Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Since late October our four legged friend has had a lot of health issues. He's experienced seizures, extreme pain, leg tremors so terrible it paralyzed him for a few days, severe lethargy, depression and the inability to jump up. We had taken him to our vet, Bay Ridge Animal Hospital, on three occassions and they couldn't find anything wrong with him after xrays, many examinations and a lot of $$$ (I only wish I had bought pet insurance). The vet thought he had a slipped disc pinching a nerve and treated him for a month with muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory's, but he was showing no signs of improvement. She recommended we take him to a neurologist because there was nothing more she could do for him. After talking to a friend and learning how costly a vet neurologist is, we opted to get a second opinion from a vet who friends in my neighborhood RAVE over. His name is Dr. Woodburn and he practices at Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital and I highly recommend him. He is WONDERFUL! He met with us for over an hour on our first visit. He thoroughly examined Winston and decided to test him for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever since there were several cases in our neighborhood a while back. Sure enough, he tested positive for RMSF. It was a very low positive which means he has probably had it for a while but was fighting it off himself. Or it could be a completely different virus, but either way the W is on antibiotics and is finally on the mend.

RMSF is not something that was common in the past but cases seem to be occuring more frequently these days. This is not something the mediocre vet would test for and I wanted to raise awareness of it. I have to thank my friend Laura who has been raving about Dr. Woodburn for a month to me now. Her 2 Vizlas were so sick and they both had RMSF. She had been hounding me to switch vets and I'm glad I did. Humans aren't the only ones who need second opinions!