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I am not a dog rescuer, I do not work for a rescue or a shelter, I just saw a facebook post and wanted to help. If anyone wants to throw advice at me trust me it's appreciated! Day Zero This was posted in a local lost & found facebook group. Edited for the posters privacy. This was posted on a Tuesday, temperatures have been in the high 80s for the last week. quote:Looking for advice for what to do next. I was .... when .... asked me for help with her neighbor's dogs. The neighbors went to .... on [previous Saturday] and left their four dogs in the backyard with no food or water. The woman was throwing food over the fence for them, but all four dogs are covered in fleas and ticks, and the puppies are severely emaciated and lethargic. She can't get water over the fence because of the height of the fence, and she doesn't know when the owners will be back. She included these photos Dad   Mom & dad  Pup 1 looking in empty food bowl  Pup 2 lying beside empty water bowl  This was posted around 10pm and I was getting ready to go to bed. I don't really know how to describe the feeling I had, I think my brain just kind of broke. How do you go on when you know there are four creatures in the process of slowly dying a few miles from your home and it's preventable. I went upstairs and just kind of sat down on the floor beside my husband, I didn't really know what to say. I showed him the post on my phone. We agreed we had to get them water at least. I contacted the original poster, confirmed that animal control and the law enforcement officer wanted someone to go there and give the animals food and water, and asked her for the address. For the privacy of the owners and their family I'm not going to say a lot about what happened when we got there. We were able to get in touch with a family member via a neighbor who in turn got the owners on the phone. They agreed to surrender the animals and we said we would take the dogs to an ER vet. At this point we weren't sure if either puppy was still alive. We gathered up the four dogs, I've never seen anything like it. I've seen ticks before but not like this, dad's back was a solid blanket of them. The puppies had them everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of them. Mom had the least, they were only in her ears, armpits, and on her anus. We found out later that this was because dad would pick the ticks off the mom and pups on places he could reach, when we first got to the vets he sat there and groomed mom. These pictures are disturbing. I hope I am tagging this correctly, these are probably not work safe for the most part Puppies  http://i.imgur.com/4oRTvNf.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/zOJ7OKA.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/JbDYtGz.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ZymxJMw.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/CTrPgmh.jpgMom & dad both had collars that were cutting into their necks, fortunately they were able to be removed without surgery.  http://i.imgur.com/qy6QZ51.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/nI1ZJ0V.jpgThis has gotten pretty long so I'll followup with the vet visit in the next post Queen Elizatits fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Mar 18, 2016 |
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Mar 18, 2016 16:34
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Sorry I just figured out how to nws those properly. Anyway at this point it was well past midnight so this is the start of Day 1 We took the four dogs to a 24 hour ER vet. The veterinarian was absolutely amazing, I think if not for him and the vet tech the pups wouldn't have made the night. He got them on fluids right away and gave all four dogs on nexgard. The ticks started dying right away and the tech had us start collecting them http://i.imgur.com/4A2ALpE.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/9TYCtx3.jpgAfter the fluids the puppies started moving around. They clearly feel better being around their dad and would sleep pressed against him  We were at the vet's for around four hours and then they sent us on our way with a box of medication and food, again the vet clinic was amazing, they didn't charge anything for the puppy food  We got home, they passed out for a few hours, and now they have started on their road to recovery These pictures are from Day 1 & Day 2      You can see where the collar was cutting into mom's neck  & dad's   The first day the puppies were constantly trying to eat the spit on dad's face, we suspect that's how they were able to survive    And this picture here is why we did it 
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Mar 18, 2016 21:33
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And that catches us up to today Day 3 The puppies are playing now, probably the first time they have ever played. It warms my cold dead heart   This is a very exciting stick   He needs surgery to fix that hernia but the vet thinks we can wait until he gets neutered to do so    Mom & Dad sup   It's hard to believe that these will be the same size as that 
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Mar 18, 2016 21:39
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Day 4 Dad is getting really enthusiastic about eating which is awesome to see. Mom actually played with a toy this morning too, first time. The puppies poops are getting much better and they tried to play with Mom. It was cold this morning though so we didn't stay outside for very long   Mom clearly has something other than Dane in there but I'm not sure what. I almost want to say some kind of hound if that would explain the black & tan puppy but I'm not sure.   They all need names but I'm stumped on that
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Mar 19, 2016 15:33
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Trumpy (sorry I have been thinking of MST3k), Stumpy, Grumpy, Lumpy?
