The Vet Killed my Dog

I'm so Sorry Michelle

I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for your loss of your baby, Pockets.:cry:You and your family are in my Prayers. God bless Pockets.:cry:
 
Oh my, what a sad and tragic thing to happen to your wonderful little sheltie. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all. Hope you find out what the cause was, and it will give you all a little peace.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
 
I'm am so sorry for your loss as well. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I think I would contact the vet and let them know what happened. This is the only way to prevent it from happening again. The vet must know about the error. Pockets is playing with my two dogs at the bridge, Buddy and Mikey. They will keep him company. Big hugs!
 
Thanx everyone, this has made grieving a little easier. I did go back to the vet Friday and I told her what had happened. Of course she was surprised and said she was sorry for my loss. She said that as far as blood work and his presentation during his visit he looked like a very healthy dog for his age. She offered to send him to Auburn to have an autopsy done paid for by the vet's office...but I have buried him and that's were he is going to stay. :no: She did say that it is good that I came back and told her because even though it is not really hard evidence without an autopsy...but it helps build a record. She said that Cephalexin has never been known to cause more than a skin rash, but she would call the company and ask if there had been any recalls or other reports. I don't know yet if she has actually called...or if I'd ever hear from her again. I guess it just goes to show that you need to watch your dog carefully when giving it any kind of medicine for the first time and not just assume it's risk free.
 
Michelle, please accept my deep condolences for your baby's loss. I am so impressed with your strength of character for going back to the vet without malice. Sometimes we expect our vets to be superhuman, but they're fallible people whose hearts must break when they lose a patient. I'll pray for you and your vet. Remember: Pockets waits at the Rainbow Bridge.
 
I think I maybe have found the a more likely cause.

I didn't have him on heartworm medication so the vet gave me one pills of Iverhart Max Green 25.1 to 50 lb to give him while I decide whether I want to buy more months supply. The main active ingredient is Ivermectin as reflected in the name...and Ivermectin is known to be toxic to Collies and Shelties. :( Ivermectin-Wikipedia

The wikipedia article states that toxicity typically isn't observed when the Invermectin is less that 100mcg/kg

IverhartMax Product Information Based on this website the pill I gave him contained 136 mcg Ivermectin

His weight was 29.50 lbs that turns into 13.38 kg. So there was 10.16 mcg/kg in his body. That's a tenth of threshold for observed toxicity the author on wikipedia provided, however, I don't know how generally applied that threshold is to all of the breeds listed. It could be a lower threshold for Shelties.

Sheltie Nations Page on Shelties and Heartworm Medication

I didn't know all this information about Heartworm medication and the possible risks. She actually gave me the extra pill to give him as an after thought while I was waiting to pay at the front desk, like getting a mint from a restaurant. Like I said...I just innocently accepted everything the vet gave me as safe.

Chris, I don't really hold malice towards her. I know I've made plenty of mistakes that cost others a lot more than I know. I don't think I could ever be a vet or a doctor because there just just too much responsibility. My vet did call me back...said she had called the companies of all the pills and vaccinations we gave Pockets that day. Of course none of them reported any more adverse reactions, so she is just as much at a lost as I am.
 
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