Wakefield vet overcomes mystery of Shih Tzu Oscar's suffering after dangerous side effects to medication

Oscar, a seven-year-old Shih Tzu, was referred to Linnaeus-owned Paragon Veterinary Referrals in Wakefield where tests revealed that he’d suffered a dangerous side effect to his anti-

seizure medication.

This had caused his immune system to break down and left him anaemic and vulnerable to infection.

Paragon’s internal medicine specialist Andrea Holmes said: “Oscar had previously suffered a couple of fits and been put on anti-seizure medication to help treat this.

“However, he subsequently suffered a dangerous side effect to that medication which is quite rare.

“Oscar’s body stopped producing the cells which are made in the bone marrow, the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

“We administered a course of injections to stimulate his bone marrow and was put on antibiotics until his immune system had recovered.

“Oscar also received supportive care and was closely monitored with regular check-ups over a six- week period.

“He still needed weekly check-ups, though, and it was six weeks before his bone marrow had fully recovered and I’m happy to say he’s now back to his normal self.”

Relieved owner George Sagar, is full of praise for Andrea and the expert team at Paragon.

He said: “Obviously when it’s your pet in danger you are very anxious but Andrea was great and kept us advised over what was happening.

“That was really important as we couldn’t go into Paragon to be with Oscar because of the Covid restrictions.

“It was still very worrying. They did lots of tests and scans and he had to stay in overnight.

“We were so relieved to take him home and thankfully every week he got better and better and his test results improved.

“I’m glad to say he’s ok again now, totally back to normal and we’re very grateful to Andrea and everyone at Paragon for that.”