Dear Dr. Forsythe: I hope you can help me with the terrible guilt I am suffering since my dog died last week. He got sick and spent a week in the hospital, and then he died. After he had been vomiting for a few days, I took him to our vet in the city, but the problem is that I left out some details when I brought him there. Both the vets did ask me several times if he could have gotten into anything, but I was too embarrassed to tell them. I feel like maybe if I had told them that he had eaten out of the garbage, they would have had a better chance of saving him. Now it is too late and I am feeling so guilty about it. Perhaps if only I would have spoken up he’d still be alive. I was just very scared and nervous and couldn’t think straight, and besides I didn’t think garbage would make a big difference. What do you think? Should I call them now and fess up?
Guilty weekender
Dear Weekender:I’m sorry for your loss, since it sounds like you are beating yourself up about what happened. But since I don’t know the whole background, it’s hard to give good input about this situation. Based on your comments, though, I will try to answer your question.
Since pets can’t talk, it is really important for their humans to tell the veterinarian everything they can to help “solve the case” when they bring in a sick pet. By not telling the vet your pet got into garbage, you withheld important information that could have made it much easier for the doctors to hone in on a diagnosis more quickly. However, as veterinarians, we are trained to figure out what is wrong with a pet with little or no information given at all. Sometimes people truly have no idea whether or not their pet ate a medication or got into garbage. The fact that you knew and said nothing may not have been the best decision, but it probably did not affect the outcome, unless you further hindered the case by not allowing the doctors to run tests or perform surgery that they felt was necessary. Assuming you gave signed permission for any important tests, procedures and treatments that needed to be carried out, you at least gave the doctors the opportunity to diagnose and treat your pet. Beating yourself up about “shoulda, woulda, coulda” will not bring your pet back. However, the guilt you are now feeling and your introspective thinking may help you become a better communicator so that in the future you can make better decisions at critical times to better help those you love. My best thoughts are with you, good luck.
Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe: Why was my dog given an antihistamine for his itchy feet? I thought those were used for hay fever and scratchy, runny eyes? My dog constantly licks his feet, but he never has runny eyes or a stuffed nose.
Benadryl taker
Dear Benadryl taker: Dogs with “atopy” or allergy usually have itchy skin and tend to lick their paws and scratch themselves rather than sneeze and show signs of “hay fever” like people do. The most typical signs of inhalant allergy in the dog (allergy to pollen, mold spores, grasses, and weeds) are licking and chewing at their feet and acting “pruritic” or itchy like they’re “crawling out of their skin.” Some veterinarians will prescribe an antihistamine/fatty acid combination in order to help decrease the clinical signs and provide some temporary relief. An even more effective medication is Atopica (Cyclosporine), which greatly reduces inflammation. Perhaps the gold standard for allergy relief is blood testing to find out exactly which allergens in the environment are causing your pet to develop IgA, the small molecule that leads to miserable constant itching. Once the results of this blood allergy test are known, your vet can order an individualized “allergy serum” vial that contains the purified extracts that neutralize the irritating immunoglobulins inside your pet’s body that are contributing to the itching. Small amounts of this neutralizing extract are carefully injected under the skin at certain intervals to cause hypo sensitization, and gradually most pets improve significantly and feel much better. Thanks for a good question.
Dr. F
