Hi, sorry for the weird title but I'm wondering if you guys had any thoughts on my recent experience with the senior dog I adopted and whether it was weird or not or if I'm being unreasonable.
I adopted him back in March and he was going to be my first dog ever. He was a Chihuahua/terrier mix of some kind, about 10 years old. The rescue assured me that he didn't have any major medical problems aside from having "crusty eyes sometimes" and not being potty trained. I said I was pretty sure I could potty train him, since I was WFH at the beginning of the COVID situation and of course I didn't mind the crusty eyes. Even though he was listed on Petfinder as being from my area, he was actually a few states away and were going to drive him here (CA-> WA). I thought it was strange that I wouldn't be able to meet him before adopting him but went for it anyway.
However.... when I got him..... he was so skinny you could see his ribs under his fur, so hairy and matted, and he SMELLED SO BAD. He had one eye just weeping this thick green ooze. Anyway, I took him to the vet and was expecting a normal checkup since they said he was fine, but they said he had heart disease, kidney disease, a UTI that had progressed into a kidney infection, canine dry eye and was mostly deaf and blind, mild bronchitis, arthritis, and had canine cognitive dysfunction (would get lost in corners and stare at walls). A lot of his teeth were broken off at the gums so he had a hard time eating solid food. Eventually he started having seizures about once a month and we added possible brain tumor to that list, and the kidney infection cleared up and he had some remaining incontinence. He gained some weight but still looked very skinny, he went from 9.5 to 11.5lbs. It was so expensive and my pet insurance kept rejecting my claims because these were pre-existing conditions but of course I paid for it anyway.
He passed away 9/2 from congestive heart failure. I found him on the floor when I got him from work and he looked scared and his tongue was blue and he was breathing really hard and he peed himself. I think he was in a lot of pain and he died while the vet was calling me to explain how he was getting worse, so I couldn't be there while he passed.
I'm looking into getting a new dog but I'm so scared the dog is going to be really sick again. I can't trust when rescues say their dog doesn't have major medical problems because they said the same about my dog. The medical bills were insane, I spent over $3000 on him in the five months since I got him, and it would've gone up to $6000 or so if he survived through the night. I was pretty sure I made enough and had enough in savings to handle vet bills before I got him, but the medical problems just constantly kept appearing and I had to spend more and my pet insurance kept rejecting my claims or only giving me back a tiny amount (they gave me $300 back).
Was my experience abnormal? Is it common to get senior dogs with that many problems? Has anyone else been through something similar? If I get another dog, would it be better to meet it in person? Are there any other tips that would help me avoid something like this in the future? Poor Peppy was my first dog and this was such an awful experience with his medical issues :(
[link] [comments]
from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ir8hg7/is_it_just_me_or_was_my_adoption_experience/
No comments:
Post a Comment