In the second week of November I noticed Boomer's bowels were not quite right. Not bad, but not his usual self. I started him on boiled chicken breast and rice mixed with his normal kibbles along with a tablespoon of pumpkin a few times a day. This seemed to do the trick, as it usually does.
Over the Veteran's Day weekend he did fine until the early morning hours of the 12th. I am a light sleeper and I awoke to his nails clicking on the hardwood floors. It was 2:45 AM. I knew something was not right so I got up and turned on the lights in the living room where he was pacing. He had the strangest look on his face. Then I saw it. In the hallway by the laundry nook was a wet spot. Did he urinate on the floor? Is it possible? He had never had an accident in the house. I walked over and it was much worse than that. I turned on the light in the hallway and to my horror he had had a massive explosion of diarrhea in 3-4 places. It was then I realized my feet were damp. Yep, he had walked in it and had tracked it into the living room and here I was, stepping in it. Not for the feint of heart dear friends. I rushed him outside and he, again, began having episodes.
I was very concerned now and brought him back inside once he seemed finished. I then began the huge cleanup. It was so bad I had to get my paint respirator and spray the inside of it with lemon scented Lysol to mask the odor, plus I had rubber gloves on. Heck, the visual was enough to gag an elephant. Once the mess was cleaned up I had to go through the entire house, less my bedroom, and wash the floor several times. Oh! I did wash my feet first and put on shoes which I washed lastly. That's when I noticed it was getting light outside. Time=6:55 AM.
It was now time to take the rest of the Clan out for their initial potty excursion of the day. Thankfully, the temperature was fairly cool, 59°F/15°C at the time. Kinda woke me up a bit. Boomer, however, opted to stay in and sleep. I watched him closely during the morning, and not noticing anything unusual, I fed him lunch along with the rest. This time it was two tablespoons of pumpkin with the boiled chicken and rice. No kibbles. He gobbled them down. The rest of the day was non-eventful.
His dinner was the same as lunch and, thankfully, no further episodes. That night was the same as most others except I stayed up a bit longer to make sure they would have a late potty call before bed. No problems. We were all exhausted. Not so fast.
Again I awoke to Boomer pacing and this time I jumped up right away. Again! Time=1:30 AM. Here we go again. Not as bad as the night before, but the same routine. This time we were able to settle back down by 3 AM. Then the pacing started.
Again, I jumped up and this time it was as bad as the two times before combined. Time=4:20 AM. This time I called the vet and and left a message I would be coming with Boomer and without an appointment. By the time I finished all the cleanup, I tended to the others, packed Boomer up and off we went. Time=8:20 AM.
The vet was new to the practice and not had seen us before. I did bring a fecal sample and after analysis she came back and asked had he gotten into anything like garbage, etc? Nope. Are there acorns he may have eaten? Acorns I thought? Well, we have thousands upon thousands of acorns on the ground at this time of the year here (remember, it's the Berry OAKS Doodle Ranch). I told her I had never seen him eat anything off the ground, especially acorns. Unlike the "Dirt Eating Diva" Honey, but that's another story.
In the end she gave me medication to control diarrhea, Endosorb, and an antibiotic, Metronidazole. Hopefully, this will get Boomer back on track. He still seemed very active at this point. He ate his lunch and dinner without a problem. Now the big test,. Can we get through the night. We did.
Friday, the 15th started off great. Boomer's diarrhea was starting to abate. He was still on his chicken rice diet and ate his lunch with gusto, as he usually does. Later on that afternoon I noticed him starting to not look well. Just before his dinner time I saw him standing in the middle of the living room staring at the floor. I knew he was not feeling well. Come dinner time he ate a few bites then walked away. Of course it is Friday night and the vet's office will not re-open until Monday morning at 8 AM. But..there is always the emergency vet open 24/7.
We all settled in and seemed to have a decent night's sleep, although I was up many times checking on Boomer. He did not seem comfortable, but he slept. This was taking a toll on me now as well as the other Doodles.
We went through the weekend OK, but Boomer did not eat well. Just a bit here and there. By Sunday, though, he seemed to perk up and eat a decent dinner, however, Monday morning brought another accident in the house. This time he had urinated in the hallway sometimes during the night. I had stopped the antibiotics after Friday's non-eating incident. Boomer does not do well with antibiotics save a few. This was getting very concerting to me. I called the vet and she asked me to bring him in Tuesday morning. He did well throughout the day Monday, but he still was not right. I could tell as his other mates could.
