For those who have asked about Speck . . it’s kinda gross. So, if you don’t want to hear about gross stuff or if you aren’t worried about Speck . . please skip the rest of this post.
I’ve been trying for 2 days to get a picture of him but he won’t be still long enough so this is the best I can get.
Several times before April, 2009, Speck had bloody poop. It was like red jello . . same texture and color. It mostly lasted a couple of days and he was fine and it might have happened in late 2008 and then in February, 2009 — it definitely wasn’t happening often or lasting long. But in April, 2009, it happened again and went on for maybe 3 weeks. He would hardly eat and got down to skin and bones. He was throwing up quite often too . . mostly I think from all the different meds he was on. His electrolytes and everything got so far off that he began having seizures. The vet didn’t tell me at the time but he didn’t think Speck was going to make it. He told us the only thing he could recommend was a vet in Kansas City who would do something similar to a colonoscopy but that was about $2,500 and it would only tell us if he had cancer or a tumor or what . . it wouldn’t fix him. Speck was almost 9 years old at the time and not that his age had a whole lot to do with it, but we just don’t have $2,500 to spend just to find out what’s wrong with him. If $2,500 would be guaranteed to save his life . . maybe (but maybe not!).
In April, when he was so sick, I began making his dog food. He mostly eats brown rice, chicken broth with no seasonings, a tiny bit of chicken and sometimes I add stewed carrots or spinach. On weekends he gets a cooked egg white because we all sit down to a big breakfast and for some reason, years ago, we began giving him an egg white on weekends and he expects it now. He doesn’t know his days of the week really . . he just knows when we sit down to a big breakfast so whatever days we do it, he demands an egg. We don’t have family sit down big breakfasts except on weekends mostly. He does take a daily doggy vitamin just to be sure he’s getting everything he needs.
He got over it in April, 2009 and has been fine til a few weeks ago. I saw just a bit of blood in his poop and began watching him. He would feel bad one day and feel good for 3 or 4 days but then last weekend, he got worse and has been having tummy pain, cramps, lots of tummy rumblings and the very bloody poop. I took him to the vet Monday and he’s again a a loss as to wha might be wrong. We are using a different vet from the first time when it happened but I took all Speck’s records.
They’ve checked him for worms, parasites, the vet can’t feel any masses in his tummy. The vet is hoping it’s an allergy but not really convinced. When I had Speck in on Monday, the pads on his paws were really red and the vet said that’s a sign of allergies so he wanted me to watch and see if his pads are pink when he feels good and then red when he feels bad. Have you ever tried looking at a dachshund’s feet? Not easy! This one is a hard headed little darling and he does not like his feet being messed with.
He had a rough night last night. He woke me up about 2:30 this morning with a tummy ache. I didn’t want to keep Vince up so I got up and tried sleeping on the sofa with Speck and between 2:30 and 6:00, he had been outside four times. This afternoon Speck is feeling better but hasn’t eaten all day.
So, that’s where we stand with Speck. We don’t have a clue what’s wrong; it’s weird that he was so sick 16 months ago and then got ok and stayed ok all this time and is now sick again.
