Got a new puppy!
 

I bought a new puppy yesterday, a papillon, we named him Labatt, he is 8 weeks old, and seemed to be doing fine, but today when I woke up, he wouldn't even move and when I picked him up to hold him, his head and body just felt limp. He couldn't even stand up, so I rushed him to the animal clinic and turns out, his blood sugar was extemely low, and he almost died. I was in tears, but they seemed to stabilize him, and he was walking around. They wanted to keep him over night, so after I picked the kids up from school we went by to see him, and he was having to be force-fed, but still doing a lot better. I will get to bring him back home tomorrow. I am pretty upset that I was sold a very sick puppy, I don't think places should be allowed to do that, but he is just the cutest little guy, and I have now grown attached. Even after just a day. They are adorable, and great kid dogs. If I am not mistaken, from the photo gallery (back in the day) Dan has one. Papillon means butterfly in french, and their little ears just poof out like a butterfly. Mine is about 4 pounds now, and will only grow to be about 7 pounds. Cute as a button though. They get bigger, grow longer hair and of course get the ears. I will attach a picture.

I hope he is ok. We have a new puppy too who is now 10 weeks old. We got him two weeks ago. His name is Aspen and he is a Great Pyranese. He'll get about 120 lbs. Now we have three , a German Shepard collie mix, and a Lab Dalmation mix, we are dog lovers as you can tell.

Oh, how cutie! Hoping he's better now. ;)
I'd like to get one, but since i live on apartment i dont know if would be a good idea...

Thanks you guys! I know what you mean about an apartment though. That is why I never had one before, because they need that room and somewhere to run around. I haven't heard anything from the vet yet, but when I was taking the kids to the church for a bowling/park/picnic thing this morning, we drove by and they had him on a leash outside letting him get some fresh air, so he seems to be doing better.

I will keep you posted. Yesterday he didn't even have a name, and we may change it from Labatt to something more fitting once we bring him home. Not sure yet.

Very cute puppy Carrie :D

Well, I don't get to bring him home today. :(
He has had diariah (sp?) and even threw up, he will eat through the medicine dropper, but they have him on an IV with dextrose coming straight to him. They said he will be fine, but they don't feel he should come home til he's better and eating on his own, so they think Monday will be better.
Poor little guy!
I want to kill the pet shop that sold him to me. I shouldn't have to hospitalize a puppy I just bought, and not even have him home with me. They should have taken better care of him while he was there. Makes me sad.
I will let you know when I know more.

Thats horrible that pet shops get away with selling sick animals :wtf: Theres gotta be someone you can call about that or something. I think businesses that do that shouldn't be in business :mad:

I hope you can bring your puppy home soon Carrie ;)

Awww, Carrie, I hope your puppy gets better soon so you can get him home. He sounds like such a cutie pie.

I hope so, too. They called me about 7 pm last night, and said that his blood sugar was finally normal at 120. When he arrived at the clinic it was at 8, can you believe that? Poor little guy. It got as high as 200, which was better then 8, but too high and for awhile stayed at 30. They said he was now steady at 120, which was great, and that they found a little parasite, which was causing the vomiting and diareah. I am supposed to know something Monday. Dr. Holly said that the eating now, is the issue, and that he shouldn't have any long term problems. She said he was barking and responding to noises, which was a great improvement. I am glad he is doing better, but it's sad that I don't have him here. I will keep you posted.

Please do. I'm glad he's doing better :)

Well, I got a call last night from the animal hospital, and he is staying steady at 120, like he should, without IV's, etc., but he is still not eating on his own. They are feeding him with a medicine syringe, and he still has the parasite that they are treating with meds, but they said he's doing really well. They just need him to eat on his own, before they can release him, so that he doesn't end up with the same problem. I am afraid that because he is only 8 weeks, that it may be too soon, and he may not be able to try to eat on his own until he's 10 weeks or so, which worries me, because that would mean a long time of being hospitalized. Maybe once the meds have treated the parasite, he will feel like eating. I am going to go see him today, and see if they can give me a rough estimate of what it's costing to have him in there overnight. Tonight will be the 4th night, and I will pay whatever, because that's our dog, but I want to be prepared also. I will let you know more as it comes about.

