How do you see your dogs?

Chance, I don't think you're being smart at all. Matter of fact, I'm all for talking to 'em. I've done it on a number of occassions myself. Please don't think I'm being argumentative either. I'm just speaking on the physiology of shock...shock from a cellular level.

The short version is all cells require a supply of oxygen to function. Certain blood cells carry oxygen. If you lose too many of those blood cells, the tissues cannot get enough oxygen and become irritable. If they continue to be oxygen deprived, they die. There are 8-9 different types of shock but to break it down, it's either a pump problem (heart), container problem (vessels), or a blood problem. The stages of shock that I mentioned previously are compensated, decompensated and irreversible. The first two can be fixed, the last cannot. Adrenalin constricts the vessels (making the container smaller and in the case of bleeding it slows it down), however it's a temporary fix (meaning it only lasts for a few minutes). If the underlying cause of the shock isn't fixed it'll return and eventually death will occur.

In over 20 years in medicine (the vast majority of that in emergency medicine) I've seen plenty of things that were remarkable to say the least. But, once the ablility to deliver the required amount of oxygen to the cells is lost, death occurs.

Again, I'm all for talking to 'em. But oxygen is fuel for the cells and just like when a car runs out of fuel and dies, so will the cells.