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| Nemo perking up around Midnight 10/8/10 |
After the visit to see Dr. Stubchar on Thursday the puppies were all doing good. Friday morning while feeding breakfast I notice Nemo kinda hanging back & not in his usual robust mood. I made note of it, hoping it was in reaction to the vaccinations the day before. At lunch there was no mistaking something was dreadfully wrong. He was standing in a corner struggling to breath. My heart raced & I flew into crisis mode. I swooped him up & went directly to Dr. Stubchar's office. Luckily I was able to see her right away. She & her office staff ( nor I) could believe this was the same pup they'd seen just 24 hours prior. Our biggest fear was dreaded Parvo, but the test came out Negative -Fantastic news! We then knew what is wasn't, now the delima was figuring out what it was.
X-ray showed a mass in Nemo's diaphragm/lung area. What was it? An Ultrasound would mean taking this already struggling pup to San Jose, 40 minutes away & try to be seen. We didn't think that was time he had to spare. The decision was made to take a peek inside, see what was going on? If there was a hernia in his diaphragm is could be addressed right away. The surgery revealed no hernia. More good news! There was fluid in his lungs so pneumonia was toss out as a possibility since he was running a slight fever.
The day prior Nemo had the foresight to poop during his exam. Dr. Stubchar had the foresight to run a fecal analysis. The results were concerning. It displayed a high parasite count of round wroms. The whole litter had been de-wormed on Oct.3rd , the Sunday prior, The worming was noticeably effective by the appearance of bean sprout looking worms in their poop Monday morning. Nasty, but a common occurrence especially in stray dogs. After the initial deworming we figured whatever was living in their little bellies had been addressed & they were in the clear until the next deworming 10 days latter (per instructions) .....not so!!! The infestation was so severe that the worming wasn't able to address it all. Nemo's issue was either caused or compounded by the round worms migrating to his lungs.
Around mid-night he began to perk up a bit but still no tail wags or appetite. He had to eat small meals regularly to get some nutrition in him to gain some strength to allow his body to recover. About 1:00 am I resorted to smearing honey in his mouth. He was able to have a bowel movement & pass a pile of worms, 1st time I was happy to see a puppy poop in my living room. Bleach spray came out & I went into sterilization mode. I'm already freaked out at he whole worm notion. We've see a few to many Discovery programs. I'm going to my family Dr. Monday just to put my mind at ease. I'm a pretty clean person & keep a fairly clean house. During the whelping process & the 1st month of the puppies lives they spent it here in my home office. I am on constant poop patrol & diligent with disinfectants but you just can't be to sure.
Saturday Morning Nemo went back to Dr. Stubchar's office because he wasn't eating or drinking & needed fluids. He spent the day there. That worked out perfectly. Saturday was our 1st puppy meet & greet with 3 adoptive families. Knowing Nemo was in good hands let me focus on the rest of the litter for a while. When I pick him up he had already eaten 1/2 a jar of baby food & his eyes were clearer. Last night he really began to perk up. He went out with me to feed the litter both lunch & dinner. He didn't eat but hung out on the sidelines. We had friends come over last night whit their 2 sons 6 &8 years old. Nemo had lots of fun playing with them. He has to stay separate form the litter & supervised when he is with them so they don't open his incision & he has a chance to heal. This is an added bonus for his adoptive family. Nemo is already started on crate training, potty training & getting used to living in a home. There is no way I could do this with all the puppies ...& stay married.
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| Crate training isn't fun for Nemo or Foster Mama |
