Asking for vets advice - is upsetting

[FelicityBennett]

I posted last week about about my 9 month old puppy with haemolytic anaemia
He was on steroids and had a 2 unit transfusion which picked up his haemocrit to 27 . He was allowed home but we thought he had deteriorated so brought him back in the Sunday when his haemocrit had dropped to 15.9 . The vets double his steroid and gave cyclosporin but we got the call no one wants at 1 am to say he had deteriorated further and his haemocrit was 1.7 . He couldn’t eat or drink and was tachycardia and breathless. They said they could give a transfusion but the only unit was over an hour away and they weren’t sure it would make a difference. He would have to had had a central line in as well .
We chose to put him to sleep which has broken all of us.
I suppose I just wanted to ask if it would have made a difference.the vet on that night was lovely but seemed to say it was up to us and didn’t really say on one or another . I understand that he was trying to give us a choice but it has made it harder as now I am home I keep thinking would it have made a difference?
From a haemocrit of 1.7
I know I can’t change anything but I feel really guilty like we gave up on him which we would never do as he was the loveliest boy ever and I miss him terribly .
I had hoped the case vet would ring so I could ask him but not heard and not in at our local vet

Not a vet, but it’s clear you loved your puppy and did everything you could for them, even now worrying and wishing to do only the best you can and could do.
I hope you’re able to find some closure on this and know you did everything you could and provided everything your little boy would have wanted x

I'm not a vet but I remember your thread.

I think it's only natural to doubt yourself as you are grieving. Sometimes the best thing we can do for them is to let them go even if it breaks your heart.

You did the best for him

You did what you could. It must be awful for you all.

Vets can’t definitely say “yes, you should pts” but will give you all the information you need to make the decision.
I know how you feel though, I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking that actually, the vet didn’t say there was no hope for our girl, I got it wrong and they just did it anyway. That just doesn’t happen, I know that, but when we have to make that decision the guilt can be extreme even if there would be no positive outcome.

I'm a vet. Please don't torment yourself further. It was an option, technically,
I suppose, but I am quite sure that it would not have saved your lovely dog, and just caused more discomfort and stress. I'm so sorry this happened but it sounds as if you and everybody associated with the case did absolutely everything right and could have done no more.

If the treatment was unlikely to help or it was a long shot then sometimes the kindest thing to do is to let them go. I'm sorry for your loss.

@FelicityBennett
I commented on your previous thread
Firstly  I'm so sorry, you did everything you could - pleas don't feel bad.

Secondly, a harmatocrit of 1.7 is a death sentence. The lowest I can recall managing a patient with IMHA was 11% and that was touch and go.

In a big dog like a lab, with no response to immunosuppressants, A litre of blood would likely make no difference, and the breathlessness and air-hunger your pup would have experienced waiting for that ineffective litre would have been awful.

You fought bravely for him and made the right decision. I'm so sorry this was the outcome

Thank you, think that’s what I needed to hear . In a human with a hb less than 1 , I’ve never seen that ,but would cause end stage organ damage.
I didn’t want him to suffer at the time but afterwards things haunt you and I miss him terribly .
I know I need to accept it and believe we did the best for him .

Grieve him, and let yourself feel sad for the loss of him, but remember the lovely waggy wet-nose times you had together, and don't beat yourself up. You made the brave decision to end his suffering. That is a gift.

I am RVN and you did the most kindest thing for your puppy. Its heart breaking for you to go through at such a young age. With all the money and medical intervention, I would be sure your puppy would have faded away. You did the right thing, you will go through guilt, anger and sadness and he will always have a special place on you heart. My thoughts are with you.

Registered Veterinary Nurse here, please do not beat yourself up, you did your best by your little one and by the sounds of it made the most compassionate decision for your little dog. Blood transfusions only buy you time to give the immunosuppressive drugs to work, sadly, with some patients, their immune system continues to destroy the new red blood cells faster than the time it takes for the drugs to take effect.

In all my years of veterinary nursing I have never seen a patient come back from a HCT of 1.7, one unit of blood would have been a drop in the ocean and your little one would have suffered, only to prolong the envitable. You made the bravest and hardest decision to let him go which was for sure, the Kindest option for him.

The vet has to give you all the options enabling you to make an informed decision, ultimately that desicion has to be yours, as the the little ones owner.

Sending you love, remember all the good times you had with him and take comfort in knowing you did the Kindest thing for him.

Lisa.