Terrible dilemma

[SadSetter]

My beautiful 5 year old irish setter has been ill on and off for over a year, with a variety of symptoms which have puzzled the vets. They suspected Lyme's disease, but that has now been ruled out.

I feel let down by the vets as sometimes my concerns about things like random lameness, and her seeming unwell have been dismissed and too many things tried, with no referral on. I feel guilty about this too as I had wanted to ask for a second opinion, but was persuaded out of it, and did trust the vet, who has a good reputation locally. One of the vets in particular has been very concerned about her. She would get better after a course of antibiotics, then worse. Anyway, no point in recriminations now,

Now Ddog is really a lot worse, and losing ability to use back left leg. She hasn't really eaten for about a week unless spoon fed, but really enjoys her food when she gets it.

The vet has now told me that there is nothing more they can do for her. They could refer her for a CT scan at a place a considerable distance away at a total cost of about £2,000 to see if it's an infection or something in a disc in the spine. Other than that they are talking about putting her to sleep ??

Sorry for the rambling, I just don't know what to do. She is quite sentient so it seems just too hard to Pts. But is it cruel to start all these investigations with travelling now when she is so poorly?

We don't have insurance but could scrape up the cash, thanks to my lovely dh: thought he would say it was too expensive, but he is keen to try to save her too. WWYD?

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Great news.

Do change vet. You need to be confident you are getting the best treatment.

[Floralnomad]

Pleased to hear that she is continuing to improve and I agree you do need to trust your vet for it to be a good working relationship.

[tabulahrasa]

Depending on how close you are to the vet hospital and what exactly it is, you might be able to register there as an ordinary patient... I'm just within the catchment area for the vet school.

[basildonbond]

That's so good to hear she's making progress - all the dogs I've come across with auto-immune problems have had almost miraculous results once they've started steroids.

I agree with the others - you'll never be able to trust the original vet's judgement again after missing this for a year. When basildog wasn't well the first thing the vet suspected was an immune problem

[KiwiJude]

Good to hear the progress :) And yes, I would change vets too. If you don't have confidence in them there is no point in going back to them.

[EasyToEatTiger]

Don't worry a fig about changing vets. All vets excel at different things, and you need the best treatment for your dog's condition. We have been settled at our own vets for some years, but I am well aware that there is a very good one closer!