My Sunday was interrupted with one of the best surprises. As I was washing the dishes from lunch of moro, pollo y plátanos maduros with my family, I heard the gate to my patio creak open and four of the students bustle in, calling for me to show me a surprise. I finished the glass I was washing, dried my hands with the towel, and turned around ... only for my eyes to light up as I saw the tiniest teddy-bear-like puppy curled up in their arms.
Second thing I noticed, though, was the disproportionately inflated belly he had and wanted me to check him out, hoping I would know what to do. He was trembling, and the girls told me they had just given him a bath (with cold faucet water) ... so I embraced him in my lap and arms to warm him up. My immediate thought for his enlarged stomach was parasites, but it could also be due in part to malnutrition, as who knows how long he has been without his mother on the streets, drinking water that couldn't get much more contaminated.
On a Sunday, the vet wouldn't be open to get him checked out, but we made our way to the grocery store to find some baby formula we could feed him and bought a syringe from the pharmacy. Upon our return, one of the host mothers helped us mix the formula and lent us a bowl to feed him. He hungrily lapped up the milk until his back feet nearly lifted off of the ground! We were proud 'parents.' He shortly went into a milk coma, sleeping so peacefully with his little tongue sticking out. Adorable.
His stomach deflated to normal size, so we thought he was on his way to an (easy) and full recovery ... but we found out on Tuesday night that wasn't the case. Late that night, he startled the girls when he rolled to his side, convulsing and twitching his legs and face, foaming at the mouth, making choking sounds, and disorientation. Shakespeare, Shakes for short, had a seizure, with a second one a half hour later. I needed to get him to the vet in the morning.
Following shadowing the surgeon at the hospital, leaving a gall bladder removal operation early, I met a friend who brought Shakes to the park. We went immediately to the vet (in combination with the pet store), where a young man had us explain the story. He immediately knew he had parasites (without running any blood work or tests) and proceeded with preparing two vitamin injections and oral (liquid) anti-parasite medication. Although Shakes was traumatized by the whole event, he slumbered peacefully in a box no bigger than him wrapped in his towel as we walked home. We would need to return the next day for another injection of vitamins. Sadly, he seized again for about two minutes a little while after resting at home. He slept for the rest of the day and took some formula from the syringe.
The vet said he suspected parasites and the possible cause of the seizures, but tomorrow I will make sure, because we need to know if this will be treatable or potentially the beginning stages of epilepsy or tumor. He said that he was very malnourished and anemic as a result, lacking vitamins and minerals. I hoping and praying he gets better soon. He's adorable, a lover and a cuddler ... he deserves a long, happy, healthy life.
Second thing I noticed, though, was the disproportionately inflated belly he had and wanted me to check him out, hoping I would know what to do. He was trembling, and the girls told me they had just given him a bath (with cold faucet water) ... so I embraced him in my lap and arms to warm him up. My immediate thought for his enlarged stomach was parasites, but it could also be due in part to malnutrition, as who knows how long he has been without his mother on the streets, drinking water that couldn't get much more contaminated.
On a Sunday, the vet wouldn't be open to get him checked out, but we made our way to the grocery store to find some baby formula we could feed him and bought a syringe from the pharmacy. Upon our return, one of the host mothers helped us mix the formula and lent us a bowl to feed him. He hungrily lapped up the milk until his back feet nearly lifted off of the ground! We were proud 'parents.' He shortly went into a milk coma, sleeping so peacefully with his little tongue sticking out. Adorable.
His stomach deflated to normal size, so we thought he was on his way to an (easy) and full recovery ... but we found out on Tuesday night that wasn't the case. Late that night, he startled the girls when he rolled to his side, convulsing and twitching his legs and face, foaming at the mouth, making choking sounds, and disorientation. Shakespeare, Shakes for short, had a seizure, with a second one a half hour later. I needed to get him to the vet in the morning.
Following shadowing the surgeon at the hospital, leaving a gall bladder removal operation early, I met a friend who brought Shakes to the park. We went immediately to the vet (in combination with the pet store), where a young man had us explain the story. He immediately knew he had parasites (without running any blood work or tests) and proceeded with preparing two vitamin injections and oral (liquid) anti-parasite medication. Although Shakes was traumatized by the whole event, he slumbered peacefully in a box no bigger than him wrapped in his towel as we walked home. We would need to return the next day for another injection of vitamins. Sadly, he seized again for about two minutes a little while after resting at home. He slept for the rest of the day and took some formula from the syringe.
The vet said he suspected parasites and the possible cause of the seizures, but tomorrow I will make sure, because we need to know if this will be treatable or potentially the beginning stages of epilepsy or tumor. He said that he was very malnourished and anemic as a result, lacking vitamins and minerals. I hoping and praying he gets better soon. He's adorable, a lover and a cuddler ... he deserves a long, happy, healthy life.