[jrummer]

Our 8 1/2 year old golden, Cecilia, had her first seizure about a year ago. took her to the vet and he said its probably seizures and we put her on potassium bromide twice a day. The tricky part is, I don't recall my vet suggesting a thyroid work up. We had weight issues with her and were able to get her weight down quite a bit until we had our daughter. We had to then deal with a golden, who already has weaker hips, now suffered the affects of the potassium bromide, which tends to weaken them even more.

About 2 months ago, she started limping on one side. Vet determined she tore her CCL. We didn't do the xrays or CAT scan thinking it would be $$ and why wouldn't it be her CCL. Pain meds, rimodyl. On we went.

Cut to a few weeks ago. Due to the costs of all her issues we sadly decided to give her to a rescue organization, hoping they could find her a new home. Her condition went downhill in two days. Long story short, it appears she had a blood clot in her leg or spine causing the leg issues. It then rendered both legs useless. The vet that the rescue group used said her thyroid was the lowest it could be. She had also recently developed chronic dry eye, which is something we had never seen before. Sadly we put her down yesterday in what turned out to be the saddest of all days since I can remember.

Here's the important part of why I decided to post this. Get pet health insurance for pure bred dogs. Had we done it, we could've done tests earlier and perhaps given her a better life. If your golden has a seizure, do the thyroid work up. Its obviously such a common thing that those two things seem to walk hand in hand, in some cases. If we had done a thyroid check a long time ago, her weight would've dropped, more active, no seizures (maybe) and on we go.

We have to own this horrible situation that truly falls in our laps, the pet owner. Gonna be a while before the guilt subsides and realize that we did what we could with the resources we had. It also speaks to, if you can't afford a pet, don't get one. A harsh and tough truth.

-Miles

 

[davebeech]

I'm sorry to hear you had to say goodbye to Cecilia, I can only imagine the heartbreak.
You are so right about the insurance unless you have a healthy bank balance, my Tom has seizures and he has recently had MRI scan, spinal tap, liver scan, meds and more meds which so far this year alone is well into the £thousands

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

Our 8 1/2 year old golden, Cecilia, had her first seizure about a year ago. took her to the vet and he said its probably seizures and we put her on potassium bromide twice a day. The tricky part is, I don't recall my vet suggesting a thyroid work up. We had weight issues with her and were able to get her weight down quite a bit until we had our daughter. We had to then deal with a golden, who already has weaker hips, now suffered the affects of the potassium bromide, which tends to weaken them even more.

About 2 months ago, she started limping on one side. Vet determined she tore her CCL. We didn't do the xrays or CAT scan thinking it would be $$ and why wouldn't it be her CCL. Pain meds, rimodyl. On we went.

Cut to a few weeks ago. Due to the costs of all her issues we sadly decided to give her to a rescue organization, hoping they could find her a new home. Her condition went downhill in two days. Long story short, it appears she had a blood clot in her leg or spine causing the leg issues. It then rendered both legs useless. Sadly we put her down yesterday in what turned out to be the saddest of all days since I can remember.

Here's the important part of why I decided to post this. Get pet health insurance for pure bred dogs. Had we done it, we could've done tests earlier and perhaps given her a better life. If your golden has a seizure, do the thyroid work up. Its obviously such a common thing that those two things seem to walk hand in hand, in some cases. If we had done a thyroid check a long time ago, her weight would've dropped, more active, no seizures (maybe) and on we go.

We have to own this horrible situation that truly falls in our laps, the pet owner. Gonna be a while before the guilt subsides and realize that we did what we could with the resources we had. It also speaks to, if you can't afford a pet, don't get one. A harsh and tough truth.

-Miles

Don't beat yourself up. You are just guessing she had thyroid problems. Seizures and thyroid problems don't necessarily go hand in hand. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[goldensmum]

So sorry for your loss of Cecilia

 

[jrummer]

I left out the important part that the vet the rescue group uses did a thyroid test and it was as low as it could be. oops!!

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

Sad. Perhaps a second opinion with a vet would have helped. Thyroid testing is not that expensive. And really inexpensive to maintain with meds. My heart goes out to you.

 

[mylissyk]

I am so sorry you have gone through this experience and lost your girl. Please don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone makes decisions based on the information they have, and the resources available. You make the best decision you can with no intent to harm. I know you loved her.

Thank you for sharing your story. The lessons are good ones, and perhaps one of them we should all keep in mind is seek a second opinion for a persistent problem.

Again, so sorry for your loss of your sweet girl.

 

[jrummer]

Absolutely right. Second opinion without a doubt. Not saying it was all thyroid based or the vet was wrong or right, its just a very possible option that we overlooked. The hardest part...thinking something so simple was missed and could've saved our pup.

 

[LucyMoosey]

I am so very sorry to read about your Cecila. Please take comfort in that you did all that you possibly could for your pup in your situation. Even if you could afford her initially, circumstances can change out of our control. But you put some very good points across. Dogs are expensive, pedigree dogs are more expensive and large breed pedigree dogs are the most. As much as we all adore goldens, we all know they are prone to many many problems. The hind leg problems sound very complicated and may well be related to a torn CCL. Hypothyroidism can look like many many other conditions, it is actually often over diagnosed, other hormones must be measured as well as thyroid levels. Please don't beat yourself up too much, you did what you could afford. Cecila is no longer suffering and you had many happy years with her.

I wholeheartedly agree with you about insurance (though folk must shop around and read very carefully about each individual company and policy). My golden is just 2yrs old and has cost my insurance company £2500 so far in claims for her epilepsy. I could have possibly stretched to it all but it would have been a struggle.

 

[GoldensGirl]

Welcome to the Forum. I hope that sharing your stories about Cecilia can help you heal, knowing that your experience with her is helping others to avoid the same problems. That's really all that we can do sometimes. I hope you won't beat yourself up. That's certainly not what sweet Cecilia would want. I'm sure she knew that you loved her and that she loved you in return.

Wishing you peace,
Lucy

 

[Tailer'sFolks]

Sorry for your loss of Cecilia. It is hard to "know everything" the first go 'round...but by sharing your story, others might have that Paw Up, to be able to help their fur child. Thanks.

 

[Pipsqueak]

So sorry for your loss. Please do not blame yourself. I am sure that you did everything that you could have done given your situation.

I do however agree that pet insurance is a MUST for anybody with a pedigree dog especially, although to be honest we have a very dear cross who we fortunately had insured and who we may now be without had we had to fork out for the major op she had last year. We had had her insured for nearly 10 years and had never claimed but we got it all back in one scoop and as I say, touch wood, she is well again. Things could have been very different if we had not had that back up. Since Monty started with epilepsy I have recommended to anybody who takes on a pet of any kind to take out insurance.

I hope that in time you will be able to remember the good times, and I am sure there were many during the years you had her.

 

[Lynlegs]

I really feel for you. Thank you for having the courage to tell your story. Best wishes for the future.

Lyn

 

[my4goldens]

I am so sorry for your loss, thank you for sharing your story.

 

[Golden&Yorkie]

I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for posting your story. My husband always gives me a hard time about how I have insurance for Skipper and I keep telling him how important it is.

 

[Buddy's mom forever]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am very sorry for your loss of Cecilia. What I've learnt on this forum when something is wrong thyroid test goes right after blood test.