Scruffy

[admin]

Hello Julie,

What a sweet little boy your Scruffy. I lost my boy Kahlu to AIHA at the age of 3 1/2 and it was awful. I can’t even imagine how you must have felt loosing a puppy so young. they say that time heals, but it is not that easy. Patrice asked me to write Kahlu’s story down for this webpage and I must say I hesitated for quite a while. It felt like opening up old wounds. I had talked about it a lot but never written it down. When I took the time to do it, I must say it felt good. Then Patrice asked me to write something for the bridge page and because I knew how crushing it is to loose a young dog I wanted to contribute to the webpage and hopefully help a few people. It is now over 4 years since I lost Kahlu and he is all but forgotten. I am still a bit of a paranoid doggie mom:) Thank goodness for a very understanding vet. I am in there for the slightest thing. This weekend was the first time that one of my dogs had diarrhea and I was NOT freaking out. Diarrhea is just something dogs get and it does not necessarily mean they are seriously ill. Turned out Enzo got into some sheep poop:)

I would encourage you to write the whole story of Scruffy down, whether it is just for yourself or maybe you even want to add it to “our stories”. I am not one to expose my feelings to just everybody but I know Kahlu’s story has helped people and I hope it will continue to do so. I think that Scruffy and your story would be a great one to add.

 

I was happy to read that you now have a big family of dogs. It would be great for us to get to know them better:) Please stay here, we can always use the input from people that have gone through this ordeal.

Best wishes,

Brigitte, Ripley and Enzo (The Standard Poodle agility Champions:))

[Julie]

I would be happy to write the whole story of Scruffy even though it has a sad outcome.  I just hope someone could learn from the whole experience.  To add it to Our Stories.  Do I write it as a forum post.  It is pretty much as I have detailed here but I could add a few details which I have left out such as how I came home from a week away and discovered him so ill.  He did survive for 4 weeks and maybe could have gone on.   Though weak he coped very well with his  illness.

[Julie]

I have read the story of Kahlu and it is beautifully written and yes we do learn from this and other stories.  It helps us cope with our loss when you read that you were not alone in this battle  I will detail Scruffy’s story if you feel it would add to the forum.

Please let me know how I go about adding it to “our stories” if Patrice and the other forum members feel it would be a story worthy of adding.  regards  Julie.

 

[admin]

Julie, I am so happy you decided to write Scruffy’s story down. I’ll send you an email how to contact Patrice with your story. Please add as many pictures as you want or have and make it as long or as short as you feel like. I think Scruffy’s story will be a valuable addition and so will your knowledge on the forum! there is no rush, take your time, thank you!

Best wishes,

Brigitte

[admin]

Dear Julie

Thank you so much for coming here and telling us the story of your beautiful Scruffy. I’m so sorry to read about what you went through, and especially with such a young dog. I lost my cat, Molly, to IMHA 6 months ago. So much of what you have said rings true for me and I am so pleased you have felt able to post about it. I know that we will all be very grateful to you for offering to write Scruffy’s story. I cried like a baby writing Molly’s, but it is therapeutic and I felt like it was a way of telling the world what had happened. I really think that all stories – happy and sad – are important and will help owners facing this nightmare.

Please don’t beat yourself up over the transfusion. Money is a very real issue with this condition and none of us want to consider it, but we don’t always have a choice. Combine that with patchy veterinary knowledge (in some cases) and the reality that it is a very serious condition. I totally understand your decision. One of the most difficult things for me, and I’m sure for many others, is that this is a disease with so many unknowns. Those of us who have lost a pet to it will probably always question whether something else would have worked. We may never get answers to those question, but we know that every decision we made was made out of love. I am certain that Scruffy had a wonderful life with you, and I’m so glad you are still providing a loving home to your pups. He was such a sweetie and I know he will always hold a special place in your heart.

Welcome aboard,

Mary & Mable x

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by admin.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by admin.

[Julie]

I read the story of Molly and I know cats can experience this IMHA also.    I lost a cat I dearly loved  many years ago.  I don’t know if it was IMHA but she was found lethargic and  anaemic and she was rushed   to the vet.  Vet said she need a transfusion but didn’t offer to do one and she died overnight at the vet clinic .  Many questions remained but not answered.  I now know that it may have possibly been IMHA.   I never ever went back to that vet clinic  as he mistook the gravity of her situation.

I will write the story of Scruffy in more detail in the hope that it may help others.  I learnt so much more after I lost Scruffy but at the time I was under immense pressure of not knowing what to do.

[admin]

Hi Julie

This is a heartbreaking story & I am very sorry to read about what happened. You are courageous to come on here & tell everyone – that must be very hard for you to do. Scruffy was really beautiful & just a baby. You have absolutely NOTHING to feel guilty about – this disease is incredibly rare, very serious & can have a very fast onset too. Sadly, some vets still miss the signs & are not aware of the treatment protocols either. I wish we could get more information across to these vets somehow. All we can do for now is get information across to other owners, so you are already helping in a big way. I am also really sorry about your poor cat – it is awful not knowing what really happened.

Thank you Julie – you are so brave. You are right about Patrice – she is a superstar for giving us this wonderful site to try & help each other.

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxx

[Julie]

Thanks for all your kind words.  I do feel better getting my story out there.  You are right about educating vets.  I took in information from vet net that a kind person emailed to me on the treatment of this disease.  I don’t even know if they gave it much importance but I did give it to them and told them to read it.  Hopefully they kept it as it was really good.  My initial treating vet told me not to go on the internet.