Sampson has a bruise on the inside of one of his back legs. I noticed it right after the last time he was at the vet, but figured since he is scheduled for next week, I will simply keep an eye on it, to make sure it’s fading.
Having seen him bulldoze his way through trees and shrubs, I assumed he whacked himself good.
When I popped a peek at it Sunday night, I noticed he had a number of red bumps on his underbelly. Hubby said, they look like blisters.
To which I said, I’ll check the side effects of the Meloxicam tomorrow and call the vet to see if it can wait until next week.
Sure enough one of the severe side effects of the Meloxicam is, you guessed it, blisters.
(Just for the record, I worry. So the safest bet for me is NOT to check side effects when first beginning a medication, if I do you can be sure a symptom will somehow manage to manifest itself. I’ve had to carry this philosophy over to the dogs or I’d be a constant mess.)
First thing yesterday morning I placed the call to our vet.
When our vet called back she said, blisters are a known side effect in humans but not in dogs. She wants to make sure it’s not a skin condition so we changed his appointment from next Wednesday to this Thursday.
After I took my lunch I decided that Thursday is just too long to wait, so I called the vet’s office back, but they couldn’t fit him in any sooner, unless of course the condition gets worse.
So I asked, well is there anything I can do for him In the meantime to make sure he’s not uncomfortable? Our vet said put aloe on it.
It doesn’t seem to be bothering him, because we haven’t seem him scratching or licking at it.
But it sure looks awful.
Considering the shaming I got for posting poop pictures, I figure it was wise to hide Sampson’s attributes.
You can see the bruised area, it is the dark spot just above all those little blisters.
What do you think about him having symptoms of a side effect but being told it’s not the same for dogs? Is it merely coincidence?
Just because it hasn’t happened in dogs, does not mean it can’t, right? I intend to bring that point up on Thursday. 😉
How do you handle it when your vet tells you something but your gut tells you something else?
I know exactly what you mean and it is truly very hard to trust fully any vet… They [like doctors] seem to be working for medicine companies -one way or another. What I do is trust my gut really in most cases. Always try to find the logic in any diagnose and treatment and well and then observe the patient. It helps when you communicate well with your dog. They -almost always- tell you when something’s wrong. Our dog has those blisters [or irritated skin] from time to time, but they come and go. She is allergic to so many things, there’s no point in otherwise harming her with cortisone. Chamomile and aloe are a natural way to help.
Thank you for weighing in and sharing your dog’s story.
I do really trust my vet and think she is wise to bring him in. The aloe is helping him (it’s already looking better) I’m hesitant to put much more than aloe on it because I don’t want to make it worse. He does seem to be more prone to allergies of late, but it’s weird cause it’s only on one side of his belly.
I find a new vet. The vet clinic we go to is walk in. It means that at times you may have a long wait, but it suits me. We used to go to a vet with appointments and it made me crazy. I only call when I really need something and I don’t want to have to wait two days for an appointment. 🙂
Now as for what is ailing Sampson, I would suspect a side effect of the drug. Did you actually speak to the vet? At our clinic we are told to call if there are any issues and to come in at any time for a recheck. The vet usually gets right back to us. The ortho vet being the best one at this despite him being one of the busiest vets in the place.
LOL I love my vet and truthfully if I insisted they would squeeze him in. I did ask them to put me on the cancellation list just in case.
Here’s the weird thing, it’s only on one side of his belly, from what I know of side effects and allergic reactions that is not normal. Yes, I actually did speak to my vet, as of right now the aloe seems to be helping and he doesn’t seem uncomfortable, so I will hang tight but keep a close eye on it.
You really find a new vet?
Yes I found a new vet after I could never get a convenient appointment with our original vet. I like the place we go to now. No appointments and open seven days a week. They have probably 9 vets and I like all but one so I am fairly certain to get a vet I like anytime I show up.
We will keep paws crossed it isn’t anything more serious. I’ve never used that particular drug before so I am unaware of its side effects.
Sam
Thanks Sam, I’m crossing everything I have. 🙂 Will follow up on Friday. Thank you for stopping by and commenting, I checked out your site and you are one good looking pup!
So I’m the person who challenges the vet. I would ask “do you mean you haven’t seen this particular side effect in dogs before in your professional experience?” or “do you mean the drug sales person told you the same side effects didn’t present themselves in dogs?” I would press them on where it is in writing and what studies have been performed that validates their statement. I would ask them about alternative medications that could be tried. And why they chose a particular medication over others that do the same thing. If they intelligently and thoughtfully answer all of my questions with informed answers, then I am more apt to trust what they’ve said. If they stumble or seem to fall back on “well, that’s what the drug manufacturer said”, then I tend to trust my gut and seek a 2nd opinion. Yeah, it’s sometimes hard for me to find a vet that puts up with me. Most shudder when they see me coming. 🙂
LOL I thought I was bad!! I will challenge her, you can bet your a$$. But it won’t be over the phone, it will be in person after she’s looked him over. I am taking the wait and see attitude as long as he doesn’t seem uncomfortable and so far, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it.
When we were in South Carolina we had terrible problems with Cali’s allergies. I noticed that after I gave her the monthly heart worm pill, she would get very itchy and asked if there was an “unflavored” pill, since the one we were giving her was beef flavored (and she is allergic to beef). The vet told me that “no”. She also said that there weren’t any “listed” side effects like what I was describing, so I found a new vet. The new vet gave me an unflavored pill and we never had the problem again.
I say, always go with your gut – it’s your dog and you may feel like an over protective PITA, but our dogs depend on us!
You don’t walk through any poison ivy do you?
I’m so glad you got that straightened out for Cali, to me that was just laziness on the part of the vet and I have no problems scouting a new vet should the need arise. I think she may be right so I am waiting until she sees him and I am certainly prepared to challenge her if necessary.
