Blood tests show low red-cell count, low sodium (although vet says that could've come with his dehydration), one liver-enzyme test that's out of the normal range but a corresponding one that says he's OK so he's not worried about that, and a high-normal potassium (I think normal is 36-56 and Rem is 52). Lots of things could cause any of these. But apparently anemia, low sodium, and high potassium are signs of Addison's disease, which can be ugly and can crash a dog pretty hard & abruptly. So I took him back in this morning to get another test (yikes--these $ are adding up quickly) to try to rule that out. Apparently also some dogs with Addison's also have the upset stomach and diarrhea and dehydration, so that would also account for those symptoms, although I get the impression that the latter usually comes before the former, which didn't seem to be the case here.
Fret fret fret. Guess I just have to wait to hear from the vet this evening. I already called Power Paws to let them know that Rem wouldn't be in class tomorrow night, either because he's got bronchitis or is sick in some other way or both or whatever.
You know, he was slower in class last Wednesday than he had been for a while. Not horribly slow, but not the wild puppy abandon that he's been showing recently in class. So maybe he's been developing whatever it is for several days.
Actually it's odd, because Wed. night was also the night I left class early because my throat felt weird and I was having trouble catching my breath even after using the inhaler, and I was SO tired. Then the next day I woke up with a scratchy throat, which was sore by Thursday night. I wonder whether we both have the same thing at the same time? Not sure how that could happen. I wonder whether I should go get tested to see whether my red-cell count is down again, too, like it was last year when my back was so bad?
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