Oh NO NO........ Bad Bad Candies.....

***(mum: This incident happened on Tuesday, the 20th. I have only just had time to sit in front of the computer and put everything together. As you read on, you will see what transpired in the last few days... Positive thoughts are greatly appreciated.)

Today, mummy said said here is a kong kong with treat treats, Jaffaman be good good and wait for mummy ok ok??? I said said ok, me like treat treats!!

Jaffaman eat all the treats treats from the kong kong, so me said said me go find find other thing things ok ok?

Me find find a bottle, see see,


It got got sweet sweet candies like this,


So Jaffaman take take it to my bed bed and chew chew bottle, and eat eat sweet sweet candies,


(Sunshade: I TOOOOOOOLD you not to eat it, told you it's disgusting once the sweet coating is gone....... but you wouldn't listen.... so I got frustrated and went UPSTAIRS...sigh...)

Mummy came came home and said OH NO NO NO..... Mummy called called Sunshade's Aunty Janice, and Aunty Janice said to take Jaffaman to this place FAST FAST,



NOV. 20th, 2007 - 7pm

(mum: Jaffa is in the emergency hospital right now. I was out for about an hour and a half,and I gave Jaffa a kong with treats inside before leaving. Cleared everything off the coffee table. Somehow, he managed to find a 250 tab bottle of Advil one of my friends had left over. He ate the entire, almost full bottle except 3 tabs. I'm not sure where the bottle was, it might have fallen under the coffee table or the sofa bed from before and I missed it.

We live about 30-40 mins away from our regular vet, and Jaffa didn't have that much time. Thankfully the Animal Emergency Clinic is located only 10 mins away from our house, and I rushed him there.

Jaffa had ingested way over the toxic dose for humans, and they fear he might end up with gastric ulcers and permanent kidney damage or even die. He threw up in the car on the way to the emerg, and it was all pink (coating), no tablets which meant he absorbed most of the tablets. He appeared normal when I came home, but it was too soon to tell.

Sunshade was stuck upstairs when I came home and I know she wouldn't have put her mouth near Advil or any type of pills.

Jaffa LOVES candies. He must of liked the sweet coating on the Advil pills and decided they were candies. I usually have to put his vitamin pills in the back of his throat for him to take them or he spits them out.)

See see, all the thing things doctors do do to Jaffaman..... me me no no like hurt hurt... Mummy said said be brave brave Jaffaman, I said said OK OK mummy, me try try!




NOV. 21st, 2007 - UPDATE 1

(mum: Jaffa is doing ok. His preliminary blood work taken shortly after he was admitted to the emerg showed his kidneys were effected.




They got those results back just this morning and I could only hope the damage was acute and the fluids he's been given throughout the night have somewhat helped. The doctors at the emerg told me there is no point taking anymore blood works until he's been on fluids for at least 48 hours as that is when the real effect would appear on blood work. The I-STAT (in house) panel they ran this morning after he's been on the fluids showed normal BUN (one of the kidney values) which is good. They didn't have Creatinine (most important kidney value) in the I-STAT, so we still don't really know what condition his kidneys are in.

People at the emerg loved him. Said he was so cute, sitting in his kennel looking around, wagging his tail. Left his IV line alone, ate, drank, peed for them no problem. That's my Jaffa boy!

Sunshade's Aunty Janice called me this morning after receiving updates from the emerg and told me I was welcome to transfer Jaffa over to her clinic to continue IV/treaments. The emergency clinic charges a lot more than regular vets do. Janice taught me how to do IV at home with Sunshade before when she had her knee surgery, so I will be doing that with Jaffa tonight and possibly tomorrow night. I'm grateful as I know Janice is trying to keep my cost as low as possible while at the same time giving Jaffa all the treatment and care he needs. She knows how much Sunshade and Jaffa mean to me...

I went straight to emerg this morning as soon as I was allowed to visit Jaffa. Got his updates, signed him out of the emerg and brought him straight to Janice to continue IV. He was bright, stalking the clinic cat with his eyes, acting totally Jaffa like. Janice sent me home to sleep just now because I will be up all night with Jaffa's IV. I don't know if I can sleep, but I do feel a lot better knowing he is going to live. I'll really be able to sleep once I know he doesn't suffer any permanent damages to his kidneys.)


