Dutch Shepherd Forum

Prayers and thoughts for our lil Moko would be appreciated!
Last night noticed a little blood in loose stool though otherwise he was seeming himself. The couple of times I took him out in the night he would strain to poo with no success, and some more blood this morning.

He needed to be encouraged to eat (usually he acts like he's not been fed in days!) Though he did eat and there's been no vomiting. Not his usual rambunctious self, either, didn't even try to jump up and lick Maiyou's face when she came to the door to be let out.

I took the day off of work and took him to vet as soon as they opened. His gums look good, so he's not "shocky" and he's not dehydrated yet, but they're keeping him to do IV fluids and some bloodwork. He does have mild fever and they did xrays to make sure there's not a blockage. (No blockage shown but very very full belly, so bowels pretty inflamed,). They are hoping a minor viral thing or maybe a bad response to the giardia meds, but are taking all precautions.

We are upset and worried about this sudden turn of events with our already beloved little guy. (Tonight will have marked two weeks since he arrived to us, and he'll be 15 weeks old tomorrow.)

Any warm fuzzy thoughts and fairy dust greatly appreciated.

Next I'm off to the pediatrician with my son who has phlemy cough, scratchy throat and and low temp. Strep has been doing the rounds at his school, so need to go rule that out. (Though usually that presents with high fever, not low temp?)

*sigh* I'm having a "mommy needs a meltdown and can't afford to indulge one" Murphy-Day. (As in, Murphy's Law...) I know Mondays generally suck, but really?

Awww, sorry to hear your little guys aren't feeling well. Sending you prayers and positive thoughts. Keep us posted.

Did they test for Parvo yet?
I had a rescue dog, not too long ago, picked up in utter North Texas jst south of Oklahoma. Roaming. 6 months old. Right after he was picked up, he came down with parvo. He lived, since they caught it early.
Wishing for you that that's not what you are facing.
Good luck with your son too.

Seeing them sick and not knowing what's wrong is the worst Hope poor little guy feels better soon.

Thalie and Sadie are sending their love too !!!! For your son, Honey, Cinnamon and Garlic every hour for a few days. Both my kids had strep before Thankgsiving and that kept it at bay and went away quick.

Current Update: Son has pneumonia, but we caught it early so it's not too bad, 5 days of antibiotics and an inhaler every 4 hours for the next two days. We'll be home from school again tomorrow.

Update on Moko is that his white blood cell count is a lil high, red blood cell count a lil low, but neither in an extreme range.

IV fluids and antibiotics on board, he's neither perked up nor gotten worse. Just in a holding pattern right now. They also gave him something for pain and to soothe his tummy to hopefully get some of the food out of his full belly. Crossing fingers against parvo. He was vaccinated but know that doesn't always take effect right off and they can still pick it up. Hoping maybe his innards just irritated/inflamed from panacur and the raw egg he grabbed and ate whole off the ground before I could beat him to it. (Some of our chickens new to laying and we occasionally find one on the ground instead of in the nest box.). Maybe eggshell scratched already tender innards?

Don't know, just in a wait and see holding pattern. But really upset and worried and kinda wanna curl into a ball and cry.

Doesn't help that while my son is sick he doesn't feel sick and is bouncing off the walls making my already frayed nerves worse which doesn't help either of us, and he's, I'm sure, worried about Moko, too, and feeding off of my stress, which is why as much as I want to go have a good bawl I don't dare to. *sighs* all warm wishes appreciated and will keep y'all posted.

all the best for you guys!

ahhhhh, hoping all your "kids" are up and running soon. Odin and Kai send puppy hugs!!

Health, light and well-being for you all!

Thanks to everyone keeping us in your thoughts, I'm sure it's helping.

The latest update, it is currently about quarter to 11pm, here, Monday night, creeping toward Tuesday.

We picked up Mokume from our vet around 5:30 pm so he could spend the night at home with us, as they don't have an overnight person at the vet's and he may as well be with us instead of alone in a strange place all night.

