Dogs are worse than the kids

We have definitely kept the vets in business this week in Upstate New York. It kind of all started a couple weeks ago. We brought Brogan and Greta to a dog show in Bainbridge so Marian could finally see them. Well, the following day, Greta started limping pretty bad. Our thoughts went right to pano (short for panosteitis, or “growing pains”), which is not uncommon in large and giant breeds. We went through it with Patsy, but haven’t lived through it since. We immediately cut her food down and stopped her from running around the yard like the lunatic she is. She was not happy with that, but oh well, we run the ship around here!

So, fast forward to this week. Greta has been limping through and Brogan had a few days of loose stools, but nothing that alarmed us. Wednesday morning, Greta didn’t eat. She barely walked around, just kind of dumpy. Matt left her food in the kennel and she only ate half of it by the time we got home. She had loose stools in her kennel and her disposition didn’t improve. I took her temp and it was around 105 degrees, which is very high for a dog. So, of course, we call our vet. And, of course, it’s 7 pm, because that’s when the shit hits the fan around here. It’s always 7 for some reason! Our vet is thinking Lyme. Dear Lord, can we possibly have another one with Lyme? Isn’t one enough?

The decision was made to take her to the Emergency Vet. Precisely the same place she was born back in October. Because nothing can be a true “emergency” at 1 in the afternoon. No, no, we have to make this difficult, don’t you see?

The vet there ran a Lyme test, and really thought it was going to positive. Well, it wasn’t. So they x-rayed her front right leg looking for HOD. That was negative. They did a CBC. Normal. Temp was still high at 104. So they suggested that they admit her overnight for IV fluids. It’s now 10:30 pm. Matt calls me and asks me what my opinion is. I’m teetering towards just getting her back home. He tells me that he’s going to try to get her to eat and drink. And eat and drink she did! They were still pushing him to leave her to the tune of a price tag of 4 digits. Matt told them no and they insisted on doing subcutaneous fluids. Matt said she looked like a bull calf walking out of there with one liter of fluid on her withers. So, some pain pills and Flagyl later, Greta is doing better. Still limping around, but eating with gusto! Our vet thinks that she has pano and a separate GI bug.

Luci went in today for her recheck. The urine came back bacteria-free and she is dumping some protein. They drew blood on her, so we’re just waiting for her BUN and Creatinine to come back to see how much kidney damage there is. Her appetite has increases and she has gained back 6 pounds. There is hope for her! Keep your fingers crossed!

I’ll leave you with some pictures of Greta that I took this week. For Marian. Who is putting her in an ad for the Fancier, which is the Saint Bernard Club of America’s quarterly publication. When I get it, I’ll scan it.