One sick dog :-(
Well I took Kirby (puppy finally has a name!!) to the vet today. He has been having uncontrolled diarrhea since I got him. About 2 hours before my appointment he totally crashed. He was very lethargic and trembling uncontrollably. I took him in early because I was really worried about him. He had a 105.1 tempterature!! (normal is around 101). We did a fecal and he is INFESTED with giardia. REALLY REALLY REALLY bad infection. The vet said his intestines feel really inflamed and thickened. He also has pretty bad kennel cough. We sent some bloodwork to the lab because the vet was worried about his fever. Kennel cough doesn't really cause a fever so he isn't sure if the fever is from the giardia or if he has something else going on. He kept asking me over and over and over if he is vomting so I am thinking he was maybe suspecting parvo due to the thickened intestines, severe lethargy (today), and high fever. So glad I was able to report no vomit! I am really really frustrated with the rescue though. Just frustrated that I had an application in to Kern Animal Control where I could have got him for around $60, but instead the rescue pulled him "to prevent him from getting sick" and then charged me $375, and now look where we are! I'm $300 poorer and my poor baby is still incredibly sick! Also, the rescue posted a new dog for adoption yesterday that they had just finished treating for kennel cough! I want to tell her how I feel about this but need to find a constructive way of venting my frustrations to her. I know they can't control who gets sick and who doesn't, but to pull a safe dog and use the excuse of preventing disease, and then adopt him to a new home loaded with giardia and sick sick sick is just a bit ridiculous. They didn't even do a fecal or a heartworm test on him and he was supposed to come with 30 days health insurance but she made no mention of that at all when she gave him to me (not to mention didn't give me his rabies vaccine certificate or tell me how to register his microchip!) And he is less than a year old and she said he is fine with just one DHPP vaccine, when ANYWHERE I've ever worked and EVERYTHING I've ever learned about the immune system and how vaccines work say you have to have at least one booster for almost all the dog vaccines (there are a few exceptions but DHPP is NOT one of them). Just so frustrated with all of my dealings with this rescue and its so sad to see Kirby so sick :-(
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Zigward & Kimberly on
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That is AWFUL!
If I were you, when you contact them to let out your frustration, you should ask about the health insurance and all of those records-that's beyond irresponsible to have let that happen-on the rescues part:/
POOR KIRBY!!:( I hope he is feeling better or at least starting to!
I like his name, by the way, I think it suits him, his face looks like a Kirby kind of face:P
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Feel better soon Kirby! So sorry you have to go through this Melissa.
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Permalink Reply by Shou on
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Sorry to hear about that, Melissa. That's awful. :( But I'm glad you were able to take Kirby home. (Was actually wondering the other day whether you had gotten him.) I hope he feels better soon. And I would definitely talk to that rescue. Especially if he was suppose to come with the 30 day health insurance.
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on
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Hope he gets better soon... Like others have said, I would talk to them about the insurance. Is it in writing anywhere (even on their web page) that you get 30 days? If so, there's your argument.
The ones that need medical help do know how to find you. First Franklin with all of his bills, then Kirby comes along and he too has to have some starting medical bills. Sigh... They just cant be "easy" can they?
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Yes it is on their webpage as part of what you are supposed to get with the adoption fee. Luckily I was able to get around some of the bills for Kirby since I took him to my school, but bloodwork to the lab and medication are always expensive and I will have to send a fecal sample to the lab in 3 weeks after I am done with his giardia treatment. Not to mention if Frank gets sick too :-( I mentioned to the rescue how sick he was and she blamed it on when he went to get neutered which I know is TOTAL bull. I want to e-mail back and say "very unlikely, more likely he got it from your kennel cough dog you have been treating!"
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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Oh hon, I am so sorry you're having to deal with all this! I'm glad you've got him and things will get better. We're all rooting for you. I would definitely go back to the rescue and get a copy of his records AND the rabies cert and other stuff. Bug them about the insurance, too. It's hard to imagine that a fecal and HW weren't done (they're simple and cheap). Just one DHPP sounds awfully odd to me, too.
Giardia is easily treatable, though, so don't lose heart! He seriously should've been checked for that by the rescue, but thankfully you have him now and he's in good hands!
If you need help with the vet bills (and the rescue doesn't come through) you could try the chip-in things like Corgi Pals or one of those?
For registering the microchip, the rescue should've given you the chip paper so that you can get onto the site and get Kirby registered.
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Maybe Corgi Aid also????
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I've got the medical bills covered ok (well actually I dont know what they are yet! Lol), but I don't expect them to be too high at this point since we did most of it at my school. Its likely mostly going to be the bloodwork and meds which shouldn't be too horribly expensive (remember I have Franklin the million dollar dog so a couple hundred dollars is chump change! LOL!). Also they will let me make payments if further treatment is needed and it gets more expensive.
I figured out how to register the chip but it was such a pain and they kept sending me in circles saying it wasn't working or the chip wasn't the right number and all this. I think I figured it out though.
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Give the rescue a piece of your mind. Really. It's inexcusable to be doing what they do under the guise of acting in the animals' best interests.
Side note: is Franklin safe from all of this? I'm not sure how any of those diseases can be transmitted, and I assume that Kirby and Frank have had close contact over the period you've had the former.
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all of the diseases are highly contagious and both Franklin and my two cats can get them :-( Luckily my cats aren't in very close contact with Kirby though so getting the kennel cough is unlikely, but the doctor said his giardia load was so high he probably has spores all over him so any shared drinking water, and even me just petting him, can spread the disease. I'm freaking out a little that I might get it too because I don't wash my hads EVERY time I pet him! I am hoping the vet was overexaggerating a bit and since the pup has been so good about potty training I'm hoping that the giardia is confined mostly to outside and I've been bleaching the patio anyway bc having him go potty so much on there grosses me out lol.
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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on
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I am so sorry that you and Kirby have to go through this. :( I hope he recovers quickly and becomes a happy little guy again! And I also hope he doesn't end up with whatever infection tends to follow giardia (I can't remember what it was called, but Yuki ended up with it after his giardia infection and it caused even more diarrhea.)
I would definitely contact that rescue and explain the situation. Be polite and calm, or at least as calm as you can be. If the rescue starts giving you a hard time or refuses to give you the microchip information/health insurance, then is there some sort of regulating body that you can contact regarding that particular rescue? I love that rescues exist and they are vital for saving dogs that would otherwise not have a chance, but I do not like to see rescues that are engaging in risky behavior. Not testing all of their animals prior to adoption or putting ill or recovering animals up for adoption (without stating that they are ill or recovering from something) is unacceptable in my book.
Like you had stated way back at the beginning, it seems like they were looking to actually turn a profit from Kirby rather than looking to save a dog that needed to be saved. And since they didn't bother to spend money on testing or (my opinion) a proper exam to ensure he was healthy, they basically spent $60 and then raked in a profit.
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If you look at ALL of their pets up for adoption right now you can tell they aren't out to save a dog, but rather out for profit. Most of their dogs are young or puppies and almost all are purebreds. Their most recent dogs are a maltese puppy, a yorkie/shi tzu puppy, a wheaten mix puppy.....you get the picture....Highly doubtful that these highly sought after breeds are actually "at risk".
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