Sick as a Dog

Leuca got sick last Saturday morning at 2am and soiled her den by accident. Normally Leuca sleeps all night after her last walk at night. She usually does not have to go until morning when we let her out and take her for the morning walk before her first meal.

The first thing that came to mind was review what she had, what she ate and what she did the day or so before. Not that hard to do since we, my husband, my daughter and I, are all in sync with her daily activities and it helps that we keep a Leuca Log (an activity log) since the night we took her home.

We thought, it must be the Interceptor (a heart worm medication she takes monthly as per the Vet) we gave her the night before. I researched online for other possibilities...

- Could it be too much excitement? Well, we did take her to 2 pet shop after the vet's office and she saw a few dogs and most of the people wanted to pet her.

- Could it be something she picked up and ate outside? She is quick to pick up mulch and small rocks outside. We usually get her to drop it or we take it out of her mouth.

- Could it be too much exercise? She did get a long walk as usual and played "fetch" and "jump" with papa a bit more that week.

- Could it be a parasite? She tested negative in her last stool sample test.

What else could it be? Must be the Interceptor. We were convinced since she also had diarrhea just a few days after taking it last month and subsided after a bland diet.

I read online that if there are no signs of dehydration, you should fast the dog for 24 hours or 12 hours for a puppy since the last incident of diarrhea. No food or water to clean her system. We weren't to comfortable with that advise so we gave her gave her Pedialyte with cottage cheese by noon to keep her hydrated but no puppy food just like the last time.

By 2 pm, 12 hours after the incident, we gave her boiled brown rice and boiled lean chicken breast cut in cubes then in shreds when we serve it to her. The brown rice was recommended by an acquaintance, also a Vet and she said the fiber in the brown rice will help clean her system. Her bowel movement was off throughout the day so we gave her a tablet of Pepto Bismol (1mg) before bed that night as I read online. The following day, her stool looked normal so we weened her off the chicken rice mixture and gave her regular puppy food, Solid Gold Wolf Cub. That night her stool was still soft so we gave her another Pepto Bismol tab before bed.

The following day, Leuca soiled her den again. Back to chicken rice only this time, I made it with white rice. Leuca was still her playful self throughout this time. You won't know she was sick if not for her stool.

Finally I called the Vet's office on Tuesday, since her bowel movements did not improve. The response was: bland diet. Again. Continue the chicken rice but more rice than chicken for 2-3 days and slowly ween her off of it before going back to her regular food. No dairy as most dogs are lactose intolerant. Give plenty of water. Give Immodium instead, Pepto Bismol has aspirin and the Vet does not recommend it. If diarrhea persists, in 2-3 days while in bland diet, bring her in.

Leuca was still her playful self and not even lethargic. We were sure it will soon pass. So we did what we were advised but no sign of improvement the following day and I am getting worried since she was scheduled to get spayed that Friday at the Animal Welfare Association so I called them to ensure it was still okay to do so with her condition. Their response: consult your Vet.

Spoke to the Vet Wednesday afternoon and she confirmed that it must be the Interceptor and to continue the bland diet and Immodium 2 times per day. Bring her in after 2-3 days if it does not improve. As for the spay procedure, our Vet recommended that she doesn't get it done until she was well unless a presurgical blood test is completed before the surgery and that they give her an IV during to ensure she doesn't get dehydrated. Unfortunately, the AWA does not provide an IV during the procedure and they do not perform presurgical testing.

On Thursday morning, Leuca's stool was as bad as the first day. In the afternoon, Leuca got unusually misbehaved during the walk with me before her meal. My husband, Vince, still did not think much of it and was confident to go through with the procedure. On the other hand, I was getting mixed emotions about it. After getting so frustrated with Leuca's behavior, I wondered if she might have been in pain. I got so worried and emotional about it. Perhaps we were missing something. It didn't take long for my husband to sense my emotions so he immediately got us an appointment to see the Vet that afternoon.

After Leuca's afternoon meal, I got her reacquainted with her seat belt. I let her smell it, touch it and then put it on her. She tried chewing the part that dangled on her sides. She certainly knows how to make me smile. After assuring her it was okay, Leuca fell asleep with the seat belt on.

After a quick nap, Leuca seemed ready to go. Strapped at the back seat, Leuca must have been uncomfortable. She had an accident on her sleeping bag and looked distressed. Good thing she did not soil on the car.

After stopping to walk her out and cleaned up, I finally got her sitting comfortably in the front seat with me while I drive. I gave her my sweater to sit on. She was so calm but she seemed drained.

We picked up Papa that day, so I sat with her in the back seat on her way to the Vet. All was quiet.

We finally arrived the Vet's office. Of course, Leuca didn't seem sick at all. She was excited with the new smells, people and dogs. She was very playful. Everyone was surprised that she was sick since her spirit was high.

Vet noticed her gums were pale. She was alarmed that Leuca had 103 temperature. She lost 4 ounces since Friday when we took her to get the Interceptor but the Vet said that was to be expected since she has diarrhea. She weighed only 29.2 lbs today. Vet ordered a blood test done including the pre-surgical blood work. We were worried and agreed to what was needed to be done eventhough we were temporary short of cash. After a couple of hours, her results came in. Leuca was fine and healthy. Vet later admitted that it was just a slight fever and her gums were probably just pale because she was too excited and hyper-ventillating. Vet was convinced though that it was just the Interceptor that caused it. She also gave her an antibiotic for precautionary measure and a Presciption Diet ID that would be good for Leuca's digestion. And she gave us one hefty Vet bill.

On the way home, I sat with Leuca in the back seat again. As you can see in the picture, she was very mellow and just so sweet.

Ahhh... finally a sigh of relief.

Later that evening, we found out that the diarrhea could have been caused by the Solid Gold Wolf Cub, Leuca's dry puppy food. It has bison meat, which might have been too rich of a protein for Leuca's puppy tummy. We realized that this could be right since it was a new bag of food that we gave to her by itself just days before the incident. We used to mix the Wolf Cub puppy food with another, the Solid Gold Hunden Flucken for puppies but we were not able to that this time since it was discontinued by the manufacturer.

So we decided we would switch her back to Wellness Puppy Mix, with real chicken but also without corn or animal by products, as we ween her off the Prescription diet ID food, after next week. We are certain, Leuca will be better able to digest the chicken meat.

Finally that night, I called the AWA and left a message to rescheduled her spay appointment.