SHANGRI-LA AGAINST ALL ODDS "TROOPER"
This is Trooper at 5 weeks of age.
A promising young man!
Trooper's Diary
This diary is an account of the struggle of our little Boston Baby, now dubbed Trooper, and his valiant fight to survive.
Please note that through out this account, pictures that may be disturbing to some, are included.
We felt it was important to tell his entire tale so that everyone could see how amazing his story is. Words alone could not convey his struggle. The above photo is Trooper at 5 weeks, before his ordeal began.
On February 18, 2004 our 7 week old Boston puppies, were the next victims to come down with the malady that had already claimed 6 of our dogs. Lab reports had not come back in so we still did not know what we were dealing with. We tested the two Boston puppies for parvo as we had done all the rest and again the test was negative.
We already knew that aggressive fluid therapy was devastating so we administered fluid via the subQ route. We tried to establish an IV line, but were unsuccessful.
At clinic closing time , I packed my survivors and all their medical paraphernalia and headed home.
During the night, the girl seemed to rally but the boy continued to decline. The meds for the diarrhea and vomiting had little effect at first. Again I was up all night monitoring him and the other still critical schnauzer puppy.
I continued to administer SubQ fluids to the 3 puppies every few hours through the night.
The schnauzer puppy and the girl boston tolerated the procedure well, however the boy fought and cried every time. I felt like such an ogre!
By morning, his vomiting had subsided but he still was leaking almost pure blood from his rear. I arrived back at the hospital when Dr N was due to arrive.
He checked him over and sent me home. He had nothing further he could do for us, it was up to my perseverance and the pup’s will to live.....
On Friday, 2/20, the boy had declined and was much weaker. I had quit giving SubQ fluids because he was not absorbing them as usual and he screamed so badly when I did it. I was syringing water or Karo or pedialyte into him every 2 hours. I was trying just to keep him hydrated at this point and the Karo was to keep his blood sugar levels up.
Back at the vets again and this time I requested they give him a unit of whole blood that was still available from the others earlier in the week. His gums and lips ,by then, were paper white. I felt it was worth a try and Dr N agreed. We also weighed him. A dismal 2 pounds.
This time we were able to establish an IV line and he was given the transfusion. You could see his lips and gums pinking up as he received the whole blood! I was much encouraged by these signs, even though he was quite critical still. He mostly just lied there, not moving and only opening his eyes when prodded.
We left the IV catheter in place and we were able , then, to administer the protein restoring HetaStarch for fluid therapy. He was given an IV antibiotic. Also, I could give 50% dextrose directly and Ringers a little at a time. Syringing fluids was not efficient and I was in danger of giving him aspiration pneumonia when he fought me.
Back home we went with all his drugs and fluids saying lots of prayers.
Saturday 2/21/04 AM: He seems stronger, standing up for short periods of time. I continued with the injecting Heta and Glucose via his catheter every 2 hrs.
Sunday 2/22/04 He is much stronger, standing up for longer periods. He has started to bruise in different areas of his body, especially his ears. Also the base of them have become quite swollen.
He also has a large swelling on his left side just behind his elbow and over his ribcage.
He is extremely yellow. His skin, the whites of his eyes, his gums. Jaundice has set in from the transfusion.
When he urinated, it was a deep yellow, almost orange.
LATE Sunday PM: I went to give him his IV injections and found his vein has collapsed and I could no longer use the catheter. I removed it and went back to trying to syringe strained baby meat, puppy formula, water, Karo, ANYTHING to help him get stronger.
MONDAY 2/23/04 9:15 AM Back to animal hospital. Weight up to 2# 1 oz. small progress. I request that a nasal gastric tube be inserted so I can feed him without having to fight him and maybe causing aspiration pneumonia. Though skeptical, they comply. He is still quite jaundiced, but am assured this is normal after a transfusion.
Noon: Gave 4cc formula, 2cc Karo, 2cc water. WOW what a difference the NG tube makes! Attach syringe, FEED!
