UPDATE ON HARPER...
On May 21, 2014, Harper ingested part of a Sago Palm "pup" which contains highly toxic seeds. Within an hour she began vomiting heavily, so we took her to the emergency vet clinic. There she received aggressive treatment, was given IV fluids and monitored closely. After three days of hospitalization, fluids, medication, tests and observation, Harper came home. Her blood work looked great and we thought she was in the clear.
However, three days later when Harper stopped eating and going to the bathroom, I brought her back to the vet to get more testing. Apparently the poison was still in her system and she had taken a major turn for the worse. Given how bad her blood work looked, we were told that Harper likely would not survive -- barring a miracle. We immediately put her on tons of medicines and a special supplement, gave her all the love we possibly could, and prayed for a miracle. I even made a bucket list for her so she would live out her last days having fun.
When she was still alive two weeks later, I brought her in again for more testing. Not only was there no improvement, but her bile acids had jumped to over 250. Normal is anything under 25. I'm pretty sure our vet was surprised Harper was still alive given the severity of injury to her liver. Again we were told to keep doing what we were doing but not to expect her to make it through this.
About a week later, Harper began making some noticeable improvements. There was a definite change in her activity level and she became much more interested in food. After only having two bowel movements in the span of two weeks, she started having them daily. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but something about her just seemed different. Like she had been fighting something and finally had won.
On June 27, just over 5 weeks from the original incident, we took Harper back for more testing. The vet came in with this perplexed look on her face. She told us that all of Harper's levels were back to normal - including her bile acids which had dropped from +250 to 15. She said she had never seen such a drastic improvement before and called it "Christmas in June."
That was definitely wonderful news; however, we learned soon after that Harper will live with complications from this incident for the rest of her life. After her liver values continued to fluctuate at her next few visits, we took her to a specialist for an ultrasound and then a liver biopsy. The liver biopsy determined she has developed chronic hepatitis from the incident. It is a mild case, but given how serious her injury had been, doctors can't really give us any promises about how her journey will go or how long she'll be able to fight this disease.
We manage it with six medications daily and a special prescription hepatic diet. She'll need to return to her vet for blood work every three months and possibly have another liver biopsy in the future to reassess her condition. There are no guarantees of how long she’ll live with her diagnosis. The vets are hesitant to predict anything longer than 4-5 more years. They say to prepare for it to be less time than that as well. They just don't know with any certainty, as most cases of sago poisoning they have seen have ended in almost immediate death.
But what I can guarantee is that she’ll be loved every single day and that I will do my best to prevent this from happening to other pets. I have heard personal accounts and read online the details of many pets that weren’t as lucky as Harper. I consider myself very blessed that she is still with me, and I hope to make a difference by creating more awareness so that others don’t go through what we did.
Please share Harper's story with anyone who has a Sago Palm in their yard or any pet owners who may be unaware of the serious dangers. This website has a lot of useful information I hope will help save the lives of other dogs like Harper.
On May 21, 2014, Harper ingested part of a Sago Palm "pup" which contains highly toxic seeds. Within an hour she began vomiting heavily, so we took her to the emergency vet clinic. There she received aggressive treatment, was given IV fluids and monitored closely. After three days of hospitalization, fluids, medication, tests and observation, Harper came home. Her blood work looked great and we thought she was in the clear.
However, three days later when Harper stopped eating and going to the bathroom, I brought her back to the vet to get more testing. Apparently the poison was still in her system and she had taken a major turn for the worse. Given how bad her blood work looked, we were told that Harper likely would not survive -- barring a miracle. We immediately put her on tons of medicines and a special supplement, gave her all the love we possibly could, and prayed for a miracle. I even made a bucket list for her so she would live out her last days having fun.
When she was still alive two weeks later, I brought her in again for more testing. Not only was there no improvement, but her bile acids had jumped to over 250. Normal is anything under 25. I'm pretty sure our vet was surprised Harper was still alive given the severity of injury to her liver. Again we were told to keep doing what we were doing but not to expect her to make it through this.
About a week later, Harper began making some noticeable improvements. There was a definite change in her activity level and she became much more interested in food. After only having two bowel movements in the span of two weeks, she started having them daily. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but something about her just seemed different. Like she had been fighting something and finally had won.
On June 27, just over 5 weeks from the original incident, we took Harper back for more testing. The vet came in with this perplexed look on her face. She told us that all of Harper's levels were back to normal - including her bile acids which had dropped from +250 to 15. She said she had never seen such a drastic improvement before and called it "Christmas in June."
That was definitely wonderful news; however, we learned soon after that Harper will live with complications from this incident for the rest of her life. After her liver values continued to fluctuate at her next few visits, we took her to a specialist for an ultrasound and then a liver biopsy. The liver biopsy determined she has developed chronic hepatitis from the incident. It is a mild case, but given how serious her injury had been, doctors can't really give us any promises about how her journey will go or how long she'll be able to fight this disease.
We manage it with six medications daily and a special prescription hepatic diet. She'll need to return to her vet for blood work every three months and possibly have another liver biopsy in the future to reassess her condition. There are no guarantees of how long she’ll live with her diagnosis. The vets are hesitant to predict anything longer than 4-5 more years. They say to prepare for it to be less time than that as well. They just don't know with any certainty, as most cases of sago poisoning they have seen have ended in almost immediate death.
But what I can guarantee is that she’ll be loved every single day and that I will do my best to prevent this from happening to other pets. I have heard personal accounts and read online the details of many pets that weren’t as lucky as Harper. I consider myself very blessed that she is still with me, and I hope to make a difference by creating more awareness so that others don’t go through what we did.
Please share Harper's story with anyone who has a Sago Palm in their yard or any pet owners who may be unaware of the serious dangers. This website has a lot of useful information I hope will help save the lives of other dogs like Harper.