Me me no no see mummy last night, and I said said where did mummy and my Sunshade go?? Jaffaman was so happy happy when mummy came to see me me!!


Mummy said said lets take Jaffaman to see Sunshade's Aunty Janice ok ok?? I said said OKIE OKIE, mummy come come too?? See see, Jaffaman getting water in my arm arm at Aunty Janice's clinic,


Jaffaman no no know why me need water in arm arm... Mummy said said we use water to wash out bad bad candies, and make Jaffa feel good good ok ok?? I said said ok ok, but Jaffaman no no feel bad bad...



UPDATE 2 - 11pm

(mum: Jaffa has been home since about 6pm this evening. I brought home all the supplies (fluids, needles/syringes, food, medication, etc) to keep him comfortable throughout the night,


We have IV set up in the living room and he is continuing his IV therapy in an x-pen.


He wasn't too pleased about this arrangement LOL.....




He is on a few different meds for his stomach, but he's looking pretty fine to me. In fact, he's looking so fine that Janice consulted with one of her vet friends to ask about Jaffa's situation. He's not showing *any* signs of gastric problem (no vomiting, no diarrhea, no tender abdomen to the touch). Janice said she would have expected him to show some sign of discomfort.

Maybe he's being a stoic Airedale.... mind you he's usually a big baby LOL. Janice thought even tho no tablets showed up when they induced vomit, maybe the dissolved parts did come up, and he is not as toxic as we had first thought. Anyway, Janice didn't want to wait 'til 48 hours after fluids to take another blood work, so she took some blood today just before I took him home. We'll know the results tomorrow, and get a better idea at his kidney function.

Jaffa acts very hungry, but poor guy can only eat 1/4 can of gastro food every 3 hours LOL.... oh boy!

Oh and he's having to pee every 2 hours due to the fluids...hehe... Ah well...

Jaffa was so happy to see his Sunshade when he came home.


Sunshade took one look at him, and went to check out all stuff in bags I brought home with me. I bought lots of chewies for Jaffa before I was told he really shouldn't eat anything other than the gastro canned food. So while I was busy settling Jaffa in and setting up the IV....


Miss Sunshade was doing what she does best - " Seize the moment, no opportunities wasted. "


She definitely makes me smile and shake my head at the same time LOLOL!

Jaffa goes back to the vet during the day tomorrow, so I can get some rest. Clinic does the day shift, I do the ...... graveyard shift! Have a look at my schedule... hehe!


This calls for LOTS of coffeeeeeee!)



NOV. 22nd, 2007 - UPDATE

(mum: Jaffa is back at the vet for more IV. I managed to get about 2 L of fluids in him last night and this morning and he is looking as healthy as could be - dragged me everywhere to see EVERYTHING lol, jumped on people and bear hugged Janice and Jen, you know, just the usual stuff..... LOL.

We go his blood work result back from 24 hrs post IV fluids.




All his kidney numbers are currently normal. However, it could just be the fluids diuresing his system. We really won't know for sure until he's been off fluids for 24-48 hours, and see how his numbers are at then. Even then, he could still have suffered permanent kidney damaged but its just not showing up on the blood work.

Kidney numbers only become abnormal when there is less than 25% total kidney function. If you only have 30% kidney function, your blood work would still appear 'normal'. Soooooo, if Jaffa's blood work is normal after he's been off fluids, then I will have him ultrasound-ed to make sure there is indeed no permanent damage. If there is damage, at least I'd know and I can be more proactive with diet modification/supplementation, etc.

I know, I know..... I really should be happy (and I AM) and more optimistic especially he is doing well. But I just can't help it but worry when it comes down to Sunshade and Jaffa.... I tend to look at the worst case scenerios.....

Now, one of his liver enzymes (ast) did come back elevated which Janice said it's probably his system detoxing. She said usually with ibuprofen poisoning, you see gastric/intestinal distress first, then kidney failure, and lastly the brain goes. However, Janice said we're not even seeing gastric distress from Jaffa so she thinks his kidneys/brain will be safe. I'm not too concerned about his liver enzyme being elevated at the moment. I would much rather deal with liver problems than kidneys since liver does regenerate, kidneys don't.

