Daisy the Puppy had an interesting week, visiting the vet's office (Howdershell Animal Clinic) three times in 5 days. It all started innocently enough with a routine visit and puppy shot. Her stool specimen showed an organism called "coccidia", which the doctor explained was fairly common in puppies raised in kennels, and was spread through feces. He started Daisy on a sulfa-drug, gave her a parvo-distemper booster shot, and sent us on our way. Everything was hunky-dory until the next morning.On one of our trips outside, Daisy stopped to pee, then stopped to squat again, and again, and again. We figure this isn't normal, and call the vet. The office is concerned it might be a bladder infection, and asks us to bring poor puppy in.
The vet asks a few questions, does a quick exam, and diagnoses a case of simple vaginitis, a condition she says female puppies are especially susceptible to. We get an ointment to put on Daisy's... uhhh... affected area. At the same time, she recommends we bring in a urine sample to confirm the diagnosis. We leave reassured,but also a little bewildered. How do you get a urine sample from a puppy that squats down within an inch of the ground? And exactly what makes the dog stand still while you do this?
We finally come up with the lid from a coffee can, and Mrs MercMan trots behind Daisy and slides the lid under her backside just as she squats down. Eureka! Success! Mrs MM gets the sample into a small glass bottle and hurries off to the vet's in order to get the sample analyzed. Thankfully, the UA is negative.
Friday morning, a new problem. Daisy's stools are getting soupy, and blood is mixed in. Another call, another trip to the vet. Fortunately, the stool is now clear of coccidia, and there are no other pathogens found. Diagnosis: colitis, an irritation of the colon. This time Daisy gets a shot of antibiotics, a pill to soothe her intestines, special food (canned), and a form of Maalox! The vet starts joking that they're going to open a "Kyle" wing of the clinic.
Relieved that everything is going to be OK, we decide to celebrate by going out to lunch. Unfortunately, after the vet bills, all we can afford is a $6.52 tab at the local McDonald's.
Thank goodness the week's almost over. Daisy is going to be fine. It's Mrs MercMan and I that I'm worried about!
2 comments:
Loki got an ear infection that would not go away. She ran the bill up pretty high then. Dogs w/ floppy ears are apparently prone to ear infections, we never had any ear probs w/ Shadow. Then I had to take her in b/c she was scratching a lot and some of her fur was thining in places. Apparently Loki has allergies. Then Loki got a peice of wood lodged on the roof of her mouth, I was getting ready to pull into the vets parking lot when Daddy called and said we'll worry about it later...as it wasn't causing her any pain and there was no blood. Luckily I was able to dislodge the wood chip no probs and avoided another hefty vet bill. This puppy has been an expensive puppy!!
I left out that the vet also recommended we take hydrogen peroxide on cotton balls to clean the wax out of Daisy's ears.
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