Thought about this for a bit, and haven't had much time for computer stuff...
But figured it for a Good Cautionary Tale.
And the story of one puppy passed over by the hand of death.
This all started back on June 21st.
Had moved the puppies out with the big dogs a couple weeks earlier.
Round about 2:30am Thursday 6-21, there was a heck of a hullabaloo out around the garden fence.
They must have had a critter cornered in there but did not find it.
Got everyone calmed down and went back to bed.
Next day Zed, then called Superman, as he was the Biggest, Prettiest male of the litter, and the sweetest puppy, came up a little lame in his right hind leg.
Checked his leg over and did not find anything overt, figured he got rolled in the Brawl the night before.
But he continued to worsen into the weekend. Saturday night 6-23, he was so bad I took him to an emergency vet clinic down the road.
We jumped through their hoops, Parvo Test, and basic check up just to get him in a room to wait to see the doc.
While we waited, Zed in my lap, me petting and talking to him to calm and reassure him, I happened to flip an ear over and found 20 to 30 Fire Ant whelps.
Checked the other ear, same thing. Then REALLY took a Hard look at him and started finding whelps all over him.
When the doc came in he wanted to talk about running a battery of X-Rays on his leg and hip.
Asked him how much the X-Rays would be, he said they started at $200 and up... I passed on the X-Rays.
I pointed out All the Fire Ant Whelps, the odd individual had the gall to tell me that Fire Ants didn't effect dogs the way they did humans.
This is where I figured out that this particular veterinary clinic was not in it for the animal. I told him we are done here, to the tune of $275.00
And we went home.
By Sunday Zed had been off food for three days and water for two.
We started a Force Feeding and Watering program on him using a Water bottle with tubing taped on the end of the bottle for water
and a Turkey Injector Syringe with Tubing taped on for food. We fed him Gerber Baby Food for the next two weeks.
Talked with my vet Monday morning for guidance.
He said keep pouring the water to him, force feeding him the baby food was good, and get him in ASAP.
With Work and other Family Matters clouding the waters, we were unable to get him to our vet till Friday.
By this time the Hemotomas had begun to rise and burst.
Our vet put Zed on as strong of an antibiotic as he dared, do to his young age.
Two weeks into treatment we switched him to the next stronger antibiotic.
With our vet's guidance We were doing Epsom Salts Poultices, followed by Peroxide, and them Neosporin.
When the Large Hemotoma burst on his back it opened up a three inch gash leading to the inside of the hemotoma which was the size of a Baseball.
Our Vet talked me through a process of using Granulated Sugar, (Table Sugar) as an antibacterial application,
sprinkled over the open wound, then allowed to melt in, then apply neosporin on top of that.
Zed's been living in the kitchen since this all began.
I'd take him out and hold him up to do his business.
It was touch and go for three weeks of treatment, four weeks from getting rolled in the Fire Ant bed.
And to add insult to injury the ant whelps kicked off a harsh case of Lab Pimples.
But Zed finally turned a corner and started healing up.
Today he is coming along Pretty Darn Good.
I figure another two weeks or so and he'll be able to rejoin the pack.
He started out named Superman but we changed it to Zombie Dog and that got edited down to Zed.
There had been more than enough death around here recently, I was not prepared to let him go quietly into that good night.
Here are the Photos From about a week in, up to today.
If you are faint of heart pass them up!
This was the worst I've seen in a dog.
And I have sewn up several dogs, and doctored snake bites and what not.
Even sewn up one of my dogs fireside in the boonies with fishing line and home made bone needle after an unintended fight with a Russian Boar.
Zed sure is a sweet boy.
And he still has the Fire in him, with a heart as big as his head.
I was worried that the fever and brush with death might have burned his little mind away.
But he is learning quickly, and bouncing around at feeding time, a happy little Puppy.
-gus
