My Great Dane puppy "Rocky" keeps getting sick - HELP!!!!!!!

[barbiedoll]

Hi there,

I did not get my black dane puppy "Rocky" from a reputable breeder...shor t story-my head said turn around and run out the door and my heart said "ahhhh" and the kids said "ahhhh" and now I am learning many lessons.  I am about to cry.

I brought him home on a Sunday night.  He had diarreah. Took him to the vet the Monday. First he was underweight.  At 14 weeks he weighed 32 pounds. They tested him for worms it came back negative.  Vet suspected giardia and gave him meds for it.

Thursday I noticed discharge from eyes and nose and penis.  Took him to the vet - vet gave him oral antibiotics and antibiotic for eyes.

Monday noticed "Rocky" having trouble breathing.  Took him to the vet- xray showed pnemonia - blood test showed low sodium - slightly anemic - high white - low red. Vet gave stronger antibiotic.  Penis discharge could be bladder infection and if so, antibiotic should clear it up.

Wednesday he started coughing  - took him to the vet Kennel cough.  The antibiotics he was on would help it.

All seemed to be on mend. Still had discharge from Penis.

Diarreah came back - took him back to the vet on last Monday.  Still Giardia.  Worms negative, but doc decided to treat him anyway.  Gave him tape worm med and Interceptor heart worm - vet said it would kill off any other worms---I am afraid he hasn't had enough worm medicine.

Found Worms next day in poop. 

Today Diarreah is still happening. He threw up, still has penis discharge and after he pees he stops walks a few steps and pees a little again.

On the plus side he has gained weight, he is not lethargic anymore.  I just don't know what to do next and am getting upset with the vet because I am not sure she knows what she is doing.....and I am going broke!!!!!!!
  Help Anyone.
Barb

[doggylover]

I think you need to contact the local animal control and report this 'breeder'.  You should also personally notifiy the 'breeder' of what kind of stellar puppies s/he is turning out. 
This kind of situation really super duper pisses me off.  Backyard/puppy mill breeders need to be put out of business.   
Good luck with Rocky...my hubby and I have spent 4000.00 on our backyard breeder rotty, and are looking forward to another 2500.00 this summer for another leg surgery.  I sure learned my lesson.

[cricket36580]

Give him a little while to heal sugar.  Also, make sure you give him yogurt.  Real stuff, not the fruit fancy kind.  Is there anyone around you that you can get goat milk from?  Also feed in small batches several times a day with a really good food and there are several out there.  No puppy food though.  And maybe a chopped boiled egg once a day - farm fresh if you can manage it.  (long reason why and I won't bore you now)  He will need to be wormed again if you found worms in the poop.  It's possible to do it yourself if you have a feed store at hand.  Also do massages on him - It will stimulate the immune system and his blood and releases the icky stuff from the liver.  If he has a bladder infection, make sure they do a urine test after he finishes his round of antibiotics.  You don't want to end up with all this expense and have him die from something like kidney stones or kidney failure. 

He'll get there.  I promise.

[barbiedoll]

Hi Cricket,

I am hoping it all turns out o.k.

I have a question.  I have him on Medi-cal adolescent.  I keep getting conflicting answers regarding how much to feed him.  He is about 18 weeks now.   

Barb

[MafiaPrincess]

Start by getting a better food.  Something not full of fillers.
This thread should help you sort through the labelling on food bags.
http://www.bigpawsonly.com/index.php/topic,9742.0.html

[mariannawoof]

Wow, poor Rocky!  and poor you... but you know...I'm glad you saved Rocky...really ... he was in such neglect... imagine how horrible he felt with worms, urinary tract infection and god knows what else.

Keep us posted on his progress...

xoxo marianna

[LuvmyMal]

Although I don't have experience with dane, I do have a malamute that is allergic to rice and corn. Definitely try yogurt with live cultures plain non fat, for some reason fat free gives mine the squirts not sure why. With Tonka I use Pinnacle Duck and Potato and 2 red potatos with each meal. With the Giardia, we had that a few months ago, it cleared up in a few days and I was giving yogurt like crazy. Talk to different vets around, I found that where I live there were not a lot of vets that are familiar with mals or other large breeds I lucked up and found a vet from Canada that has a lot of experience with mals and I can honestly say that 99% of the time, she is always open to any suggestions. I feel so sorry for your baby, things will work out have the urine checked again like someone else posted. It took 2 rounds of meds for our UTI to go away and they checked her for 2 months afterwards just to make sure everything was ok.

[Bella's mom]

Poor baby!  I have ran into so many people with stories like yours.  I really feel for you and your pupper.  You picked a great place to get advice, and I would agree with checking out another vet.
Also, can Holly or someone post the percentage of protein that one should look for when choosing foods?  I have Bella on Solid Gold Wolf King with 22%, but I don't know if everyone knows what you should look for.  I know with Danes that you should not feed high protein to prevent rapid growth which can cause bone disorders.

[newflvr]

Have you looked in to the Great Dane Club in your area?  They may be a wonderful resource for finding out the good vets who understand the giant breeds and can make valid recommendation s.  They may even have a way to knock your breeder in to shape to prevent other puppers from going through what your pup has had  to deal with.