He was pretty sleepy and "shut-down" when we got there and were speaking with the vet. His fever had spiked a little in the day and then come back down to where it was when we brought him in this morning. So no major improvement, but stable. They have him on fluids and 5 different meds, antibiotics, pain coverage and tummy soothers. They'd also given him some subcutaneous fluid to last him through the night for hydration. Poor little guy looks very pitiful, wearing a "cone of shame" to keep him from fussing with the IV catheter port in his foreleg (held in place with some camo vet wrap that matches his brindle very tastefully,) and with the fluid packet over his left shoulder he looks like a lopsided bodybuilder who only works out on one half.

They couldn't get him to pee or poo for them all day, so he was also probably in a bit of discomfort and feeling lots of internal pressure from that. The plan is for him to be home with us and go back into the vet to be checked up on first thing in the morning, and that hopefully he can do some elimination in the comfort of his familiar yard and we are to offer him a tablespoon of prescription food with water every hour, and we have some meds to give him at 1am and 8am. He's stable but not out of harm's way yet.

Bright note is that he perked up considerably upon getting home, and the second he was unloaded and his feet touched the ground he squatted for an epic pee... A good 2 minutes of obvious relief! He also has produced small amount of liquid BM, which isn't fabulous but is better than no production at all, and a promising sign that there's not a full blockage. (One concern is that the intestine could have become so inflamed that it might have doubled on itself and become its own obstruction even without any foreign body present.). He's been showing interest in yard outings which I've been offering every hour, and has been peeing successfully and displaying regular bm efforts with minimal results but at least minimal is better than not at all.

He even felt lively enough to make a weak attempt at charging toward and barking at passing cars, which is an improvement over his listlessness of the morning.

Having him home with us and showing interest in his surroundings and eager interest in his hourly tablespoon of food has done a lot for my emotional well-being and offered some much-needed hope that was hard to come by while he was at the vet and we couldn't be with him and my mind was whirling in anxious what-ifs.

He's defintitely still pretty fragile but at least he's with us and showing some spirit which gives me hope that we can pull through this.

Keep the good wishes coming, please and I'll continue to update on progress.

The human child is doing great, despite the pneumonia diagnosis. Taking his medicine with no fuss, being very gentle with our sick pup, offering me reassurances and comfort, (:lol: despite that it should technically be the other way around! Instead of Mommy comforting the kid, he's been peridocally giving me hugs and pats on the shoulder saying, "it'll be okay, mommy...") and is currently sleeping quietly and soundly. Thank god one of us is.

Hope things are still looking up. Have you contacted your breeder to see if any of the other pups from the litter are sick. (If you can get an honest answer.) Also, I know it's very tempting to "show off" your new pup, but I would suggest lots of rest and quiet for a pup that sick.

Oh, and the car chasing thing, I would VERY firmly discourage that.

So, latest update, currently it is 10:46am.

My son, despite us needing to be home from school today, is not acting remotely sick and is bouncing off the walls making me nuts. So in the grand scheme of things, that's good. Trying to keep reminding myself of that perspective.

He'll be back at school tomorrow! (Thank god...)

Moko is doing MUCH better! Many thanks for all the warm thoughts and encouragement!

I was up with him all night, barring short naps between hourly feedings/outings, I'd lay on the couch with him on my lap and we'd snooze together.

He was considerably more alert and perky this morning! (Yay!)

And while I know a firm discouragement of car-chasing is in order, I was just relieved to see him have enough energy to be naughty!

He continues to be interwsted in food, and is interested in play again.

This morning we brought him back to the vet, to determine whether he'd need to spend the day there again with more IV hookup and observation or if he was well enough to stay home.

Great news is the fever has subsided and his belly is doing slightly better, and he remains well-hydreted and interested in food and water, so it was determined that he could have the catheter and "cone of shame" removed and come home with us. yayyyyyy!!!

He will remain on the course of meds and a bland diet for the week, with a follow-up visit on Tuesday. Today will be 2 tablespoons of food every 2 hours, then 3 every 3, etc... Until we determine that he can handle greater amounts in fewer feedings.

Barring any emergency return visits this week, (hopefully not!) on his Tuesday follow-up we will see what happens next... Whether they want to run an additional course of meds and/or experiment with a more normal diet or what, based on how he's doing.

I am hugely relieved and hopeful.

I did call the breeder and she was really great about getting right back to me. As far as she knows, no concerns have cropped up in littermates, and she put me in touch with her vet and his office manager, and they haven't heard anything from anyone about any other pups having issues, thus far.

