Hello all! I am Roxanne's mother, and my name is Noelle. Roxanne has a father, Thomas and two sisters, Hope and Olivia. Rox also has two feline family members named Erma and Pandora.
Our story begins in Winter. We live in Ohio and our winter was non existent this year. We were looking for a house and decided that we would add a dog to our family. My last dog, Gretchen, (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/pic011409_6.jpg) died in December last year, from old age and probably gastric distress that was sudden and fatal. Gretchen was a Katrina rescue and a GREAT dog!
I have large breed experience and am not a huge fan of smaller dogs, although I find all dogs irresistibly adorable.
We set out as a family to find a dog that was well suited for us. I was originally focusing my family on English bulldogs and boxers. After many go rounds with "ethical breeders" I found that they were anything but, and decided that unless there was a bullie at the dog shelter, we weren't getting one.
We spent many weekends and weekdays after work searching for the right dog.
We took our girls to make sure the dog was well tempered and a good fit, but we had to make sure the dog was safe to have with our cats, also. We probably visited with 6- 9 dogs before we met Roxanne.
We adopted Roxanne from Colony Cats, a rescue organization in Dublin, Ohio.
They have 40 or so dogs, all in private foster. Roxanne is a Bulloxer (boxer-bulldog mix) and was currently living in a house with 5 other dogs. She spent a good deal of her time outdoors playing with them.
We met Rox at Colony Cats, which is a "free roaming" shelter with about 200 cats just hanging out being cats. She walked through all those cats and didn't even care, so we knew that wasn't going to be a problem. We spent about 2 hours with her and arranged to take her that weekend for a trial in our home. I took her to the vet that same Saturday.
Initial visit with vet, Roxanne is 11 months old at time of visit (a guess) and 54 pounds. Her skin is terrible, dull, she is dirty and full of sores and hot spots from dog fights and allergies. She is dosed with 15 days of antibiotics that she (the vet) wants her to have 4 times a day (now I know this is a boxer red flag). We also started a prescription anti-microbial shampoo. Her initial visit was 200.00 plus 40 or 50 for the meds.
We dose her, and her skin clears up.
We begin regular life, we go to the dog park 5 days a week and spent at least one hour there. She loves the other dogs and is the fastest dog in the park. Somewhere on week two she jumps in the water and swims on her own and in the third week she completes all but one obstacle on the agility course. She is very smart.
Week 4 at the dog park there is a scuffle, and a pack of dogs converges and trips my partner, who trips and steps on Roxanne's paw. Broken. 500 dollar ER visit and a cast that needs changed every three days (at 200 a pop) for the next 4 weeks.
Cast/Wrap VS Roxanne's Skin = Disaster
She immediately got hives, rashes and hot spots from the tape and bandage. (Many Hundreds more dollars) to change the bandage every other day for two weeks....
At week 3 + 4 days, I told the vet that I was ready to remove the splint because it was doing farm more harm than good. The fracture wasn’t a true fracture it was a tear, and she was walking on it when we removed the spoon at changes. I would come home to the Kennel (I don’t kennel my animals regularly) where she had been spending her life morning and evening as the vet wanted her immobile, and she would be bleeding form sores on her paw from the tape/bandage. We weighed the risks (my vet is understanding and worked out some financial deal with me because the vet bills were out of control at this point) and decided to remove the spoon, and she fully recovered within the weekend.
Enter round two of antibiotics for the yeast infection the spoon gave her, this time 4 times a day for a month…. And a treatment which I stopped giving her last week when… I came home to her having had explosive diarrhea in her kennel.
My dog never has accidents in the house, with the exception of one time, which was my fault completely. She pooped in her kennel and the smell was so bad I could smell it outside my house. This began the colitis, explosive poop that was happening every 45 minutes to an hour. I called the vet the next morning when her morning poop produced red blood. Thomas and I had to take the next few days off work to take her out every hour or so to have this liquid, smelly poop.
The vet tested for Giardia, and I believe it was a false positive. The test strip indicated, but the indication was barely visible. We treated for Giardia anyway, and thus began a 5 day vomit fest. (500 dollar vet bill)
At the Giardia diagnosis we began an Imodium-like drug (2 caps, twice a day), a Probiotic, and Metronidazole – Plus, ID canned food (which she will not eat), oh, and anti puke drugs, which also had no effect.
