Our baby puppy is sick :(
We've been taking him on long walks, so the first sign was when he flatly started refusing to go beyond a certain distance. That happened a couple of days. Then yesterday his appetite went down. His jumps had a lesser spring in them. Today, he hardly ate his breakfast. His nose was dry and ears hot. He'd also been eating dirt a couple of days and had been passing black stools. So, we planned to watch him for the day, talk to the vet and maybe take him along in the evening.
Then midmorning, we (my maid and I) noticed..ticks on him! The first one was a flat grey-greenish bloated bug lying on the floor beside his den. We sqashed it on a newspaper to see if it was full of blood. It was! So we took him out to the balcony to look for ticks. Immediately, I could see a small red spidery one attached on his face, on the left side just below the ear. But taking it out was an impossible task. Nero would NOT sit still. We tempted him with biscuits. He ate all of them in a jumpy manner and just too fast that we could even get a hold on that tick. Trying to brush him was an exercise in futility as he just wanted to keep biting and chewing it...and the hand that held it. My maid and I tried to hold him down, but he just would not subside. We figured he might be finally feeling hungry. So we got him a bowl full of curd to eat. While he ate the bowl, we had just enough time to take out that tick and another one in his left ear. I even saw a bit of ear wax I wanted to clean out but the food bowl was already empty.
I was feeling really upset both at Nero and for him. Covered in scratches and bites, with a feverish, tick-ridden dog which was generally lethargic, but hyperactive if you touched him. Plus, my husband was in a training program, so couldnt even drop stuff and come back home early. It was time to call in the big guns. I phoned the vet and he suggested I bring him in. Before we went, we soaked his bed stuff in boiling water and put the lot into the washing machine.
Then, off we went to the vet. The vet too said he seemed warm, though his temperature came out normal. Nero had his first brush with rectal thermometer. He was a little fidgety, but with 3 people around him, 2 strangers, he was easily subdued. I asked about dirt eating and was told that dogs WILL eat what they're not supposed to...dirt, grass, insects, drain water. We just have to keep dissuading them! A deworming tablet went into the bag along with the prescription for crocin, for the fever. What about the ticks? Well, said the vet, thats going to happen too. Do you have a tick powder and shampoo? No, I said, since we dont really give him shampoo baths yet, just water baths a couple of times till now. A tick powder went into the shopping cart, along with instruction on how to use it. (Wet a towel/sponge and wet his fur. Then with your hand, brush his fur in the opposite to hair growth direction and put the powder. The wetness should make it sticky). Lastly, about his appetite. Well, he can now graduate to chapatis and curd. Plus, another tonic went into the bag! Umm...ok..what about his current tonics - Calcium and Vitamins? Those are ok, said he, except increase the calcium to thrice a day! And the walks? Well, he said, he should continue his walks..maybe not too long while he's not well but definitely go on walks!
With those intructions (and medicines), we made ready to leave. The vet's assistant thought Nero looked taller but thinner. The Vet said he looked thinner because he was growing taller. So we weighed him. Our baby is now 11 kgs!!
So back home, gave him the deworming tablet immediately. He wolfed it down with a biscuit. Will give his first crocin, appetite tonic and calcium with new diet of chapatis and curd for lunch. Tried cleaning his ears with a wet cotton ball, but kept trying to eat the cotton, and bite my hand...sigh! Will wait for hubby to come home to do the tick powder procedure and try and sneak in some ear cleaning then too. Wonder if I can get some bite proof armor somewhere!
We've been taking him on long walks, so the first sign was when he flatly started refusing to go beyond a certain distance. That happened a couple of days. Then yesterday his appetite went down. His jumps had a lesser spring in them. Today, he hardly ate his breakfast. His nose was dry and ears hot. He'd also been eating dirt a couple of days and had been passing black stools. So, we planned to watch him for the day, talk to the vet and maybe take him along in the evening.
Then midmorning, we (my maid and I) noticed..ticks on him! The first one was a flat grey-greenish bloated bug lying on the floor beside his den. We sqashed it on a newspaper to see if it was full of blood. It was! So we took him out to the balcony to look for ticks. Immediately, I could see a small red spidery one attached on his face, on the left side just below the ear. But taking it out was an impossible task. Nero would NOT sit still. We tempted him with biscuits. He ate all of them in a jumpy manner and just too fast that we could even get a hold on that tick. Trying to brush him was an exercise in futility as he just wanted to keep biting and chewing it...and the hand that held it. My maid and I tried to hold him down, but he just would not subside. We figured he might be finally feeling hungry. So we got him a bowl full of curd to eat. While he ate the bowl, we had just enough time to take out that tick and another one in his left ear. I even saw a bit of ear wax I wanted to clean out but the food bowl was already empty.
I was feeling really upset both at Nero and for him. Covered in scratches and bites, with a feverish, tick-ridden dog which was generally lethargic, but hyperactive if you touched him. Plus, my husband was in a training program, so couldnt even drop stuff and come back home early. It was time to call in the big guns. I phoned the vet and he suggested I bring him in. Before we went, we soaked his bed stuff in boiling water and put the lot into the washing machine.
Then, off we went to the vet. The vet too said he seemed warm, though his temperature came out normal. Nero had his first brush with rectal thermometer. He was a little fidgety, but with 3 people around him, 2 strangers, he was easily subdued. I asked about dirt eating and was told that dogs WILL eat what they're not supposed to...dirt, grass, insects, drain water. We just have to keep dissuading them! A deworming tablet went into the bag along with the prescription for crocin, for the fever. What about the ticks? Well, said the vet, thats going to happen too. Do you have a tick powder and shampoo? No, I said, since we dont really give him shampoo baths yet, just water baths a couple of times till now. A tick powder went into the shopping cart, along with instruction on how to use it. (Wet a towel/sponge and wet his fur. Then with your hand, brush his fur in the opposite to hair growth direction and put the powder. The wetness should make it sticky). Lastly, about his appetite. Well, he can now graduate to chapatis and curd. Plus, another tonic went into the bag! Umm...ok..what about his current tonics - Calcium and Vitamins? Those are ok, said he, except increase the calcium to thrice a day! And the walks? Well, he said, he should continue his walks..maybe not too long while he's not well but definitely go on walks!
With those intructions (and medicines), we made ready to leave. The vet's assistant thought Nero looked taller but thinner. The Vet said he looked thinner because he was growing taller. So we weighed him. Our baby is now 11 kgs!!
So back home, gave him the deworming tablet immediately. He wolfed it down with a biscuit. Will give his first crocin, appetite tonic and calcium with new diet of chapatis and curd for lunch. Tried cleaning his ears with a wet cotton ball, but kept trying to eat the cotton, and bite my hand...sigh! Will wait for hubby to come home to do the tick powder procedure and try and sneak in some ear cleaning then too. Wonder if I can get some bite proof armor somewhere!
