Our sweet little boy-Jake

[Cherokee256]

I asked for prayers and thoughts on a different thread and I am sure we received them since Jake came home from the vet hosp. He was a little stray brought home by my son but he was not to stay here. The whole family fell in love and then Jake came down with parvo. After 9 days on IV and being kept alone away from his family, he is finally home. Each feeding he eats a little more and vomits a little less. Today he has not vomited at all though he does retch if he moves around a lot after eating. He is seriously skinny, sunken eyes, and has been very lethargic. Wonder why?? Nine days with absolutely no food. He is recovering nicely now and seems to be able to play a little today. He actually tugged at my pants leg and gnawed on my ankle tonight. Jake is of unknown parentage, but he is choc. color with webbed toes and green eyes. Our little alien is of course part lab, but who knows what else. We would have gotten his shots sooner if he had been going outside at all, but he was kept inside away from other dogs. We had him tested for parvo on day one and he was neg. Where it came from is a mystery to us all. I firmly believe that he picked it up at the vet's office when we had him wormed and tested. I just want to say thanks to all who said a prayer for our little Jake and us as well. He is truly the new baby in our household and I fear the most spoiled little brat after his illness. He is right now sleeping on my hubby's fav. blanket.
Linda

[caseysmom]

I am glad he is doing better. Maybe he came in contact with the virus before you got him?

[Catty1]

HUGS - glad to hear the little guy is coming around!

I wonder if a pup can have the virus, and still test negative for a while? I know kittens are often retested for things like FIV, as there is a truer result when they are older.

No matter...Jake is getting well. Looking forward to pics!

[Freedom]

Keep feeling better and better, Jake!

[pitc9]

I wonder if a pup can have the virus, and still test negative for a while?

Yes, a dog can have it and test negative.
It's most likely that the pup had it all along.

I'm so gald to hear he's getting better!

[Cherokee256]

I have wondered if he could have had it all along. I really feel like he picked it up while at the vets office for the check up. They had us leave him with them all day since we really didn't have an appt. and they worked him in. I was going nuts trying to figure out how he could have gotten it as careful as we were with him. He is really pretty much back to normal today. He gets tired really easy but his appetite is really returning now so hopefully his strength will as well. He refuses to be far from me, so I cook every meal with him in the kitchen and even have to shower with him just outside the shower door. He is so sweet and I am thrilled to see those precious little eyes start to sparkle again. Jake is losing those sunken dark eyes he has had for the last two weeks. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and ideas here. I will forward pics as soon as he is well enough for them. He is still a little skeleton with ribs and backbone showing, so I would rather not have photos to remember this stage.
Linda

[loveallfurryfriends]

Try and get well baby boy. Sending good vibes Jake's way

[chocolatepuppy]

Pawsitive thoughts and prayers that your little Jake gets better each day. Can't wait to see pics of him.

[Cherokee256]

Our little boy is back to his normal self with an appetite that is difficult to keep up with. Still skinny, but we are working on that. We joking say at home that the vet forgot to remove the shark that lives in his mouth. He thinks his favorite bone is in our ankles and lives to pull on our pants legs. Jake is still easily tired out. We are often thankful for that since he is wearing all of us out too. He is the wildest pup I have ever known. It is difficult to believe that just a week ago he was fighting for his life. I am afraid he is becoming very spoiled by the whole family. Time to seek some training I think. Of course shots and a health check will come first. I will soon post some photos of the little shark. He even looks a little devilish.
Linda

[SemaviLady]

Jake is of unknown parentage, but he is choc. color with webbed toes and green eyes. Our little alien is of course part lab, but who knows what else.

Oh, he sounds really cute. In guessing his parentage, genetically, one can't get chocolate unless each parent donated one recessive, so if one parent was a lab (carrying the recessive) the other parent, whatever it was, also was a chocolate carrier. (Neither parent actually needs to be chocolate)

Chocolate is actually a variation of genetic black. It's just missing all the supplies (special proteins needed) to produce pigment that goes all the way to darkest dark color on hair, nose, eye rims and lips! That's why many breeds that have liver, have a black variety too (gun dogs, hounds, etc). The black colored dogs have all the proteins needed to build black pigment. Of course, some breeds come in chocolate only because the breed standard favors only the recessive (such as Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Viszla, depending on country - the Britanny Spaniel). Sometimes breed standards are rather arbitrary.

This locus (chocolate) also affects the eye color. The green in the eyes will be transient, and eventually become amber in color.

I have a 14 month old chocolate girl who can demonstrate. :-)

You can see how monochromatic she is. Neither parent was chocolate.
This is her eye color as it will be through her adulthood.

Here are her eyes in their blue weaning puppy phase. A transient color before she started to get green eyes!


After that short blue phase, she quickly developed a green phase at about 8 weeks of age.

You can see the amber color moving in at the edges.

She is the same color as her brother, but he has full black where she has 'almost' black.

This is Helmut. Isn't he cute?

Jake's a lucky dog. I hope he fully recovers. Parvo is such a terrible thing and can create a lot of internal damage.

If he can tolerate probiotics such as yogurt or kefir with live cultures, let him have some. I often put it on the dog's chow to help restore the gut from immune compromise esp. if the dog had a round of antibiotics or has been off its food. The cultures contribute elements that help restore function in the gut.

Best! Get Better Jake!

[Cherokee256]

Semavi Lady,
The photo of your mini looks just like my little brat-Teddy Bear. He is a four year old grade mini that owns the hearts of everyone he meets. He even rules my quarter horses at times.
Thanks for the info on the chocolates. Jake is getting better every day. I have been concerned that the vet didn't issue any probiotics for him. I give yogurt to all my wilds to stimulate good gut flora when they arrive here. I have some for Jake to start on tomorrow. So far he seems to have good BM and his urine output is good. He ate slow at first and multiple times a day. Today he has become very aggressive over his food and even growled at my husband and granddaughter. I was happy that he was not aggressive about it, but it seems that has now begun. I had a springer that was so bad after parvo that we had to push his bowl to him with a broom. He never gained any weight and always seemed to be just a little less than brilliant after the parvo. Jake is normal except the aggression over his food. We will work on that though.
Linda

[SemaviLady]

Glad to read that Jake is doing better. I hope the aggression can be alleviated. I found this article several weeks ago. Maybe it will come in handy?
Prevent dog bites by teaching sharing

Often an idea here and there can help!

Oh gosh, minis can be such characters! ...er BRATS. Yours sounds like a sweetie, LOL

[loveallfurryfriends]

I am so glad that Jake is doing better