Staph, A Dog Killer This past summer, staph nearly killed my dog, a big beautiful German Shepherd, my gentle giant You can see a page of his photographs on my webdsite: american-yes.com. It all started a few hours after we picked him up following a three night stay in a kennel. When he was brought out to us in the waiting room, his greeting was a lot less exuberant than usual. But he managed to get into the car, three feet straight up, onto the seat of the full size SUV and off we went.
When we arrived home, he was reluctant to jump out.But eventually he did, wobbling as he climbed the steps into the kitchen. From then on it was a slippery slope. He slept. Period.The only other things he did was to drink copious amounts of water and lick his back right paw. I called the kennel. The person who had cared for him had gone for the day. I called the vet but the office was closed for the weekend.
That evening, he didn't eat much for dinner, but managed to run around a little bit. The next morning, the kennel phoned to say the person who cared for him noticed he hadn't eaten his breakfast. I told them about his paw and they suggested warm compresses which I tried, with 10 minute applications all morning. Gradually, something started to protrude. Several hours later, a hard bit of tissue about the size and shape of a pencil eraser popped out. We thought our troubles were over. We were wrong.
As the day wore on, Big Dog remained listless, disinterested in eating or moving. The only thing he did was drink water. We left him with his water bowl full and went out for some supper. When we returned, he didn't get up to greet us. In fact he didn't have strength to move or lift his head.. The water bowl was still full.
We had to carry him into the SUV. At the emergency animal hospital, blood samples were looked at and treatment, an antibiotic was started. His temperature was found to be 105'. This was 11PM.
The next morning, his temperature was unchanged. A different antibiotic was tried and blood samples sent to a lab for analysis. Although intermittently, his temperature would go down, it wouldn't take long before it went back up again and we awaited results of the lab's attempt to find an antibiotic that could be effective against his particular strain of staphylococcus.
They found one. It was administered. We brought him home to continue the medication for six weeks, trying to get him back to normal. Our gentle giant couldn't climb up or down the steps to go in or out of the house. He couldn't run. He had to be lifted into the car. All he seemed to do was sleep.
But over the six weeks, his strength slowly began to return. One day he chased a squirrel. One day he barked at the Fed Ex man. And now, a full three months after the whole thing started, we have Big Dog almost flying through the air to catch a stick before it hits the ground.My gentle giant is back. You can see him featured on the home page of my website, and inside you'll find a special page devoted to him, winter and summer.2007RuthGraham
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