Also, we decided that Ajax would be a better name for him. So his name is Ajax.

It's probably going to be pretty expensive, but if they are pretty sure he's going to be OK, then it's worth it. I like the new name, too :thumbsup:

Ok, I went and saw him this morning about 9am. He was hooked up to an IV again, it was really sad. They let me hold him, wrapped in a little blanket, because he was trembling, but there was good news and bad news. The good news was his blood sugar was staying at 120, and also that they had to coax him, by putting the food in their hand, but he did eat on his own. The bad news was that a lot of other factors had shown up in his blood work, that were causing vital statistics, to drop low. They said this could be caused by a number of things, the fact that he's not eating, the parasite that they are treating, or Parvo, or a liver shunt, or shaunt, I can't really remember, but they are going to do the Parvo test today, and the liver one tomorrow, and I really hope they can rule those possibilities out, and that he will start eating on a normal basis, on his own, and that he can stay steady at 120 blood sugar wise, without the IV. I REALLY hope he gets better, and I can bring him home soon. I FINALLY got a hold of the owner of the place that I bought him from, and they were extremely nice about it, and are willing to offset some of the costs, and they offered to replace him if anything happened to him, but it's still not the same. They are supposed to get in contact with the vet this afternoon, and then call me tomorrow. Anyway, just to let you guys know.

Ok, the vet closes at 7pm so I called them about 6:50 and spoke with the doctor, and the Parvo test came back negative, which is awesome. He didn't eat as well today, but is getting better, that is their main concern, because if he is not eating, then his blood sugar will just drop really low. They found ANOTHER parasite, that they are treating with another med, but that is totally curable, and also, if he could start to eat, he could even come home, and we could treat the little parasite viruses at home. Other then that she said he is doing really good. I hope that he continues to do so. They are going to run the liver test tomorrow, and she said hopefully rule that out. If they could that would be awesome, then all we would have to wait on, is the proper eating. They have said that the parasites and oral meds that he is taking for them, could cause the lack of eating and that they last about 8-10 days, so maybe once that clears up, he can eat normally and we can have him here with us. I miss him.

By the way, I registered him today, so he is officially Ajax. :)

That's good that the place that sold you Ajax will offset the some of the costs. I sure hope he gets better soon. He's quite the little fighter!

Just got off the phone with the vet, and they said today he ate A LOT on his own and was acting like a normal puppy. YEAH!!!!!!!!

They weren't able to run the liver test, because he ate, so they are going to prepare him for it tomorrow, and hopefully that will come back negative (fingers crossed), and she said that if he continues to eat like he is and he can maintain a 120 blood sugar level without the IV that he can come home. I AM SO HAPPY. I am hoping in the next couple of days, or at least before the weekend.

I am going to pray that tomorrow's test goes well.

Thanks for all of your kind words. :)

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!

I went by and saw little Ajax today, the kids and I did once they were out of school, and he was off the IV, and they put us in a room with him, and he was so happy. He was just like a normal puppy. He hopped around, was chasing Tyler's shoelaces, licking everybody, even my toes, because they were pink, and I was wearing fancy flip flops, LOL. It was so awesome to see him happy, eating, maintaining the blood sugar level he needed (without an IV), and I asked if they ran the liver test today, and they said yes, that the results were sent off to the state lab, and would be back tomorrow, but they are almost positive he doesn't have it, because he is doing so well, and they are looking to send him home tomorrow. :) :) :) :) :) :)

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY.

I WILL LET YOU GUYS KNOW MORE TOMORROW! ;)

Well, there's now good news and bad news.

Good news is, he came back normal on the test, so there's no liver problems.

The bad news is, when they came in this morning, he had crashed again. They said that last night was the first night that he didn't have a heating pad in his bed, so they think that he got really cold and started to tremble which caused him to not eat, and his blood sugar drop.

It only took them 5 minutes to get him back to normal and he is now fine, but just to be on the safe side, they want to keep him another night and make sure the same thing doesn't happen.