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Mar 19, 2016 17:57
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Oil! posted:Trumpy (sorry I have been thinking of MST3k), Stumpy, Grumpy, Lumpy? I tried calling the dad Trump and got told no for some reason 
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Mar 19, 2016 18:05
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A sassy boy   Mom is telling them important things   Bop 
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Mar 19, 2016 22:40
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This is a good and happy thread  Are you thinking about keeping any of them? edit: also I suggest naming one Killdozer. Radio! fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 00:06
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those puppies arent emaciated
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Mar 20, 2016 01:11
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oh wow what a beautiful story, thank you for saving this gorgeous family.  the progression from sluggish sadpups to lively little devils is wonderful. if the pups were mine i'd name them onyx and felix. as for the adults i'm not sure but dad looks like a solomon to me
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Mar 20, 2016 01:20
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Radio! posted:This is a good and happy thread No, I adore them though. Both puppies are probably spoken for once they are healthy enough & we can get them fixed plus the black one's hernia operation. We may have someone who would like to foster mom and then we might be able to find a mastiff rescue for dad. It'll be a few weeks before anyone can go anywhere, the vet wants to monitor them. Killdozer would be perfect for the black puppy he's always telling his father the business Avshalom posted:oh wow what a beautiful story, thank you for saving this gorgeous family. It's crazy how quickly they perked up although some of that is the steroid shot probably. But they are eating really well so hopefully it's all up from here  AsYouWish posted:those puppies arent emaciated Those are worm/giardia bellies sadly, they are severely underweight, anemic, plus something about a protein enteropathy I don't remember the exact phrasing on that one and I don't have the vet notes handy but I think that contributes to that pot belly shape.
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Mar 20, 2016 03:07
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Anemic I can understand but either those pictures are telling the story incredibly poorly (which is a possibility) or those dogs just aren't as bad off as you seem to think, man. I don't know which one it is, obviously, and it's cool of you to take them in. They look a little wormy and a little anemic, but I really doubt they survived on their dad's drool. 
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Mar 20, 2016 13:46
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Anemic I can understand but either those pictures are telling the story incredibly poorly (which is a possibility) or those dogs just aren't as bad off as you seem to think, man. I don't know which one it is, obviously, and it's cool of you to take them in. They look a little wormy and a little anemic, but I really doubt they survived on their dad's drool.  I'm going by the LEOs incident report & the vet notes, like I said I'm not expert.ooo edit because I think I understand what you are saying, that's my bad. We don't think the puppies solely survived on eating spit. The dogs had been without water for four days, they were eating dad spit during that time. Queen Elizatits fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 15:50
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Queen Elizatits posted:
It's a poo poo thing to do but dogs, even pups that age, can go a few days without water without resorting to drinking drool. And drool wouldn't really hydrate them. It sounds like the LEO incident report's a bit over the top rescue mommy levels. The IV fluids I can understand sure, maybe some pills to boost them wrt anemia. I wish I could see the vet report. Again, it's a cool thing to do but those reports make them sound like they had to be carted out in a wheelbarrow and the pups were sacks of skin and bone.
