Oscar's Medical Expenses
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My name is Kathryn and my dog is Oscar the Boston Terrier. Oscar is loved by everyone who meets him and I run his Facebook page so others can enjoy him too.
Oscar is 10 years old and always been a very active and healthy dog. He is well known for wearing his Doggles when we are out and about. A lot of people think they are just for fun but he wears them to protect his eyes because they are big and more prone to getting poked when we are out.
On Monday August 24th, my husband and I noticed Oscar was squinting his right eye and it was very red. This is not unusual in the spring and Summer because he has allergies every year and his eyes do get red. When this happens, I put artificial tears in his eye and that makes it better. I went to put the drops in his eye on Monday night and found a spot on his eye that didn't look right. I knew it was not allergies and called the vet the next day.
Tuesday, August 25th, I took him to the vet and she could tell that it was very painful. He had lost 6 pounds within about a week and was very lethargic. Definetely not his usual self. She took him back and had another doctor look at him too before coming back with the diagnosis. He had an ulcer in his eye that had not reached his cornea yet but was very close. She also found a very audible heart murmur as well ( a vet found a slight murmur a few years ago but it wasn't bad). He was put on an antibiotic, just in case there was an infection, and a serum made with his own blood. It was also advised that I continue using the artificial tears to lubricate his eyes. They also did bloodwork before putting him on any pain meds just in case there was anything off with the results and those wouldn't be in until the next day. We were sent home with a follow up visit scheduled for Saturday the 29th.
I tried to make him comfortable that night because I could tell that he was hurting, and this is coming from a dog that doesn't show his pain until it's bad. He didn't want me to put the eye drops in so I had work hard to keep his eye open enough to do it. I have put drops in his eye for years and have never had a problem.
Wednesday, August 26th is when things got a lot worse. I let oscar outside to do his business before feeding him in the morning. I was getting him back inside when he all of the sudden stopped and turned his head to the left side and held it there, almost like a seizure but not. He sat after about 30 seconds but still held his head to the left. This lasted about a minute or two before he stood up again. He walked about 3 feet closer to me before it happened again but this time he just laid down with his head turned and it lasted about 20 minutes. I was so afraid that he was going to die right in front of me. He wouldn't respond when I called him and he couldn't stand up at all. I called the vet again and spoke to her about what was going on. She said that his bloodwork came back with some things that were concerning, especially with what I was describing to her. His sodium levels were very high and she said his thyroid levels were off the charts. She said my best option was to take him to a specialty clinic/ emergency vet for more testing because the thyroid levels could be a sign of cancer and the way he was acting wasn't right. She called the clinic ahead of time to let them know I was coming and I just had to get him there.
I hurried to the clinic and the emergency staff took him back for observation. After waiting for what seemed like forever, we were called back into an exam room and talked with a doctor. She was very worried about him as he was very lethargic and was in obvious pain. They did another blood check to make see if the sodium and thyroid levels were actually that high or if it was a fluke on the first test. He was put on an IV to keep his fluids up but there was chance he could go into heart failure because of the murmur found on him the day before. I was really worried that he wasn't going to make it through the night because he was not looking the greatest. Later in the evening I stopped by the vet to visit with him and talk with the doctor. She said that the blood work results came back and the sodium levels were very high but his thyroid levels were normal so they took some more blood and sent it to an outside lab to get tested. If those thyroid levels were normal too, then he did not have cancer. An ultrasound of his neck showed nothing abnormal about his thyroid so that was great news to hear.
Thursday morning I got a call saying that Oscar did very well overnight and that they were just waiting to get the thyroid level results back.
Later in the morning I got a call from the internal medicine doctor who had taken over Oscar's case. She said that he was doing a slight head tilt for her earlier that morning and she thought it was because he was in so much pain from his eye, which was getting worse everyday. His Sodium levels continued to slowly drop and the results for his thyroid came back normal. She said the best option for him was the removal of his eye because it was only causing him pain and he was blind in it anyway. His eye was basically deteriorating within days. She talked with the surgeon and he was able to get Oscar into surgery that day. Of course, there were some risks with him going under anesthesia. He was old and with his heart murmur there was a chance that he could die on the operating table. I went to see him one last time before surgery because I didn't know if it would be the last time.
Waiting for the call about the surgery seem to take forever and it was hard not knowing the outcome. When I finally did get a call from the surgeon, he said that everything about the removal went great and Oscar was resting. The surgeon worked with the internal medicine doctor over the course of the night monitoring his electrolyte imbalance. They were also going to keep him for 2 more days to make sure that he kept improving. I have never had to leave him overnight for being sick and it was hard being away from him for that long and not knowing how he was doing.
The surgeon called on Friday, August 28th, to say that Oscar was improving well and that he might be able to come home that evening. His electolytes were in the normal range and there was no need for him to stay a second night.
I brought him home Friday night and there was a huge difference in him. He was Drugged but still so much perkier than when I brought him into the vet. He was put on 2 antibiotics, a pain medicine, an anti-inflammatory and an antacid. Here he is the first night home.
I have seen a huge improvement everyday since I brought him home and he's doing better than anyone expected. He continues to recover and has more energy everyday.
This has taken a big financial hit to our family. We are a family of 3, soon to be 4 in December, and living off my husband's income while he is also going to school. We are basically living paycheck to paycheck and don't have a whole lot of extra money. This was unexpected and we had to make a decision about what to do about Oscar's eye within 2 days as it was only getting worse and not taking it out would have killed him. My husband and I talked about it and we decided that Oscar deserved a fighting chance. This wasn't some terminal cancer as was first thought. He would still be the happy healthy dog we always knew, he just needed the source of pain to go away. He beat every odd that got in his way and showed us that he was going to fight as hard as he could to make it through this. I'm glad I gave him this chance and I would never have changed my decision.
