Kia, our new puppy, had to go back
#1
01-26-2011, 07:24 PM
Kia, our new puppy, had to go back
Unfortunately we had to take Kia back to the breeder. Kinda a long and drawn out story.
We got Kia on 01/09/11 and took her to the vet on 01/11/11. Vet said she was fine. Both Yuen and I took off the rest of the week, with an already planned road trip to D.C. for the motorcycle show that weekend. During the week, Kia was mostly fine. She refused to eat the dry Iam dog food the breeder provided, which was fine by me. She'd eat the Iams canned. Occasionally she'd throw up undigested chunks of it, mostly whole bits of carrots and never the amount she took in. Also she did this hours after eating so we didn't think anything of it, maybe her tummy couldn't take it. She drank plenty of water too. We drove to D.C. the 14th.
01/15 she ate fine 3 of the 4 times we fed her. The final meal around 10 pm she refused though. Again, nothing major since Kai did and will skip a meal every now and then. Dec 15th, she refused breakfast and 1st lunch. We figured her stomach was upset and went to a local pet store for more dog food for Kai (we decided to stay another night) and toys. Walking back to the hotel, Kia suddenly vomited a large amount of fluid. We took her back to the hotel where she drank some water and seemed ok. She was subdued but I figured that was from the episode she just had. I told my girlfriend to keep an eye on her, call me if anything strange happened and went to meet Nate and Dylan at the motorcycle show.
Yuen called 5 minutes after I got to the show in panic. She said Kia was having some kind of seizure and I could hear Kia screaming in the background. I ran back to the hotel (literally) grabbed the car out of valet and we rushed to the nearest emergency vet hospital. Note: there's an application for Android phones called Pet Services which was invaluable, bringing up the local vets and hospitals then sending the location to Google Navigation for the drive there. We got Kia to the hospital and they immediately admitted her on sight, saying she was dehydrated and slow to respond. They started her on fluids, stating they'd keep her overnight and let us know in the morning what they found.
Overnight, she responded extremely well to the fluids. They said her initial blood tests showed low blood sugar and elevated white count but they all normalized during the night. During the night, she perked up and actually had to be e-coned to keep her from eating her IV. X-rays showed fluid in her intestines but no blockages or obstructions.They told us they would release her provided we took her directly back to Philly and to our vet, which we did. When we arrived, our vet examined her and said they wanted her to remain with them overnight for observation and more fluids as a precaution. Again, she was fine and normal so they released her to us. Kia already had a standing appt for 01/24 for her 12 week shots so they changed that to a follow up. We both took off 01/18 and 01/19 to keep an eye on her. She had a voracious appetite, threatening to remove fingers that were slow to put down the bowl. But again that tapered off over the next 2 days. I took off again on 1/20 to keep an eye on her.
1/20 I didn't like her responses, both to food and overall energy level. So Thursday afternoon I took her to the vet, who agreed she was kinda out of it and starting to dehydrate again. So he gave her a shot of fluids subq and gave us a very serious talk. Essentially standard testing wasn't revealing anything wrong yet her symptoms were undeniable: something was seriously wrong and would take extensive testing to reveal what it was. He also said the breeder needed to take her back. Kia had already generated $2000 in vet care in less than 2 weeks. There was no way a new owner should expect that kind of expense so early into ownership and it was highly likely to see more of the same in the future.
Due to timing we weren't able to communicate with the breeder, her vet and our vets at the same time to discuss Kia's situation. And the breeder was very resistant to take her back. On 01/24 Kia's vet appointment went fine, again. However the vet stood by his recommendation to return her. He said she goes down too hard and too fast to show any optimism. On 01/25 the breeder accepted the vet's conclusion (and the not so minor threat of litation) and asked we bring her back today to exchange for another puppy from different parents. I called Yuen and she was broken up enough that she went home early. I remained at work. When Yuen got home, she called in a panic again. Kia had thrown up in the area we setup for her while we were at work and it was a large volume again. I was unable to leave work immediately so I called both the breeder and our vet. Having seen her the day before, he was mystified what was causing it but based on the description of what was happening agreed that it sounded like hypoglycemia. We agreed to pedialyte for dehydration, karo syrup to raise blood sugar levels and to try feeding baby food / pumpkin / yogurt in regular small amounts with observing her overnight. She took the pedialyte and karo syrup but wouldn't eat anything.
Kia made it thru the night and we got her to the breeder today.We did pick out another puppy and Yuen insisted we call her Kia too. No pics yet but so far she's acting completely different than the first puppy. Extremely energetic and very inquisitive after an hour of hiding under the towel rack in the bathroom.
We got Kia on 01/09/11 and took her to the vet on 01/11/11. Vet said she was fine. Both Yuen and I took off the rest of the week, with an already planned road trip to D.C. for the motorcycle show that weekend. During the week, Kia was mostly fine. She refused to eat the dry Iam dog food the breeder provided, which was fine by me. She'd eat the Iams canned. Occasionally she'd throw up undigested chunks of it, mostly whole bits of carrots and never the amount she took in. Also she did this hours after eating so we didn't think anything of it, maybe her tummy couldn't take it. She drank plenty of water too. We drove to D.C. the 14th.
01/15 she ate fine 3 of the 4 times we fed her. The final meal around 10 pm she refused though. Again, nothing major since Kai did and will skip a meal every now and then. Dec 15th, she refused breakfast and 1st lunch. We figured her stomach was upset and went to a local pet store for more dog food for Kai (we decided to stay another night) and toys. Walking back to the hotel, Kia suddenly vomited a large amount of fluid. We took her back to the hotel where she drank some water and seemed ok. She was subdued but I figured that was from the episode she just had. I told my girlfriend to keep an eye on her, call me if anything strange happened and went to meet Nate and Dylan at the motorcycle show.
