Gauge

On Oct 23, 2022, Gauge came into our care not feeling well. Unsure if he was just dehydrated and suffering from a wormy belly we scheduled him into Orchard Vet as soon as they could see her. Late last night, on Oct 24th, he lost interest in the food and water that he had been enjoying the past 2 days.

At his appointment a SNAP test was done and shows that this boy is positive for Parvovirus. Parvo attacks the lining of the dog’s intestinal tract which causes sever dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Because of this and how quickly he seems to be feeling worse the decision was made to take him to the Small Animal Clinic at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

Upon arrival it was decided to take a 3 prong approach to Gauge’s treatment. He will be treated for his parvo, as well for the obvious burden of worms in his tummy, and the apparent mange he is also dealing with. While there is a chance that his condition may worsen he will be under 24 hour care for a bit to help get him through this.

Update: A few hours after receiving IV fluids and anti-nausea medication the vet college called to say he was alert, bright, and barking his little head off. He ate like a champ and they felt that he would recover better in his foster home. So his foster mom went and picked him up. While there is no guarantee yet that the worse is over, things are looking up for this little boy.

Update: Oct. 26 – unfortunately little Gauge slipped back again and was readmitted into the WCVM Small Animal Clinic isolation unit to be monitored for his parvovirus and treated for hypotension.

Update#3: Oct 27 – The Small Animal Clinic called to let us know that Gauge has been moved from the isolation unit to Internal Medicine. They were able to do a skin scrape to better understand what mange he is dealing with and discovered he is dealing with both sarcoptic (contagious) and demodectic as well as a secondary skin infection caused by the manges.  He is getting medical baths as well as internal medicine to deal with all that he has going on at this time. The good news is that he’s been taken off the hypotension medication and being monitored to see if he can keep his blood pressure up on his own. He was willing to eat chicken but not yet interested in the puppy food he was offered.

Update #4: Oct 29 – after 2 days and nights little Gauge was officially ready to return to his foster home to continue his recovery and healing. He needs to have medical baths to continue to treat his mange and is antibiotics for his parvovirus. We are relieved to see his continued improvements.

Update#5: Nov 28th – we are happy to say that Gauge has recovered from this deadly disease and his mange is also clearing up although he will require a few more additional treatments to ensure he is fully recovered. We are expecting that his next visit to the vet will give him the all clear.

We are happy to announce that Gauge spent his very first Christmas with his forever family!

Please consider making a donation to our Guardians of Hope program where your donations continue to help dogs like Gauge. 100 percent of all donations towards this fund goes directly to the animal’s medical expenses for major medical care.