Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.

Blue's Pepper was surrendered over to RMGDRI on Monday, January 21st. Her owner brought her to Alameda East Animal Hospital because she was very sick and she was diagnosed with Parvo. She was unable to afford the medical care Pepper needed and had to make the difficult decision to give her up to save her life.

The doctors were not very optimistic that she would even make it because she was so sick. She was also showing signs of possible secondary pneumonia and was extremely dehydrated, weak, and lethargic. Her stomach was extremely painful and she could barely hold herself upright. We were warned that there was definitely a chance she wasn't going to make it but knew she deserved a chance.

January 23, 2008

As of last night, Dr. McLucas was fairly optimistic about Pepper's condition. She was eating well, not vomiting, and they were able to treat the worms with a dewormer which she kept down. They were doing nebulization and cupage to break up her lungs a bit, but she did not have any goopy discharge and wasn't struggling too hard to breath. She really had perked up quite a bit and she thought she may even be able to go home today.

Unfortunately, however, as of this morning she took a step backwards and has not been eating as well today. The pneumonia has definitely kicked in now and her cough is more pronounced and wet. On a happy note, the diarrhea from the parvo is definitely slowing down so that particular issue is under control. She is walking around some and they are just going to continue with the meds and she will need to remain in ICU overnight. We will re-evaluate in the morning and should have the results of her pending bloodwork soon.

January 25, 2008

AM Update

Miss Pepper is stable, but not making the progress we would have hoped for. She is still in ICU and has had persistent bloody/watery diarrhea for the past 24 hours. Dr. Miller does not believe that it is related to the Parvo though and they are fairly confident that the worms are no longer an issue due to the volume of worms that came out after the dewormer. She is going to do another fecal today to make sure there are no other parasites present. She is losing a lot of water and is a bit depressed, but on a good note, her white blood cell count is completely normal now and they stopped the anti-nausea meds since she is no longer vomiting. They are going to recheck her chemistry panel because her Albumen is a bit low and her liver values were high. We are hoping that her pancreas is just reacting to everything going on, but want to make sure to closely monitor her levels. Pepper is getting stronger physically and is breathing much more comfortably, so at this point they are sort of on the fence as far as when she can go home. She is only eating chicken currently, so I am going to head over and bring her a Rotisserie chicken in just a little bit and hopefully that will lift her spirits!

PM Update

Pepper gobbled up the chicken I brought over with gusto, which was definitely encouraging. However, she has been diagnosed with yet another complication, Pancreatitis, which is secondary to the Parvo, Pneumonia, and Round Worms she has been battling. Her Pancreas is over-reacting and causing her recovery to be slow. Treatment requires resting the Pancreas and avoiding any fat in her diet. They will continue to syringe feed her low residue wet food and she can have more of the white chicken breast as well. Her bloodwork is definitely looking better this afternoon. Her liver values are down and her albumen is up, so we are on the right track. Dr. Miller says that she would like her to stay one more night on fluids, but she should be ready to go to her foster home tomorrow!

February 21, 2008

Blue's Pepper is now fully recovered and went to her forever home with Jessica and Chase in Westminster. They were very excited about their new addition and had a huge crate for her to grow into and a bright pink collar! They look forward to taking her for lots of walks and trips to the dog park. They are also committed to obedience training and will make sure she has everything she needs to live a long and happy life with them. She will be the only dog and spoiled rotten, just like she deserves!