Yuen called 5 minutes after I got to the show in panic. She said Kia was having some kind of seizure and I could hear Kia screaming in the background. I ran back to the hotel (literally) grabbed the car out of valet and we rushed to the nearest emergency vet hospital. Note: there's an application for Android phones called Pet Services which was invaluable, bringing up the local vets and hospitals then sending the location to Google Navigation for the drive there. We got Kia to the hospital and they immediately admitted her on sight, saying she was dehydrated and slow to respond. They started her on fluids, stating they'd keep her overnight and let us know in the morning what they found.
Overnight, she responded extremely well to the fluids. They said her initial blood tests showed low blood sugar and elevated white count but they all normalized during the night. During the night, she perked up and actually had to be e-coned to keep her from eating her IV. X-rays showed fluid in her intestines but no blockages or obstructions.They told us they would release her provided we took her directly back to Philly and to our vet, which we did. When we arrived, our vet examined her and said they wanted her to remain with them overnight for observation and more fluids as a precaution. Again, she was fine and normal so they released her to us. Kia already had a standing appt for 01/24 for her 12 week shots so they changed that to a follow up. We both took off 01/18 and 01/19 to keep an eye on her. She had a voracious appetite, threatening to remove fingers that were slow to put down the bowl. But again that tapered off over the next 2 days. I took off again on 1/20 to keep an eye on her.
1/20 I didn't like her responses, both to food and overall energy level. So Thursday afternoon I took her to the vet, who agreed she was kinda out of it and starting to dehydrate again. So he gave her a shot of fluids subq and gave us a very serious talk. Essentially standard testing wasn't revealing anything wrong yet her symptoms were undeniable: something was seriously wrong and would take extensive testing to reveal what it was. He also said the breeder needed to take her back. Kia had already generated $2000 in vet care in less than 2 weeks. There was no way a new owner should expect that kind of expense so early into ownership and it was highly likely to see more of the same in the future.
Due to timing we weren't able to communicate with the breeder, her vet and our vets at the same time to discuss Kia's situation. And the breeder was very resistant to take her back. On 01/24 Kia's vet appointment went fine, again. However the vet stood by his recommendation to return her. He said she goes down too hard and too fast to show any optimism. On 01/25 the breeder accepted the vet's conclusion (and the not so minor threat of litation) and asked we bring her back today to exchange for another puppy from different parents. I called Yuen and she was broken up enough that she went home early. I remained at work. When Yuen got home, she called in a panic again. Kia had thrown up in the area we setup for her while we were at work and it was a large volume again. I was unable to leave work immediately so I called both the breeder and our vet. Having seen her the day before, he was mystified what was causing it but based on the description of what was happening agreed that it sounded like hypoglycemia. We agreed to pedialyte for dehydration, karo syrup to raise blood sugar levels and to try feeding baby food / pumpkin / yogurt in regular small amounts with observing her overnight. She took the pedialyte and karo syrup but wouldn't eat anything.
Kia made it thru the night and we got her to the breeder today.We did pick out another puppy and Yuen insisted we call her Kia too. No pics yet but so far she's acting completely different than the first puppy. Extremely energetic and very inquisitive after an hour of hiding under the towel rack in the bathroom.
#2
01-26-2011, 07:42 PM
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01-26-2011, 08:09 PM
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#4
01-26-2011, 08:44 PM
Me and Nate had met up on Saturday for the show. And Dylan hung around long enough to all meet up at Nate's apartment later that night (didn't you see the peanut butter pic, JP?)
jpan we don't have the ability to provide the supervision and care she might need. The time period when both Yuen and I are at work is only 4-5 hours. But in 4-5 hours a puppy can die from either dehydration or low blood sugar. And she would go from fine to in trouble that quickly. The breeder took her to their vet as soon as we dropped her off as she hadn't eaten in 24 hrs. And Karo Syrup on her gums is the same as giving a diabetic a candy bar when their blood sugar drops.
It's an emergency fix for a much more serious problem, like apply pressure to a heavily bleeding wound.
jpan we don't have the ability to provide the supervision and care she might need. The time period when both Yuen and I are at work is only 4-5 hours. But in 4-5 hours a puppy can die from either dehydration or low blood sugar. And she would go from fine to in trouble that quickly. The breeder took her to their vet as soon as we dropped her off as she hadn't eaten in 24 hrs. And Karo Syrup on her gums is the same as giving a diabetic a candy bar when their blood sugar drops.
It's an emergency fix for a much more serious problem, like apply pressure to a heavily bleeding wound.
#5
01-26-2011, 11:10 PM
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i dont get how she was dehydrated even tho she would take fluids? although i might have missed something in the reading...
dogs have always been a touchy subject with me. you might consider not naming the second puppy kia, personalities arent replaceable all dogs are different. just my two cents. Best of wishes to you and the lady!
dogs have always been a touchy subject with me. you might consider not naming the second puppy kia, personalities arent replaceable all dogs are different. just my two cents. Best of wishes to you and the lady!
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01-27-2011, 01:52 AM
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#7
01-27-2011, 04:42 AM
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#8
01-27-2011, 06:24 AM
i dont get how she was dehydrated even tho she would take fluids? although i might have missed something in the reading...
dogs have always been a touchy subject with me. you might consider not naming the second puppy kia, personalities arent replaceable all dogs are different. just my two cents. Best of wishes to you and the lady!
dogs have always been a touchy subject with me. you might consider not naming the second puppy kia, personalities arent replaceable all dogs are different. just my two cents. Best of wishes to you and the lady!
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01-27-2011, 10:11 AM
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#10
01-27-2011, 06:51 PM
