Today I brought her back home from the hospital. Doctor said her surgery went well but she is still not eating. That is a concern but recommended me that I watch her diet and make sure she stays hydrated by giving her pedialites. Since she has not been eating I have given her some nutri-cal... She seems very weak and fragile at the moment but i am hoping she will recover soon. Does anyone know a good idea on how I can help her bring back her appetite?

Oh, what a sweet little girl Popi is. There is a drug that increases appetite I heard of on another thread, but I can't remember the name. I'll look for it.

Other things you can try, give her some boiled chicken breast, diced very finely, or some baby food (a meat variety), or sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on her food (the smell is appetizing to them), or add some canned/wet dog food to her regular food if it is kibble, or soften kibble with some chicken broth. You may have to feed her little bits at a time, off the tip of your finger. I assume it would be hard for her to eat with the cone on.

Thank you for updating, and let us know how she is doing.

Popi
 

Poor little mite, she does look so sad with her cone on. What a pretty baby though! You must be happy that the surgery went well and that she is home with you. It may be, as was pointed out in the previous post, that she cannot eat with the cone on. When my boy had one on I would remove it while he ate (closely watched of course) or feed him by hand with the cone on. Maui Girl had good suggestions for food and I am sure your baby will eat some of those if she has an appetite. Usually dogs will lap up Chicken baby food when they won't eat anything else. Canned dog food is usually eaten by picky or sick dogs. Nutrical is not a good means of nutrition and should not be the only food. Hope you can find some food she will eat and that she heals quickly and returns to health again.

Try tp get her to eat/lick chicken baby food from your finger....you are probably going to have to sit on the floor and feed her for however long it takes for her to eat a jar of the baby food....if she will not lick it feom your finger, you are going to have to syringe it into her mouth....the vet can give you a 12cc syringe with a nipple end on it as opposed to a leur lock type tip....squirt a little into her mouth and just keep doing it until she gets the whole jar...it is a small jar, and she needs to be eating....calories are what fuels the body to heal...she needs the calories. You need to be sure she is getting enough fluid to keep her hydrated....make sure she is peeing and it isnt concentrated. She is going to require a lot of work from you now to get her through this....be sure she is getting her antibiotics...take her temp daily at least, to be sure she is not running fever....if she is running fever, she needs to go back to the vet.

Wow thank you for some great tips. I never thought of feeding human baby food to popi... I will definately go out tomarrow and buy some to see if she will eat that. Today I fed her some mashed potatos with some canned dog meat chunks mashed up all together. She wouldnt eat that so I had to use a syringe and squirt it into her mouth little by little... She kept spitting it out but I do think she had her first meal in almost 2 weeks... Although it was not much.

I gave her the medication I was given today which was baytril and torb? After feeding her the best I could, once she took her medicine.. I noticed she slowly started to close her eyes... Im guessing its the Torb pain medication that is causing the drowsiness?... Thank you for reminding me to take her temperature. I forgot about that today. I dont want to wake her up right now so i will take her temp first thing tomarrow morning.

Just reading this thread. I don't mean to sound rude or anything but your pup might be better off recovering at the Vets office. To wait so long to get your pup to a vet and to get food down this pup sounds like you do not have a lot of experience dealing with sick animals. Some people just don't and that's all ok until it comes down to a sick pup like yours. If she is not eating regular by now than there is a problem somewhere! To not see that this was an emergency right away is hard for me to wrap my brain around. I pray she is better and eating normally today!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
If this is feasable at all, this is best case scenerio. This rehab at home requires an enormous amount of time dedicated to this task. Taking her fever is REALLY important.....getting food down this baby is critical, as is keeping her hydrated....you REALLY need to get at LEAST an ounce of water/pedialyte into this baby, every hour or so......she really needs to be on IV therapy, not only for hydration, but to stabilize her electrolytes, including maintaining her glucose levels. Stress causes their sugars to go down....this baby is definately stressed.....Problem is, if your vet does not have staff on site overnight, it isnt going to be a good thing to leave her overnight.
If this baby is not much, much better today, you need to see if your vet can take her in during the day, for hydration and monitoring her status.....you MUST feed this baby that baby food....she needs at least 4-5 jars per day....put her on a feeding schedule like 9am-1pm-5pm-9pm-1am........you need to syringe that into her mouth, 1cc at a time, until you have fed her the entire jar...she MUST have the calories in order for her to heal....Your vet can inject fluid under her skin, to keep her hydrated....see if at the very least, you can take her in and have him do that for you, to help keep her hydrated so you dont run into kidney issues....If she starts getting to sleepy/drowsy, dont give her the pain medication....she is going to be easy to overdose with everything else that is going on with her.....What you are doing now, involves a lot of assessment skills.....I think you may need experienced help with this....involve your vet in this.....praying for you and this baby.....how is she doing this am? What is her temp?

