Click the image to see it in larger size
Ella's first vet visit -- September 21
Ella weighs only 3.08 lbs at 5.5 weeks of age
She is underweight and dehydrated
She has myositis in that stump -- has likely had a terrible infection for several weeks
Ella does not have a fever, which amazed her vet. This is very good news -- shows she is strong and a fighter. She SHOULD have a fever given how infected her stump is.
Ella is alert, bright, feisty -- all good signs
So first things first we are waiting on her blood results. If her liver or kidneys have been affected by the infection we may not be able to save her depending on the extent of the damage -- we will have to make that decision once we have her blood work back.
Good news is her urine sample showed that she is concentrating her urine well -- indicated proper kidney function.
Her urine this morning was milky, probably pus, so a bladder infection secondary to the infection in her stump is likely.
So, we have started her on antibiotics. I have some recovery food to add to her Orijen to get weight on her. I am to continue with salt water soaks twice daily....and we will make decisions once her blood results are back.
We will amputate the stump if the infection has not already spread to her organs. If we are able to amputate, we will need to get her weight up a bit first and clear the infection. Kim believes she can save the shoulder and just remove the leg bones -- but it is difficult to say for sure given how enlarged her stump is at the moment.
So, little Ella needs some positive thoughts. I hope we got to her in time. If the BYB had just taken her to a vet the infection could have been prevented. Instead she has a life threatening infection that may have progressed beyond the point of us being able to save her.
Update: Sept 22nd
Good news, good news!
Ella's bloodwork shows that her organs have not been terribly compromised! The infection had not yet spread through her body.
She does have a nasty UTI -- caused by ecoli. Likely entering via the wound on her stump. Hopefully we will be able to clear it with one round of antibiotics.
Her serum protein levels are low -- which would be caused by her little body fighting the infections. We can not safely amputate the stump until her protein levels rise, since her ability to heal after surgery would be too compromised. The vet figures we will be at least 2 weeks getting her levels back up, so we will recheck at that time.
One kidney enzyme was elevated, but that would be due to dehydration, and should sort out now that she is getting adequate fluids.
The challenge will be getting the stump to dry up over the next two weeks, and keeping her from re-injuring it.
This is all good news.