That night went OK without accidents and the next morning we headed back to the vet. She took blood samples and found his platelets were very low. Given his autoimmune disorder she surmised he was having some sort of autoimmune attack on his own body. She wanted to keep him that night and and give him fluids and a steroid to kick start his system. So it was his first night in the hospital (Tuesday the 19th). The next day the office called a said he was ready to come home. He came with some Prednisone to inhibit his autoimmune attack. That day went well and he began to eat again.
Thursday and into Friday went very well until Friday night. Friday at dinner he would not even consider eating. I took it to be the meds. On into the evening I could tell he was feeling worse. I spent lots of time with him. Later on he started drinking his water and, it seemed he could not get enough. I thought it was the meds, too. We all went to bed and slept well, at least I though we did. Two-to-three hours for me was good considering.
The next morning, however, was not what I had wanted to wake up to. Seems he had urinated in the hallway several times over the night. When I took him out that morning he kept urinating over and over again. Of course it is the weekend. That day he did not eat again and he kept drinking lots of water. I could tell he was in some sort of discomfort now. I called the vet, but no call back. Saturday night was a repeat of Friday night, however, I had put down an old shower curtain covered with some old towels and, thankfully, no cleanup. Boomer's a good boy.
Sunday went sorta OK, but by the evening things were not going well at all for him. He was groaning and seemingly struggling to breathe. I tried to hand feed him some canned food, but he could not eat it. Almost like he could not swallow. The vet called me back and I told her the symptoms. I took his temperature and it was a bit above normal, but not high. I slept on the floor with him that night holding him. I, truly, though I was going to lose him.
The next morning, November 25th, we were at the vet's office at 7:45 AM. They open at 8: AM. A vet tech came out a few minutes after we arrived to empty trash and I told her Boomer was in bad shape. She looked at him and ran into the office. Seconds later the vet and 2 vet techs ran out to my car. He was able to walk, but not well. I had collected a urine sample the night before and the immediately started testing it along with another blood sample they had drawn. They rushed around him like it was a trauma clinic. For me it was. They asked me to wait in one of the exam rooms (note: not the waiting room). I did not have a good feeling about this.
I had been sitting in the exam room thinking the worst of thoughts when the vet came in. She said he had a very acute case of pancreatitis. She said she is keeping him. She didn't ask, she demanded, well not in those words. She knows me and I know here.....and most importantly....I TRUST her. I went in back a spent a few moments with Boomer, but he had been given a sedative to help with the pain. Regardless, he was able to give me his signature kiss on the ear. He spent two nights there.
Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I slept for the first time in close to 3 weeks. I knew Boomer was in the best hands. I had visited him the day before for a half hour. They were kind enough to give me an exam room where we could be alone. They walked him in with multiple IVs in his leg and that sight alone brought me to tears. But, on a good note, he looked better. I could tell that by the way he greeted me. I brought him his favorite stuffy bear and he shook it with delight. He was still a bit sick, though. I felt better about him now.
Sure enough they called me on Thanksgiving Eve afternoon to pick him up. I rushed there. He was looking so good, but stinking from his ordeal. No matter, he was in my arms and he was frisky. This will be a Thanksgiving I will be so thankful for. He did come home with a regimen of antibiotics that he can tolerate. He had to wear an e-collar for his IV catheter was still in his leg. This will stay in until the vet sees him again the Friday after Thanksgiving, and BTW, we had a great Thanksgiving. So very thankful that Boomer was on the road to recovery.
Friday after Thanksgiving, he had his catheter removed, but not before another blood test. His results were almost perfect, but the antibiotics should take care of that. That was Friday, November, 29th.
Fast forward to today, Monday, December 9th. We we went to the vet this morning and Boomer was very excited to see everyone. He knew they were not going to keep him again. The whole crew came out to give him some love. I love these people. They are awesome.
They took all of his vital signs and a blood sample. I had to wait about 10 minutes for the results, but when Dr. Mandy came in, she was smiling. My heart melted. She said his blood was PERFECT and everything else was spot on. I could tell she was as happy, as I was. As we left I told her "Thank you from the bottom of my heart". She welled up and gave me a hug. She made my day. I believe we made hers.
Bottom line..........BOOMER in the house and is his old self.
This year our Thanksgiving was especially great. Let's move on. The Christmas holidays are now on us. What is the next adventure for the BODR Clan. Stay tuned for it is coming up soon.
Post Script: During this ordeal both Boomer and I lost 10 pounds each. Good for me, not so much for him. Now to put his weight back on. He has already gained two since his last vet visit.
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