So, poop on the even hour, puke on the odd hour, every day until yesterday, when I took the afternoon off because I can see my dogs hips. She has lost 2 pounds in 7 days from the decrease in food, puking and pooping. She never saw a decreased water or food intake (and is always hungry, even now)
(I should mention that I spent about 100 hours during this giardia treatment reading these boards and consulting with vets that work at my University)
I registered yesterday to put this post out for everyone to read because I didn’t find the answers I was looking for about these questions:
How long should my dogs continue to have symptoms of Giardia?
Why is my dog vomiting just a few kibbles and acid without retching?
I can’t say that I have answers to either of these questions, but through research I have learned the Giardia can go on for months, because it can be chronic.
My vet told me to give her ompeprozole *prevacid* for the belly…. But I never did
So as of this morning at 5 AM she hasn’t vomited or regurgitated in over 20 hours AND she had a solid poop at 5:30
What did I do, you may ask yourself?
1) I stopped giving her drugs (the giardia treatment was over)
2) I started mixing her probiotic in cottage cheese (I want her to gain weight)
3) I started her on the raw food diet, without hesitation
I just wanted to post this because I felt so alone and hopeless in certain moments. I feared my precious girl would ultimately have to be put down as she continued to suffer. I found comfort in reading other families woes here on this forum.
I know now that I always need to keep some probiotic on hand, and I know that the raw diet is right for Roxanne. The true test will be her coat. I WAS feeding her Innova, and her coat looked amazing, but her GI problems brought me to the raw diet decision point. I am going to take some photos of her next month and we shall see how amazing she looks then.
In closing I just wanted to thank all the people in my life that prayed for our girl and our family when she became so ill.
I also want to thank my vet, who probably thinks I’m the most obnoxious dog owner that questions every little thing she says, for putting up with my dog, making arrangements with me so I didn’t have to make horrible decisions, and being committed to making the best decisions for our Roxanne.
Some photos....
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/Roxcast.jpg
(When she broke her paw)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/dd8ad694.jpg
(with the girls)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/Rox3.jpg
(with Dad)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/25259108.jpg
(The love of her life)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b...1289290322_80100161_31148956_1738427723_n.jpg
(yesterday)
Our story begins in Winter. We live in Ohio and our winter was non existent this year. We were looking for a house and decided that we would add a dog to our family. My last dog, Gretchen, (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/pic011409_6.jpg) died in December last year, from old age and probably gastric distress that was sudden and fatal. Gretchen was a Katrina rescue and a GREAT dog!
I have large breed experience and am not a huge fan of smaller dogs, although I find all dogs irresistibly adorable.
We set out as a family to find a dog that was well suited for us. I was originally focusing my family on English bulldogs and boxers. After many go rounds with "ethical breeders" I found that they were anything but, and decided that unless there was a bullie at the dog shelter, we weren't getting one.
We spent many weekends and weekdays after work searching for the right dog.
We took our girls to make sure the dog was well tempered and a good fit, but we had to make sure the dog was safe to have with our cats, also. We probably visited with 6- 9 dogs before we met Roxanne.
We adopted Roxanne from Colony Cats, a rescue organization in Dublin, Ohio.
They have 40 or so dogs, all in private foster. Roxanne is a Bulloxer (boxer-bulldog mix) and was currently living in a house with 5 other dogs. She spent a good deal of her time outdoors playing with them.
We met Rox at Colony Cats, which is a "free roaming" shelter with about 200 cats just hanging out being cats. She walked through all those cats and didn't even care, so we knew that wasn't going to be a problem. We spent about 2 hours with her and arranged to take her that weekend for a trial in our home. I took her to the vet that same Saturday.
Initial visit with vet, Roxanne is 11 months old at time of visit (a guess) and 54 pounds. Her skin is terrible, dull, she is dirty and full of sores and hot spots from dog fights and allergies. She is dosed with 15 days of antibiotics that she (the vet) wants her to have 4 times a day (now I know this is a boxer red flag). We also started a prescription anti-microbial shampoo. Her initial visit was 200.00 plus 40 or 50 for the meds.
We dose her, and her skin clears up.
We begin regular life, we go to the dog park 5 days a week and spent at least one hour there. She loves the other dogs and is the fastest dog in the park. Somewhere on week two she jumps in the water and swims on her own and in the third week she completes all but one obstacle on the agility course. She is very smart.
