What's Happened in the Last Six Months

It's been way too long since I last posted. We got busy in the fall with home remodeling and other projects.

In November, I wrote a 50,000 page novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so there was no time for blogging.

Not much happens in the winter, although this winter we had a real winter. The temps reached a low 12 degrees F. We had some snow and ice which makes the slight hill beside our house a magnet for kids on sleds. We had to get out and enjoy the fun one Sunday morning with our friends. We tried to make sled dogs out of Steffi and Anika but they weren't going for it.

In March I had a hip replacement which curtailed our activities a bit, but by late April I was back to gardening and walking the dogs.

The main point of this post, however, is to relay our experience with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE). Steffi had a mild case of diarrhea that in a couple days turned scary and deadly. She started vomiting and soon the diarrhea turned bloody. 

According to www.vcahospitals.com most cases of HGE occur suddenly without warning in otherwise healthy dogs. The main and most disturbing sign is large amounts of bloody diarrhea, very often bright red. Some dogs may have a painful abdomen, decreased appetite, lethargy (fatigue), or fever. 

We took Steffi to our nearest emergency vet and she spent 3 nights there being infused with fluids, antibiotics, blood thickening agents, but the diarrhea would not stop. She also developed a case a pneumonia that the vet thinks may have been caused by ingesting some vomit. On Monday morning we took her to an internal medicine specialist for another two nights of hospitalization. She recommended a fecal transplant to introduce beneficial bacteria back into her colon. That eventually did stop the diarrhea.

We never did determine what caused the episode. We are just grateful she pulled through. I have never been so scared for the health of my dog. I blame myself for waiting too long and trying to treat the diarrhea and vomiting myself. Now I watch her like a hawk for any little sign of distress. 

We don't have pet insurance. In 40 years of owning dogs, I haven't needed it, but now I'm considering it. This experience cost us over $4000. So if there's a lesson to be learned here, familiarized yourself with the signs of HGE and do not wait if there's blood in your dog's stool. Go to the vet. It might save you lots of money and it will certainly save your pet.

Here's my girl feeling better.