A Rough Start

Sunday, May 9, 2010. Mother's Day. Neeko had become very lethargic the evening before, wasn't eating or drinking much, and was frequently licking her genitals. We had only had her for four days, and had not yet taken her to the vet. I had planned on doing it the following week. I had a very sick puppy on my hands this morning. I was very worried about her. I searched online, trying to find a regular vet with Sunday hours, because I did not want to take her to an emergency vet. Banfield, within PetSmart, had Sunday hours, but didn't open until 10. I called at 0800, and left a voicemail regarding my newly acquired, unvaccinated GSD mix puppy who was very sick with what I thought was a UTI. They called me back at a little after 10. They asked some clarification questions, asked me to obtain a urine and stool specimen, if possible, and set me up with a 2:30 appointment. I was able to obtain a urine specimen. I showed up for the appointment a few minutes early. One of the assistants at the desk was so enamored with Neeko, she was taking pictures with her phone. Finally go in to see the vet. The "W" word came up for the second time here, the first time was by Stefanie. They ran her urine, she did indeed have a UTI. They also obtained and ran a fecal. Guess what?!? She was full of worms, too. The vet gave her an injection of antibiotics, and a dose of deworming medicine. He also sent us home with oral antibiotics, and additional deworming medicine. He did not wish to do any vaccines at this time, as she was so sick. We scheduled a follow up for a couple weeks out, during which he would start her vaccinations. Fortunately, she perked up that evening. Became playful again, and started eating and drinking. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of a long battle with parasites.