I so appreciate everyone's patience with Ernie's updates. Our special boy has been up and down so many times that I would have continuously been driving everyone crazy with the news reports over the last five days. Every time I start to write an uplifting post, I get a call four hours later, saying he has begun producing fluid again in his abdomen. The fluid in his abdomen lets us know he is still septic.
Ernie had several days where he felt tremendous, but his numbers were not good. On the fifth day after his last procedure, I got a call saying they would probably have to go back in and clean out his abdominal cavity. The culture they had recently obtained from free abdominal fluid showed he had likely leaked from his colon's surgical site.
I waited all day, fearing the worst-case until late into the night. I finally got news saying his body had re-absorbed most of the fluid accumulated during the day, and they think it was residual from the procedure. During all this time, Ernie has been eating like a King and feeling great. Saturday, Ernie crashed and did not want to eat and was very down.
Ernie's culture came back, and it was discovered he had two Antibiotic-Resistant bacterial infections from his abdominal culture. The antibiotic he was on was not working. The good news is the culture came back with two antibiotics that would work out of a long list that would not. Once Ernie was started on the new protocol, he began to perk up.
The other issue we have been dealing with is Ernie is very anemic. He is right at the point where he might need a transfusion. A transfusion has to be a last resort, given all he has going on. So this has been put off and hopefully not needed. The other issue is his albumin levels are also deficient because of all the fluid his body has been producing.
Most dogs do not survive the massive heartworm extraction Ernie had or a colon rupture. The fact Ernie has survived both is a Miracle. Last night, I got the most welcome message saying Ernie was back to his loving, ravenous self. The best news is I have not had any bad news this morning. The hospital is in rounds, but if something terrible had happened, I would have heard.
The ICU Team is transitioning Ernie off of all IV's and pulling all lines in hopes he will do fine and be able to get out of the hospital. If you have ever had a dog in ICU for any length of time, you know how costly it is. Imagine doing a Worm Extraction Procedure and a Colon Perforation Surgery all in the same week.
The Life-Saving procedures and Intensive Care Cost is beyond anything you could ever imagine, even with our discount. This is the cost of someone not giving a precious dog his monthly heartworm preventative and then abandoning him, so he has to resort to eating rocks and garbage. All of this could have been prevented if the Family cared.
Covid-19 does not make good people bad. It does not turn you into a monster. All it does it make a bad person worse. Selfish, uncaring pet people should never have animals. All you have to do is look at how Ernie has suffered, and you will understand why I say this. Ernie is one of the sweetest dogs you will ever meet. He would not hurt a fly, and yet he was tortured by neglect.
Any Donation is greatly appreciated during this difficult time. Please, Donate, and if you cannot, then shop at Fetch Mkt. where 100% of the profits go toward saving the dogs at Noah's Arks Rescue.
