Should you go to the emergency vet? How can a pet parent tell if their pet needs to go to the emergency vet or if it can wait until the regular vet is open in the morning. You need to know your pet! No one wants to go to the emergency vet, but when my mom gets scared, we head over there. Bailie and Mom landed at the after hours emergency clinic one night last week.
If you know Bailie personally, or from photos here online, you know she is an energetic, happy go lucky girl. She is three and full of energy. Mom noticed around my birthday that Bailie appeared a bit tired, but we have been real busy, so it wasn’t anything alarming. Tuesday, Bailie was acting odd. She didn’t come downstairs in the morning, she didn’t want to go for a walk, but she ate her breakfast then then settled in for her usual morning nap.
Bailie didn’t want to go outside at all during the day, didn’t want to walk in the evening, refused treats and dinner. At this point, Mom decided to take Bailie to the vet the next morning as something wasn’t right. She had dinner plans, but when she returned a couple hours later, Bailie was really not well. She was curled up in a small ball, sometimes she was shaking, she was drooling a lot, her eyes were glazed, and she could barely get up or move. That was it! Mom packed her up and off then went to the emergency vet.
The place was full at 8pm. They waited two hours to get into an exam room, but Bailie just laid there in a ball. People and dogs were coming and going, she didn’t even try to get up to say “hi”, very out of character for Bailie. After running tests, and doing lots of poking and prodding, they concluded at around 1am that she was very healthy except she only had 80,000 platelets. Normal is 200,000 to 500,000. 50,000 is dangerously low, and at 30,000 a dog can bleed to death internally. Mom was terrified. They decided Bailie could go home and see an immune specialist in the morning at 8am. According to the vet, she had developed an immune system disease which if not treated quickly could kill her.
Mom didn’t sleep a wink, and Bailie was no better when they saw the specialist in the morning. You can see from the photos, Bailie was not herself at all, and her body was looking like it was in pain too. Bailie spent the day at the clinic getting all kinds of tests, but nothing could be found. Her platelet count went up to 130,000 which was good, but what was ailing her? The specialist and mom both feel it might be a tick disease of some sort as she had all the symptoms. Remember even tick treatments are never 100% protection, and despite never seeing a tick on her it could have happened. Bailie started taking medication and will continue for four weeks. After just 1 1/2 days she was pretty much back to normal!
We don’t know what would have happened if Mom had not taken her to the emergency vet, but her gut feeling was right. Something was very wrong with Bailie. Tuesday we were at our vet for our yearly check ups and her platelets were tested again. She is now up to 284,000 just a week after the low count of 80,000. We are very relieved. We may never know what was ailing Bailie, but we are thankful she seems to be back to normal. We are hopeful she doesn’t have an immune system disease, and we are grateful there are emergency vet clinics when one needs them.
That must have been terrifying. Poor Bailie! Poor Mom! So glad Bailie is well.
We’ve never seen Bailie like that. It was not only scary, it was so sad to see her so sad.
oh my goodness! Poor Bailie. We’re glad to hear she feels better. Yuck! That all sounds awful. Give her a kiss for us. And one for your mom! Your doodle friend Dash
We just pray she stays well now and whatever it was is gone for good. It was scary.
I’m glad she’s feeling better now. Sending good thoughts.
She’s back to her old self, being wild, getting in trouble, all the stuff we love.
How scary. So happy to hear she is well on her way to her old self. Thank dog for emergency vets.
We imagined a lot of things but had never thought of anything with her platelet count. Not fun stuff to deal with.
WOW! That is scary! They say always go with your instinct. So glad Bailie is better. They say the ticks are bad this year. Have a wonderful weekend!
We really haven’t seen many ticks despite them being so bad. We will probably never know what exactly caused it, but the symptoms suggest something from a tick.
So very glad Bailie is back to normal!! Your poor mom must have been beside herself with worry! Hope the tests reveal for sure what was going on so you can all take steps to prevent a recurrence!!
She was tested like crazy, but nothing besides low platelets showed up. We may never know what caused it, but the main thing is she is back to her old self.
Oh my word. I’m so glad that the treatment is working! Going to the emergency vet is like taking a toddler to the ER. I’m so glad you followed your gut!
Mom does not like to go there, but she got panicked and had to go which was a good thing. Hopefully whatever it was will not return.
Too scary! So glad you have an emergency vet clinic available. (we’re over an hour away from one) So glad she’s already doing so much better and hope it is nothing permanent. Sending hugs to all of you.
All signs are good right now and we hope it stays that way. We probably will never know what caused it, but hopefully it will be cured with the meds and not return.
Oh, my friend Baillie was so miserable! The mom agrees the emergency clinic was the absolute correct choice. The mom has made several trips to an emergency clinic with her other doggies but never with me yet – knock on wood! 🙂 Baillie is feeling better. XOXO, Sparkle
As a young dog, Katie was sick all the time, but Bailie and I never have anything happen…but when we do, it is usually something big like our dog flu last winter. We are glad she is back to the old Bailie and hope she stays that way.
