Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Our ‘morning surprise’ today was finding blind Penny had suffered bouts of bloody diarrhea and vomiting in her crate overnight.  She was in respiratory distress, she was shivering, her body temperature was low, and she didn’t want to walk.  Penny had some diarrhea on Sunday night, and thinking that episode was from a routine intestinal bug, we had started her on an antibiotic.  Yesterday she seemed okay, and last night when I let her out for the final pit-stop before bedtime, she was her usual self.  When I opened the door to let her back into Widget’s House, she walked in with the rest of the dogs like she normally does.

But this morning she was a dog in very bad shape.

We cleaned her up the best we could, put her on the stretcher and loaded her in the truck.  I called our clinic, Montana Veterinary Specialists, to let them know I was on the way with an emergency.  I took the photo above of Penny just before we hit the road for Helena.

At the clinic we found her temperature had dropped further, to about 97.4 degrees.  Our vet Dr. Jennifer Rockwell started her on IV fluids and antibiotics, took X-rays and ran blood work.  Here’s Jennifer looking at one of the digital X-rays:

This was the first time I’d seen the clinic’s new digital X-ray machine at work, and it was amazing.  The images are available in something like 45 seconds, and the clarity is phenomenal.  You can zoom in, rotate, adjust contrast, and — best of all — easily and immediately transmit the images electronically to a board-certified radiologist for a consultation. 

Although the X-rays didn’t show any obstructions in her intestinal tract, we did see unusual white spots in her chest … but not the nodules you’d normally associate with either pneumonia or cancer.  So Jennifer has sent Penny’s X-rays to our radiologist in Spokane, Dr. Jeff Siems, for him to review.

Meanwhile, Penny’s blood work showed a very high packed cell volume, which is a key indicator of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, or HGE.  This is a serious but usually treatable condition.  Penny’s symptoms — the bloody diarrhea and vomiting — are certainly consistent with HGE.  You may recall that blind Widget came down with HGE back in March and scared the daylights out of us.  For right now, pending further diagnostics and the consultation with the radiologist, Jennifer is treating Penny at the clinic for HGE.  By late this afternoon, Penny was stable and sitting up in her cage, which was a good sign.

Please keep your fingers crossed for her!