TUESDAY 2-24-04: NG tube feeding going well. Alternating between distilled water, Karo, puppy formula. The strained baby food, NutralCal too thick for the thin tube. Clogged it up and had to return to the hospital. Put in new tube. Won’t do THAT again! Weight 2# 1 oz.
Still worried about the swelling on ears, side. Docs tried to aspirate, but no fluid drawn out.
FRIDAY 2-27-04 Not much has changed during the week. Tube feeding going very well. Trooper, as we now call him is holding his own. I have informed him that he has a name, he WILL stick around! Return to the hospital for a weight check. Still 2# 1 oz. His ears are starting to crack open. Looks and smells awful. Docs say the skin will more than likely fall off. The tissue is necrotic. Get instructions on "debriding" much like a burn patient. As ugly as it all looks, Trooper does not seem to be in pain.
SATURDAY 2-28-04 PROGRESS! I heard a noise in Trooper’s crate and looked in. He was drinking water from his coop cup! Offered him some strained baby meat. He licked a little of it, about a teaspoon. Continued his tube nourishment.
SUNDAY 2-29-04 Trooper continues to try and take water, nourishment on his own.
PM: Trooper has removed his NG tube and refuses to allow me to re insert it . Afraid he will not take enough nourishment on his own, so will also syringe him.
MONDAY 3-1-04 1AM: Checked on Trooper before leaving for work. Weaker, nystigmas in eyes (rapid jerky eye movement). Bob offers to bring all papers for our paper routes back to house so I can monitor. Minutes after he leaves, Trooper starts to seize. Goes into respiratory arrest. I perform puppy CPR and "restart" him. His condition makes me think hypoglycemia. I administer 6 CC Karo syrup orally.
2 AM: Trooper much stronger, eyes back to normal. Ate a little baby food, NutriCal.
Seems the crisis is over. Bob returns with the newspapers for delivery and I felt "safe" enough to leave him for a few hours.
9:30 AM Trooper showing no signs of his ordeal earlier. Have been giving the Karo evey 2 hours. Return to the hospital to see if we can reinsert NG tube. No luck. As soon as it is in, he takes his paws and scratches it out. His ears are too bad to try and fashion an E collar.
Skin has started to fall off the base of his ears and his cheeks. The smell is awful.
Have no choice now but to hope we can get enough nourishment in him orally. He STILL weighs 2# 1 oz.
TUESDAY 3-2-04 Trooper’s ears look like raw hamburger. The skin has fallen off. Am washing the area twice daily , flushing with peroxide and using an antifungal drop(Lotrimin for athlete foot ) and Gentocin eye drops . Using drops as docs don’t want an ointment to cover up the open wound.
FRIDAY 3-5-04 The big spot on Troopers rib cage has started to slough off. It is a smelly, nasty rotting mess. I cannot handle it.
Return to hospital and have Dr Mac remove the hunk of tissue, skin.
The area is about the circumference of a baby food jar. His weight today is 2# 3 oz. He gained 2 oz this week.
This is first time Dr N had seen Trooper since the NG tube was inserted. He is amazed he is still alive. Tells me the day we did the tube he gave him less than 10% chance of survival. (did not TELL me at the time as not to upset me)
Now says he’s at least 50-50. This "revelation" gives me Troopers "official" name for registration: SHANGRI-LA AGAINST ALL ODDS!
They sent me home with a spray called GRANULEX for his open wounds. I am to spray that on before debriding and set for 10 minutes. Supposed to help remove the necrotic flesh. Then supposed to debride and do the drops like I have been. I ask about suturing the sore and told it will close on its own eventually. I’m the skeptical one now!
TUESDAY 3-9-04 : AM Trooper is 9 weeks old today. Took him by the hospital for a weigh- in. 2# 6 oz. Another 3 oz gain! He has a few more swellings popping up on his body. Dr N says these, too, will probably slough. They are much smaller areas than the ears, rib cage spots, thank goodness. But when will it all end? Why is it happening? Dr N is not sure.
PM I worked on the swelling on his left front leg, just above where his IV had been. It ruptured and he screamed and cried! Well actually that was a good thing. This was an abscess, not another patch of necrotic flesh. He had feeling there. I drained it, flushed it and injected some of the Gentocin drops in it. It should heal well without tissue loss.