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Mar 20, 2016 16:04
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:It's a poo poo thing to do but dogs, even pups that age, can go a few days without water without resorting to drinking drool. And drool wouldn't really hydrate them. It sounds like the LEO incident report's a bit over the top rescue mommy levels. The IV fluids I can understand sure, maybe some pills to boost them wrt anemia. I wish I could see the vet report. I understand what you're saying. I don't really want to say anything else right now about what is happening wrt the prior living situation, it sounds like you are pretty experienced with rescue so you probably know why. I do appreciate you taking the time to respond though For now more pictures of puppies being puppies          
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Mar 20, 2016 23:22
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Just a little bit. Please mail me that dad dog asap, thanks.
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Mar 21, 2016 01:44
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How's this, even if the puppies weren't starving to death or quite yet dehydrating, being that riddled with ticks means they would have gotten seriously diseased in no time if they weren't already. The fact that they have worms, giardia, ticks, fleas AND neglected parents makes me super thankful you took these guys in. It may not be theoretically the worst possible situation but it's still awful and with them in your care this early on they will hopefully not suffer long-term damage thanks to such neglect. It's really easy to assume what's going on here based on the cases I've personally seen, so good on you for stepping in to help. Like holy gently caress those are fat ticks. Ugh. Anyway, super pleased you are looking into spaying/neutering these guys and super thankful that your 24 hour vet was so kind and comforting. It sounds like you're doing everything you can and right by letting them play, recover and rest without being eaten alive. As for advice I think the best stuff I can think of has probably been touched on by your vet already. Giardia is a bitch and a half to get rid of, please make sure EVERYTHING is sanitary at all times, be super diligent about picking up feces and if they weren't puppies I'd say have them all entirely separated in order to ensure that you get 4/4 clean dogs and stay that way. Please keep yourself clean since you can pick it up, too. It's not the end of the world but I'd hate to care for four dogs and whatever else you have in your life with explosive, bloody stools. It WILL take a long time to get rid of the giardia. It sucks and no, your vet isn't lacking on care or giving you the wrong meds or stringing you along. Just keep at it and you'll get there. The worst case I saw was several months on a shiba, poor dog. Many of the ones that had multiple dogs with giardia would just keep giving it to each other because our clients wouldn't listen to keeping them well away from each other. You're in for a long fight with that one. If they tolerate baths and it's not too cold in your area (it looks nice and sunny from the photos) cool water baths with or without oatmeal based shampoo will really help that skin, especially on the parent dags. All those spots they had bugs on are going to be irritated and sore and it's a good way to get them clean and help that skin to feel better. Just getting them used to you, fed, watered and hopefully a little exercise (if your vet says no while they recover, please listen to them, not me) will go a long way.
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Mar 21, 2016 19:07
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Just a little bit. Please mail me that dad dog asap, thanks. He's something eh? I don't actually know what kind of Mastiff he is, the prior owners just said he was some variety of mastiff and he was purebred and we didn't think to ask. He's 28 inches at the shoulder and I can't tell if he is solid black or black and brindle, he's got so many bald patches it's hard to tell what is happening with his coat. Chaosfeather posted:How's this, even if the puppies weren't starving to death or quite yet dehydrating, being that riddled with ticks means they would have gotten seriously diseased in no time if they weren't already. The fact that they have worms, giardia, ticks, fleas AND neglected parents makes me super thankful you took these guys in. It may not be theoretically the worst possible situation but it's still awful and with them in your care this early on they will hopefully not suffer long-term damage thanks to such neglect. It's really easy to assume what's going on here based on the cases I've personally seen, so good on you for stepping in to help. This is all such great advice and so helpful, thank you so much, I'm saving this. And giardia is what worries me the most and it sounds like that is a valid fear. I'm having a hard time finding information on this, do you have a recommendation for killing it in the yard? I'm cleaning poop immediately and then spraying where they pooped with bleach and a disinfectant. Would something like diatomaceous earth help at all? Fortunately it's pretty hot (80-ish) and dry right now so I think that's good. Mom & Dad have had oatmeal baths but the vet said we should wait on the pups, he did give us some medical wipes to clean where the ticks were the worst. They were bleeding so much between their toes for awhile but it's started healing. The pups bloaty bellies are mostly gone now, they pooped out great globs of roundworms yesterday (  )I love how sassy this guy is with his dad now   They have toys now but this stick is inexplicably popular     Sometimes his legs don't work  Sometimes they do    
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Mar 22, 2016 22:05
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Those some good dogs Also how are your german shepherds doing?