This baby is a fighter. Hope she is doing well. Try some chicken baby food.

Poor sick, little girl!
 

After Taffy had his major leg surgery, I was told to examine his poops for little tiny flecks of red....which meant the anti-inflammatory med was probably irritating his stomach/digestive tract. I was to stop that med and call the vet-surgeon's office immediately. All of a sudden, after 4 days, there were 4 tiny red specks on Taff's poo. The surgeon said to stop the anti-inflammatory med, and just keep him on the pain med. At least he had 4 days on the anti-inflamatory med to help the healing. Taffy liked his Nutra-Cal gel (he got a 1/2 inch strip smeared in two blobs on his tongue. And, he like chicken broth (low salt) and little pieces of cooked chicken. I used the empty pain med syringe to squirt some broth into the back, side of his mouth...slowly...it seemed to perk up his appetite.
Keep in contact with your vet if she does not eat!! LOL, Sue & Taffy

Praying for this wee one...

Nutrical can cause hypoglycemic issues if it isn't followed by a protein. If you have any concerns about her, then she needs to go back to the vet immediately, even if it's an ER vet in the middle of the night. She is still in a weakened state and can't tolerate another delay in care.

Your post had some so much valuable information... thank you for your advice. After I received the call from the vet to pick her up, I brought her home with the medications and instructions on how to give her the meds. I did everything I was told and even went out to get baby food. When she came home she was as lethargic as she was before the surgery... and looked very tired so i gave her some baby food, meds, and some pedialite. Before going to bed I measured her temperature and was reading 97... So being worried I mixed some honey with some pedialite and syringed into her mouth. She was not eating so I also had to syringe the baby food. I also noticed she was not going to her peepad so I picked her up and as soon as i left her on the pad she pee'd a river... She seems to have been holding it. I tried to stand her on her feet but she is weaker then before the surgery... She cant stand up and just plops right down.

Early next morning which is today, I went to popi to see how she is doing and noticed she threw up. I fed her more baby food and hydrated her with pedialite and honey. I waited an hour so her body can take in the nutrients before I give her the meds. Hour later I give her the pain med and few minutes later she threw everything up again... Worried I measured her temp and she was 96.8 degrees F... I put a heating pad under her and also a portable heater besides her... Lunch time... I tried again to feed her.. but again few minutes later she threw up. So I took her to the vet again. Her body temperature dropped even more to 94. Doctor recommended I leave her with him for another 2 days. So now she is back at the hospital....:cry8:

Dear Rhetts Momma--
 

Thank you for the information about being sure to make a protein after giving my little guy any NutraCal. My friend/breeder had told me to make sure I always had some of the NutraCal around in case of an emergency or shock that threw pup off his appetite. Taffy always ate his food later on, so he was safe the couple of times we used it. I enjoy the information I am learning on this site. Thank You!

I am glad that you brought your sweet baby back to the Vet. Sometimes when they are so weak it is better to have the professionals help our babies gain their strength back. I will have to look it up but I have read DO NOT GIVE HONEY to dogs. Nutrical or Karo syrup followed by protein is best. If you just give the Nutrical or Karo syrup it is basically a sugar rush but it needs protein afterwards to help maintain the energy or it will be followed by another sugar crash. I will look up the info on the honey warning that another member posted. Sending prayers and best wishes for your baby girl and I hope she is home healthy again soon. Best wishes.

Praying for your little girl that she will pull through and be back home with you soon.

Popi
 

I am so sorry your baby is back in the hospital, you must be so worried about her and miss her. You have done everything in your power to try and get her some nutrition, but she would not accept food. It seems that she was so weak before surgery that now her tummy could not take food. At the hospital she will be given IV nutrition, meds, and fluids to get her on the right track. Like humans, it is hard to eat food when we have not eaten for some time. We have to slowly get enough nutrition to enable us to have an appetite. Please don't stress, she is in the right place and will be given the vet treatment she needs to get back on her little feet. In a day or so she will bounce back and you will have her home again. Tomorrow will be a better day. Get well soon little Popi, praying for you and your mom.