I’m so glad you got good news from your vet this time. Hugs to the girl and hugs to your mama for being such a careful dog-mom…. it was the right decision, 100%. I always disliked to visit the er-vet clinic, but after our last visit there, I completely changed my mind. They have a new one here and even when we had to wait a while, the vet was friendly, checked the complete pup and could help immediately. The fear to get a wrong treatment or to get no real help just because this is not “our” vet was completely in vain :o) fortunately.
Emergency vets are a place we never want to visit but are so incredibly thankful they’re there when we need them. A cat or dog mom’s gut instinct are usually right and I’m so glad you got sweet Bailie there in time. Paws crossed that she’s A-OK now!
She seems to have recovered. We hope it stays that way.
Oh no, Emma, that must have been so, so scary for your Mom. You can always trust her to make the best and right decision for you girls. It’s also scary and frustrating to not know what’s going on and to have to wait for more tests. We are so relieved to hear that Bailie is recovering, and hope nothing else comes of this. There are certainly some nasty tick diseases out there!
We are lucky to have our own vet on call, he lives in the same town as us so is most times available. There is an emergency clinic a little further away as well, so it is good to know that is also available if needed.
The tests all came back negative, so we still don’t know what caused it all but hope the medication cures it and it doesn’t happen again.
Gut feeling is always the bet thing to follow – if it doesn’t seem right then get it seen too – We are glas she is doing better – that would of been so scary
She went downhill so fast, there was no choice and Mom made the right one.
Good mom!!! Gut feelings are the way to go when you know your kids. So glad that Bailie is feeling better
She really seems to be back to her old self.
Poor Baillie, and poor mom. I’m so glad everything worked out ok and she is feeling better.
Since we don’t know what it was, we just hope it doesn’t happen again and the medication takes care of it.
That is scary! Barley got lyme disease even though I never saw a tick on her and use protection against ticks, too. Glad Bailie is feeling more like her usual self!
There are some 45 tick diseases out there that are known, but she tested negative for everything. Hopefully it is something that won’t return.
Poor Bailie! How scary that must have been and of course it was the right thing to do taking her to ER. Glad she is doing better. Love Dolly
She is happy and bouncing around as always again, thankfully. It was a scary few days around here.
OH my cats that must have been very scary for all of you! Thank goodness for an observant mom and the ER vets
Hugs all around Madi and mom
It was really scary and we felt so bad for Bailie because she is never sad, but she was really sad.
We are sure glad Bailie is okay. We are quite familiar with the Emergency Clinic here too.
It’s definitely not a place you want to make a habit of going to!
I can imagine how terrified you must have been. I am so glad that she bounced back to her adorable Bailie self. ♥ P.S. Mom will write back later. Our brother is moving this weekend so she is beyond stressed.
No worries, moving is stressful. Change is always stressful, but it can be a good stress too.
What a scary story! I am SO happy that Bailie is doing better on the medication. Checking for ticks must be tough with all those fluffy furs on her.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Actually, Bailie has tin furs so it is easy to find a tick on her, but we haven’t found any. We don’t know if it was a tick disease or not. My furs are much easier for ticks to hide out in.
Yipes, so glad she’s on the road to recovery. Way to go, Mom! Sam and Elsa send best pup healing thoughts.
She seems to be all cured at this point and we hope it stays that way when she is done with the meds.
I am so happy mom trusted her gut and went to the ER. I hope Ballie feels better and gets back to normal. Are you and mom still going away for the weekend, taking Ballie?
Bailie is her old self, so we all went away for the weekend as planned and had a wonderful time.
We are SOOOOOO glad your Mama knew just what to do! We hope the meds keep Bailie feeling her best!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Bailie is doing great. She will get some more tests in a couple weeks unless something changes before then. We are hopeful she is cured.
I hope Bailey continues on the road to recovery! Always trust your gut, I say.
Following your feelings is a good idea in most situations, but humans sometimes have trouble doing that. Bailie continues to be doing really well.
OMDoodle – that must have been scary. So happy you’re okay! I too had a scare (wrote about emergency vet bills) while out of town both boys got ill. Terrifying. They’re both on the mend. I hope your feeling better.
We were gone all weekend with pretty much no internet, so have to catch up on things online today.
That is so scary and I’m glad she is better! It would make me crazy to not what what was the definite cause as I’m sure it’s the same way your mom feels! It is the time of year for those nasty ticks to come back around though!
We wish we knew, but as long as her platelets check out in a couple weeks, we will just live with not knowing.
Moms always know best. When our girls just aren’t right, it’s as if we feel it in our own bones. So happy to read that Bailie is feeling better, and I know your mom is quite relieved. Cheers to everyone’s continued good health . . . and peace of mind.
Bailie seems to be fine again and her last blood test was good, but Mom still has her eye on her all the time just in case. We will feel better in a couple weeks when Bailie goes back in for a check.
What a HORRID scare!!!
what a scare, I’m so glad you took her in.
Wow that is scary. Glad she is better.
It was so awful to go from the wild child to she might not make it in just a day. We hope whatever it was is gone and will not return.