Torrid week with Hector

Red-1

Red-1

I used to be decisive, now I'm not so sure...
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Some people here may remember when we found Hekkie 2 years ago. He was a stray who was near death with a skinny body that was about to pack in.

Heck took a fair vets bill to set him straight, and has since been the nicest house dog in the world.

On Sunday he was sick. Sick many times. Monday morning we took him to the vets as he was still very sick.

We have had a torrid week of in and out of the vets, scan and X ray, drips and force feeding, and we thought we were losing him.

The vet diagnosed pancreatitis, and today is the day I finally am convinced he will make it.

Sadly, Heck, as a stray, was not insured. Having said that the £1000 plus cost seems small in return for our lovely, ugly, scruffy, smelly dog back.

We are not sure how old Heck is, and the vet thinks he may have kidney damage form before we took him on, but I have to say he is a blessing.

Fingers crossed for Hector, he is eating today and interested in his surroundings.

Not sure why posting, just wanting to offload I guess.
 
Thank you, both of you. Yesterday we though he would survive, so we went to buy some low fat food from the local pet shop, who luckily manufactures food. They knew Heck from the start, when we were advertising that we had found him. They recommended some food for him, and gave me a free sample bag. I can't tell you how emotional I felt at that free food sample, it was like someone else was on Hector's side, rooting for him.

It has been a very long, and emotional, week.
 
Thank you all. Heck is very smelly at the moment, as for the past week he was barely there inside himself, he was not even looking up and round, let alone keeping himself clean, but he is still too poorley to wash. He has today eaten chicken, pooed, drunk a little water, and is looking more himself.

It is funny how the little dog has grabbed our hearts.

He has lost a lot of weight, and is shaved from the scan. When they to the Xray he was so low he allowed them to weigh him down with a sand bag rather than use a general anaesthetic.

He started to eat last night, and was allowed a solitary 1cm2 of sliced chicken, every half hour. I did his feeding until 10.15pm, OH stayed up until 2.15 am, then I was back up at 4.15am....

It seems to have worked though, he had not eaten since Sunday, and by a bite at a time he has kept it all down.

I do wish he was insured, of course, but we are lucky to be able to cover the fees.
 
I do hope dear Hector pulls through, you are doing everything you can.
Your post has made me feel a bit better about the money I am spending at the moment to try and restore a better quality of life to an obese rescue Goldie I have taken on.
I have only had him for 4 weeks and he has crept or rather lumbered into my heart. It remains to be seen if he can get more active and his joints less painful.
Will be thinking of you, keep us updated.
 
Thank you all. Heck had chicken every 2 hours until midnight, then more at 2.30am, then more at 7am.

He did try to go do stable chores this morning (stable is literally outside the back door) and asked to go in again after 5 minutes, but a few days ago he did not even seem to recognise when we went out, let alone be well enough to join us.

Chiffy, good luck to your dog. Vets' fees are huge, but the love of a dog is, as the advert says, priceless.
 
Red-1 said:
Thank you all. Heck had chicken every 2 hours until midnight, then more at 2.30am, then more at 7am.

He did try to go do stable chores this morning (stable is literally outside the back door) and asked to go in again after 5 minutes, but a few days ago he did not even seem to recognise when we went out, let alone be well enough to join us.

Chiffy, good luck to your dog. Vets' fees are huge, but the love of a dog is, as the advert says, priceless.
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Clodagh said:
How is he today? Still on the up I hope.
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^^^^ see above. He is getting better and better as the day goes on. So much so that he HAD to have a bath, as he was more than stinky with wee, poo and vomit. Happily he is used to a regular bath (as he is a bit arthritic and regularly pees on his foot), and in a heated house, with a warm bath, a hairdryer and a HotterDog fleece he is now a dog people want to be in the same room as! It has taken his energy though, he is now fast asleep.

It is great to see them improve, Tues/Wed/Thurs it looked like he was on a downhill slope, despite being on an IV drip. Then Thurs lunchtime he ate a mouthful, and even though he threw it back up it was a turning point. He is eating really well, every 2 hours now from initially having a tiny piece every half an hour. We were exhausted!

In some ways it was the hardest time, when I posted this, as it looked like he was improving, as I feared it would all crash down again.

Heck is a scruffy, smelly old dog, was so skinny when we got him, and not house trained (and is only just house trained now) but he has so much to offer. Heck is his own man, independent and loving.
 
I am relieved to hear that Hector is continuing to improve. He sounds like such a fighter and a real personality, and he is lucky to have such a dedicated and loving family. As you say though, you are also the lucky ones.

I hope he goes from strength to strength.
 
Do you have any photos? It is great to be able to put a face to a name.

ETA: photos of Hector I mean :D
 
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WorkingGSD said:
Do you have any photos? It is great to be able to put a face to a name.

ETA: photos of Hector I mean :D
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Heck is a bit of a sofa surfer...

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Chiffy said:
Oh bless Hector! Lovely to see a picture, he looks very comfy.
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Yes, that was before he was poorley. He is now house trained, and with OH retired he spends most of the day couch surfing. To be fair he has an arithmetic shoulder, we don't know his history or age, but the vet thinks he broke his shoulder previously. Most of the time it is fine, but if we walk him too far it is not. Happily Heck loves his sofas, and does not miss long walks much. For entertainment we take him out in the car.

I have never had a small dog before. It is lovely to be able to have a lap dog.

ETA - He does not look beautiful or special, but the special part of him is inside, and he is FAB. Just smelly!
 
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Red-1 said:
ETA - He does not look beautiful or special, but the special part of him is inside, and he is FAB. Just smelly!
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Sorry, I have to disagree. He looks special and very handsome! I am also a convert to small dogs, I was brought up with big dogs but OH's family had terriers and that's what he wanted. I'm typing this with one on my lap and one snuggled into my side with the third on OH's lap - life wouldn't be complete without them!
 
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