Praying...I agree, she needs more support then you are able to provide at home. Let the vet get her back on her feet...then she will be a lot stronger and able to eat and drink to not only survive but to thrive as well.

Just received a call from the doctor... he said she threw up 2 more times.. He ran some tests and found out her blood level is low and needs a blood transfusion... Does anyone know what are the likelihood of her survival once she has to get to this stage?... Doctor has already found blood for popi but is located 30 miles out and has already sent one of his helper to retrieve the blood... Has anyone had experience with their baby on transfusion?... Has anyone experienced what I am going through with my baby?... I am worried her 3 pound fragile body just cant handle all the medications, trama, and high white blood count...

She needs the transfusion....I had babies that all had transfusions when they came down with parvo....that blood transfusion is also used to build up their immunity...This baby is terribly ill....she went so long before she received any medical treatment, you have to do all you can now...she is such a fighter....she has struggled so hard....I do not think your vet should have ever released her post op....she needs intensive treatment....I am really praying for this baby, as we all are....please keep us posted....Yes, to answer your question....blood transfusions do work and are used for a variety of reasons. The vet needs to get started emergently on this baby, or I am afraid she is going to ru out of strength....

I forgot to add.....with her blood count low, she isnt even able to oxygenate her system, her organs, enough to heal....everything is connected to everything else....it is all tied together, and when one thing get sooooooooo far out of whack, the entire system starts to fall like dominoes. The vet needs to get in there and get emergently involved to stop this cascade downward....the blood transfusion will help immensely....when did she drop so low? Did she bleed that much during surgery? Is she still oozing somewhere? Perhaps with her dehydration, she is hemoconcentrated....I think she will improve substantially with a transfusion....but that is just the beginning for this baby....dont let that vet throw her out of the hospital this time....she needs alot of professional expertise medical attention and monitoring....

I am so sorry to hear she has gotten worse. It's good that she is with the vet, and obviously they released her too soon. Prayers are going out for little Popi that she will pull through.

I received another call from the doctor.. and was told popi stoped breathing while blood transfusion... My heart is shattered... Right before I parted with popi she gazed looked into my eyes strangely... and I cant get that out of my mind... Like she wanted me to take her back home.. to spend her last moments with our family... Last photo of her... I dont know if i can sleep tonight.... What do I do with her body tomarrow.... My family would be crushed to see her body... What to do....

My heart is breaking for you, I am so, so very sorry. May Miss Popi rest in peace...my deepest sympathy to you and yours.

I am so very sorry. RIP sweet Popi.

I was soooooo afraid I would see this.......RIP precious little girl.....use all that noble strength to run free and healthy at Rainbow Bridge....you wer so very strong and tried so very hard....and now you can rest, catch your breath, and then run and play, strong and beautiful and healthy......

This thread is highly disturbing, sad and tragic. To anyone who reads this... please, if your pup/your child or any other member of your family is not acting like themselves and are showing signs of illness, get them to a vet or dr immediately, usually it means something is wrong. Do not wait till the morning or until Monday, go immediately, just as you would for yourself. Pups, as this owner has so tragically learned, should be treated in the same manner as any other membere of your family...prayers for OP and poor little Popi....gosh this is so sad.

Oh no, I am so very sorry and in tears with you. Poor little baby she fought so hard and then ran out of steam. I can't believe all this happened, you must be so in shock and devastated. You did what you could, but her little body could take no more. I can understand you will not be sleeping tonight but I hope you have family to help you through this terrible time. You could have the vet keep little
Popi so you or your family do not have to see her body and get more upset. Tears will flow but let them come, it helps to cry and release your pain. Rest in peace little baby, you were loved and will be so missed. With deepest sympathy. Love, prayers and warm hugs.

Oh no, this is my worse fear. You have my deepest condolences.

When I read your first post, I sensed it was pyometra right away.

My Tatiana had pyometra, too. I took her to the emergency vet the first day she showed symptoms. Tatiana had the same symptoms as Popi. She didn't eat, and laid in bed all day. Also, there was some discharge. By the evening, I took her to the emergency vet (my intuition told me to). Pyometra was diagnosed, and emergency surgery was performed. Because it was caught early, Tatiana made a full recovery. The vet remarked on how strong she was (post op). Tatiana stood up within the cage when the vet first checked on her. Honestly, if there was any delay on the surgery, I could have lost Tatiana, too. She was tiny - about 3 lbs. She would have succumbed to the infection quickly.