Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What is wrong with puppy Scarlet?





" I want to run, I want to go chase my ball-ball, but I can't"(Sniffles)
"I got an ouchie," ( More sniffles)

Scarlet, the labrador puppy ( who could be Koy-Koy's girlfriend) tearfully complained to the Animal Doctor when she was brought by her mom and dad to Greenwoods Pet Clinic. A month before that, Scarlet's toe was caught in the slats of her cage which caused her to go limping. Scarlet was not seen by a veterinarian until she lost control of her two hind legs and her muscles shrunk. Poor Scarlet could not do anything but lie on her tummy. She also started having fewer and fewer bowel movements until she had none at all and her tummy became so distended.

The Animal Doctor ordered an abdominal x-ray but he did not see any foreign object that might have caused a blockage and prevented the passage of stool. He also performed a lavage on the colon but no stool came out. Next, he ordered for Scarlet's CBC (complete blood count) and platelet count and check for the pup's liver and kidney function too, but results came back normal.


We waited and waited for Scarlet to make a bowel movement. Even the Animal Doctor was seeing a pile of golden poop in his dreams at night. He decided he will worry about the puppy's paralysis later because he was far more concerned that Scarlet may die from the toxins her body is unable t0 excrete.

The week ended without Scarlet making a bowel movement; the Animal Doctor needed to open Scarlet's tummy. The additional bad news, however, was that Scarlet's parents could not spend for her operation and they opted to just bring her home.

The Animal Doctor felt so sorry for Scarlet. When her parents were about to sign the waiver (to the discharge of patient against the veterinarian's recommendation) the Animal Doctor decided to perform the surgery even if Scarlet's parents did not pay him. The Secretary thought he had gone crazy and boy, was she totally pleased about it.

So last night, after nearly two weeks without any bowel movement and against Sweepy's advice ( because it was on a full moon) Scarlet underwent exploratory laparotomy.

Scarlet still feeling woozy after surgery

Like the xray suggested, the Animal Doctor did not find any foreign object or tumor inside Scarlet's tummy. He did, however, find Scarlet's colon filled with feces and took a plateful out!

Having done with surgery, the Animal Doctor is convinced that Scarlet's lack of bowel movement is due to a loss of neuro-muscular reflex in her colon that could be associated with the paralysis of her hind legs.

This morning, Scarlet defecated on her own, but it remains to be seen if this apparent improvement will continue in the days to come and we will no longer have to worry about Scarlet dying from toxemia.

But we have not solved the mystery of Scarlet's paralysis. It will take more confirmatory test before the Animal Doctor could determine its cause and make a prognosis.

In the meantine, the Secretary is wracking her brains how to make a home made wheely.

Secretary's Note: Scarlet's surgery (estimated at PhP 8,000)was made possible through our Indigent Animal Patient's Fund to which my dear friend Noreen and husband Lito have made a substantial donation this year. Thank you so much Nors and Tolitz, from the bottom of my heart!




8 comments:

  1. Of course I, Koykoy, will be more than happy to have a pretty doggy GF like Scarlet. Meantime, i'll be channelling all of my doggie powers to have my manong design a doggie wheel chair for her. I hope her bowel movement becomes regular.

    We love you Scarlet. Stay strong. All the dogs and kitties in the Ilonggo House are praying for you.

    Btw, Mommy Secretary, my manang wishes to copy this post in exchange for some of my drooly kurukukoy kisses. Will that be okay with you?

    Akikoy

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  2. oh, aki, it is so kind of your manong to even think of constructing a wheely for scarlet in case she survives. she is not out of the woods yet,we are bracing ourselves against post op complications, among others. but we are hoping against hope she will pull it through, survive, and live a normal life. ive seen a dog with amputated front legs and he lives a normal life, perhaps even more meaningful than that of a dog who is on all four limbs or a human with both legs and arms!

    -the Secretary

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  3. Woofy!
    Thank you AnimalDoctor for such a generous act! You are MySuperDoc and together with your Secretary (my girlfriend) you will be etched in my drool. . . for life! And more importantly, you operated on a full moon(it must be bloody!)and managed it!

    Waaah, Scarlet. Take that poo out and live and be Koy-Koy's GF. What mushy tale. And b4 I say anything stupid, I'm out of here!

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  4. Thanks for the well wishes for Scarlet, Sweepy! Actually, the Animal Doc would have postponed the surgery if he could but he was running out of time. He wanted to do it before any infection sets in. Prior to the surgery, he requested for another blood test and got a result that Scarlet's blood count and platelets are more than adequate. So he proceeded. We are still praying for Scarlet. :)

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  5. I am a good friend of Casper D Dog and came to visit your blog.

    Noreen and Lito are wonderful to help out with the patient's medical fund. And Yay to the Animal Doctor who was going to perform the surgery even if Scarlet's parents did not pay him.

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  6. hi hana! we are so happy that you visited our blog. we have read your blog from way back, but we were a bit shy to ask you to be our friend.

    we hope you can be our friend? we would like to add you to our list of favorite blogs.

    hugs and kisses,

    The Secretary

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  7. We are thrilled that the Animal Doctor performed that surgery, and that your friends helped fund it. Scarlett is lucky to have found you good people. I hope she'll be able to get around on a wheely. That's mysterious what happened to her spine. It reminds me of what happened to my mom's Uncle Sammi (schnauzer) last winter. He lost use of his back legs too, but the doctors couldn't identify the exact cause. Hopefully you'll be able to get Scarlett's legs working with some rehab.

    T-man's mom, CC-man and T-man Angel

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  8. Hi T-man's Mom, yes I remember reading about Uncle Sammi's paralysis. We are waiting for Scarlet to fully recover from her surgery before we start rehab or pursue other options for her legs. The wound in her tummy is not healing as fast as it should because it gets soiled by her urine ( she is lying on her stomach most of the time).

    We are not so sure if Scarlet's humans will take her home. If not, we will end up taking care of a dog with special needs. I cannot even imagine it. But this puppy's eyes are brimming with zest for life ( if she can move her hind legs, she'd be bouncing off the wall now), I don't think the Animal Doctor would have the heart to put her to sleep. :(

    -the Secretary

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