I read in a Papillon book that they are prone to Hypoglycemia (sp?) up to 4 months of age and if they get it, to give them nutracal, wrap them in a warm towel and then they will be fine, so it may be something he has for the next few months. I will just have to watch his eating habits, and see that he doesn't get overly active and he doesn't play to hard. I think it must be hard for puppies to know how much food to eat to keep up with their metabolic rate.

That's the only sense I can make of it. Well hopefully he will be here with us tomorrow.

:)

Well, I called the vet this afternoon and he crashed again this morning. His veins are to worn out to insert another catheter for IV injections of Dextrose, but they have been feeding him with the medicine syringe every hour. They suggested either having him go to the 24 hour emergency clinic to continue treatment, or I could bring him home and watch him very closely, which is what I have decided to do. They close at 7pm and I am going there at 6:30 to learn how to feed him, and I will have to do this every hour, day and night to keep his blood sugar up. They have run every possible test associated with this and they have all come back normal, so this is something he will grow out of. I even went and did some internet research and found a list of tests to run when this happens, and it is exactly what the vet did. I also found that it is common in small toy breeds to have Hypoglecemia. It said that Papillons are apt to get it up to 4 months of age. It is Daniel's weekend to take this kids, so I will have all weekend to take a run at this, and give Ajax my undivided attention, which I feel is good, because I need to "know" what I am doing when I am juggling the kids and Ajax. I am not working now, so it should work out in the sense that I don't have to get up and go to a day to day job. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he pulls out of this. I hope all of you will, too. He needs prayers. I may not have as much time to post now, but I will keep you updated. I get him in an hour and a half. :)

I hope your little doggy gets better soon Carrie :)

Me, too. The place I bought him from has been avoiding me since the one initial phone call, where they acted concerned. I may have to take her to small claims court for the vet bills. That's all I want. I agreed to pay for the puppy, and the things he needed, but I bought him last Thursday, he was hospitalized on Friday morning, and has been ever since. I do not think that is right. I can only imagine what my bill will be when I pick him up in 30 minutes. Craig told me that the 24 hour clinic is about 400.00 per night, but I think he will receive better care here with me, then sending him there. I will return in an emergency situation, for sure, but I want to see how I can handle him here. If that place was 400.00 a night, and my puppy has been at the other clinic a week, I can't even begin to think of what the bill is about to be, but he's our puppy, and I will see him through this.

Thanks again, Julie for your thoughts.

Your welcome Carrie :) Ya,I'd take the bitch to small claims court to,that is BS :mad1:

Ok, puppies here with me now. I got home about 7:20 with him. The feeding thing was a little tricky at first. His first feeding was at 7:30, and I think I was wearing more then he ate. So, I fed him twice in that hour and got him to take the required amount, then got him back on schedule at 8:30 and he ate all of it, plus some, and kept it all in his mouth, which was great, so I think I have it down. He has had IV's in all 4 legs and his neck (sooooo sad :( ) and at first I was a little hesitant on holding his neck and head to get him to eat, but he wasn't welping in pain, and I knew I had to so I think I figured out a comfortable way to get him to take his meals. Not much time to chat, but I wanted to give you an update. The vet bill ended up being $535 and some change, and they let me pay just 100.00 today, but it is still uncalled for, and I think she should pay it. At least it wasn't thousands, like I was thinking.

Thanks again and I will keep you posted. I bring him in to the clinic tomorrow to check his blood sugar.

It's 4am. These every hour on the hour feedings are gettin' to me now. Man, I am SOOOO tired, but by the time I get to sleep, I have to feed him again. I must say, he is a real trooper. He eats quite well. I can tell in these wee hours that he isn't taking in as much, so when I take him to the vet tomorrow I am going to see if, say from midnight to 6 am, try to feed every 2 hours, or even 3 hours. Maybe start off with 2 hours, then see if he's okay before trying to go 3 hours. Otherwise, I am not sure how many nights of this in a row I can handle. I am hoping the little guy will eat on his own.

