An Unsolved Mystery: Mr. K's brush with Death

A summary of Mr. K's clinical issues, as found by Georgia Veterinary Specialists. To this day, we have been unable to figure out the cause behind Mr. K's health scare.

March 6, 2012 - A date forever engrained in my memory. It was my first day on the new job and my first in weeks being away from my pups. When I got home, Mr. K was unusually morose. He wasn't excited about his nightly walk and didn't want to touch his food. Given his history of being prone to 'Scottitude,' I figured this was his revenge of sorts for leaving him home alone all day.

Less than an hour later, things really got strange. Mr. K, who normally is full of energy and often gets a case of the 'Zoomies' after a bath, didn't seem to have the energy to even shake off the excess water after his bi-weekly bath.  Within minutes of being carried out of the tub, Mr. K experienced an onslaught of serious symptoms, including losing his ability to stand up all together.

I called his (now former) vet and was told they were closing and I had to bring him to Georgia Veterinary Specialists - best decision ever. I arrived, carrying my wet little Scottie in hand, and asked he be evaluated immediately. The receptionists were exceptional and made sure Mr. K was taken back right away. Within 30 minutes, we had an update...albeit one I didn't want to hear.

---

The bottom line of the vet's update: we had a VERY sick dog; he had almost no pulse, internal bleeding, a small amount of fluid in his lungs and his liver values and platelet counts were way out of norm. What's more, nothing we recounted helped the vet understand why Mr. K got so sick, and so suddenly. Hours passed as we waited for test results and Mr. K to respond to a number of treatments.

The likely culprits, according to the vet, were rat poison, blunt trauma or a tumor...all of which were eventually ruled out, leaving us with virtually no explanation for what had happened or ways to prevent another occurrence. The vet's next best guess would be that he somehow picked up human heart medication or an anti-depressant (neither of which can be found in our home).

---

Mr. K spent about a week with Georgia Veterinary Specialists undergoing a number of treatments and slowly working to regain his good health. When he came home, he was on a vigorous medication schedule including five different medications to be taken sporadically throughout the day.

His week-after and month-after checkups showed marked improvement and today, he is a seemingly healthy pup. This leads us to believe that whatever our precious Scotsman had, he likely picked it up in his 'natural' environment, i.e. in our highrise apartment, in the hallways, elevator or perhaps, outside in the mulch-laiden 'dog walk' area.

Despite this hunch, we still really don't have a clue what made Mr. K so sick that night. The apartment was checked for potential toxins and came up clean. One thing's for sure: only 5.5 years of age, Mr. K must have had the determination of a champion to stay alive because our vets are still stunned this little guy came out on top.