Reddy had absolutely no health problems or issues when he received the ProHeart 6 injection. Reddy was 1 year and 2 months old at this time. He also received no other medication or vaccine or procedure that day or that week or that month or the previous 6 months. We simply stopped by the vet in order to get his heart worm medication. They suggested the ProHeart 6 shot instead. With little discussion and trusting the vet, we decided to go ahead and get the shot. He was a single male in a ONE dog household at that time, so he was not exposed to any other animal's health issues for 4 months prior to this as he obtained his champion title in May.

In the first 24 hour period Reddy did not want to eat, was lethargic, and generally did not behave right. Within 48 hours of receiving the ProHeart 6 injection, he began to vomit. This continued for one to two days and we treated him with Reglan and Flagyl for 3-4 days.

Eleven days from the day of injection, he began to have projectile vomiting of bright red blood and his stools, which had started being soft earlier that day, became dark red the next morning.

When Reddy began to vomit blood, we immediately took him to the emergency animal clinic in our area to rule out ingestion of any foreign substance or item. The car couldn't get there fast enough. He was xrayed, tested and evaluated thoroughly.

Reddy was given medication to help him “relax” for the x ray procedures, and in being a sight hound with unique reactions to anesthesia, he went into respiratory arrest as the doctor was developing the film. He was immediately revived by Debby, who is a nurse, with rescue breathing and medication by the vet to counteract the anesthesia. The result of the ER visit, which was a nightmare, was that there was nothing in his intestinal tract to indicate any reason for the blood. Of course the next morning when our regular vet opened, we were on the door steps with Reddy in our arms and the ER vet report.

In the next 6 months Reddy required repeated treatment for episodes of hema-emesis and bleeding in his stools, weight loss and dehydration. He underwent more intravenous care and testing to continue to rule out any other disease or illness processes including vonWillabran Disease to try to determine why he continued to have blood in his vomiting and stools. His stools and gastric contents were repeatedly tested for every bacteria, virus, and parasite known to man or animal.. He has undergone an upper GI series. The only thing they have been positive for is blood. Our vet filed an FDA report as there was nothing to indicate anything other than the PH6 shot. She even called Ft. Dodge but of course they denied that it could be the PH6 shot.

During this time frame he was on a bland diet of boiled skinless boneless chicken breast and basmatti rice. Just when we would think things were better, here he would go again. We finally kept him on the med regime for 4 weeks which seemed to help give his intestinal tract time to sufficiently heal. Being a toy breed, he isn't very big to begin with. Each episode he lost weight which he could not afford to do.

We will not, at this time, discuss the financial and emotional trauma and hardship this has caused us and our dog. Reddy has survived but has a dramatically weakened immune system and gastrointestinal tract, or at the very least to be completely accurate, he is certainly predisposed to digestive upsets and problems.. When those episodes occur, he requires a bland diet and we keep a constant supply of tagamet, reglan, flagy, and acidophillis on hand.

I am thankful, that in spite of the ProHeart 6 injection, he has survived and has not had any more episodes since March of this year. So many have not made it and for that I am sorry.

Connie and Debby

"The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears." -Minquass Proverb

I have a 12 year old (born 2/8/92) shepherd/lab mix (they think). I have had her since she was 6 weeks old and she is my/our child (my husband and I were married two years ago and have been together 5 years). Kasi is treated like a queen in our house and is beloved by everybody in our families. To the point that when my husband and I do go away there is usually a fight over who Kasi is going to stay with while we are gone.

On May 17, 2003 (two years after ProHeart 6 was marketed) Kasi received her first and only ProHeart 6 shot. Like many owners I asked my vet all kinds of questions prior to giving her the shot and felt that it would be in Kasi's best interest to have the shot to be fully vaccinated from heart worm instead of taking the chance that I may forget to give her her monthly chewable and god forbid she contracted heart worm.

During the summer of 2003 Kasi started acting really funny. Her hearing, eyesight and energy seem to all be changing for the worse. She also began peeing in the house (this is something that she had NEVER done before, she would only having an accident if she were very sick). She was always a very clean dog it just seemed odd but I just thought it was her getting older.

In September she started to limp a little and her rear legs started to go down hill. Everybody kept telling me "well, she is an older shepherd, this is to be expected." Kasi is the first dog I have ever had, so I have never been through an aging process. I did take people and professionals at their word and thought she was just getting older.