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Mar 23, 2016 00:37
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Radio! posted:Those some good dogs  Really well thank you for asking. Mags is a bit chubby but she's very active and I figure she deserves to be fat & happy. Mo is Mo, he's slightly less of a hurricane than he was when he was young. They know there is something happening in the house but they aren't allowed anywhere near this family. 
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Mar 23, 2016 01:26
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I totally forgot about those two! For shame, me. Okay, so I'm going to type out what we normally would say at our clinic, and how I think that may apply to what you need to do. The reason we want all dogs to remain separated is because it's so easily transmitted. This is done through fecal matter, but considering dogs lick themselves and each other this means that even the absolute cleanest yard is rarely enough. The quarantine is normally each dog has it's own area to live in, it can't breathe, lick, or get any spittle whatsoever to another dog. This means fences and doors that have enough of a gap underneath are not effective at all. Another thing to consider is because of the fecal => saliva transfer, they will get it in their water, so please keep that water absolutely clean, more than usual. Giardia (at least with the labs we used) is a parasite that can be measured through how many eggs in the system. We'd often show the results to our clients, it's on a scale of 0 (negative. No eggs nor Giardia) to 4 (in the sample we gave there are so many eggs/specimens that it's insane and you have a nasty case). So one dog can have a 1 (almost out of the woods) while another has 4, but so long as one has at least a score of 1 it can still prevail and be re-transferred. We also advise to pick up poop immediately because of this so the dogs don't investigate their feces and get it in their mouth, but it still means there could be eggs deposited on, say, the grass or the concrete. If they lick that spot they'll get it right back, and my limited knowledge led me to believe that giardia lasts in the environment in an annoying manner. You can also have NO EGGS OR PARASITES and still have the Giardia infection in their system. This means you are ALMOST out of the woods but they are still super prone to getting re-infected if any exposure occurs like the above. Giardia is one of those things that could in theory be picked up by wildlife, depending on what you have in the area, and re-transferred back into your dogs. So if there's a critter that really likes taking a crap in your yard for whatever reason you're going to have to pick that up as well. We have coyotes in this area, which means the really large yards sometimes get that problem. The diatomaceous earth, from what I understand, is not effective at all against giardia since it's really geared for something the size of ants and the like, not a microscopic foe. I'd be concerned about dogs licking it and cutting their already ravaged intestines. To be clear, I am NOT a veterinarian. I am NOT a certified Tech. I am an assistant. So with that out of the way, let me get you the good news. The good news is you likely got meds for them which includes something to tackle the bug and something to soothe their systems. What we used in the clinic I worked at was Propectalin, because it came in both a tablet and a paste form and was often rewarded as a treat because of the flavor. Many of our patients love the stuff, so it was really easy for clients to keep them on their medication. It doesn't need to be refrigerated and has a very long shelf life, so worst case scenario you could always stock up and just ensure that your dogs are always a little more comfortable than they could be. For the parasite itself we would use Panacur, and I found that it was rather successful for our cases. We would advise that our patients have fecal tests every 2 weeks to see how the infestation is doing. Please do not wait until you are *all* out of the medication to do this. A lapse in medication is not a good thing in general when treating something like this, but giardia is so aggressive that you just have to be as safe as possible. For hard surfaces treating with bleach is ideal. You're already a few steps ahead of many clients I've had simply by doing that. That ALONE won't get the dogs out of the woods, but bleach is pretty drat effective at what it does. If you can keep them from pooping on grass or dirt (a habit you may have to train out of them later) it'll make that particular concern a lot easier to handle. If it's not that easy, then just continue to be on top of picking that stuff up, and maybe the grass that's there too. Your yard won't look super pretty, but it'll help. That was a lot of words for "I'm not a doctor, buuuuut..." Once again please contact your vet with questions like these if you can. They'll probably be delighted to hear that you're taking this seriously and will have more than 3 casual years of helping critters. Socially it's not a great idea to isolate puppies, so I would still hesitate on doing that unless your vet agrees to go the quarantine route.
