Help with Dozer's Medical Misfortune.

Hi. This is Megan... Dozer's mom.

Dozer is a 4 year old Bully Mix. "Land Hippo" is what I like to call him. As many of you know, I adopted Dozer in September 2021 when he was just 10 months old. Initially, I took him in as a foster to keep him from going back to the shelter, but quickly learned that he's an almost perfect dog. He has a history of abuse and neglect. He ended up in the shelter as a stray, was adopted for a few months and almost returned to the shelter all before he was 1-year old. He has a deep scar that wraps around his neck. I don't know how he got it, but the shelter stated he had it upon arrival. It's probably best I don't know...

Dozer has been living his best life... He comes to work, goes to the beach, farmers markets, festivals, and is a very happy and social dog who has never met a stranger. Everyone who meets him loves him. He's great with kids of all ages, cats, dogs and people. This dog has literally changed my life. He even helped me find my husband, but that's another story for another day lol! He's also an extremely healthy dog. However, recently he has had a bout of medical concerns that has had him in the vet 12 times in only 2 months...

Here's the timeline:

On February 26th, 2025 - while playing with a dog twice his size, but half his age - Dozer's pupils were suddenly two different sizes. I called the vet, they examined him, tested his eyes, etc. and found no area of injury and he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Horner's Syndrome. It didn't seem to bother him, but after about a week - the eye was much redder than the date of diagnosis so they decided to place him on a 7-days of steroids, which did help, but after 3 days of finishing the steroids, Dozer suddenly became very scared of sudden movement. He would whimper, cower or flinch and even sometimes hide under tables to avoid any sudden movement from the people he loved the most. We went back to the vet again and they did bloodwork, etc. to rule out any infection - everything was normal so he was referred to an Ophthalmologist. We saw the ophthalmologist on 4/8/2025. She examined his eyes and she confirmed it was simply Horner's Syndrome and that we would just need to wait it out for at least 6 months for it to clear on it's own. (5 visits)

All seemed to be going well when suddenly, on a Saturday (4/19/2025), Dozer started to show signs of severe lethargy. He was visibly unwell and drooling excessively, but still eating food, drinking water and using the bathroom normally. I did all the protocol and monitored him for 24-48 hours, but he was showing no signs of improvement so again, we're back in the vet. They again examined him, did blood work, etc. and found nothing concerning. He was sent home with some medication and stated that he probably ate something that is making his stomach upset. By Wednesday, 4/23/2025 - he was even worse! Refusing food, not moving, whimpering when touched, etc. So, again, we're back in the vet. They hold onto him for a few hours to run more tests and perform X-rays. Low and behold, they found a foreign body in his stomach and stated that he needed surgery. They perform the surgery that night and pulled what appeared to be half a tennis ball, some debris and other material. I pick him up the following day around lunch time and take him home. He's obviously still feeling effects of anesthesia, but overall, seems to be doing well. His appetite has increased, he's using the bathroom normally and taking his meds so he's getting good rest, he's eating plenty of food and drinking water. We are seeing an improvement in him, but after about 4-5 days, he starts to behave abnormally. He starts showing signs of severe lethargy, excessive drooling and doesn't want to eat food or drink water. Again, I call the vet.

On 4/30/2025 I speak with the vet and explain the symptoms that Dozer is displaying. I believe at the time that he's reacting negatively to medication (Gabapentin) so he advises to discontinue the Gabapentin and see if he starts to feel better, but the very next day, he was even worse than the day before so I call out of work and take him back to the vet. They examine him, do x-rays, etc. and confirm that there is no foreign body or any concerns with the surgery that was performed, but maybe he's a little constipated. They again send him home with meds to help with his stomach and explain to keep an eye on him over the weekend and if he continues to decline to take him to the ER, but next steps would be to do an ultrasound. He seemed to do fine for a few hours...

Friday, 5/2/2025 - Dozer comes to work with me. He's sleeping all day. I get him home in the afternoon and he's behaving extremely abnormal, pacing the house, drooling, and won't lay down or settle and refusing food. I try to give him his medication and he would whimper when I touched him and keep his head hanging very low. I get him into the car and take him to ER Vet where he's visibly unstable, wobbly, bloodshot eyes and generally very sick. We arrive around 8pm and again, they do bloodwork, x-rays, and an ultrasound probe to see if they find anything that went wrong with the surgery, etc. and again, they cannot find anything concerning so they advise to hospitalize him overnight. They give him a strong dose of medication for the pain in his neck and will perform a full ultrasound in AM.

