Back home... finally 2300 $ short : (

Well, our trip was fun for the first couple of days.. the last few days was Hell!
I have some sad news kinda.:(
Kaysha got very sick while we were in california. She didn't react poorly to the flight, the weather nothing. It was so weird.the first 5 days she was awesome. Then Saturday she acted a little funny, very lethargic, just not right. I knew something was up but still continued to play and be somewhat herself. Sunday started to get worse and i called the vet to ask if we could come in for just a fluid shot since she seemed a little dehydrated and wasn't holding down the water she was drinking which helped for a little while. Monday aws really bad and we took her in. They gave her some meds and again fluids. She came home with us and it just got worse, extreme vomiting and tuesday we took her back first thing in the morning. They had no explination and we had to take her to ER. She stayed Wednesday night till friday morning when she was released. Her pcv(blood thickness basically) was at 75% In as sweet as way they could say it thats a dead dog,blood pressure undetectable, minor hypothermia extremely lethargic. It was awful. Wednesday night in the ER she developed profuse bloody diarrea. worst part, still no explanation. Just being treated for severe gastroenteritis. We were there with her for quite some time and I think I was stepping on toes just a little but they understood. They suggested it could be HGE but is very unusual in a puppy. The blood results show no signs of it so they were a little stumped. They didn't think she was going to make it that night, since her blood was so thick and losing so much in her movements. She weighed 7pounds 10 ounces when I left and is now at 6 pounds. Sigh. So over the night she got worse and throughout Thursday almost a 180 turn around. 3 am Friday morning they pulled her slowly off the IV and meds through it to oral meds, food and water, and happily as possible we flew home that night.
The doctors were absolutely amazing. I have never felt so comfortable, but we aren't in the clear yet. Still on a bunch of meds, 1-2 tablespoons of food every 4 hours... sigh. Still in the cautious stages of keeping her stable so this doesn't reoccur. They said if anything is wrong bring her in asap, we might lose her if she gets that bad again just because she has lost so much and at this point so fragile.
So yes, my little swimming pool, Hollywood, California, loving dog had fun but just hit the wall half way through. They made me feel good saying it wasn't the trip that did this, it could have happened either at home or away. They all really loved her and said they think it was her missing me, having to see me, basically not passing without me, that kept her 'kicking through that night'. The nurse is the one that said this, her and the doctor at the center who kept her happy and saved her should be receiving their flowers in a couple of days.

my question now for everybody. HOW CAN I GET HER TO GAIN THIS WEIGHT BACK, plus some, as long as she stays stable and her stools thicken up in the next couple of days! She barely eats anyways. I have such a hard time when people say wow she is really underweight because I just cant get her to eat. I sit on the floor with her, hand feed her even and she eats some but just stops when she wants to. I pretty much throw a part for her when she does and she likes being praised as she eats. I give her her daily amount of Nutri-Cal which seems to help her a lot for vitamins and "appetite" if you could call it that.
Please help us find a good thing for her to gain some weight! I just have no ideas left. We are searching for a specialist to talk to as my mother says we must. I told her i would search around for peoples advice before we wait 3 weeks to talk to somebody when they can get to us.

hopefully somebody has some ideas!
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/h...9/P7150159.jpg

How many times a day do you feed her? What is her routine? I wouldn't worry about it too much, as long as her stools stay firm and she's acting okay ...

What an ordeal! Boy, that's a trip you'll never forget, that's for sure!

She gets offered food about 4 times a day. She eats 2 out of the 4 sometimes 5. Routine is bed by 10 10:30 (she stays awake or half sleeps until i get back from work) and awake by 9 ish, just depends on how much excersize she got during the day. It isn't steady. That comes with an unsteady schedule for me as well. Her routine varies but not so much where it would make her uneasy enough to not eat. I'm trying not to worry! Just trying to get her to a solid stool and then I will finally sleep! I cant be more thankful that i was with her when she was ill. if this happened when i was away I'm not sure i want to think of what could have happened.
I definitely wont forget this one thats for sure, your right haha!

Wow, I don't have an answer for you....but I sure will keep her in my nightly pet talk prayers! Hope she feels better real soon.

aaaw thank you so much!
Its so easy to find info on over-weight dogs but so hard to find how to get them to gain it.

Oh my goodness, I'm very sorry you had to go through all that! So what I'm guessing is that the vets couldn't give you a clear answer as to why she deteriorated like that, so I'm not saying that Satin Balls will necessarily help her gain weight because there very likely is an underlying issue. However, if you want to give it a try, here's the recipe: http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

If you're uncomfortable feeding raw, lightly boil or sauté them. I'm glad she's getting better, though! The body is an amazing thing.

Also, what were/are you feeding her then and now?

Kaysha is gorgeous! I'm so sorry she got so inexplicably ill. I was beside myself just reading about it!

Can't help with gaining weight. In my household, the humans and furry one fight to stay level and I don't think we even eat that much. It's too hot to run around, for sure.

Fingers crossed that your sweet pumpkin stays well and gains her weight. Please kiss and skritch those fuzzy ears for me!

