Evan’s Syndrome Symptoms
By 2009, our rescue Petey, had been part of our family for nearly four years. He settled in nicely, was healthy, eating well and a pretty happy go lucky dog in general.
Every August, we have a summer party with friends and family and Petey and Marina are regulars. At the party that year Petey seemed a little mellower than usual, to the point that more than one person commented that he seemed to be laying low. We kept an eye on him and the next morning, he continued to be a bit lethargic and didn’t have his usual appetite. At one point we thought that maybe he had eaten something at the party that didn’t agree with him. Later that evening, he was getting more and more lethargic and we knew we had to get him in to the vet. We weren’t able to get him in to our regular vet and felt that his symptoms warranted a trip to a nearby animal hospital.
The hospital conducted an initial exam, CBC, Chem Panel, Urinalysis and a brief abdominal ultrasound. Per the hospital, Petey’s blood-work, while not 100% conclusive suggested that he had Evan’s Syndrome, a disease where the immune system begins to destroy it’s own red blood cells and platelets. It was also suspected that he had a biliary obstruction and moderate to severe osteoarthritis (we knew about the osteoarthritis).
Since the results were inconclusive, the hospital’s recommendation was to leave him overnight for further testing which was estimated at over $2,000. We opted for a second opinion, which marked the beginning of a very long journey. To be continued..
