With Experience Comes Calm

Jasmine woke up early this morning–and of course, she woke us up with her tag-jingling, ear-flapping body shake.  However, instead of the usual next step–jumping up on the side of the bed to signal that she wanted to come up, she trotted out the bedroom door and down the hall.

I jumped out of bed, threw on a robe and immediately took her outside.  Experience told me that she was doing this because she HAD to go and there was no waiting.  And I was right.  Jasmine had a mild case of indigestion and loose stool.

This is the third time this has happened.  The first was bad–whipworm.  The second was nothing–just a bit of indigestion (and a $200 vet bill to prove it).  This time, well, let’s just say that we’re doing what we need to (bland diet of rice, cottage cheese, a tiny bit of wet food for flavor and some water) and watching her closely to ensure that she doesn’t get worse.  If she gets worse or  if she doesn’t get better in a few days, we’ll have her checked out, but the experiences I’ve had with her make me less inclined to panic and more inclined to just deal with her issues calmly.

Well, I guess that’s relative.  She leapt out of Hubby’s lap the other day and landed on her face.  Panic is a light term for how I reacted.  Of course, she got up, shook it off and feigned ignorance that she did a face plant in front of me (looking very silly in the process).  She looked at me like I was the one who embarrassed herself.

Dachshunds. *snort*

False Alarm–Thank Goodness

Sunday morning, Jasmine didn’t eat her breakfast.  Later, she had the beginnings of some tummy problems.  They persisted yesterday to the extent that she soiled the house a couple of times–she obviously couldn’t control it (thank goodness for OxyClean, Nature’s Miracle and Febreeze!).  I was concerned that her whipworms hadn’t been irradicated, and I was not about to let it get as bad as it was last time.

I called the vet and got an appointment for late afternoon.  Jasmine wasn’t acting lethargic or vomiting, but I wanted her checked out nonetheless.  She also had developed a second abscess–this time on the bottom of her left paw–and I felt that it would be best to have her checked out.  Maybe she knew she was going because she gave me another “sample” to take with me.  Yuck.

We got to the vet, and she really freaked out when we were walking in.  The golden retriever in the waiting room must have spooked her because she became a bucking bronco, trying to get away from the office.  I dragged her in and got her situated on my lap.  She calmed down a bit but was still shivering.

The vet I had been seeing, Dr. Kirsten Krick at West Valley Pet Clinc, went on maternity leave and never came back.  So for the past few months, I’ve been seeing the lead vet at the clinic–Dr. Timothy Govers.  I really liked Dr. Krick–she was very kind and gentle.  Dr. Govers is very nice and he obviously knows his stuff.  His exams are very thorough as well.  Every time I bring Jasmine in, regardless of the cause, he gives her a full exam.  I like that.

Dr. Govers spent lots of time examining Jasmine, asked lots of questions, and finally drew some blood and took her sample for evaluation.  He also told me that we were doing the right thing with her abscesses.  The interdigital cysts were probably chronic, and she would take care of them.  If they became infected, we should bring her in; otherwise, they would probably recur over her lifetime.

The doctor then gave us some mild antibiotics for the diarrhea, gave her a nail trim (at my request) and sent us on our way.  The antibiotics have worked to ease her distres and she’s now doing better.  Dr. Govers also called to follow up this morning to check on her and to let us know that her tests came back from the lab–her bloodwork was excellent, and she is negative for all types of parasites.

So, her tummy ache was just that–a tummy ache.  No whipworm.  No horrible disease.  She’s fine.  And while I feel a bit silly and overprotective (and a couple hundred dollars poorer), I’m glad that I’m now SURE that she’s fine.  She’ll have cottage cheese and rice for a few days until all is back to normal.  False alarm.

48 Hours Later

Tug a Monkey

Originally uploaded by mwdonnelly

Well, it’s been 48 hours since Jasmine started treatment for the Whipworms. She’s making good progress, but she did get up in the middle of the night last night to go, and she had another bout of diarrhea this morning. I called the vet and he wants me to stay the course and see if she improves…I’m hoping for the best.

I did notice, however, that Jasmine is improving on other fronts. Her energy level and playfulness are significantly better. I gave Jasmine a bath this morning, and afterwards, she jumped around the house and began playing with her Screaming Monkey. She also ran around the house a few times and has generally been a happy, bouncy, Tigger-like dog this morning.

The Screaming Monkey is her favorite toy these days. I was cleaning the other day and I dropped the monkey on the floor. Jasmine came running to check out the screaming, and immediately picked up the monkey and ran away. She now loves to chew on it. I thought I’d share a little of her play with you.

(Keep your volume down on your PC…the screaming is LOUD!)

Whipworms

Well, we picked up Jasmine from the vet this evening.  The vet ran a bunch of tests and did an analysis of the stool sample I brought and found out that Jasmine has Whipworms.  He told us that the worms are indigenous of the Midwest and South and not common in the area, and he believes that she had them when she first came to us.  He doesn’t know what exacerbated the Whipworms to cause the hemorrhagic diarrhea (she did not have Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis as he first thought)–it could have been a combo of the food change, the worms and a breeze in the air…but what is clear is that she’s on the road to recovery.  She ate her dinner tonight and is her normal, sweet, happy self.  She was SO thrilled to see me–and even thrilled to see hubby–when we picked her up.  She’s on de-worming medication and an antibiotic/anti-inflamatory as well as a bland diet, but she should recover fully.

I’m so glad she’s okay.  I was going out of my mind with worry today.

Thanks for all of you who sent us good wishes.  They certainly helped!

A Long Night

Last night, Jasmine woke up at midnight, 2:00 a.m., 2:45 a.m., 3:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. to either go outside or to throw up.  We’re just about to leave for the vet.  At least she has started to drink water and has managed to keep it down this morning, but she won’t go near her food (I just made her a little rice and cottage cheese).  She’s also lethargic (understandably so).  I’m hoping the vet will be able to do something to make her feel better.

I’ll post more today after we return from the vet.

****** UPDATE*****

I had to leave Jasmine at the vet.  She has some sort of Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and is being given IV fluids and antibiotics.  There isn’t a way to tell the cause, but the vet is doing some “rule out” tests (X-ray, blood tests, etc.).  Jasmine was lethargic and dehydrated.  However, she did come running when I told her we were “going for rides” this morning.  Even with feeling like crap, she came bounding at me, wagging her little tail.

The vet thinks I’ll be able to take her home tonight, but it’s a wait-and-see right now.  I can’t tell you how worried I am about my little girl…