Eko Update

Boy oh boy was I recently lulled into a false sense of security, one minute all was going well with Eko in his recovery on his new low fat diet then BOOM, when getting up one night to visit the smallest room in the house I stepped into a cold wet puddle

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting in the boot of my car wearing a green drying coat to keep him warm as it was all I had in the car when I collected him from the vets still wearing a cannula in his front leg after a day visit requiring fluids

I cursed assuming it was urine from one of the dogs that I'd not heard asking to go out and hopped my way to the bathroom to turn on the light, it was at this point I discovered it was in fact a large puddle of vomit containing partially digested food 🤢

Both dogs seemed fine as I let them out into the garden, I proceeded to clean up the offending puddle whilst pondering upon who could have been so unwell, I'd not seen anybody eating anything they shouldn't on walks so it was all a bit of a mystery and we were soon back in bed once I'd finished cleaning up the offending mess

The next morning Eko appeared to be looking a little bunched up and only picked at his breakfast, I didn't worry too much and gave him a Pardale in case his tummy was making himself feel uncomfortable 

By that afternoon Eko was feeling so unwell that he became listless and didn't want anything to eat, I spoke to our vet and we went in for some blood tests to discover that Eko's pancreatic numbers were very high, his pancreatitis had flared up again and it was so much worse than the last time

This time Eko didn't start to improve on medication, this time he started refusing to eat or drink anything for several days even trying to hand feed him hadn't tempted him and the pancreatitis was really kicking his butt, I was becoming very worried for him

Eko became so unwell and dehydrated that it resulted in him needing to stay in at the vets for the whole day on the Thursday for some intensive monitoring and to take on board some extra fluids

That night we took Eko home still wearing his cannula to save poking him with a needle when he went back in for another check up and blood test the next day

Finally on the Saturday Eko started to rally and managed a few mouthfuls of food for breakfast which was such a relief, he was more enthusiastic to eat when I gave him a small lunch and come time to serve his evening meal Eko was keen to eat once more

Eko was due another blood test on the Monday and our vet Dr Tania was so pleased to hear that Eko was now eating once more. If he hadn't started eating over the weekend Dr Tania said we may have had to consider starting to tube feed him

Thankfully he didn't require it, but it's so worrying to think that's how unwell he was, we were offered the option of referring Eko to Lumbry Park, where Boris had his elbow repaired, for a CT scan and more in-depth testing to try to find out what was going on as there's only so much that an ultrasound and blood tests can show

We agreed to a referral straight away as I hope we never have to see Eko become so unwell again, it was just awful to feel so helpless and see him in so much discomfort

I'd much rather find out what's wrong now and treat it, than wait and see in six months time to then discover it's something we should have done sooner

Luckily Eko Like Boris has a really good comprehensive pet insurance policy which really takes the worry out of paying for Eko's somewhat large and ever increasing vet bill

Sadly there's no such thing as NHS for pets and it's up to you as a responsible pet owner to ensure you make adequate arrangements for the possibility of large vet bills in the event of future accident or illness

Our vets are amazing and do their very best for our furry family members, sometimes under very challenging circumstances when people can't afford the treatment their pets needs and they then start getting aggressive with the vet and other staff members

It's not your vets fault if you've failed to prepare with adequate pet insurance and/or savings put by to meet your pets needs, they're people with feelings too

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel standing sideways on with his head turned towards the camera with a happy grin on his face. He's standing on a fallen tree and looks a lot slimmer than he usually does since becoming unwell

Since his second bout of pancreatitis Eko has lost nearly 2kgs which is a lot for a dog of his size, especially when he was at his ideal weight to start with and he currently feels a bit too ribby for my liking, for the most part Eko's back to his happy and cheeky self once more, which is such a joy to see as we build his strength back up again

The other day Eko started his bouncy bouncing down the road once more, I've never been so happy to see him misbehaving on the lead as I was that day

Massive thanks to our vets Dr Tania and Dr Neil as well as all the nursing staff at Brookmead Vets for looking after Eko in his hour of need, they've been fantastic and nothing has been too much trouble to keep Eko as comfortable as possible

There's still more to tell on this epic journey of Eko's but I'll save that for our next post

Until next time 

 

Dawn, Boris & Eko xxx 

 

This Post is linked too

The Cat on my head - Sunday Selfies 

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