My vet and her vet have consulted, as he did have that abcess on his leg before he came to me, it may or may not be connected. Perhaps it had been mostly cleared up but there had been some lingering, hidden infection that was subtly gathering strength? Maybe he got into something or came into contact with something during transit? It's all a big guessing game with lots of potential theories and no real "for sure" answers... But the important thing is that, thus far, whatever the intial cause, prognosis is good that he'll make a full recovery and we just need to watch him like a hawk and cross our fingers until we can be sure there'll be no relapses.

Thanks again to everyone for the comfort and support!!!

I'm tired but feeling cautiously upbeat, now.

Great news! Thanks for the update.

That is great news !!!! Im so glad he is feeling better, being home always helps.

So sorry he's come down with such a challenging illness, but happy he's on the mend...and that your son will be back in school tomorrow . With both of them better, maybe you can get some rest yousrelfo .

I hate the things they get that can't be figured out...

Ssssooooo the latest, so far so good!

I am home from school again, today (getting twitchy, now and eager to go back to work... *lol*) but not because anything is wrong. My son's kindergarten teacher called to check in with us yesterday, and she and I decided that one more day at home was probably best, just because it has been very cold and damp lately and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they spend the first half of the day outside. Plus, that way he'll be done with the 2-day course of inhalant meds, so not having to bring that to school will be less hassle.

Moko continues to do well, he is eating well, perky, playing well, and eliminating regularly. This morning at his 5am outing we actually had a partially solid, formed, poop! Woo-hoo! (Seriously? Whoever thought I'd get so excited about poop? I'd insert the finger circling next to head smiley here, but don't know the shortcut type for it and my phone won't let me select the icon. *rolls eyes and gives a wry chuckle*) This was very exciting because the past few days it's either been liquid or straining to go with minimal success of anything.

I actually got real sleep for the first night in weeks!!! The first week or so was brand-new puppy and frequent outings, then recently ut's been sicj child and sick puppy and more frequent outings and meds and food and vigil through the night.

Last night, aside from meds and outing at 1am... (And okay, once at 11:30 because it was so unaccustomed to not hear Mokume cry to be let out every couple hours I panicked and had to go check on him because it seemed too quiet! ) I went to bed at 8:30ish, and got up at 4:30, barring the aforementioned worry-check and 1am meds/outing.

As we speak, I am sitting on the kitchen floor, nursing my coffee, (it's quarter after 6am) and Moko is curled on my lap sound asleep after some breakfast and playing. Normally I'd be rushing around packing lunches and trying to wrangle my son to get dressed and eat breakfast so we can be out the door before 7 and go let out the chickens and get to school, but since we're home again for the day I can be relaxed.

Now, with son and puppy both seeming very well, maybe I can do some artwork on my time home, today, if said child and puppy both allow for it.

Adding to the Murphy-week, the owner of the stable where I work part-time and board my horse called me last night to say that Shaman, (my horse, a 22 year old appaloosa that I've had for over a decade and adore with all my being,) was acting colicky. *scream*

Good news is, he didn't have a fever, and with some banamine and lots of walking, passed some manure, had a warm mash for dinner, and as of 10pm last night when she did a night-check she texted me that he was seeming well. So other than a phone consulation with the vet, we didn't have to call them out (like really? An after hours large-animal vet bill on top of Moko's vet bill from this week??? I'd do it in a heartbeat, of course, but just as relieved to not have had to! God I love that my vets let me do payment plans... But still... Broken into bite-size chunks or not, coming up with extra money is hard! Especially as there are lots of school vacations this time of year and I don't get paid for those, so my paychecks are skinny as it is!) and she should be checking in with me any time now to let me know how he's looking at morning feed/turnout.

Phew!

This has been a nutty week, and it's only early Wednesday.
I'm choosing to view this as "meeting my quota" for all emotional stressors for the next several months and that it means that I shouldn't have to have anything else to worry about until summertime or longer! At least!

For the moment, a quiet house (hubby-to-be and child not up yet,) a cup of fresh coffee, and a warm sleepy puppy in my lap are about as close to heaven on earth as I need to be just at this moment.

Boy do I hear ya on the animal problems !!! I had to operate on my Thoroughbred ! Any mention of * colicky * still sends me after all of these years. Im glad everyone is feeling better !!!