In October and November she started acting really weird. She would just go outside and lay there for however long you would let her. She began to disengage from our family, even the kids, which was not like her at all. In the beginning of November, I took her to our vet which she has been going to her whole life and she explained to me the signs of an aging dog and sent us on our way telling me to give Kasi Ascriptin for her hind legs.

WELL, then came the end of November and I brought Kasi back to the vet, because she was just not right and an aging dog does not age over night like she had. This is when they did lab work and she was diagnosed with kidney failure. I was devastated and wanted to do whatever I could to help her. So, the next day she was hospitalized and hydrated and more lab work was done. This was a Friday and she was sent home with me for the weekend.... so weak and not eating very well,. I did not know what to do.

The best thing that had ever happened to me was dying in front of my eyes and their was nothing I could do! We nursed Kasi for the weekend and took her back to the vet the following week. More blood work, more urinalysis to check her specific gravity. Well, she does not have kidney failure any more. The hydration seemed to help her but we need to watch her periodically for kidney function .... OK .... just happy that she was doing better.

THEN the worst came. Kasi was still not getting better and she was getting weaker and weaker. She was now suffering from internal bleeding. She had bruises all over her belly, ulcerated sores in her mouth and was bleeding from her rectum. Back to the vet we went. At this point Kasi had been tested for Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, leptosporosis and any other Tick born disease you could think of and she had none of them. They did more blood work and diagnosed her with an "autoimmune platelet disorder," but the vet said that was better than her having an autoimmune anemia disorder - because it was easier to correct.

By December 19, 2003 Kasi's platelets were down to 7(000) from a normal dog of 400,000 and she was experiencing bloody noses. On December 20, 2003 she was started on a very high dose and length of a prednisone taper. The prednisone did help the bleeding but it caused Kasi to be even weaker and lifeless. By the beginning of the next week Kasi's red blood count began to fall to about 3.42 from a normal dog of 40.

Kasi now had autoimmune anemia too. By Christmas, Kasi would not eat anything and she had stopped responding to the prednisone. Now they began questioning whether or not she had cancer and I was told if I wanted a definite diagnosis I could put her through a battery of tests at Angel Memory Hospital in Boston. At this point, I did not want to do that to her - - just to confirm if she had cancer, which they could not treat anyway.

On January 9, 2004, after 2 months of hell and many, many trips to the vet and many, many tests, I was told that we could try a drug called "Neoral" but.... if that did not work, then it was decision making time.

Devastated once again, we decided to try the "Neoral," which was very expensive, but if it worked - it would be worth it. So she began the Neoral 100mg twice a day. By the next week her red blood cells and platelets began to respond and she was feeling better, but still would not eat. Because this therapy is so new for this diagnosis - my vet did not know how long she would have to be on it or if it would continue to work, but it seemed to be.

Kasi would still not eat and my fear was that she would never be able to be off of the drugs (she was still on prednisone too and some stomach medications because of the effects of the other medications) that I would not have a dog left. I was force feeding her pedialyte to get her nutrients and feeding her anything she would eat (cat food, baby food, Chinese pork, boiled hamburg etc ..)

Six weeks went by....... with many more vet visits and blood work, but Kasi was still with us and was able to come off the Neoral. She remained on the prednisone until last month.

Kasi's blood work is now stable.... but she suffers from the after effects of severe muscle wasting from the medications. She goes to aquatic therapy 2 times per week. We love her so much and are so thankful that she is still with us.

No one could ever tell me why any of this happened to Kasi.
You can imagine my horror, when I heard about the recall and started to read the side effects it had been causing.
It was Kasi's story all over again.
To find out that Fort Dodge knew of them and continued to market the product.
Then to find out they have been paying for vet bills in exchange for owner's silence.

Staci

2/8/06 Lawsuit filed

8/10/06 Update: Court date May 7-8, 2007

June 13, 2007 "Wyeth/Fort Dodge Animal Health settled the lawsuit prior to trial."

My vet gave my dachshund, Chelsea the Proheart six shot about two years ago.

It was a good thing that we only live 5 minutes from the vet's office because I no
sooner got home with her, took her out the back door and set her down, she
took a couple of steps and fell over stiff as a board!

I took her right back the the vet's office and they gave her a shot. For a week I had to take her for IV everyday.

Chelsea almost died, blistered and lost her hair. Now she is allergic to almost everything.

The vet now has to be very careful what he gives her.
I think Fort Dodge should be sued. It has cost me thousands of dollars in vet bills.

Jill Dunne Palm Bay, Fl