Week 4 at the dog park there is a scuffle, and a pack of dogs converges and trips my partner, who trips and steps on Roxanne's paw. Broken. 500 dollar ER visit and a cast that needs changed every three days (at 200 a pop) for the next 4 weeks.
Cast/Wrap VS Roxanne's Skin = Disaster
She immediately got hives, rashes and hot spots from the tape and bandage. (Many Hundreds more dollars) to change the bandage every other day for two weeks....
At week 3 + 4 days, I told the vet that I was ready to remove the splint because it was doing farm more harm than good. The fracture wasn’t a true fracture it was a tear, and she was walking on it when we removed the spoon at changes. I would come home to the Kennel (I don’t kennel my animals regularly) where she had been spending her life morning and evening as the vet wanted her immobile, and she would be bleeding form sores on her paw from the tape/bandage. We weighed the risks (my vet is understanding and worked out some financial deal with me because the vet bills were out of control at this point) and decided to remove the spoon, and she fully recovered within the weekend.
Enter round two of antibiotics for the yeast infection the spoon gave her, this time 4 times a day for a month…. And a treatment which I stopped giving her last week when… I came home to her having had explosive diarrhea in her kennel.
My dog never has accidents in the house, with the exception of one time, which was my fault completely. She pooped in her kennel and the smell was so bad I could smell it outside my house. This began the colitis, explosive poop that was happening every 45 minutes to an hour. I called the vet the next morning when her morning poop produced red blood. Thomas and I had to take the next few days off work to take her out every hour or so to have this liquid, smelly poop.
The vet tested for Giardia, and I believe it was a false positive. The test strip indicated, but the indication was barely visible. We treated for Giardia anyway, and thus began a 5 day vomit fest. (500 dollar vet bill)
At the Giardia diagnosis we began an Imodium-like drug (2 caps, twice a day), a Probiotic, and Metronidazole – Plus, ID canned food (which she will not eat), oh, and anti puke drugs, which also had no effect.
So, poop on the even hour, puke on the odd hour, every day until yesterday, when I took the afternoon off because I can see my dogs hips. She has lost 2 pounds in 7 days from the decrease in food, puking and pooping. She never saw a decreased water or food intake (and is always hungry, even now)
(I should mention that I spent about 100 hours during this giardia treatment reading these boards and consulting with vets that work at my University)
I registered yesterday to put this post out for everyone to read because I didn’t find the answers I was looking for about these questions:
How long should my dogs continue to have symptoms of Giardia?
Why is my dog vomiting just a few kibbles and acid without retching?
I can’t say that I have answers to either of these questions, but through research I have learned the Giardia can go on for months, because it can be chronic.
My vet told me to give her ompeprozole *prevacid* for the belly…. But I never did
So as of this morning at 5 AM she hasn’t vomited or regurgitated in over 20 hours AND she had a solid poop at 5:30
What did I do, you may ask yourself?
1) I stopped giving her drugs (the giardia treatment was over)
2) I started mixing her probiotic in cottage cheese (I want her to gain weight)
3) I started her on the raw food diet, without hesitation
I just wanted to post this because I felt so alone and hopeless in certain moments. I feared my precious girl would ultimately have to be put down as she continued to suffer. I found comfort in reading other families woes here on this forum.
I know now that I always need to keep some probiotic on hand, and I know that the raw diet is right for Roxanne. The true test will be her coat. I WAS feeding her Innova, and her coat looked amazing, but her GI problems brought me to the raw diet decision point. I am going to take some photos of her next month and we shall see how amazing she looks then.
In closing I just wanted to thank all the people in my life that prayed for our girl and our family when she became so ill.
I also want to thank my vet, who probably thinks I’m the most obnoxious dog owner that questions every little thing she says, for putting up with my dog, making arrangements with me so I didn’t have to make horrible decisions, and being committed to making the best decisions for our Roxanne.
Some photos....
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/Roxcast.jpg
(When she broke her paw)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/dd8ad694.jpg
(with the girls)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/Rox3.jpg
(with Dad)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b128/galfromohio/25259108.jpg
(The love of her life)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b...1289290322_80100161_31148956_1738427723_n.jpg
(yesterday)
