Did you know that there are people that don’t like dogs? They are living amongst us blending into society, looking just like us only they do not have that special love for our four-legged friends!! I kid of course I’m fully aware that dogs aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, in fact, I’m not really a cat person myself, so I totally get it but me, well I adore dogs I couldn’t imagine my home without one. I told my husband, and I mean it with every inch of my being that if he didn’t like dogs, then we wouldn’t be together.
My Pet = My Family
My dogs aren’t just animals or pets they are part of the family, and I know some of you won’t get that, and that’s ok because I respect your view, but it’s the only way I see them. When I got Stitch for Christmas over two years ago, it was such a special moment. It wasn’t quite giving birth, but it was up there! He has brought such light and love into my life, he is loyal, and he loves me fiercely, which is why when his health took a dramatic turn for the worst I was devastated.
I’ve held off writing this update on Stitch’s health ultimately because I didn’t want to jinx his recovery, speak too soon or be ignorantly presumptuous. So many of you have asked about him since I announced he was ill and I was so touched by all of your kind words.
Stitch & His Illness
When my house was built, the builder didn’t put drainage into the garden, and I literally have no idea why. The land which my house is built on is very hard, clay ground that holds water. This resulted in a waterlogged garden whenever it rained. In simple terms the water had nowhere to drain away to, and this resulted in an unusable outdoor space.
After a complaint to the builder, they agreed reluctantly to install drainage and re-turf my garden. The caveat was that my dogs would have to stay off the ground for 6-8 weeks. My dogs are both bull breeds Stitch being a French bulldog. These breeds don’t require a massive amount of exercise so they would only usually need two short walks a day. At lunchtime, I would often let them into the garden, but because of the grass, I took them out for a quick walk instead.
Stitch was acting odd almost immediately and he kept trying to lie down. It was a sunny day, but it wasn’t overly hot, and we hadn’t walked very far. He was acting like he was overheating which didn’t seem to make any sense. I carried him home and hosed him off in the bath to help bring down his temperature. He seemed to recover, but his abdomen was tender and spasming. He didn’t seem well at all, and we rushed him to the vet.
I kept saying that I thought he had overheated on the walk, but the vet said it didn’t seem like those kinds of symptoms. Stitch was exceptionally poorly and required intensive care treatment immediately. Suddenly he was rushed off for tests and to be put on a drip. It didn’t look good at all, and we weren’t sure what was going to happen next.
I waited at home by the phone desperate for an update and when the call came, and it was confirmed Stitch had pancreatitis I was relieved. I was so distraught that he was ill because of the walk, but the vet confirmed that he believed he already had the pancreatic infection, which may have been why he struggled to regulate his temperature.
He was given strong pain relief, sedatives, anti-nausea medication and antibiotics. When we went to see him the following day, he was so fragile, and the vet made it clear we weren’t out of the woods yet. When we eventually took him home, it was essential to keep him calm and quiet. As the sedative wore off, he began to look brighter and more like himself.
The following day he took another turn, and he suddenly seemed really Ill again. He was shivering and refused to eat or drink. We rushed back to the vets, and he was readmitted, and this time, the vet also wanted to do a chest x-ray as he believed he may have a chest infection.
When we got the results, it was confirmed Stitch also had pneumonia. The two conditions are not related, but somehow, he had both. He had to go on a different course of antibiotics and eventually he was allowed home.
Recovery
Slowly he has come back to full health and seems happy and himself again. The vet is pleased with him, and I’m just relieved to see him back to normal. I was incredibly worried about him, and it’s never nice seeing your pet in a state like that, but thankfully a month on he is doing so much better.
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Love as always!
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