Poppy's Story

Stan Livy “Nothing to remark”

2021

Poppy was a happy, healthy, confident, lively and playful dog aged 2. She loved to enthusiastically greet everyone she knew and roll on her back. She suffered from itchy skin as is common in Westies.

She particularly loved:

  1. Standing on and jumping across logs and the boulders that makes the beach groynes
  2. Heading off-piste on her own in the New Forest and coming to find me after a few minutes
  3. Playing with small dogs she came across
  4. Being out in front on walks
  5. Running round in a circle when she was extra happy – Zoomies
  6. A taste of sausage, beefburger or bacon.

She could and did eat everything, including a little taste of anything savoury I was eating, scraps from under park benches and a whole sausage if we were out for breakfast. If I left her in the car and went into a shop for 10 minutes when I returned she would jump all over me and shower me with kisses.

Wed 27th October 2021 I took her to Magnolia House Veterinary Clinic in Christchurch as she was trembling in her bed and generally unwell. Dalya Livy examined her and expressed her anal glands.

Fri 29th October Poppy was still poorly so we went back to Magnolia House Vets. She had barely eaten since Wed morning and was trembling. Magnolia House Vets prescribed anti-nausea tablets.

Sat 30th October 12.00pm

Back to Magnolia House Vets. On the Friday afternoon we had gone for a walk and on the way back Poppy had asked me to carry her, something she would never do. She was very poorly, had not eaten for 3 days and was still lying in her bed trembling. I sat crying in the waiting room. Mr Livy gave her a head to tail examination. He removed a piece of bone from her anus and some dry compacted poo. We agreed full blood tests so that we could have a complete picture of Poppy’s health. I left about 12.30. Mr Livy called me later with the results, he said “nothing to remark in the bloods”. As it was Saturday Magnolia House Vets was then closed for the weekend. full blood tests. He called me later to say the blood tests showed “nothing to remark” and closed for the weekend. Magnolia House Vets recorded in Poppy’s medical records that her blood tests on 30.10.21 were “WNL” – Within Normal Limits. This was false. Crucial electrolyte values were abnormal, red flagged and outside normal limits. Poppy’s condition deteriorated for forty hours after these blood tests. Not four hours later Poppy was so poorly we visited the emergency. With the false information that Poppy’s blood tests 4 hours before showed “nothing to remark” the emergency vets could not begin to diagnose what was wrong or start treatment. Poppy was already technically in Addisons Crisis as her sodium:potassium ratio was below 24. Magnolia House Vets false reporting of Poppy’s blood tests caused a forty hour delay in treatment and a potentially fatal Addison’s crisis. It was touch and go whether Poppy would survive.
Three other vets consulted about Poppy’s blood test results 30.10.21 all raise concerns about Addison’s Disease and stated that Poppy needed immediate care. Magnolia House Veterinary Clinic told me there was “Nothing to report” and left her to deteriorate for forty hours until she went into shock and nearly died.

A sodium:potassium ratio of less than 27 should prompt definitive testing