SATIN BALLS! oh my goodness! our previous shorthair maddie, she had some real issues.. She ate so much food but couldn't keep on weight. She would eat and eat and eat and gain nothing, just lose it. UNTIL we fed her that. It worked wonders for her, only difference was no egg shells and we cooked it into a patty and crumbled it into the dry puppy food. She had something wrong with her, we spayed her so more calories and nutrients would go to her body rather than her uterus and also on a medication to slow acid production and the increase insulin and bam. worked. I was thinking that to be the next step for Kaysha but want to make sure again she is stable. I have fed her raw food before and she didn't react to it as well. She gave me the look like.. is this a joke mom its cold. haha. so warm and cooked will be the way to go. We will see and will for sure update everybody but we still have to talk to the specialist and see what is wrong maybe underlying so this doesn't happen again. Thank you for the recipe, my mom and i were recently trying to remember it!

oh , feeding now, natural choice dry food(the puppy small bites) and the awful food ceasers to get her started. Her weight that she does hold and put on when healthy is from the dry food. She just eats the ceasers to get her started and add flavor pretty much. She knows when she needs the nutrients and not. shes so so smart. Some days she pushes ceasers and its all dry some days its both. or i think shes way smarter than she is haha. I just wish she was before she got sick! uugh!

My sister in law's dog came down with HGE as a puppy and it sounds very similar to your experience. We thought he had parvo at first, and the whole week was horrifying, made better only by the caring, professional vet taking care of him.

I don't have any more advice for you, but I'm really glad things are looking up and I hope little Kaysha is feeling 100% very soon.

we definitely haven't ruled out HGE. We are going to continue the tests for it as if it was suspected. Even if she does have it a sense of relieve will be with us knowing what it is, what to expect, look for, and treat. How old was the puppy? How is he/she now? Wondering is the worst part.

Wow.. That's one expensive trip... =) Good to hear she's doing better!

I'd recommend a better Kibble. I had weight issues when we fed Nutro Natural Choice. Bunny lost a lot of weight. And Eli didnt continue to gain weight as he should have at his puppy stage then... We switched to Nature's Recipe, which is about the same price as Natural Choice at Petsmart. Its better food, at least it seemed to end the weight issues here. Could get a better wet food too.. we use Ultra (Nutro product...) for Zeke... working on slowing him down while he eats. Its one of the only wet foods Petsmart had that didnt contain by products.. was the cheapest one always. Cant afford the Blue Buffalo that I'd love to feed my three.. shoot. We fed Eli cottage cheese with his kibble for a couple months too.. when he was 7-9 months or so. Helped add some weight.

Satin balls should help too tho. Good Luck!

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Originally Posted by scrain2329

we definitely haven't ruled out HGE. We are going to continue the tests for it as if it was suspected. Even if she does have it a sense of relieve will be with us knowing what it is, what to expect, look for, and treat. How old was the puppy? How is he/she now? Wondering is the worst part.

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Kumo is fine now, he was lethargic for a few days after being sick and then bounced back OK, but he's a much bigger dog. He was (if I recall correctly) between 6 and 8 months old. I'll see my SIL later tonight and ask her.

I don't know anything about the illness, but ask about allergies. I doubt it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Dogs react in different way to allergies, just like people do.

I do have tips for the eating issue. Digi was the same way. Wouldn't eat much & she was super skinny. I tried different methods over several months trying to find something that agreed with her, & I finally found it.

She wants her food left out 24/7 & will gobble down fish kibble. THis is the food I feed her
http://kingrattus.net/gallery/v/Pets...y+Smancy+Food/

This is a Canadian Only brand I think, but there are similar brands out there.

If you want to test to see if she LOVES fish, buy some fish, (tuna, salmon, Haddock, ect), make sure its cooked with no spices (if canned, no oil), & offer it to her warm, room temp, or cold. Digi doesn't care about the temp, she just wants her smelly fish kibble or some canned fish.

But I still need to leave it out 24/7, or she'll go days without eating anything or very little.

Any more updates? :)

On the whole food issue, the food you're feeding now sounds fine.

However, if you want the most nutritionally dense food as possible, Innova Evo would probably be the way to go. Most kibbles offer 200-350 kcal/cup. Evo offers about 530 kcal/cup. That way, your pup literally doesn't have to eat as much.

(You can find Orijen in American stores, too, but it isn't as readily available as Evo ;) )

The Orijen is sold at the hole in the wall store up the street. I searched around today and figures I wouldn't go to petsmart petco or any of those stores. Its very worth a try!

So update.
She is eating that cottage cheese like a cow! She loves it! the chicken is going down well and her movements are thickening just a little. Not enough to feel safe but i haven't slept that good through a night in a week! No weight gain but she is very very itchy! Her little bum feathers didn't do to well when she got so sick and I noticed she lost a little hair and its starting to grow back there and on her IV spots! Her activity level is rising and I am just ecstatic!:D

An old family friend is an eye specialist and does most of the work on the eyes on the animals at the woodland park zoo. We called him for somebody that we might be able to see about whats going on with her. He sent a recommendation and said call tomorrow. He said it is about a 2 maybe 3 week wait but just let them know he recommended us to her and we can go in the next day we have off!
Thank you everybody for your wishes 'hugs and kisses' and information for food ideas!
More updates soon : )