Helpppppppppp, dog with parvo question

[Richard]

Update as of 8:00 this morning.

I stopped by for my visit. Otis was evidently not up yet! I’m wondering if we have an evening dog, verses a morning dog /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, he got up, moved about, looks fantastic (relative to Saturday). I agree that Saturday was probably his danger zone day.

He’s not eating anything yet, nor does he seem interested. The girl I spoke with said he HAS sipped some water and as far as she can tell, he’s kept it down. I guess we’re taking baby steps and that great big sirloin steak I got him for his return home just hasta wait. Maybe I’ll eat it in his honor and tell him how good it was?

Bob: I think they’ve already answered your question

Junkman: You are right on with your comments and what the vet has said. The vet has said nothing though about his growth possibly being effected. Frankly, if his growth IS stunted somewhat, that’s ok by us, as the wife prefers a 45/50 lb type dog, rather than a 70/100. He will be confined to his training cage and taken outside often. Wife is taking Wed/Thurs off so she can be with him 100%. The other dog we have is current with his shots, and in fact, due for his annual in February so my vet isn’t concerned about him.

C1: I’m glad the advice seems consistent, I had no idea parvo is so common… guess I’m showing my city boy side..

Otis has been quarantined, they have the bleach spray and bleach “step box” or what ever you might call it to step in. He’s been off his IV for 2 days now, however, the girl is using the IV fluid and inserting pockets of the fluid under his skin in various places, rather than having him hooked up to the IV on a permanent basis (as it was for the first several days).

I must commend this Vet in that, EVERY SINGLE time I (or the wife) have been there, he has stopped what he’s been doing (or finished a case), come out and talked with us, answered questions, educated us and simply, going beyond the call of duty in my mind. After all, all I wanted was to visit Otis and let him know we were there for him, I never expected the Dr. to interrupt his pattern for our unscheduled visits and spend time with us. (I mean, EVERY time there, he’s been with us)

I’m reaching a quandary now regarding this vet. I live in a small town and have been using a local vet for ALL of our dogs/cats over the years. We “had” to use this vet because all the shots/neutering for Otis were paid for when she got him. So unless I want to pay for the services twice, it’s an easy choice to take the dog here. Besides, I had no choice, the wife did it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

With how great they’ve been with Otis, the obvious concern they’ve shown for him, I’m feeling a bit guilty scooting him off to my “regular” vet (trying to support local economy) after all they’ve done. I really don’t like the idea of having to split the dogs out to different vets.

Sigh

I guess in light of Otis (evidently) making it, that’s a great quandary to have

Richard

 

[JASTN70D]

Richard

I have been following this post with great concern. I am just so glad it seems to be turning out well. I admit I have herd of this disease but have never seen it. Thanks for shedding some light on it so that we can be more aware and maybe prevent it. good luck to Otis.!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
I’m reaching a quandary now regarding this vet. ... I’m feeling a bit guilty scooting him off to my “regular” vet
)</font>

A good vet, who has proven to do good things for you, is precious. We sometimes use a couple of specialists, but try to support the vets that are the most competent and cooperative in helping us. It sounds like you've found a champ.

 

[Junkman]

In my former business (now my wifes since I retired) we would come in contact with many veterinarians. We have dogs and it isn't possible to support all of them even though all of them send business our way. We use a veterinarian that is 45 minutes away since I started with him back in 1973. The others know this and don't seem to care. They appreciate the recommendations that we give for their practice even though we ourselves don't use them. When certain circumstances come up, we will recommend our personal veterinarian because he can do the type of work that most, if not all the local veterinarians are not equipped to do. I made a recommendation to someone in town to take his dog there for a second opinion after having been told that the dog needed a $2000 eye operation by the local veterinarian school. It turned out to not need that recommended operation, but a different procedure. My veterinarian did the operation for $600 and the dog can see perfectly now. The surgery was done 2 years ago. Competence comes in many forms, and sometimes you have to travel for it. I would stay with the one that you are most comfortable with and you believe will do the best for your pets. I am certain that the one that you don't use will still survive and will also understand your decision. Remember they are professionals.
Save that steak or eat it yourself..... Otis won't be up to that for quite a while. Remember the better dog foods have all the nutrition that he will ever need already built into it. Buy you pet food at a specialty store based on quality, not quantity or price.

