Update on Pixie from Surgery

[Lopsi]

She's doing well

She can *stand* on her right leg - all they did was take the pin out of that one. She can't quite walk on it.. she does a little, she falls over some She has figured out how to squat and pee though.

She is starting to put her left leg DOWN, though she won't put weight on it yet and she still picks it up when she tries to walk or something (which is normal - this is early!). She really seems to be doing well and making a great recovery.

We have started the physical therapy, too. She absolutely loves the massages, but when we do PROM, she tenses up and starts pulling against me after about "3"... and we do 10 on each leg. So I do 5, then switch legs for 5 and so on. She is taking it all really well though.


A note on my husband's puppy: Jubilee has parvo, but she is doing spectacular. She is going to make a comeback We took her to the ER vet when she started throwing up - but we'd been keeping her warm and hydrated, so that slowed things and helped save her life. Then she's been in isolated intensive care the last few days, but she is eating and holding down fluids now. The animal hospital *just* called and said they are ready to discharge her. We are unsure if she has distemper - she has an upper respiratory infection, but otherwise, she's definitely making a comeback from the parvo. She is contagious, but our crew is all vaccinated up, so we're not worried about bringing her back home. None of our other dogs are showing any signs, but we are watching them just to be sure.

[Ozzie'sperson]

Wow --

that's quite a situation you've got going there! Glad to hear that Pixie is doing well and that Jubilee will pull through.

Thought and prayers going out for all of you.

[Stella's mom]

Prayers and best wishes for a quick recovery.

[Lopsi]

Here's another update from our crew... Man, we're having a rough time!

Pixie is recovering well - she is starting to put her leg down, and we're well into PT - she HATES range of motion exercises. She's been scratching at her ears (like a baby with an ear infection)... but Cinnamon and Bogey have also been notably scratching, Pixie being the worst. So I made an appointment to take Pixie in today for an ear swab - I told the vet she's got ear mites! He said no, we won't see that in a bunch of adult dogs.... then he did the swab and came back... "They have ear mites." Hah, so we'll be treating the whole crew (5 of them) for ear mites.

Jubilee came home last night. She's eating and doing really, really well. We still "have parvo" but she's over the hump and is on the recovery end. She'll be contagious for another couple weeks. She also has an upper respiratory infection that we're treating with amoxicillin.

Bogey got violently ill today. We feared the worst: Parvo. We knew he'd been around it, but he's been vaccinated too. We called the vet and asked to come "earlier than 2" (when our appointment was) and asked to bring him for a parvo test. He does NOT have parvo, but he is eaten up with coccidia. (UGH) Annnddd... coccidia's very contagious, so we'll be treating all 5 for that, too.

Cinnamon (my daughter's dog) is still "iffy" - we know she had a UTI, and we're treating with an antibiotic, but we're still watching to make sure SHE doesn't have parvo. She's only 4 months old, so she's susceptible, even though she's had vaccinations. She didn't eat dinner tonight, so we're watching her closely.

My husband's adult pug (Preston) came home (we sent him away with the fire because didn't have a yard for him anymore). He was *mostly* ok - but he's got a staff infection... he's on antibiotics also. He's starting to look better.

I think we're running the vet clinic. We have paid entirely too much, but we'll get all our babies healthy and hopefully keep them that way. In the mean time, they were getting all our prescriptions together today, and the tech goes, "Does Albon have to be refrigerated?" We answered: "No, but the drops for the ear mites do." The vet came in and said "Golly, ya'll know ENTIRELY too much!" He said we should be their next "patients of the month"...

[Lopsi]

Another quick update on my crew:
Pixie is doing astounding! She is already starting to use her leg, so we've stopped the PROM exercises and have started *really* short walks (like around the cul-de-sac twice) 3 times a day. We'll gradually increase to taking longer, full walks, and once her stitches come out next week, we'll start water therapy. Really though - we are all very happy with her improvements.

