Look who is finally OUT of the hospital and feels like playing. This incredible boy really had a nasty setback. His liver values were slightly elevated when we rescued him which was normal for what he had been through. His values only went up slightly while he was initially in the hospital. Once he left and was started on the antibiotics for the staph infection he had on his skin, his values began to rise. All of our dogs are on a supplemental holistic protocol to build up their immune system while they are being treated and then after if we feel their immune system is still not up to what it should be. Nemo was a lot like Freckles in that he had a lot of different bacterias growing that each needed a different antibiotic. Each with it's own set of side-effects. Unfortunately, the one Nemo had to be on (chloramphenicol) that can take a toll on your liver, did take a toll on his liver. The good news is that we got him to the ER immediately when he started showing signs of distress. The Critical Care Facility seems to be a revolving door for us when it comes to our animals. We are there at least three days a week with one of our animals for tests or surgery. We do not take any chances with something going wrong with any of our dogs. We originally thought Nemo had gotten into something toxic while at the Trainers. The dogs are watched 24 hours a day and always have someone with them while they are in training. We found nothing. Once we removed the antibiotic we thought was causing the problem, his values began to come down. He was given an extensive liver cleansing protocol and lots of IV fluids to rid his body of any foreign product. After one week of this, his values came down to almost normal. During his ER stay, we determined that Nemo's ears still had a nasty infection that had to be cleared up. The antibiotic he had been on was not working. In case you don't remember, Nemo's ear drum had burst by the time we had gotten him and was terribly infected. He had several different strains of bacteria in the ear that needed to be treated. Most had gone away but there were a few that were resistant. All the Specialists got together and came up with a plan to protect his liver and kidneys and get rid of the infections he still had in his ear. The good news is that it seems to be working. We will know just how successful when we do another culture in two weeks. We have also added some new holistic products to our regular protocol for dogs that have MRSA infections. Helping Abused Animals recover is a process of finding out what works and what doesn't. Each animal is different and handles medication differently. There are only a few medications that work with resistant staph infections. We are forced to use those when all else fails. We have tried every holistic protocol known to man and the end result is that we always end up having to put them on the antibiotic eventually. I think the holistic formulas assist the antibiotics so the animals do not have to be on them as long which is wonderful. Nemo is on the mend and should be able to go to his new home after the next culture is taken. As you can see from his pictures, he is getting back to his normal happy go lucky self that loves everyone and wants to play all the time. He let me know he was feeling much better the last time I saw him. He was so excited that he peed right on my shoes. I considered it a shower of love and was glad to see him so happy. He still got lots of hugs and kisses from me and big smiles from all the Vet. Techs when they observed what he had done.
We are still taking donations for his medical care and always appreciate any amount that we get.
