Lab pup not well, I dont think it looks good.

[ED209]

fistofsteel said:

This is just so sad. There should be absolutely no guilt attached to what has happened or concerns over 'dirty puddles'. This will have been a condition that your dog was born with, or acquired whilst very young. It is very likely that she coped with significantly reduced kidney function for some time but the problem with kidneys is that when they get beyond a certain point the progression of the disease becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. With certainty there is nothing that you could have done to change this outcome, regardless of how soon it was picked up.

It is impossible to 'replace' Lucy, but there will be another dog, sometime, who fits the dog shaped hole in your life...

I am still gutted about this whole thing and we are getting another puppy next week however having put the dirty puddle theory out of my mind and put poor Lucy's illness down as being due to natural causes this Thursday there were some rather alarming developments.

We live in a new build house having only mve in on 20th December. Some bits of the house were not finished when we first moved in and as a consequence we have had lots of issues with the builders. One of the incomplete things was the garded which when we moved in didnt even have any top soil down. This top soil was put down around 6 weeks before we lost Lucy.

I had mentioned previously i was concerned at the time that she had a habit of drinking out of puddles in the garden and i was worried this might have poisoned her. Anyway on Wednesday the site manager and the reigional manager turned up at my door to discuss various issues. One of the issues i mention is that they havent completed laying the turf in the back garden which they started two weeks ago.

The then explain that there is big problems in this area and that in fact all the turf and top soil frommy garden is going to have to be ripped up and taken away.

The reason? The soil which was brought in from elsewhere with a certificate has now failed lab tests with regards to some kind of contamination!!!!!! The manager was unable to tell me what this contamination was however i demanded to know urgently as obviously this has me concerend on two fronts, firstly have we lost or dog because of this and secondly we are getting a new pup next week and could it happen again?

So what do i do next? I had more or less put the poisoning theory out of my mind but this brings it back to the fore.

I am planning to take some soil samples from the garden myself and then speak to the vets to see if they still have Lucy's blood test results to see if there is any possibility if she was poisoned. If there is i am considering speaking to a solicitor to see if matters can be taken further.

This might be difficult as no post mortem was conducted but if its possible my dog was poisoned why should the builders get away with it??

[GokTweed]

ED209 said:

fistofsteel said:

This is just so sad. There should be absolutely no guilt attached to what has happened or concerns over 'dirty puddles'. This will have been a condition that your dog was born with, or acquired whilst very young. It is very likely that she coped with significantly reduced kidney function for some time but the problem with kidneys is that when they get beyond a certain point the progression of the disease becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. With certainty there is nothing that you could have done to change this outcome, regardless of how soon it was picked up.

It is impossible to 'replace' Lucy, but there will be another dog, sometime, who fits the dog shaped hole in your life...

I am still gutted about this whole thing and we are getting another puppy next week however having put the dirty puddle theory out of my mind and put poor Lucy's illness down as being due to natural causes this Thursday there were some rather alarming developments.

We live in a new build house having only mve in on 20th December. Some bits of the house were not finished when we first moved in and as a consequence we have had lots of issues with the builders. One of the incomplete things was the garded which when we moved in didnt even have any top soil down. This top soil was put down around 6 weeks before we lost Lucy.

I had mentioned previously i was concerned at the time that she had a habit of drinking out of puddles in the garden and i was worried this might have poisoned her. Anyway on Wednesday the site manager and the reigional manager turned up at my door to discuss various issues. One of the issues i mention is that they havent completed laying the turf in the back garden which they started two weeks ago.

The then explain that there is big problems in this area and that in fact all the turf and top soil frommy garden is going to have to be ripped up and taken away.

The reason? The soil which was brought in from elsewhere with a certificate has now failed lab tests with regards to some kind of contamination!!!!!! The manager was unable to tell me what this contamination was however i demanded to know urgently as obviously this has me concerend on two fronts, firstly have we lost or dog because of this and secondly we are getting a new pup next week and could it happen again?

