Leo and Archie
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Chapter Eleven – If It Looks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck
Halia’s Journey continued…
Now that Halia was close to 1kg and relatively stable we were able to run the second bile acid assay test to test for portosystemic shunt (PSS) again. This consisted of fasting Halia for 12 hours then taking a 1ml blood sample, then feeding her a small amount of food, waiting 2 hours and taking a second 1ml blood sample. I was unsure of how she would go being fasted and having 2 blood samples taken on the same day, but we needed to confirm that she had PSS.
The test was performed, and the samples needed were collected however the process took a hefty toll on Halia. The 12 hours fasting was too long for her and she was considerably flat when we took the first blood sample. The stress of being restrained and not having eaten sent her into her first seizure in over a month. She did not want to eat in between so I had to syringe feed her. She then vomited up the food in less than an hour. The second blood sample was taken without issue because she had no fight left in her. This was a stressful day for her but with a lot of sleep and cuddles she was okay.
The blood samples were sent to SVS labs and once again the results came back negative. This was very frustrating, and I questioned whether the second sample was compromised because she had vomited in between. The answer was: there’s always a margin of error in any tests but it was unlikely that her vomiting had compromised the sample. This was becoming a case of “if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck”…why is it not a duck?
Chapter Ten – Progress Report
Halia’s Journey continued…
At this point Halia has been in my care for 3 months, here’s the strides she’s made during this time.
Age: 6 months
Weight: 970g (put on 370g in 3 months)
Feeding: originally fed every 2 hours with a high protein, high calorie diet. Is now being fed a low protein diet every 4-5 hours. I need to stress that I tried to push Halia’s feeding times out so that she would be on 3 meals a day, but she did not tolerate it. If she went any longer than 6 hours without food, she would become noticeably lethargic and would not eat on her own after that.
Toileting: urinating was never a problem, but defecating was/has always been an issue. To the present day (Feb 2024) Halia still has bouts of diarrhoea. Thankfully nowhere near as bad or for as long as she used to.
Neurologically: it has been 5 weeks since her last major seizure, her micro seizures were under control and her circling has stopped.
Medications: lactulose given daily, antibiotics and antiemetics given when needed.
Good vs Bad Days: when I first started caring for Halia there were zero days where she looked or felt great. Gradually with time, medication and care she started having some good days. At first it was 4 bad days to 1-2 good days but after 3 months this had changed, and she was now at 4 good days to 2 bad days. Although bad days are never fun, the positive here was that we were enjoying more good days than bad. Today's video was taken 4 days after yesterday's video, it's the beginning of a bad day but she still tries to engage a little.
Chapter Nine – Slowly Becoming a Puppy
Halia’s Journey continued…
As you may have noticed in previous photo’s Halia always has her head down. Her coat is unkept, her eyes dull and her tail always down. Although she was showing signs of improvement medically, she still was not behaving like a normal puppy. She did not vocalise, no crying, no barking, no growling. She did not play, run, or jump. Most of her day and night was spent sleeping. She seemed depressed.
Once I felt good about her medical progress I started focusing on her socialisation, my aim to help her behave as a normal puppy. I would usually do this part with my dogs, but my pit bulls were far too big for her, so I used her small animal siblings instead: the duck, the chinchilla and the turtles.
Every night I would put them out altogether. At first Halia did not want anything to do with any of them and would stay in her puppy pen. Gradually they made their way to her and would make her acknowledge them even if she did not want to. Eventually, her head started to lift and turn to focus on what they were doing. Then she started sniffing and becoming curious. Until finally I got a glimpse of the puppy behaviour I was waiting for, she finally started to play.
EDIT: Great question from Leanne "when did she stop circling?" It was about 2 weeks before this video. In today's video Halia has been in my care for 3 months and is 6 months old 😊
Chapter Seven – Portosystemic Shunt?
Halia’s Journey continued…
Halia exhibited all the symptoms of a typical portosystemic shunt (PSS) patient: poor body condition and stature, failure to thrive, poor weight gain, neurological issues, circling, muscle tremors, seizures, gastrointestinal upsets, vomiting and diarrhoea.
As previously stated, Halia’s first round of diagnostic testing was unremarkable. A blood sample was sent to SVS labs to run a bile acid assay test, testing for portosystemic shunt. It came back negative. The pathologist told us that if she was presenting as a PSS patient that we should rerun the test when she was stronger and heavier. In the meantime, we should treat her like a PSS patient. So we changed her to a low protein diet and made sure she was eating small amounts every 3-4 hours and started her on lactulose.
The challenges of irregular bowel movements, sudden lethargy, unwillingness to feed and dehydration were still being treated. A big concern of ours was that Halia was unable to walk in a straight line. She would take a few steps then would start circling in tight circles always to the left. It was extremely disheartening to watch and constantly trying to stop. But then, her older doggy brother, Dozer, decided he would help instead. The video is only one of many times that he would walk beside her and gently nudge her out of circling.
Chapter Four – 24 Hour Care
Halia’s Journery continued...
With the owner’s permission the decision was made to see if with around the clock supportive care Halia would improve over the weekend. During this weekend Halia’s fluid line and feeding tube was removed. She was tolerating being syringe fed until Sunday evening when she finally started eating on her own. This was a small victory and was very much celebrated!
This celebration was still overshadowed by the fact that Halia was still weak and lethargic. She had haemorrhagic diarrhoea but thankfully wasn’t vomiting. Neurologically she was still struggling, the violent seizures were happening less but they were replaced with regular micro-seizures and circling when she would walk. She was unable to hold her own head up or even sit up for long periods of time. Although she was still alive and fighting, the battle was taking its toll on her small, fragile frame.
Today is the 1 year anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle. In celebration of our amazing community that we are a proud to be a part of, we are in Black and White. We want to acknowledge the struggles many had to face after the devastation and how our community rallied together to support each other. All our love Hawke’s bay 🖤🤍🖤🤍
