Coping With Animal Health Problems

Our soon to be 6 year old boxer, Willie, was full of life. He ran faster and played harder than any dog we have ever known. One day, Willie came out of a wooded area in our subdivision limping. Over the next couple of days, we noticed he would take a few steps then collapse. We took him to our Veterinarian and blood work was run. Turns out, his CPK (a liver enzyme) was through the roof.

As we waited for possible news that he had Erlichia or Lyme’s disease, he was getting much weaker, not wanting to eat or drink water. Our Vet gave him subcutaneous fluid and a steroid as we waited for the tick serology to come back. I took Willie for a walk one day, and just a few houses away from our home, Willie began to pant violently and started having what looked to be a seizure. I rushed him inside and called our Vet who asked me to take his temperature and lay a wet towel over him to cool him down. His temperature was 104 and his heart was beating rapidly. A couple of days went by and Willie had grown so weak he was unable to walk. I carried all 50 pounds of him out to to do his business every 2 hours. He was so weak by this point, I was having to feed him and give him water through a syringe because he was unable to stand at his food/water station.

The tick serology yielded no positive results, and soon our Vet offered to do an Ekg. At one point, his heart rate was 227 beats per minute. We were referred to Auburn University Veterinary School where blood work was run and re-run with negative results once again. A radiograph was taken and it showed that his heart was enlarged. The veins around the heart were engorged. The Internest in charge of Willie’s case believed from the start that he may have swallowed an infected tick - something known as Hepatozoonosis. They believe that this disese was causing Willie’s muscle rigidity and possibly his heart complications. It was also possible that Willie had Boxer cardiomyopathy-something very common in Boxers.

We started him on treatment for Hepatozoonosis just incase that was the root of his problems. Willie’s Dr., Dr. Reid also ordered a muscle biopsy. After about a week, the results had returned with Willie’s diagnosis - Poymyositis - an auto-immune disease that attacks muscle cells. It would have been much easier if it were some kind of tick disease!! Polymyositis has taken a toll on Willie, more so than what I could ever imagined. I saw Willie on a Tuesday - he was weak, but he looked okay. That Saturday, I made the three hour trip to visit him and nothing could brace me for what I saw. Willie was layed out on a stretcher and looked completely emaciated. His once lean, muscular body had wasted away in just 4 days since I had seen him last. He tried to be excited to see us, but just didn’t have the energy.

All in all, the doctor and the wonderful students that have been caring for Willie were really positive about his comeback. It would just be a long term committment - of medication and physical therapy. We don’t know for sure if Willie is in heart failure or if this disease is the culprit of his heart problems - we will just cross that bridge when we get to it!