A happy ending with a lesson learned.

[reif]

About 6 weeks ago my rotty stopped eating
as much as normal. I also noticed her
breathe was getting a bit foul. I scheduled
an appointment to have her checked out and her teeth cleaned. Before the appointment
her eating almost stopped completely and
she cried once when eating. I called and
had the appointment moved up ASAP.

After alot of x-rays, a "scope" and
a tooth cleaning the vet had no answers for
me. She was diangosed as having atrophy of
the jaw muscles and prescribed steroids.

When the problem became worse they increased
the steroid dosage. It became even more severe so we did more x-rays. Then a few
days later we doubled the steroids !

This morning my rott woke me up crying.
She could not even drink water. I had to
put my hand down her throat and push the
pills into her stomach. Enough was enough!
I called the vet my family has used
for 20 years. He lives 3 hours away but I
trusted him 100%.

He took my rotty in with no appointment
and met me there. he sat on the floor
next to her and pet her head. He then
told me she had an abcess on the right side of her jaw. What?! How did he know I asked!
He said he could smell the abcess and her
jaw was pulled higher on the right side.

$700.00 of testing at another vets couldnt find what he found in 5 minutes. Now the
problem was getting in the throat see the
abcess. I told him she was scared of the
muzzles. He actually laid beside her,
pet her and rubbed her till she was not
paying attention and traquilized her in
the neck. She fell asleep in his arms and
he carried her like a baby to operating room.

He then proceeded to show me a 4 inch wide
abcess in her jaw hinge ! How could any vet
miss it only a week ago ?! It was not
cancer, it was an infection caused by a
small twig stuck in her jaw. Tomorrow
I am picking up my rott at 9:00 A.M. sharp.

What did I learn ?

#1. Bad doggy breathe should always be looked
into immediately. In my case I figured it
was due to her being ready for her next regular cleaning. I was wrong and will not
make the mistake again.

#2. If your vet doesnt have an definite
answer find one who does !

#3. Not all vets are reputable. Go with
your instinct. The first vet I went to
never did the tests they told me they did.

For anyone who actually reads this whole
letter, I pray it helps you and you
beloved companion in the future.

[marianne]

Yes I read your Whole letter! It's a shame we can't really rely on the TITLE of Dr of Vet. medicine anymore. But what happened to the family doctor. Thank God you did have a trustworthy vet to find the problem! Good luck and speedy recovery to your rottie!

[reif]

Thanks marianne :-)
I am anxiously waiting to get my rott back !
She hasnt been more then 2 feet off my heel
in 8 years so I feel really lonely w/out her.

I'm a grown man and I swear I cried all the
way to the vets this morning. Thought for sure she was going to have to be put down.

Any ideas for a nice gift to give the vet
would be appreciated. he only charged me
for an office visit and the anitbiotics.
He also sent home all his morning appointments. What do you buy for a vet to
show your heart felt thanks ?

[ragosa]

I am sitting here still at work but did read
your entire post.
I was not so luckey as you, reif. And ask me
if I could trust any vet again? The vets of yesteryear are gone or far and few between.
I am very happy your Rottie is still with you
but somewhat sad and angered she was made to
suffer just because a vet either overlooked
what was right in front of him/her or is just
out for a quick buck.
It would be nice if Rottie owners from each state would pool resources and list Rottie
friendly and reputable vets. Might save alot of people and their dogs in the grief and suffering department.
Have a great weekend and give your Rottie a hug!!!!

[MARYDVM]

Get a nice picture of your dog, put it in a pretty frame and inscribe it with something like "Thank you Dr.____ for saving my life" He can hang it in the office or waiting room and everyone will know what you think of him.

[Barbara Surplus]

Reif,
I'm sorry about your dog. They can carry the most unbearable pain before we even know about it. I've had abcesses and they hurt like h@&l so I can imagine what your poor poochie was going through. We discovered what we thought was an abcess in my cat's mouth - it must have been there for at least a few weeks but she never gave us any indication of the fact it was there. It taught me a much-needed lesson to check our pets' mouths even more frequently than we do to make sure there were no problems. These things can escalate into very traumatic situations for the animals so quickly.