Let him play with his sister a little today. He seemed happy to be out and about again.
TUESDAY 3/16/04: Check up day. He is 10 weeks today. The ears are scabbing over. The other spots over his kidney area sloughed off a day or so ago. He is up to 2# 14 oz. I’ve gone from 5 feedings a day to 3. He started to get loose stool again from so much food.
THURSDAY 3-18-04 Went to University Of Florida Vet School for the puppies’ CERF and BAER exams. Everyone passed with flying colors! They had a little trouble attaching the thingy to Trooper’s deformed right ear base, but managed to get it well enough for a reading. One tech took he and Cameo back for the test, 4 returned with him (20 minutes later!) All wanting to be on the "short list" to adopt him.
TUESDAY 3/23/04: 11 weeks today! Weigh-in at vet- he is 3# 2 oz YIPPEEE! he passed the 3 pound mark! His large open sore on his ribs is closing on it’s own. I am amazed. The scabbing is coming off the ears and showing nice pink healthy tissue. However, he has formed adhesions and his right ear is "stuck" to the side of his head and the left can only lift to the side. Dr N said he should be able to release those adhesions later on and crop the bad stuff out. He actually thinks we can make Trooper look fairly normal. OH! His bloodwork was done today.......all back to normal!
TUESDAY 3-30-04 12 weeks. This was his final "check-up" with Dr N and Dr Mac.
3# 9 oz. He is gaining weight and strength at a steady pace. I moved his baby crate back into the puppy room. He is out of danger and can resume his "normal" puppy routine.
We will return to Dr N when Trooper has reached that "magic" 5# mark to see about scheduling his ear repairs.
WEDNESDAY 4-7-04 Trooper was 3 months old yesterday He weighed in at 4#10 oz! 5# is getting closer and closer. I drove to Perry to deliver Cameo to her new owners at the Peach Blossom Shows. I celebrated his 3 month milestone with a photo shoot. He really took some adorable pictures. Hard to believe looking at the newest pictures that just one month ago (3-5) is when that BIG hunk of skin fell off his ribcage.
APRIL 16, 2004 2 months now have passed since the dogs became ill. Trooper went today for his "ear repair" in hopes we can crop the scars out and he can still see the show ring.
One ear looks good, the other is in doubt. At least the surgery released the bad ear enough that I can now gain access to the ear canal and clean it.
EPILOGUE:
Trooper continues to grow at a normal rate now. His basic obedience training is going well. He is VERY intelligent and catches on quickly! Other than the few visible scars from his ordeal, he is a normal, healthy active Boston Boy. The ear repair was only half successful, scarring still prevents his right ear from standing. Dr. N said we could try a little more surgery, but I think he's been through enough.
Final lab reports from the necropsies and tissue samples indicated no virus. All that was found was an overgrowth of the bacteria E. Coli. What caused it , we can only speculate.Our belief is that it was contaminated ground beef. One of those prepackaged 5 pound chubs. We did not retain packaging and could not proove our theory, however, a recall came out 2 weeks after our ordeal.
We fed BARF(RAW) for more than 6 years. We never had a prior problem. However, after this tragedy, we now choose to cook our dogs' food.
Our vets and those at U of FL think that perhaps the young age of the dogs affected worst was due to the immature immune systems. Some of our older dogs had minor bouts with loose stool, but nothing major. The puppies could not mount a defence, however. All were under 3 months of age.
In all, 9 of our dogs became seriously ill, we lost 6, and Trooper is our miracle. Even the vets at University of Florida Vet School cannot believe he survived. He was the most critical of all the dogs affected. Also, we learned that the skin sloughing was where the E.Coli had gone systemic. Every place we broke Trooper's skin with a needle, it became infected, from the INSIDE! .
As much as we have been through with Trooper, we now have to make a HARD decision. Trooper will be placed up for "adoption". Since we are unable to salvage a show career, and all our current gals are very closely related to him, we feel he will flourish in a new home as a beloved companion.
