Abby, my fun-loving, happy, healthy, 5 year old chocolate lab was dropped off at the vet on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 to have a tooth extracted and died Sunday, April 13 th, 2008.
Abby was given an NSAID containing deracoxib (the chemical name),after surgery and within a few days I saw the side effects: vomiting, lethargic, drooling, heavy breathing, shaking, not eating or drinking, not moving, arching her back like a cat and stretching her legs out completely straight.
I knew something was wrong so I brought her to an after hours emergency vet on the 12 th and after several blood tests and x-rays they said she was just experiencing a side effect to the anesthesia administered during her tooth extraction and they discharged her so I brought her home the same day.
Well, she got worse and worse so back to the emergency vet the next day where they did a barium test. That’s when they found the perforation in her abdomen.
Abby died Sunday of peritonitis and septicemia.
Seeing Abby deteriorate before my eyes was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
What Abby, and several other dogs, experienced is not necessary. We need to fight for our animals as they didn’t have a choice or a voice.
My vet never provided me with any information on this drug.
If I had known about the side effects of this drug I never would have given it to Abby and she’d still be here today.