I hope your girl is fine soon. She'll be glad to be back home with you too. I'm glad you found a vet who knew what he was doing. The picture suggested by MARYDVM sounds like a great idea - and a marvellous testament to the skills of this wonderful vet.
Barbara

[Eliza]

Thank goodness he found the problem. As for a present your thanks should be enough and very appreciated.

[abelmanalo]

What a nice story... of course, nobody's perfect, and vets vary in experience and training, just to be fair with the other vet.
I wish to be the best vet I could someday, and I know I will have many blunders along the way, but even now, I really appreciate those people whom I have helped with their pet and it really is a heartwarming thing to know you did someone something great!

The picture suggested by Dr. Mary is a marvelous idea!
I would be so proud to get something like that! http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif

[Nancy Estes]

Congratulations on your companion's recovery and the correct diagnosis! I agree with the picture gift idea too. I'm afraid a lot of us have had similar experiences with veterinarians. It's hard sometimes to remember that all doctors, animal and human, are just people and, unfortunately, have their weaknesses. You were both smart and lucky to have been able to go to another vet. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Nancy

------------------
von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[reif]

Well, I have my rotty back and I feel complete again. It felt like I lost my
shadow :-( Only a day later and she is
eating like a horse again :-)

Your ideas for a thankyou were fantastic !
I am gonna send a photo of my baby with
a thankyou card. I am also going to
have "Pizza Hut" deliver lunch to the vet and
his staff this week.

They charged me $60.00 dollars for the
whole operation ! There wasn't a charge for
the x-rays either. So I really do think
80 dollars worth of Pizza and a card
is not out of order. And if you live in PA
and would like to know the vets name &
number please feel free to e-mail.

Ya just cant put a price on a good vet.
This one is more interested in my
baby then my wallet. I have never seen a
vet before that doesnt believe in muzzles
or that would lay on the floor and give my
baby a belly rub. She was even smiling
and licking him....LOL.. I was a bit
jealous :-)

Thank You All For Your Support And Comments!
Terry Reif

[AussieBoy]

Terry,
It's great to hear that you and your rottie are back together again. One question for you though. What's your rottie's name http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif?

------------------
Huge rottie hugs to everyone

John (AussieBoy)

[Alaskan]

I'm so glad that it worked out for you and your rott. We are military and on our drive down from alaska through canada our three large dogs got giardia. We stopped at a place in the states and it was easter sunday so no vet would answer our calls and those that did were going to charge us an extra fifty dollars just because of the inconvience to them. We were lucky though there was a vet that did calls that day even though it was a holiday. He met us at the office which was closed saw and quickly treated our dogs with a shot, some medication and gave us some bland perscription dog food. It only cost us for the entire thing fifty bucks maybe and he didn't charge us extra plus he excepted an out of state check from us. We were so grateful for his help and for not giving us a hassle because of the out of state check. Now that was a vet who cares. I also believe the good ones are far and few between. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif

[Bucky's Mom]

You are lucky - I have the same Vet (actually, and now his son) in Maryland since I was 10 years old (35 years!)who I wouldn't trade for the world - i am glad you found a good one in a bad situation - Lisa

[reif]

My rottys name is Cobie:-)

The vet gave me a sterile mouth wash to
spray in... geez is that un-nerving to
do. After all these Dr. visits she is
scared of anything that looks like
vet equipment. She can smell the solution
too so when I have it she wont open her
mouth for me. Any other time I can look
at her teeth and put my hand in her mouth.
But that has changed since all these visits.

I also spoke to my "Pet Store" lady. She owns
4 rotts and said she has heard about a
dozen complaints regarding my old vet in the last month alone.

I wont mention names so the owners of this
site are not in any legal binds due to me
or this thread. I have gotten several e-mails
from rotty owners in PA and they now know
where NOT to go.