A week before Christmas Day, Flora, a black and tan Miniature Dachshund was admitted to the local vets in Tring for vomiting the day after her 2nd birthday. She was rehydrated and sent home with a follow-up appointment scheduled for the next day. She was found early the next morning in a terrible condition. In the middle of the night, she suffered Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE), which is a very nasty syndrome which is expelled by bloody diarrhoea. With HGE, the lining of the intestine becomes “leaky” allowing the proteins in the blood (plasma proteins) and blood electrolytes to leak out of the bloodstream into the intestine while not allowing the larger RBCs to leak out. Flora was rushed to the local vet, her temperature fell to a very dangerous level of 32c.
As this was a Saturday, the vets closed at midday so Flora was taken to Vets Now in Hemel Hempstead. She was still really poorly and her owners didn’t think she would pull through.
A few hours later, Flora was still very dehydrated, was losing fluids and wasn’t holding her body temperature so the team started her on a course of antibiotics, sat her on a heat pad, wrapped her up and fed her through a syringe. Her owners, still very worried, rang Vets Now every few hours to check on her condition where she was regularly being monitored. After two days, she gradually regained her strength, her condition improved and she was fit enough to be sent home where she received lots of TLC (she was even allowed up on the sofa as a treat!).