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Mar 23, 2016 14:01
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Have you named these dogs yet because they should obviously be named after Danish royalty: Henrik, Margrethe, Frederick, Joachim
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Mar 23, 2016 23:31
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Chaosfeather posted:I totally forgot about those two! For shame, me. Okay, so I'm going to type out what we normally would say at our clinic, and how I think that may apply to what you need to do. I cannot thank you enough for spending the time to write all this out. The black puppy wasn't doing so great yesterday, really bad poop, and I got in touch with the vet and they said pretty much the exact same thing you said and it was great to have all the information from you when I made the call. They didn't have the propectalin but it's on order and it should be here tomorrow. Fortunately the black puppy really likes pedialyte, he's the only dog I have ever had that does, and after having that he's perked right up. Originally they only did a 5 day dosage of panacur but we are staring that up again. Yea the yard isn't looking so great now, I had a little twinge of sadness, this house is pretty new for us and it had almost no yard when we moved in, we planted grass last year and it was starting to come up. I would much rather have healthy dogs though El Gar posted:Have you named these dogs yet because they should obviously be named after Danish royalty: Henrik, Margrethe, Frederick, Joachim I really like those names, I want to say we went a similar route but no we are just terrible nerds. Robert, Delena, Gedry, & Edric I love this picture because these two would not come up to me at all when we first picked them up, they are finally warming up  Dad has a bad case of the spits though  
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Mar 24, 2016 15:00
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I'm glad that was helpful! Thank you for contacting your vet again and I really hope we can get this whole family past this nasty bug. Also, please smoosh those cute faces for me.
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Mar 24, 2016 15:23
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Look at this stick I found Are you looking  They look a lot different since they pooped out all those roundworms, I hate seeing their ribs like that but we'll get some fat on there  Also this climbing strap thing is a much more popular toy than the actual toys. Almost as good as the stick   
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Mar 24, 2016 19:03
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Please show me an overhead shot of those puppies thank you
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Mar 24, 2016 19:30
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Please show me an overhead shot of those puppies thank you They're asleep right now but here's Gendry from two days ago, I'll grab more next time they go outside 
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Mar 24, 2016 20:38
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Edric overhead Gendry whose name I guess I am going to just keep misspelling  Bonus Robert who I think is very photogenic in a weird kind of way 
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Mar 25, 2016 00:13
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He's a gorgeous mastiff. Good to see the shepherds are doing well too.
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Mar 25, 2016 07:14
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Today I have a video, Robert is the best doggo dad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uv2xHOD3B8
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Mar 26, 2016 14:20
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Also pictures that's how I roll Gendry's new things  Edric is not a fan  Gendry is   
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Mar 26, 2016 14:29
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Why are you feeding them those things? And I see they still haven't gotten over endlessly licking dad's face for hydration
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Mar 26, 2016 14:34
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A toy more exciting than the stick   
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Mar 26, 2016 19:48
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Why are you feeding them those things? They eat the food stuck in his spit  They still try and nurse on their mom too puppies are dumb I guess
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Mar 26, 2016 20:31
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Feel good thread of the decade, hug all those pups for me.
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Mar 27, 2016 00:25
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Cute happy thread about dog rescuing thread is cute and happy. Good job OP for making the world a little less sucky to live in.
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Mar 27, 2016 03:45
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