Scoots Hospital Stay

(1st photo was taken Tuesday before 💩 hit the fan and the next was taken Saturday after days of treatment and the first time he wanted to sit up in a chair alone and not lay directly beside me)

Hi friends, 

I haven’t posted anything about Scoots battle this past week because I was too afraid that something would go really wrong and I wouldn’t be able to adequately respond to everyone wanting to know how he was. But long story short, to not hide the lead, Scooter survived and I was able to take him home today after 6 grueling and agonizing days at the emergency animal hospital. I am over the moon with joy that he survived leptospirosis, with the only downside being that it cost me about $10,000 so far for, as I’ve been calling it, “his all inclusive trip.” 

I know for a lot of us, we are financially strapped with all the things happening in the world, and if you are, I get it and that’s ok. You can always share this post with your friends and families. But if you find yourself in a place where you could donate to his recovery fund and help me with this massive hospital bill, I would be eternally grateful. I will personally make your dog my new homemade sweet potato treats, that scoots loves!

For those of us, that want all the details, keep reading.

Scoots vomited on Monday evening after he’d been chewing on a raw bone from Richard’s meat market. I didn’t think too much of it because I figured he got something stuck in his throat and we inspected it and it was just food and a little meat from the bone. the next morning he ate but wasn’t too excited about it. That evening he didn’t eat and had vomited once during the day. I thought, ok if he doesn’t eat in the morning I’ll take him in. 

The next morning he drank water and vomited. He wasn’t interested in his food but ate some of Iris’s kibble. I had to do deliveries for Seeds That Feed and thought well if anything happens again, I’ll take him in this afternoon. When I got home, Autumn said he had thrown up again so I decided to call his vet and luckily they had an appointment at 4. He was acting pretty normal so I thought maybe he just got a bug when I had brought him to the vet for his vaccines the week prior. 

His vet ran a bunch of tests and thought it might be pancreatitis. She asked if I was ok with doing a blood panel and said, I know he just got one last week but I’d like to if you’re ok with it. I told her, I’m leaning on your expertise and if you think he needs it, let’s do it. And I’m so thankful she did. She came back and said, “Margaret, this doesn’t look good.” My heart sunk. We went over it. His ALT for liver function was beyond the scale. His kidney values were also very high, among other things. She said, I think you need to go to the emergency vet and I was in shock. I said, this was all fine last week. She said, he might have leptospirosis. I said, but he’s vaccinated! Come to find out, there’s 200 strains and just like the flu, it only covers about 4 of the most common strains. 

By the time Teresa picked me up, I was too shaken to drive, he was super lethargic. We rushed to animal emergency specialty clinic and they took him to the back. 

The next few days were intense. The veterinarians there were careful not to say anything about recovery. It was all about what they were doing and nothing about “if he pulls through” or “hopeful” and that’s all I wanted to hear. It was very possible he would die. The only thing that was at all comforting was one doctor saying, if you had waited any longer, we’d be experiencing a very different outcome. Meaning, his liver would have shut down and his kidneys failed and he’d be gone. 

Thursday I could only visit him in a small kennel and sat on a tiny round stool, leaning over scootie to give him comfort: he was too weak to get up. The next day they allowed us to be in a room with a couch that’s usually reserved for saying goodbyes and I stayed there from morning til about midnight. He was so sick and on so much medication I wasn’t sure if he knew I was there. St one point he was given a pain medication and the tech left. I looked down and he was staring blankly at the wall. Then his tongue fell out of his mouth and I almost had a heart attack. I called them back in and they said that was normal and I said, I don’t think that’s the drug for him. I should have been warned. It was exactly what my sweet Oskar did right before he died and I felt like I might die too. They changed the medication to ketamine the next day. 

Saturday we were lucky to get the same room and scooter licked my face when I got there. I thought, this is a good sign. When the vet on duty came in, I found out his liver was responding but his kidneys weren’t yet. (I have researched and googled so many flipping things in the last week. Omg). Still, we persisted. 

They originally had said if all goes well, maybe 72 hours. Sunday they said 48 more. But Sunday, all of a sudden, I could see scooter again. His front paws, belly, and lil back paws were finally going down from the swelling. His whole tummy had looked about double in size from inflammations his back paws looked like he was 20 lbs overweight and finally they looked like he could walk. He was able to go outside and walk with me for a short distance. He was catheterized but he “air peed” and I thought well this is big.  I let a few visitors come see him. I knew he had turned a corner even before talking about his most recent blood work. Sunday the vet said, “I’m happy with his progress.” And that meant everything to me. The first positive words I’d heard since scoots’ illness began! I could see the light in his eyes again and they were missing that sadness and fear he’d had for days.

Monday was the best day ever when they asked if I thought I was capable of treating him at home. To which I said, heck yeah! I got a refund for the last 24 hours of $428 off my $9,000+ bill which I was like, I’ll take it. His primary vet that started the ball rolling was $1,200 and he’ll be going next week for another visit that will likely cost several more hundred. They gave me his medication schedule which is wild. 8 medications all different times of night and day and variations of either with food, an hour before food, 2 hours after eating, etc etc. and I made a spreadsheet when I got home to organize and then a schedule in my phone. The subcutaneous fluids is the only one that has me worried that I could do something wrong but I’m figuring it out. 

If you’ve gotten this far, you must really love scoots, or me, or both, because this has been long winded. Scoots is currently snuggled up next to my legs, his usual spot, and snoring and my heart is so happy. He may have to take medication for the rest of his life, but I’m so so lucky that he gets to keep living it by my side.