1073. Uncontrolled fever in a Samoyed

Today, Friday, Aug 31, 2012, an old friend visited me. "How's the Samoyed?" he asked. "I came to visit this dog as Vet 2 could not control the fever but the fever went down when treated by you."

"How long was the Samoyed having fever in Vet 2?" I asked. "Was it 3 days?"
"I think it is 2 days. The vet sponged it and injected it, but the fevcr appeared again the next day! Vet 2 told me that the dog was sent to my good friend at Toa Payoh Vets and the fever came down the next day!"

"When the dog came in, it was having of a very high fever of 41.2 degree, panting non-stop and unable to stand," I got the dog from the transport couple who said there was a traffic jam. "I told Dr Daniel that this dog would die as the fever was so high and had been at 41 degrees in Vet 2 for the last 2 days. No hope as the internal organs must be burnt out!"

"Is the dog still alive?' my friend asked. "I don't see him in the Surgery."
"Yes," I said. "According to Dr Daniel who was in charge of the case as I was in Hong Kong, thedog is now normal and walking!"

My friend smiled at the strange situation: "Vet 1 knew the dog had high fever and quickly referred to Vet 2! So Vet 2 was landed with a "hot" dog with uncontrolled high fever and being unable to stand on the back legs.

"Actually the dog had fever again the next day!" I said to my friend. "My anti-fever injection could only bring down the fever for a few hours." So this Samoyed had uncontrolled fever. What was the cause? I was very worried. In my younger days, like Vet 1, I would have referred the case away to others.  

But in this case, Dr Daniel had accepted the dog as it was one of the two neutered by Dr Jason Teo earlier. Also I am more experienced in knowing what to do. Yet, this dog's fever could not come down. Was it a viral fever? A tick fever? Blood test by Vet 2 showed negative Babesia which caused tick fever. My test showed E.canis negative.

"It could still be tick fever," I said to Dr Jason Teo on that Saturday, the 2nd day of admission. He said Vet 2 tested negative Babesia. I gave instructions for treatment of Babesia canis using the imidazole injection and E. canis using oral vibravet. Dr Daniel had proposed clipping off the coat and I got it completely shaved down on Saturday. Anti-fever and antibiotics and IV drips were given.

Surprisingly, on Sunday, the fever was no longer above 40.5. No more heavy panting.

So, in reality, this Samoyed's fever went down after 4 days. "It could be that I was the lucky vet to cure this dog as medication needs time to act," I said to my friend. He was quite happy to know that the Samoyed was alive and walking. As to the cause of uncontrolled fever, it is still a mystery. Blood tests did reveal high white cell count. Was it tick fever? Possibly since the medication was "effective" but many pyrexias of unknown origin (PUOs) are not easy to get the cause.