I don’t knowingly walk through poison ivy but anything is possible. I do think if that’s what it was then one of us would have contracted it, since we haven’t been shy about touching it. Hubby is allergic to it, so I think he would have it by now. 🙂
Poor Sampson. Does he try to scratch at the blisters? I know some people said to take him to another vet but what does your gut say about that? Gracie did start off with a different vet but now she sees a dr at the humane society. I just got bad vibes from the first one. And I’m like you, when it comes to my baby you better be there when I need you!
I really, really love my vet so I’m not ready to find another. She is super smart to bring him in to look at it because it very well could be coincidence. She knows how I worry, so she’ll be perpared for me. 🙂
I’m glad you find a vet you like, it’s so important.
Jodi – that looks EXACTLY like the staph infections Toby used to get. And they never made him itch either.
That freaks me out Donna, it does look like some of the pictures I found though. Fingers crossed please.
Junebug being a medical mystery is easing my stress on some of these things. As long as she’s behaving normally, I’m learning to stop stressing.
And vets’ experiences differ greatly. We have friends who just moved up here whose dog has had a skin condition for about 8 months or so. It was getting worse so they asked for our vet info. We sent them in and the vet instantly diagnosed it as a reaction to the new rabies vaccine. But their previous vet (the one who gave the rabies vaccine about 9 months ago and who had seen the dog for the skin condition when it first started) hadn’t diagnosed it as such.
It’s not that one vet is worse than the other, just that one had seen that reaction before. This may be the first time your vet has seen this reaction in dogs. And actually, I’d be happy that she wants to double check- reaction or skin condition -before coming up with a plan of action.
You are right, I am happy that she wants to see him, I guess I was just surprised by the fact that she said it’s not a side effect in dogs. In my mind it’s not a KNOWN side effect for dogs just because 100 dogs don’t have it, doesn’t mean the next one won’t/can’t.
I do hope Junebug is okay. 🙂 You are right as long as he his behaving normally (and he is) I’m not so worried.
Well, I do hope the vet is wrong and it is a side effect, better that than something more serious. Poor little guy. It can’t be comfortable but at least it isn’t bothering him to the point of distraction. He’s been through a lot lately, hasn’t he? Here’s hoping the vet has some good solutions!
Heh. Attributes.
Thanks Kristine, he has a couple of rough weeks but he’s my tough guy. I’m with you, I hope it isn’t too serious. 🙂
Frankie’s MOM here… many years ago we had a dachshund (Pretzel) who suddenly got some tiny Blisters on her tummy… right in the area THESE are… they would “POP” and then a crusty patch would form and then the skin all around the area would peel and it would be PURPLE … NOT a bruise… just PURPLE like a bruise would be. Then that would begin to Fade.
Our Vet… at that time was a PERSONAL FRIEND… he tried EVERYTHING he knew of.. and nothing seemed to stop the series of events. He taught Vet classes at Ohio State Univ.. so he took some skin samples from EVERY STAGE.. he and the students examined everything and were at a total LOSS for what caused it and for how to EASE it. Eventually the whole thing Spread to everywhere except her FACE and Neck areas. Over the years we also went to 7 OTHER vets (our friend retired and moved away) and NO ONE could ever Prevent these Outbreaks or Treat them. She eventually started to ITCH a LOT. So they would give her steroids for THAT.
I know that this does not help you much, but I am thinking it may NOT be a side effect to anything.
Thank you for sharing that Frankie’s MOM, I imagine that was a horrible thing to watch Pretzel go through. I’m hoping at least that she got some relief from the steroid.
He started with that bruise like thing and it did seem like it was peeling and it does seem like tiny blisters and some are crusty! Fortunately the aloe does seem to be helping, but you can bet I’ll update everyone once he’s been to the vet.
It reminds me of a staph infection I saw once on a shelter dog, but I’m sure it isn’t anything that serious. Maybe Samson is really a human in a furry suit so he gets human side effects.
I’m freaking out Jan, fingers crossed please! I would hate for it to be a staph infection!!
Do you think he could have picked something up when he went through the brush? Seems odd the rash and bruise are on the same side. Hopefully it will resolve itself quickly.
I don’t handle it well AT ALL and inevitably end up at the vet’s office whether he likes it or not or we have an appointment or not. I thank G-D all of the time that our vet is such a good sport.
I always go with my gut when it comes to my health and Mazzie’s. I’d rather be humilated, flat out wrong and have the vet think I’m out of my mind vs. having a seemingly innocuous condition progress into something horrible because I waited too long.
All of that being said, I’m completely off the reservation when it comes to this kind of stuff because there were so many situations in Mazzie’s youth where everything should have been OK, but she was the 0.0001 percent of cases where everything wasn’t OK. As a result, I’m a little bit gun shy….
No words of wisdom or experience here, except that I echo others: trust your gut. And I’m hoping it is nothing to worry about!
We don’t use Meloxicam for dogs at our vet, not because there is anything wrong with it we just use another NSAID. I’m tellin you Jodi, that looks just like a skin infection in the picture and it’s spreading since the last time I saw it. That area is a sensitive area for dogs since their isn’t a lot of hair. Your vet can do a skin scrape to see if it is bacteria or yeast and treat accordingly with a topical medication or oral antibiotics. Don’t freak out if it’s staph, it happens all the time.
Stetson gets skin allergies and those look a little bit similar, but his tend to scab and he gets itchy.
I usually trust my vet when he tells me something, but lately I’ve been a little less trusting of my vets opinions. Stetson has always had skin allergies, but I’m getting tired of taking him to the vet and hearing the same thing then getting slapped with a $200 bill. I think it’s time for us to get a second opinion.