry to hear that you and Benny are going through this. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with these symptoms, and hope that others here can help with at least some information. Keeping our fingers crossed for you and hope you find out more from the vet very soon.
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Permalink Reply by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on
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I can't help you and Benny medically at all, but please know that Ned and I send our best thoughts Benny's way. We hope he is diagnosed and gets better soon.
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Permalink Reply by Kyoko on
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It must have been really scary for you.... I am no help as far as his condition is concern, but Charlie and I will be praying for Benny's fast recovery.
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Permalink Reply by Adina P on
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Poor Benny...I have never experienced or heard of this, but I too would be pretty frightened by his symptoms. Sending hugs and hopes for good news at the vet.
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Permalink Reply by Adrianne Matzkin on
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I hope that Benny is feeling better now. Please keep us posted.
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Permalink Reply by Stella on
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I have no idea about the symptoms, could he have been poisoned? Some poisons can have an effect on the nervous system. I hope that he is feeling better and that you can get him to your regular vet as soon as possible. Hugs to you both.
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Permalink Reply by HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08 on
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Is the vet concerned that he might have gotten into to much chlorine from swimming if in a pool or chemicals from the pools. Did they check the toxins in his blood? Also is there any chance he may have bumped his head? Sometimes a puppy can jump off of things and not land on their feet and hit their heads causing neurological disorders. Lots of prayes and wishes for a speedy recovery "Benney"
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Permalink Reply by Zoe, Benny and Tyler on
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He doesn't swim in a pool, he is swimming in a lake. They didn't test his blood so far, our regular vet will do that tomorrow. Here in the Netherlands they are always closed on weekends and your only chance is emergency vet and they don't do everything.
He actually might have bumped his head, as he played really rough with a Bordeauxdog but I didn't see that anything unsusual happened....
Hope to have more information tomorrow.
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Permalink Reply by Eva (Lilo and Rocky) on
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Hi,
both my dogs swallow a LOT of water when they swim. Rocky has leaked several times after swimming, so without knowing your dog's history, I'm wondering if Benny just swallowed so much water that his kidneys went into overdrive and he had to pee it all out again...??? This would also explain the watery pee... anyway, just a thought!
Eva
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Permalink Reply by Debbie and Thomas on
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Zoe, I live in Canada and was just getting ready for bed at almost 10PM and read your post. I just have to wonder why, if you were worried enough to take Benny to an emergency clinic that they did not do bloodwork and a full urinalysis while you were there and send the results to your vet for Monday to avoid any delay in the prognosis. From what you described, you sound very worried so we hope everything turns out just fine with Bennie. He has already been through so much. Doodle hugs and licks from Thomas the doodle and my VERY best wishes, from Debbie
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Permalink Reply by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on
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Zoe, Jackdoodle and I are keeping all paws & fingers crossed and sending good doodle vibes for Benny. Hugs to you both.
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