Thanks Squish, I’m really hoping the Prednisone makes a difference too. I’m very anxious for our appointment in a few weeks to re-check his platelet levels.
Meghan- we haven’t done any tick titers. I check him carefully for ticks after we’re in the woods and he’s also on Frontline, but I’ll definitely ask my vet about that next time we talk. Would a check for autoimmune diseases have been part of the blood work? My vet did talk about autoimmune problems when we were originally discussing potential explanations for the low platelet count. The vet said his white blood count was slightly high (sorry, I don’t have the exact number) but that everything else was normal.
“Heart dog” isn’t a diagnostic term at all- just something that people here sometimes use to describe a horse or dog that is extra special to them. Boomer is my very best buddy 
As far as other symptoms… this might be long, but I don’t want to leave out something that could be important!
He’s a 6 1/2 (ish) year old lab, I got him from the pound when he was 1 1/2. He’s always been somewhat accident/injury prone, but has overall been healthy and active. Over Christmas break he was staying at a kennel and he stopped eating and drinking. I took him to the vet when I got home and he was hospitalized for several days and given fluids and prescription food. Extensive diagnostics were run at that point but didn’t turn up anything of interest. His platelet count was slightly low (199,000) and his hemoglobin and hematocrit were slightly high (19.5 and 55.4) at that point.
A few weeks later, his energy level was still below normal, and he’d occasionally crawl into his crate and whimper. We went back to the vet and they decided to try a round of antibiotics in case he had an infection. A few weeks later, nothing had changed and we did blood work again. The results were very close to the same- platelets 196,000, hemoglobin 19.2, hematocrit 55.4- the vets decided they were close enough to ‘normal’ that they were probably okay. At my insistence, we started to look for a source of pain. We did lots of xrays and found some bone spurs and arthritis in his shoulder and started him on Rimadyl.
We spent a few months messing around with the dosage of the Rimadyl and he still wasn’t back to normal (didn’t want to play as long as normal, would limp slightly after a walk, occasionally would whimper, etc) I also started noticing him limping on his back leg. The vets didn’t think anything was wrong with his back leg, and wouldn’t help me pursue new, better drugs for him.
I switched vets and the new guy instantly confirmed that there was something wrong with his right hind also- found tons of arthritis in his stifle and some scar tissue on his tendon. We started him in Adequan and began trying some different pain meds for him. A few of the meds would help his pain but were causing vomiting. At this point, he’s on Previcoxx and Pepcid AC and has been on them for about 2 months. He seems much happier on our walks (we walk for about 20 minutes a day) he sometimes looks a little lame on his hind leg, but is mostly sound.
He’s always been a very happy, enthusiastic dog and that has changed in the last few months. I wouldn’t say he’s miserable at all, but he definitely isn’t as happy and cheerful as he used to be. He’s spending a lot more time in his crate (his ‘safe’ place) or under my bed. Some nights he seems uncomfortable and still whimpers every now and then. A few weeks ago he had a seizure which is what prompted this round of blood work.
As of March, we had rads for pretty much his whole body and everything was normal except for the problematic shoulder and stifle. We haven’t done any ultrasounds.
Sorry that was so long! I’d love any more insight you might have to offer.
