Ritka and Heat Stroke 16 Aug
Dr. Groff said that before he left Tues night at midnight, Ritka was feeling better, sitting up and climbing in the laps of the techs. On Wed 16 August I had a dentist appointment at 9:30 am and then went into sit with Ritka at the emergency clinic. Because they had a meeting, they set us up in the waiting room area. Ritka was more subdued than she had been at midnight. She rested her head in my lab. and relaxed as I read. Eventually I had to leave. The tech and I took her out for a pee and then back to her cage. She seemed to know her cage and was ready to be back.
Dr. Schawel called later on the 16th to say he wanted to transfer Ritka to UC Davis. Her platelets were very low from the DIC. And her blood pressure was up to 270 over 240,
probably from a compromised kidney.
We rushed down to get to the clinic in Concord. After we got there, we found out that UC Davis was not accepting critical care patients and that they did not have any concentrated platelets. The vets called around and found a clinic in Walnut Creek that had the concentrated platelets. Wesley drove to get the platelets – twice. The first time they said they only had one bag (enough for a 20 lbs dog and Ritka is 44 lbs). Later they found another bag and Wesley drove back to get it.
We stayed with Ritka till about 8:30 pm. She was in abdominal pain and her eyes seemed to hurt – they were bright red from the bleeding in the iris (probably from the high blood pressure). I think the light hurt them as she kept them closed even with her head was up. They gave her plasma, a diuretic, pepcid, another anti-vomiting med and a pain med. The diuretic was a pill – she vomited up the first one so they give her another which she kept down. She did want her head in my lap. Once when she was sleeping I got up to get a towel – just 20 ft away. When I got back her head was up looking for me. The pain meds seemed to help – she was sleeping when we left.
We had to leave when they started the IV of concentrated platelets due to the DMSO involved.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation – DIC – is a complex acute condition that can arise from a variety of situations including some surgical procedures, septic shock, poisonous snake bites, liver disease, and postpartum (after the delivery of a baby). With DIC, clotting factors are activated and then used up throughout the body. This creates numerous blood clots and at the same time leaves the patient vulnerable to excessive bleeding. The nick name for DIC was Dead in Cage a few years ago. The vet says treatment is much better now – but please send good karma to Ritka. They also said I got her to the clinic in the earliest phase DIC that they have seen.
The DIC was triggered by the Heat Stroke and refers specifically to the clotting syndrome.
Heat stroke often does NOT lead to DIC.
Diane