Just keeping you updated. :)

Bad news. Ajax is back in the hospital. He did REALLY good all the way up until his 5:30 am feeding. At 4:30 he was great, so after I fed him, I went back to sleep, and set my alarm for 5:30. When I got up to feed him at then, he was lifeless. He was breathing, but his head fell limp, and he couldn't even stand up. I put some Nutracal in him to give him a quick sugar rush, and wrapped him in a warm towel, then I put him in his carrier, and took him to the emergency clinic. They gave him some food and a shot of dextrose, and sent him back home with me. I got here about 6:45 and I was supposed to take him to the vet anyway at 7:30, to check his blood sugar, so I went there, and explained to them what happened. They have him now. They close at noon today, and are closed tomorrow, but they are thinking of one of the tech's taking him home for the weekend, and caring for him, instead of hooking him up to the constant IV, his little veins are just worn out, and need a break. I am supposed to call back at 11:30, and see if that's possible. If not, they will put him back on the IV at their clinic, and check on him throughout the weekend. I am really sad, because the poor little guy has been through so much. I will let you know what I find out.

Ok, I have a puppy update.

The vet called and they never could get the catheter in his bone for nutrients, they tried an hour and a half, so they took him home for the weekend, and got him to eat on his own, put honey in his water, and he is doing REALLY good. No spells throughout the night, or anything. They said I could pick him up in the morning, so I am going to do that after I drop the kids off at school. I was picking the kids up from Daniel when the vet left the message, so I didn't get to talk to them, but that was the message they left. I am excited that he is eating on his own, and that he is doing well. I just hope that he does okay when he comes here. I hope all of this mess hasn't caused him so much stress that he is having a hard time adjusting. The way I see it, he is probably depressed from being taken from his mother and probably never got the chance to see how puppies are supposed to eat, because the breeder's didn't care enough about him to make sure that he was okay, they just saw the money end of it.

He is my little miracle puppy, and I will be glad to see that he only gets better.

I will let you guys know tomorrow exactly what happens once he is home.

Carrie

Ok, I have had Ajax home since 8 this morning, and he seems to be doing REALLY good. What's sad is that, when I got to the vet to pick him up, he had stitches, due to them "trying" to get that catheter into his bone, without success, and he had one of those collar things on, so he wouldn't eat at his stitches. He is on pain meds and antibiotics, and I got some spray that you can spray on wounds that tastes disgusting, so I could remove the collar and he would take on lick, and not touch those stitches again. He will definitly eat if I put the food right in front of him, and I have caught him eating when he thinks no one is looking, so he is on the right track. Since the kids came home from school he has been resting a lot, I think their hyper-activity wears him out. I told them not to pick him up so they wouldn't hurt his stitches, and I have checked on him periodically, to make sure he isn't having another episode. I have to take him back in a week to check the stitches, or if he has anymore spells, but he seems to be doing really good. Just wanted to let you know.

sounds much better hun. we hope Ajax get better and better with time and the love from you and your kids. :D

I know, I am glad he is better. I ended up spending another 330.00 in vet bills having to take him back, and also he is on prescription food that you can only buy in the vet's office, but it's worth it to me. Thanks.

Its good to hear that your puppy is improving Carrie :)

He is doing REALLY well today, he had a really good night, no episodes, and has been a normal puppy today, just a little sore from the stitches and I think the meds make him a little lethargic, but he is doing GREAT. :)

Wow, Carrie, what a roller-coaster ride with Ajax! I'm sooo glad to hear he is doing better. You will have to post a pic of him at some point :D.

Here is a photo of my son Tyler holding Ajax the first day we got him.

Dang it, the file is too large, let me resize, and then I will attach it. :D

I may have made it too tiny, let's see. :D

Awwww, he's a little tiny thing. How cute. I got your other pics! Your hair got so long!! You and your kids look great!!!

Thanks! You know, everyone says that about my hair, but I guess I don't notice it, because I look at it everyday. LOL. It doesn't seem very long to me. I wish I had a better picture to send, but I am not very photogenic. :D He is a teeny tiny little thing. About 4 pounds right now. Will only grow to be 7 pounds. The neighbor called him a squirrel today. ;)

LOL! I think you take a great picture!