You couldn't believe how sick this guy was. This photo was taken of Nickleby only a few weeks before he grew ill. It all began on a Friday night, July 30th, with a reluctance to sit or walk up the stairs. I carried him up to our bed, and by midnight, he wouldn't move on his own. When we tried to move him, he cried horribly. Scooping him on a sheet, we rushed him to the emergency vet hospital in Newington. By this time, his eyes were bloodshot and lesions were spreading all over his body. We were horrified. He stayed overnight; we visited him on Saturday, left him on Saturday night. His condition was worsening - inflamed legs, more lesions - and the vets didn't know what was going on. On Sunday morning, I went over around 7am. The vet tech on duty told me he hadn't slept or laid down all night. When I opened his little kennel, he collapsed into my arms and went right to sleep. I decided that I would not leave him for another instant. By now, he's on an IV and heavy antibiotics for possible tick transmitted diseases. This hospital was remarkable and let me stay overnight with him. We brought his bed from home, and I slept on the floor. On Monday night, he was even worse. He'd already had two blood transfusions, but the swelling was moving around his body. It was most pronounced on his right lip and left eye. He looked strange and we were very frightened. Because Nick had been on prednisone prior to this whole thing, we thought maybe he was allergic to it? The doctor proposed that we administer a large dose of prednisone at this point to save his life. We were faced with a terrible decision. What if he were allergic to the stuff? With a large dose, he would surely die. If we didn't give him the medicine, he would die. The doctors, all along, were convinced that this was NOT due to the prednisone, that this was a treatment for the type of symptoms Nicky had. I finally decided that since I didn't have a veterinary education, it would be best to yield to the doctor's orders. It saved his life. Within a day, he was vastly improved, two days - even better, and so on. He finally came home on Wednesday night, August 4th at 8 pm. Since then, he's been taken off the antibiotics as all testing results came back negative. What caused this? We'll never know for sure, but the consensus at the vet hospital is some sort of spider bite. He has lost weight, and lost muscle mass, but our boy, just today, has finally begun to be more himself than he has been since all this happened. Our devoted dog walker even noticed it today. He's had two acupuncture treatments for leg cramping and spasms, and then muscle soreness. It has worked miracles! After last night's treatment, he actually ran up the stairs - a first in weeks. Usually both poodles act as though the stairway is the Indianapolis 500, so it's been hard to watch the little guy go up slowly.
I thank all those I asked for help - let this express my gratitude universally for getting my darling boy back. I've made myself sick over him being so close to leaving us. Ever listened to the song "Into the West" from the "Return of the King?" Watch those movies and I dare you not to drip a little tear...
I'm just glad he's back and safe in our little poodle family.