Oscar is 10 years old and always been a very active and healthy dog. He is well known for wearing his Doggles when we are out and about. A lot of people think they are just for fun but he wears them to protect his eyes because they are big and more prone to getting poked when we are out.
On Monday August 24th, my husband and I noticed Oscar was squinting his right eye and it was very red. This is not unusual in the spring and Summer because he has allergies every year and his eyes do get red. When this happens, I put artificial tears in his eye and that makes it better. I went to put the drops in his eye on Monday night and found a spot on his eye that didn't look right. I knew it was not allergies and called the vet the next day.
Tuesday, August 25th, I took him to the vet and she could tell that it was very painful. He had lost 6 pounds within about a week and was very lethargic. Definetely not his usual self. She took him back and had another doctor look at him too before coming back with the diagnosis. He had an ulcer in his eye that had not reached his cornea yet but was very close. She also found a very audible heart murmur as well ( a vet found a slight murmur a few years ago but it wasn't bad). He was put on an antibiotic, just in case there was an infection, and a serum made with his own blood. It was also advised that I continue using the artificial tears to lubricate his eyes. They also did bloodwork before putting him on any pain meds just in case there was anything off with the results and those wouldn't be in until the next day. We were sent home with a follow up visit scheduled for Saturday the 29th.
I tried to make him comfortable that night because I could tell that he was hurting, and this is coming from a dog that doesn't show his pain until it's bad. He didn't want me to put the eye drops in so I had work hard to keep his eye open enough to do it. I have put drops in his eye for years and have never had a problem.
Wednesday, August 26th is when things got a lot worse. I let oscar outside to do his business before feeding him in the morning. I was getting him back inside when he all of the sudden stopped and turned his head to the left side and held it there, almost like a seizure but not. He sat after about 30 seconds but still held his head to the left. This lasted about a minute or two before he stood up again. He walked about 3 feet closer to me before it happened again but this time he just laid down with his head turned and it lasted about 20 minutes. I was so afraid that he was going to die right in front of me. He wouldn't respond when I called him and he couldn't stand up at all. I called the vet again and spoke to her about what was going on. She said that his bloodwork came back with some things that were concerning, especially with what I was describing to her. His sodium levels were very high and she said his thyroid levels were off the charts. She said my best option was to take him to a specialty clinic/ emergency vet for more testing because the thyroid levels could be a sign of cancer and the way he was acting wasn't right. She called the clinic ahead of time to let them know I was coming and I just had to get him there.
I hurried to the clinic and the emergency staff took him back for observation. After waiting for what seemed like forever, we were called back into an exam room and talked with a doctor. She was very worried about him as he was very lethargic and was in obvious pain. They did another blood check to make see if the sodium and thyroid levels were actually that high or if it was a fluke on the first test. He was put on an IV to keep his fluids up but there was chance he could go into heart failure because of the murmur found on him the day before. I was really worried that he wasn't going to make it through the night because he was not looking the greatest. Later in the evening I stopped by the vet to visit with him and talk with the doctor. She said that the blood work results came back and the sodium levels were very high but his thyroid levels were normal so they took some more blood and sent it to an outside lab to get tested. If those thyroid levels were normal too, then he did not have cancer. An ultrasound of his neck showed nothing abnormal about his thyroid so that was great news to hear.
Thursday morning I got a call saying that Oscar did very well overnight and that they were just waiting to get the thyroid level results back.
Later in the morning I got a call from the internal medicine doctor who had taken over Oscar's case. She said that he was doing a slight head tilt for her earlier that morning and she thought it was because he was in so much pain from his eye, which was getting worse everyday. His Sodium levels continued to slowly drop and the results for his thyroid came back normal. She said the best option for him was the removal of his eye because it was only causing him pain and he was blind in it anyway. His eye was basically deteriorating within days. She talked with the surgeon and he was able to get Oscar into surgery that day. Of course, there were some risks with him going under anesthesia. He was old and with his heart murmur there was a chance that he could die on the operating table. I went to see him one last time before surgery because I didn't know if it would be the last time.
Waiting for the call about the surgery seem to take forever and it was hard not knowing the outcome. When I finally did get a call from the surgeon, he said that everything about the removal went great and Oscar was resting. The surgeon worked with the internal medicine doctor over the course of the night monitoring his electrolyte imbalance. They were also going to keep him for 2 more days to make sure that he kept improving. I have never had to leave him overnight for being sick and it was hard being away from him for that long and not knowing how he was doing.
The surgeon called on Friday, August 28th, to say that Oscar was improving well and that he might be able to come home that evening. His electolytes were in the normal range and there was no need for him to stay a second night.
I brought him home Friday night and there was a huge difference in him. He was Drugged but still so much perkier than when I brought him into the vet. He was put on 2 antibiotics, a pain medicine, an anti-inflammatory and an antacid. Here he is the first night home.
I have seen a huge improvement everyday since I brought him home and he's doing better than anyone expected. He continues to recover and has more energy everyday.
This has taken a big financial hit to our family. We are a family of 3, soon to be 4 in December, and living off my husband's income while he is also going to school. We are basically living paycheck to paycheck and don't have a whole lot of extra money. This was unexpected and we had to make a decision about what to do about Oscar's eye within 2 days as it was only getting worse and not taking it out would have killed him. My husband and I talked about it and we decided that Oscar deserved a fighting chance. This wasn't some terminal cancer as was first thought. He would still be the happy healthy dog we always knew, he just needed the source of pain to go away. He beat every odd that got in his way and showed us that he was going to fight as hard as he could to make it through this. I'm glad I gave him this chance and I would never have changed my decision.
Organiser
Kathryn Snyder
Organiser
Woodinville, WA
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