Go Brandon!

It's only been two days since Brandon, our ten year old senior dog was released from the veterinary clinic due to loss of appetite and diarrhea resulting to weight loss. He was confined last Monday and stayed at the Vet clinic for couple of days. He was dextrosed but refused to eat the whole time he was confined. We learned that his kidney and liver were affected which is common with German Shepherds his age. We thought it might've been due to the antibiotics he took because of his infected callous/hygroma before since antibiotics are known to affect the liver and kidney if they're weak which is usually the case with senior dogs. He took liver supplements back then as prescribed but he still got sick probably due to old age.

Brandon's makeshift hospital room at home.

We got worried after we received an sms from the Vet to let us know that he hasn't been feeding and it's been 48 hours so we rushed to the Vet Clinic the next day to see how he's doing. Our hopes went up after seeing him ok, a little weak though since he's been refusing food. My sisters and I decided to bring him home hoping to be able to make him eat. We thought, what's the point of keeping him at the Vet if he isn't eating? Brandon might've felt a sense of abandonment that's why he refused to feed. The Vet prescribed this Vitamin C to be taken intravenously, additional bag of D-Glucose for his catheter and off we go.

When we got home he urinated a lot and as per the Veterinarian it would take roughly a week before he poop so it's absolutely normal. We made a space for him at our house's drying area where we set up his bed and everything. We even made a makeshift sleeping area at the dining room (because there's a glass sliding door there where we could peer through to see the drying area) to closely monitor brandon since he's still on a catheter. Boy it wasn't an easy task because he's a huge dog and since he's still groggy we have to prevent him from falling every time he walks around. We watched over him for 24 hours. It felt like one of those days at the hospital except there weren't any doctors and nurses doing their rounds. It was a little tough on my end because I am still enduring this darn stiff neck and I can't do any lifting. Brandon ate a cup of boiled chicken liver, no salt or any spices as per the Vet's instruction.

Yesterday, my sisters went back to the Vet to let her know that he's been eating although not more than a cup. I was in charge of cooking his meals and man it's not easy peasy feeding a sick dog because he still will not devour any sort of food like he used to, he was finicky like a cat. The good thing was, Brandon at least ate about a cup of this canned beef flavoured liver yesterday. He just will not eat the same food over and over. He was prescribed tons of meds: Antiprotozoa, Antibiotic, Immunol and Papi Liv-well for his liver supplement. We already removed his catheter because he's already eating , again as per the Vet.

This morning, we got all panicky because he was shivering so we decided to feed him this Cream Dory fish which I marinated in lemon, honey and very little salt. He might've been just starving that's why because he refused all foods I made for him last night. After eating about half a cup his shivering stopped. We were surprised that he devoured it. He loved it so I made him another cup full come lunch time. Beforehand, we applied this gum paste to boost his appetite by the way which I think worked somehow.

So far so good and we're rooting for his fast recovery through prayers and additional TLC. I once read Armi's (Up DHARMA DOWN) post on Instagram when her 9 year old cat got sick. I was touched when she said that with pets they consider US humans as their only family because they don't have any brothers, sisters or parents to look after them when they get sick. We are their ONLY family. This almost set me to tears because it's true.

As an end note, let's love our pets unconditionally especially during the time they need us the most. For some they're just a pet but for your pet you mean the whole world to them.

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