Maxi(n a)million

Here we are on Day 3 of Puppy Invasion. It’s been a long few days. At least he and his sister are bonding. They played a bunch yesterday, and he just thinks she’s the bomb. He wants nothing more than to snuggle right up to her like this:

Remember how I mentioned that yes, I was aware that we shouldn’t buy a pet from a pet store? Right, I know that everyone is correct. However, I think that seriously, poor Maxie was rescued from what could have been the end of days for him.

I pointed out previously that Max is four months old. Poor little fellow had probably been at Puppy Center for a good two months, assuming he was moved there when he was able to leave the litter at eight weeks. When we got him home on Thursday night, we invited every relative in a 30 mile radius to come see the little fella. While hubby’s sister was visiting, little Max had an accident. A nasty, diarrhea-like accident that, seriously, smelled to high heavens. We assumed he had no idea how to go out and do his business. Swiftly picked him up, brought him outside, and cleaned up. All in a day’s puppy training. Around 3:30am, he woke up DH, and they went outside. Max did nothing. About a half an hour later, still squirming around, yes, on the bed, yes, we’re suckers, I brought him out and the poor little guy was sick again. Well, ok, maybe it’s just being in a new surrounding, it happens a lot to puppies. I slept in the sunroom with the little guy. At 8am Fri morning, he had another indoor accident. This time, in cleaning it up, I noticed there was blood. Freak. Out. Central. Seriously. So, I called the vet.

In the meantime, everyone I’m talking to is telling me that it’s nothing. That dogs do this when they’re stressed out. That when they got their puppy, he/she/it had the same problem and there was nothing wrong. The vet, on the other hand, suggested I bring him and his “sample” in to be checked out.

Now, one of the things that made us fall in love with Maximillian was that he was pretty darn calm, as puppies go. He spent most of Thursday night looking like this

Apparently, he was so calm as to be categorized “lethargic” by the vet. After doing a test, Max was diagnosed as having Giardia, which is apparently fairly common. Giardia is, after much research on my part, basically a one celled protozoan that burrows into the intestines. Apparently, many dogs can be carriers and never have outbreaks so no one knows they have it. Long story short, many times it is undectectable since the cysts that form only come out in the late stages of growth/attachment which can take up to about a month. As the cycsts form, the nutrients from the food pass through the dog’s system without being absorbed. Had he stayed at Puppy Center much longer, where no one seemed any the wiser to this problem, he might have become malnourished. (See? And who says getting pets from a pet store isn’t rescuing them?)

Stress can bring on “bouts” of Giradia. All of the excitement of being taken from Puppy Center and being introduced to a bunch of new people and surroundings probably didn’t help the poor little guy much. Although the actual manifestation phase will pass, he will always have the parasite in him. Hopefully, once he is healthy, his immune system will kick in, and he won’t have nasty poops anymore. Sadly, poor healthy JD is likely to get it at some point. It is also possible that it can pass to humans. So, looks like we’ll become one heckuva sanitary household so that none of us, nor a kid when it comes along, can get it.

Friday and Saturday, we tried forcing the Flagyl pill, to help him feel better, down his little gullet. The pill is bitter, and we managed only one full dose, out of three, in an eighteen hour period (mind you, it was my mother in law who managed to get it down his throat, not us!). We lost three pills in the process. He was taking it in with food or peanut butter but then vomiting it up. After talking to the vet, we changed him to Panacur, which are granules that you put on his food. He started being a bit more lively and pooping better. Until this afternoon. When things started acting up again. Sigh. I think we’ll have a long and winding road here.

He is, however, an adventurous little climber. We should have named him Monkey instead of Maxie. My husband and I have turned into little puppy playscapes. Up one side of our chests, over behind our heads, gets stuck, then finds a way (with help!) to climb back down. Maximillian is definitely one Max in a million.