 November
2009
Charlie
Charlie is a one and a half year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier,
who first came into our Pets-24 out of hours accident and emergency
centre as an emergency late at night in September.
Charlie was fitting and needed emergency treatment. He was admitted
to the hospital straight away and given anaesthesia to stop the seizures.
He also needed cold bathing to bring his temperature down as this
was extremely high due to the fits. Charlie became stable over night
and he was allowed to go home the following day, with follow-up treatment
and blood tests arranged for the following week.
Unfortunately, before Charlie’s appointment
he was brought back to Pets-24 with tremors and constant chewing
of his jaw which soon turned into fitting. He was admitted to the
hospital again and given sedation and anaesthesia.
Further investigation was needed
to see why this was happening, so he stayed in the hospital for a
few days while the tests and treatment were carried out. The tests
included collecting fluid from his spinal cord whilst under anaesthetic
to see if Charlie had meningitis. Blood tests were also taken to
see if he had any blood parasites which can cause dogs to have fits.
These tests all came back negative. The next step would have been
for Charlie to have an MRI scan to see if he had any brain abnormality
but unfortunately he was not stable enough to leave the hospital.
Charlie was still fitting despite starting his
anti-fitting medication, he was put onto an anaesthetic infusion
drip to keep him in a light state of anaesthesia. Charlie eventually
came out of the anaesthetic not fitting but extremely wobbly and
very dazed. Charlie stayed in the hospital for a further 5 days until
we were happy that his medication was working and that he had had
no more fits.
Charlie’s diagnosis was eventually established
as hypoparathyroidism. This means his body can’t control his
calcium levels, which were consistently low and caused the fitting.
He will now have to stay on medication for the rest of his life and
will need regular trips to the vets to monitor his blood calcium
levels.
Charlie had a horrible few
weeks whilst his tests and treatment were being carried out but
the good news is that with his calcium levels back to normal he
is now back to his normal self. He was very brave and a very
good patient and this is why we have decided to make Charlie our
Pet of the Month for November.
Click
here to see October's Pet of the Month - Basil the brave dog.
Click
here to see September's Pet of the Month - Chelsea the domestic
short-haired cat.
Click
here to see August's Pet of the Month - Lucas the domestic short-haired
cat.
Click
here to see July's Pet of the Month - Rabby the English Lop-Eared
rabbit.
Click
here to see June's Pet of the Month - Thomas the West Highland White
Terrier.
Click here to see May's Pet of the Month - Harvey
the Boxer puppy.
Click
here to see April's Pet of the Month - Mitzi the Yorkshire Terrier.
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