Update to our earlier post…
I picked up Maddox from the vet around 7:00 last night. While he clearly wasn’t back to his usual self, he was better than when we brought him in. We went for a walk around the building to make sure everything looked good. During our walk, he was stopping me frequently for love and I could tell he really wanted to go home.
He was definitely tired. He slept the whole way home and immediately fell asleep on the couch once home.
About an hour later, Maddox started leaking blood from his bottom. It was a scary amount, ranging from liquid drops to clots. I felt awful for him. And terrified. We rushed him back to the ER where they re-admitted him.
This was, by far, the hardest drop-off yet. He was adament about not wanting to be left behind and I got a strong sense that he felt like he was in trouble for making a mess of the carpet. I was a wreck, but knew that he needed to be there instead of home.
He got worse overnight. They found bits of intestinal lining in the blood that continued to leak from his rear. The lining was concerning because if the remaining lining became too thin, the bacteria in the intestine could escape into the blood causing Maddox to become septic. For the first time, the possibility of losing him seemed all too real.
At the recommendation of the doctor, we transfered Maddox to a specialty animal hospital, located about 40 minutes north, in Lynnwood. There, they performed an ultrasound this afternoon. With the exception of swollen lymph nodes, the ultrasound came back looking fairly normal.
The doctor told us that Maddox was exhibiting 100% of the symptoms for something called salmon poisoning. This is found in dogs that ingest either raw salmon or trout, and is fatal in 90% of dogs that are not treated within 16 days of ingesting.
The good news is that, once discovered, this is easily treated with antibiotics and will show a huge improvement within 24-48 hours. The thing we can’t really wrap our heads around is where Maddox would have encountered salmon or trout. He hasn’t been around any body of water in over a year and the only fish we’ve eaten at home in the last month is tilapia (which the vet says wouldn’t cause the poisoning).
The other possibility, that displays similar symptoms to salmon poisoning, is lymphoma. However, the doctor does not think it wise to consider that possibilty until we have attempted to treat the other option. That said, they started Maddox on the salmon poison antibiotics this evening and are hoping to see an improvement over the next day or two. If that doesn’t happen, they will perform a biopsy on his swollen lymph nodes to determine if we are truly dealing with cancer.
Maddox is still in critical care, but both Matt and I, are desperately trying to not focus on the cancer possibility and instead pray that he is somehow suffering from the salmon poisoning and will start to show signs of improvement shortly.
Your continued prayers are much appreciated. <jenna>
Filed under: pets
Poor Maddox! My heart goes out to you! Thinking about your poor baby and praying for some improvement soon!
[...] November, Maddox – our 4 1/2 year old Rott/Lab mix – suffered from salmon poisoning. This poisoning affects drogs that somehow encounter raw salmon, or trout, and is fatal for 90% of [...]