Jubilee is going to make it, too - at least for now. We are unsure if she has distemper (in which case she may or may not make it), but she has definitely beat parvo! She is eating roughly every 3 hours, pees, poops, plays, whines, etc. She's behaving like a normal puppy.

Bogey was admitted for IV's to rehydrate him, but his blood work showed that was the ONLY thing wrong with him. Why did he start throwing up? Maybe it was the coccidia, maybe it was something else. I guess we'll never know - but he is doing well now, too. They gave him an anti-throwup shot and lots of fluids. He's home now and eating regularly (if not more than that!) and seems to be doing alright. He's a bit "short" and irritable right now though. I guess that comes with not feeling well.

Cinnamon's UTI is like, "gone" - she's doing great. Same with Preston's Staff infection...

My exam is starting, gotta run!
Thanks for all the well wishes....

[Jenn218]

Whew....what a mess! I hope that you and your family are all handling this well and that all the babies are doing good now!

[teffiemoore]

Oh CHris..my gosh you guys have been through the wringer since Feb!!!! You have the best attitude than anyone I 've seen...I would on the therapists couch daily if I'd been through what you have... You ARE running a Vet. clinic...I'm glad little Pixie is doing better with her second surgery.. I pm'd you last week about it. How did Bogey get Coccidiosis??? Do you know how he was exposed? : You may need to add on a quarentine hall to your new house ...Hope things start looking up!!!

[rontiss1]

I have Pixie in my prayers. She'll get well. Watch and see...rontiss

[Dan & Corinne]

Your house is like Doggie General with you as the RN! Holly molly!

Super glad to hear everyone is on the road to recovery! - Good Job!

[Lopsi]

LOL yeah, it's been really rough around here. Really though, everyone seems to be doing REALLY well.

Anyway, I think we'll all be ok, but here's the deal:
We have officially moved back home, BUT the phone lines are screwed up, so we don't have a phone OR internet (DSL). I do have internet here at school, but I had a final yesterday and one today. My last one is in a couple hours... and then I'll be out until late August. I don't know when our phones will work and we'll have internet at home, but worst case scenario, farewell till August.

Gonna miss ya'll, but we'll be fine. I'll try to post an update at some point... and I'll be at the Aug. 11 meetup - but NOT July (regardless of what date you do it, I just don't want to chance anything).

Big hugs to all of you and thank you for your prayers. Please keep us in your thoughts the next few weeks.

[Ozzie'sperson]

Originally Posted by Lopsi

Another quick update on my crew:
Pixie is doing astounding! She is already starting to use her leg, so we've stopped the PROM exercises and have started *really* short walks (like around the cul-de-sac twice) 3 times a day. We'll gradually increase to taking longer, full walks, and once her stitches come out next week, we'll start water therapy. Really though - we are all very happy with her improvements.

Jubilee is going to make it, too - at least for now. We are unsure if she has distemper (in which case she may or may not make it), but she has definitely beat parvo! She is eating roughly every 3 hours, pees, poops, plays, whines, etc. She's behaving like a normal puppy.

Bogey was admitted for IV's to rehydrate him, but his blood work showed that was the ONLY thing wrong with him. Why did he start throwing up? Maybe it was the coccidia, maybe it was something else. I guess we'll never know - but he is doing well now, too. They gave him an anti-throwup shot and lots of fluids. He's home now and eating regularly (if not more than that!) and seems to be doing alright. He's a bit "short" and irritable right now though. I guess that comes with not feeling well.

Cinnamon's UTI is like, "gone" - she's doing great. Same with Preston's Staff infection...

My exam is starting, gotta run!
Thanks for all the well wishes....

Good grief! That's WAAAAY too much stuff under one roof. But it sounds like you have made it through amazingly well. I only hope that the good you did recently comes back to you 100x over -- you certainly deserve it. Good luck with your exams and with keeping the crew in check.

[Anna Banana]

Oh my goodness! You have so much on your plate right now! I'm glad things are now looking up for your family.