 

[Conservative1]

Vets don't really try to compete with each other, in our experience. I know several of them who know each other. Often, my wife will receive a call from one of the other local guys looking for advice. My wife sometimes has to call them for advice also. They work together, though I guess in some way they could try to compete... I've never seen them do it.
My wife often gives second opinions, and encourages her clients to get a second opinion if they feel it is warranted. No one can be absolutely right 100% of the time...
If you find a Vet clinic that cares about your pets, and tries hard to do the best thing for them, that is the vet to use.

There are some vets who are burnt out and don't care as much as others. You'll know when you meet one. They are rare, but they are out there. Some vets are best at large animals, and not as good with small, and vice versa. My wife doesn't enjoy large animal work... her boss is the large animal guy. He likewise lets her take care of all the small animal stuff. They work together, quite well, to the benefit of all.
I'm very glad it seems to be working out, Richard. We've been praying for y'all!

 

[Richard]

Thank you all again for your thoughts.

I stopped by again on my way home tonight. I laughed and told the vet assistant..." you are all going to be happy to get rid of Otis, if for no other reason than to keep US from coming in here to visit twice a day" (we each stop as we go by, so it's actually 4 visits)

She laughed and said, "Nope..not true..in fact, we'd be MORE concerned if you never stopped by... this shows us how much you care".

hmmm....

Update: Otis is still not eating a thing. I saw her both times today try to tempt him with a tender morsal of ?? and he just turned away. He IS however, wagging his tail complely now. SO completely, that his hiney is starting to wiggle WITH his tail and that's a good thing.

Upshot, Doc said he still can't go home until he eats, but by the looks of it, he's doing everything else he can do to get better BUT eat. When he DOES decide he's hungry, he's outta there. Vet "thinks" he might be able to go home tomorrow. Otis has been sticking his head into the food bowl (only a small morsel in there to tempt him, not much at all) so he's starting to at least show interest in smelling it.

I asked girl out front if she had an intermediate tally as to $$ and from last Thursday to this mornings posting (not counting todays expense) he's up to about $970. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

So, anyone here reading this that's ignorant of parvo (as I was) those initial puppy shots look to be VERY inexpensive, relative to the risk. Keep them pups vaccinated.

About the vets, our "regular" vet has seen all of our animals from day one. I like him. He performed hip surgery on Rosie. She had a malformed hip socket and needed the ball of her thigh (rear) cut off. He got her all squared away and we found out she could run like a rocket using the muscles in her leg to compensate for the missing bone.

We've not had good luck with dogs. Rosie was killed when she got in the way of a truck (on the farm) as she was playing with another dog. My wifes cousin was the driver /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Then we had Wiggles and Daisy fiasco being shot, then we had parvo.

At least this one is (evidently) coming out with a happy ending.

Richard

Maybe we need to stick with field mice as pets? we have them too and they are hard for the wife to get attached to. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[OhioTC18]

Richard,
Poor Otis' insides have been in an uproar since this began. Even humans won't eat for days and days when they get sick. Otis is showing improvement by at least expressing an interest in his food bowl. He'll be home in no time with you cussing him for all the things puppies seem to destroy when young.

We adopted a 5 month old pup from the local shelter the day before they needed to "make room" for other dogs. 2 days later he was unable to control his bowels and leaving his "lunch" all over the house. Turned out he had kennel cough that he caught at the shelter. When he coughed, that caused such a violent reaction that he made a mess from both ends. Not his fault. The vet was a lifesaver. I can't remember what we spent that night, at midnight, for the visit and the drugs, but ya know.....He's my buddy, goes with me EVERYWHERE, refuses to leave my side if I fall ill. Would I do it again....??? In a heartbeat. So would you /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Otis will be his playful self and you'll have him home in no time.