Saturday, 4/5/25 I get a call from the vet and she explains that they don't find anything on his ultrasound. His labs are all normal, but he doesn't have much of an appetite. She asks me to come sit with him for a bit to see if he'll eat. I go to the ER Vet and they bring him out to the room with me and he's extremely medicated, but I was able to get him to eat a small amount of food. They explain that they'll keep him a few more hours and I can pick him up around 6pm. I pick him up and he appears to be feeling better. They send him home with a muscle relaxer, pain medication, etc and advise me to give him the meds at 7pm, which I did...

Saturday night was awful! Dozer would not settle down or lay down. He would pace the room constantly until he basically collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep for about an hour. He wakes up, has an accident on the floor, paces again for about an hour before I am able to FINALLY get him to lay down to go to sleep, around 10pm. I go to sleep around 11:30pm, but was awaken out of my sleep around 1:30am to Dozer screaming in agonizing pain. It was a sound I never heard a dog do before, let alone Dozer. I go check on him and he's laying in his bed, eyes wide open, but not moving. He continues to whimper or scream for about an hour before he suddenly darts out of his bed, losing his balance and almost falling over, has an accident on the floor and then freezes, trembling, stiff as a board, and drooling. I have to physically move him myself to another bed to try to get him to lay down and he falls to the ground with a look on his face like "Mama, help me!" and I have to hold his head and neck up. I finally get him to calm down, lay down and he goes to sleep and slept through the night... It was a rough night and it absolutely broke my heart to see him like this.

Sunday, 4/4 - we wake up around 7:30am. He uses the bathroom outside, ate a little food and takes his meds. We go back to sleep til about 10:30am. He wakes up, goes outside, but refuses to come back inside. I finally get him back inside and he paces the house constantly, drooling, staring into the wall and having accidents on the floor. He will not sit down or lay down and this goes on until about 2pm when I call the ER Vet. They advise to bring him back in. We go in, they look at him and explain that as a regular vet, they've done everything that they can do. They've ruled out all possibilities. All his labs, bloodwork, organ function, ultrasound, x-rays, etc. are all normal - even though he is visibly NOT NORMAL! We discuss the episode he had in the middle of the night and it's believed he had a seizure, but it could also be a side effect of the extremely strong medication they prescribed him. We discuss possible neurological disorders and more. Ultimately, we agree to start him on steroids to see if he responds positively. Maybe he has some inflammation from the surgery or in his neck. We start him on the steroids that day and we go home. Dozer finally lays down and goes to sleep at 5:30pm - after 7 hours of constant pacing. We both take a nap and he basically slept through the night. I made a decision to stop giving him his pain medication.

Monday, 5/5/25 - he has a burst of energy, goes outside and walks the yard for about 10 minutes. He eats his food and I give him his meds. I leave him home so he can rest because he is still wobbly. I come home and he's perky, happy and I get a tail wag that I hadn't seen in 2 weeks. I spoke with his primary vet on the phone after he read the notes from ER Vet - he agreed to stops all meds other than steroids.

Tuesday, 5/6/25 - he's even better than the day before. Eating normally, happy, wagging his tail, wanting to play with the neighbors dog, and more... every day, he's a little bit better.

Wednesday, 5/7 - Dozer poops for the first time in 4 days and greeted the neighbors like his normal, happy self...

Thursday, 5/8 - Dozer gets his surgical staples removed. He's absolutely terrified of the vet now. Tail tucked, trying to escape the room & refusing to walk with me or the techs. Overall, the incision looks good & he's healed wonderfully.

Today, 5/9/25, I feel like I have my dog back, but he is still showing some signs of concern, like flinching around movement, but otherwise - he's Dozer again and I couldn't be happier!

Dozer is feeling better, but we don't know if what he's experiencing is neurological or not. The steroids are working for now, but what will happen when he is no longer on the steroids? While he is looking and feeling better - it has taken a lot of appointments, time and money to get him to this point. I have insurance for Dozer, but quickly capped out and they didn't pay out on many things that I was hoping would be covered under his insurance. Luckily, they covered majority of his surgery, but they barely paid anything toward his ER visits and we don't know what his Neurology appt. costs will be yet. I have found myself in a bit of a financial hole with all of Dozer's medical expenses and unfortunately, I am in a place where I need to ask for help - for the expenses we've already accrued, plus any additional expenses coming up with Neurology. We have a neurology appt. scheduled for 5/13/25. If they find the need to do an MRI or CT - it can get costly...

Dozer is an amazing dog. He's important to a lot of people. We are extremely bonded. He's overall healthy and he's young, but as of right now - we don't have concrete answers to what made him so sick AFTER his surgery.... I know quite a few people have already offered to assist with the finances and it's greatly appreciated. If we meet the goal, fantastic! If there's an overage, I will donate to the local shelter Dozer was adopted from. (Lifeline Animal Project in Atlanta, GA)