Sick and bloated...
His little eyes tell how sick he is!About a week after we brought Darcy home, he developed a little bit of a sagging mucky eye. We thought it was perhaps a grass seed or similiar that was causing a problem. Soon after, little pustules began breaking out all over his nose, and mouth area. It was so worrying!
We took him to the vet, and they didn't seem to immediately know the cause. We purchased creams and bathing lotions, as the vet suggested. Boy, these items can be expensive! Unfortunately, his symptoms only worsened. We were so worried about him. Next thing, he started to have large lesions break out on his back and neck area... one by one. Now we were horrified! Back to the vet we go, and his diagnosis was discouraging. He even offered to put Darcy down! No way! We decided to keep working with whatever medication was offered.
These lesions resembled boils, or even tumours. He would scratch them, and they would explode. Not a pretty sight, but he seemed relieved when this happened. The vet, and later ourselves, had to shave these areas to enable faster healing. We actually thought Darcy had cancer. At the onset, Darcy was given steriods. I can't remember the exact reason, but may have had something to do with aiding his immune system. Whatever the reason, we were warned that he would put on weight with these. And boy did he what! Darcy became like a little tank and couldn't eat his food fast enough. He already had a healthy enough appetite (what lab doesn't) but it tripled!
I researched the internet and found another dog, a sheltie, who suffered the same things. The lesions and symptoms, right down to the eye, were identical. It started as an irritated eye, the same as it did for Darcy. The owner posted the full details of this sheltie's journey. And, I discovered the name of the illness. It was 'Puppy Strangles'. Apparently horses suffer from 'strangles', but it is not the same strain as happens to dogs.
We went back to the vet with my 'findings', and he said he already knew what it was. Yeah, right! If he knew, why did he suggest all sorts of blood tests etc, which is hugely expensive for dogs and no guarantee of any solutions, if he knew it all along?! Puppy Strangles is an illness that passes with time and the medication we were already using. It is not fatal, however horrible it appears.
Darcy went through a very sick period, and we did at times think he wouldn't make it. It is an illness that attacks the immune system (hence the steriods), and once a dog has contracted P.S., they should reproduce. It can be passed along.
The breeders said they have never had any other puppy of their contract this. They had never even heard of it. I guess we were just the lucky ones, lol. And yes, we were/are. Despite a traumatic start, we wouldn't trade Darcy for the world. He is the best dog ~ and he has the scars to prove it...
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Welcome to DWB !
Hope you can link us up (:
Loves
Hi there Darcy! Oh my, was that you when you were younger? Your tummy looked sooo bloated! At 1st I thought you had worms but it turned out that you didn't. I hope you're okay now.
Boogie Woogie,
Solid Gold Dancer
Welcome Four Musketeers... Not sure what linking up means, but I will look into it ;)
and welcome to Amber-Mae!
Yep, his tummy was really swollen. He looked like a little tank on legs, because of the Cortizone... but other than a few scars on his nose and under chin, you wouldn't ever know he was sick :)
I got Gunner for my birthday on 30 Nov 2009, he was such a beautiful daschund puppy at 6 weeks old! About a week later I had noticed that he had a small mark on his left eye – it looked like an insect bite. His eye was a bit swollen, so thought that if it was an insect bite it would be okay.
The next morning however, both his eyes were swollen. We took him to our vet. The vet mentioned that it could have been an insect bite – we received eye drops. We religiously gave him the eye drops (with a big struggle – he hated it!). A day went by, no improvement and by now his eyes were discharging a lot and around his mouth it looked like small pimples. We took him back to the vet. This time the vet said that he had some type of mange around his mouth as well as acne. We had him dipped (I was very scared as I read about what dip could do to such a small puppy)!! It looked as though the dip had worked as it seemed to me as though his mouth dried out and made scabs. His eyes were still swollen. And he started limping as well. I initially thought that our older daschund (Leeloo is 2 years old) had accidently knocked him over.
We took him back to the vet to have his eyes and leg checked out, as by now we had also noticed a high temperature as well as swollen glands in his neck. This can’t be good! He was given an injection for his high fever. The vet also mentioned that she thinks he might have a fungal infection, so he received anti-biotics for that as well. We were at our wits end and were hoping that he will now start to show an improvement!
Unfortunately, still nothing – he can’t even open his eyes without our help anymore!! So, we had continued with his anti-biotics, eye drops and cleaning his mouth – we had still not seen an improvement in the swelling. In fact, we noticed a new bump on top of his neck and he had started shaking his head more often – seemed to be out of irritation or something. Back to the vet we went… The bump on his neck – an abscess and the reason for shaking his head? – multiple abscesses in both his ears! Oh, my little baby!! More painkillers and anti-biotics!
He came back home, we weren’t home for an hour when he completely collapsed! We rushed back to the vet! He was admitted into the animal hospital. The vet said that we had to make a decision – we’re either going to have to put him down, or be prepared to spend a lot of money on him – even if he only has a 50/50% chance of making it. Needless to say, we spent the money!! They could not do anything under anaesthetic as the vet said that he might not be able to wake up afterwards, so they gave him a high dosage of painkillers. He stayed in hospital for 2 nights, we went on the second day to go and visit him – his face was half the size of what it had used to be! They had given him high dosages of cortizone to get the swelling under control. We wanted to take him home, but the vet said that they would rather like to keep him there for another night.
We went to fetch him yesterday, and he is like a new puppy! Two very LONG weeks later! He seems to better, playful and he has his appetite back! He has no hair around his eyes or mouth, but he is better and that is all that matters! We need to clean out the hole in his neck 3 x daily where the abscess was drained. Also need to clean out his ears and wash his mouth and eyes daily. He is on the road to recovery. Not 100% there yet, but so happy to have him back at home and out of danger!
I hope that no dog-lover would ever have to experience this, as this was the most stressful time I have had to endure! I thank the wonderful vets of Tygerberg Animal Hospital as they were wonderful and so caring (not only to Gunner but to me as well!)…
Hello Gunner's Mummy/Daddy...
Wow, you certainly have been through the ringer with your little guy. It certainly sounds like Puppy Strangles to me. Amazingly (or should that be frustratingly), vets seem slow to pick up on. I found my answer to what had been Darcy illness via the internet.
I am so glad Gunner is on the mend now. Apart from some little bald spots/scarring, Darcy is perfectly well and healthy. Our babies are worth the money and even though our vet suggested considering euthanasing him, we couldn't do it... our bond was too strong.
Sorry for the delay in commenting back to you, I neglect this blog at times as life gets in the way, lol.
Thank you for your visit and for your comment. I enjoyed hearing your story (well not that Gunner was sick, but the happy ending).
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