 

[Richard]

Just a morning update:

Saw Otis again this morning. He STILL is not eating /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif...well not much anyway /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seems the vets assistant left 3 thimble sized dollops of food with him last night and this morning, there were only 2 there. So either he ate one, or they have a thief....and I DID notice a very suspicous looking Tabby cat slinking around the other day... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

When I was there, he again shunned his food. She gave him some pill, wrapped in the food (evidently, the pill alone tastes so bad it might make him throw up). AFter she did that, he went back, sniffed the bowl again and just ever so barely nipped at the food... almost just licking it because he really didn't eat MUCH of it, but he did eat SOME.

He had his head/neck stuck out the open door of his second story penthouse (top cage, verses bottom). He looked like he was contemplating "Hmm... if I jump far enough out..I KNOW I can make it to the floor"

So, he definatly seems to be getting on the frisky side. ALL indications are making the vet feel great, except the fact he's still not eating (as of 7:30 am) They were going to wait on his IV feeding in hopes hunger would get the better of him.

The wifey is off today/tomorrow so she's very eager to get him home so she can visit/play/tend/feed him... you know... all that mothering stuff /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. I'm off Saturday/Sunday and Monday is a holiday, so I'll be there to do the fathering kinda stuff /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm touched at the comments and thoughts posted both here, pm, and via email. To say "thank you for your thoughts" seems so insignificant. That said, thank you.

I'll try to get a post vet visit pic of Otis so you all can have a clear shot of this troublemaker /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Richard

 

[Junkman]

One trick that I used to use was to put some corn syrup in the water to get them to drink and I would also mix a little corn syrup and water into the canned food to stimulate the interest. Most dogs can't leave anything that is sweet in the bowl.

 

[Richard]

Otis is home /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Yesterday, they said we could probably take him home as long as he ate, drank, didn't throw up... and if we took him home and he DID the above, he'd have to return today.

Got him home, he sipped at his water and totally snubbed his cottage cheese and rice. We took him out every 30 minutes or so and he would go potty. One of the times, he did "#2" /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif and WOW, the poor guy stooped over, raised his tail and shot a stream about 2 1/2 feet behind him. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif (glad I was standing in front) Anyone ever have a hole in a hydraulic hose, hit the lever and see how the fluid screams out of that hydraulic hose under pressure? .... now you're getting the picture.

Talk about water pressure /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I told the wife, if he did that in the house, we were in NO WAY currently prepared to protect against that kind of mess. (she'd put a towel down around his pillow) I told her that towel was not going to catch THAT kind of "dripping".

So, my wife ever prepared, pulled out a diaper /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif (something you're not telling me honey?)

We wrapped him in the diaper but it didn't stay very well, so we just kept him wrapped up in a large towel.

About 7'ish, she pulled her (yet to be world famous but delicious) chicken pot pie out of the oven... as the smell permeated the house, he seemed to get a bit antsy.

She served some chicken, cheese along with his rice and he munched some of it down, along with his medication.

Took him outside couple more times, went to bed.

Today, I got up, put some plain rice in bowl and he went at it like a champ. Took him outside and /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif he blew a stream 1 1/2 feet behind him again. At least his distance is diminishing.

They told me when a dogs intestines go (with parvo), they have a bloody bowel movement. That it's bad dirreah and very uncontrolled.

Boy, oh boy, do I now see what they can mean by uncontrolled. (though his is controllable until he "lets go" then it's every man for himself)

Talked to Dr. this morning after all the above, he's feeling good about Otis' recovery. He said to start feeding him a bit of cheese to help him constipate a bit lol.

I took a couple of pics and will post them. I doctored up one of them, hope no one finds it too offensive. My opinion is they are no where as near as offensive as parvo is.

If the pic is in bad taste, (moderators), feel free to delete it.

Richard