So what do i do next? I had more or less put the poisoning theory out of my mind but this brings it back to the fore.

I am planning to take some soil samples from the garden myself and then speak to the vets to see if they still have Lucy's blood test results to see if there is any possibility if she was poisoned. If there is i am considering speaking to a solicitor to see if matters can be taken further.

This might be difficult as no post mortem was conducted but if its possible my dog was poisoned why should the builders get away with it??

I'd say that's a perfectly reasonable thought process and you have decent grounds to pursue it in order to get one of two answers. Namely yes the soil was contaminated and could explain your previous dogs condition, in which case if you have grounds to take it further then that's your decision. Or the soil was contaminated but not with anything that would cause the symptoms in your dog, in which case you can have some closure and know that your new pup would be safe......

Personally i wouldn't buy that as a coincidence and would be just as suspicious as you.

[Thevet]

Very much doubt that there is any connection between the "contaminated" soil and the sad demise of your pup, but it is possible there is a connection. If you take soil samples, testing is difficult as you usually have to ask for it to be tested for a specific substance (which might not be in the particular sample you have chosen) rather than "tell me what's in this please". I would pursue getting the info from the builder, using legal leverage if necessary, I'm sure it will be possible to get the info via trading standards or council/environmental health. If this was a big issue, I would expect either local vets to have come across more cases of poisoning or possibly reports in local papers. Any more info would be welcome on here.

[ED209]

Thevet said:

Very much doubt that there is any connection between the "contaminated" soil and the sad demise of your pup, but it is possible there is a connection. If you take soil samples, testing is difficult as you usually have to ask for it to be tested for a specific substance (which might not be in the particular sample you have chosen) rather than "tell me what's in this please". I would pursue getting the info from the builder, using legal leverage if necessary, I'm sure it will be possible to get the info via trading standards or council/environmental health. If this was a big issue, I would expect either local vets to have come across more cases of poisoning or possibly reports in local papers. Any more info would be welcome on here.

According to the builders its high levels of Benzo(a)pyrene.http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/bap_old_approach_2028739.pdf I dont trust them due to other issues so I have requested a copy of the results. I shall ask the vet about Lucys blood test results when we take the new pup for jabs next week.

It wont be a big issue because so far this topsoil batch has only been used for 5 gardens, we are the only house that is actually occupied out of the 5 so it has not had a chance to affect anyone else.

[ED209]

I have finally got hold of the lab test results showing the apparent contamination in the top soil in the garden of our new build house.

The only reading that appears to be over the reccomented levels is -

Benzo(a)puyrene at 1.5 mg/kg which compares to a LQM CIEH Generic assessment Criteria Values, 2nd Edition (2009). maximum value of 0.94 mg/kg.

Of more concern is the readings from the neighbouring plots which are 7.4 and 4.8 mg/kg respectively.

Now does anyone have any idea of the likely risk this contamination would pose to humans and pets who came into contact with it? or on a small lab puppy that drank water from puddles formed directly on top of this topsoil.

[ED209]

Just came to mind that lucy would have been a year old tomorrow, I am in tears again. I still cant believe how much i miss the little bugger.

Oscar and Poppy seem to know I am upset and are doing their best to cheer me up, I wish all three of them were here.

[Jasandjules]

ED209 said:

Just came to mind that lucy would have been a year old tomorrow, I am in tears again. I still cant believe how much i miss the little bugger.

Oscar and Poppy seem to know I am upset and are doing their best to cheer me up, I wish all three of them were here.

Sorry mate.

It does get easier with time, thought that's not to say that you will every be totally over it.

[bexVN]

that's a tough one for you, can understand your upset. I'm dreading Halloween, we always dressed Jimmy up and the kids got used to seeing him when we opened the door to them, I hope we don't get any of them asking where he is this year .

Anniversaries are hard especially the first ones, good on Poppy and Oscar for looking out for you, they will know you are upset.

[EW109]

Benzo[a]pyrene seems to be thoroughly nasty stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzo(a)pyrene