We will have another blood work done before I take him home tonight to keep monitoring him. It will have been 48 hrs after IV therapy. Janice still wants him on fluids after I bring him home tonight just to be safe, so that's what we'll do. NO sleep for me again......)


NOV. 23rd, 2007 - UPDATE

(mum: Well I guess I spoke too early. Jaffa's blood work taken at 48 hours IV therapy shows his kidney number - Creatinine is back up, higher than it's ever been, and both of his liver enzymes are up too, a lot higher than the day before.




The 48 hours after ingestion was our chance to do everything we could, give his system all the support it needed to see if we can reverse any damage. For his kidney values to be normal at 24 hours after IV, and abnormal 48 hours after IV tells me that he did indeed suffer permanent damage to his kidneys, which really SUCKS. I did IV with him last night (thursday), and brought him back to the vet again this morning (friday) to get more IV flush. Janice has decided to not do any IV tonight, and do another blood work tomorrow morning to see how much his kidneys are functioning without the help of IV. More IV from this point on won't really help with the damage he's suffered from ibuprofen poisoning. He is also starting to show some protein in his urine, which means kidneys aren't functioning as they should.

I don't know what to say about his liver, only that I hope it regenerates once the crisis is over.

Today for the first time, he had bloody diarrhea. So he is showing some gastric problems as well. I think it just took 48 hours for the full impact to hit.

I asked about his prognosis, both Janice and the vet she consults with said it was too early to tell. Whatever his long term prognosis is, we know his kidneys are damaged, and are currently working at less than 25 %.

SIGH..... He's so young..... He was so healthy.....

Now the bright side, Jaffa is still acting completely normal. Land sharking Sunshade, and everybody else. Lots of energy, wants to play with every dog, and is always busy looking around. Since I knew I wasn't going to be doing IV tonight, I stayed at the vet with Jaffa. Sunshade had her acupuncture as well. Jaffa was fine in the kennel until he heard Sunshade's barking (she announces her presence to everyone in the clinic everytime she goes in LOL, she thinks she owns it) and the jingle of her tags. He was frantic that he could hear her but couldn't see her. He wasn't calming down, so I had to go to the back with Sunshade, made her lie down beside his kennel, opened his kennel door so he could sniff and see his Sunshade and not feel like he's being separated from her. Right away, you hear this non-stop thumping of his tail against the kennel walls. He was so happy, so relieved his Sunshade was there. He soon fell asleep with his head hanging out of the kennel next to Sunshade. I didn't bring my camera, but it was the sweetest thing. Janice, Jen and everybody there could tell how much Jaffa really loves and looks up to "his" Sunshade. Sunshade had to stay there all day too because everytime she left (for pee breaks) Jaffa would start crying, whining and howling. It really sounded like a dog was being slaughtered LOL.

Of course, Miss Sunshade put on her pouty pouty face all day because the world wasn't all about her LOL. She made it very obvious to everyone (lying with her butt facing me, ignoring me when i called her, looked away when I tried to pet her, put her head down to the floor looked extremely sad, and etc).

Anyway, I'm pretty disappointed, sad, and hurt for Jaffa as I was hoping the effects would be acute and not chronic. I take comfort in the fact that he is acting fine, eating fine, and feeling pretty fine in general. I guess this is why people say "treat the dog not the numbers"..... easier said than done, but I'm gonna try my best to stay positive for him.)


NOV. 24th, 2007 - UPDATE

(mum: Jaffa was off fluids last night, so we could draw blood to see how his kidneys do without fluids. I took him to Janice this morning to have his blood drawn. The results probably won't be in until tomorrow, and Janice will e-mail me or call me as soon as she gets the results.

I brought more fluids home with me and had Janice put another catheter put in his other leg. It was time for his first catheter to come out, and it did last night. I'm not even sure why I brought more fluids home since I already knew the damage to his kidneys are irreversible doesn't matter how much more flushing I do. Maybe, the fluids will take the load off his damaged kidneys until they adjust to compensate for the loss in function? Or maybe I just need to feel like I'm doing SOMETHING....

Yes... he is once again, in the x-pen getting IV.

Jaffa is still having runny poop with little or no blood (which is good). Janice thinks maybe his system doesn't like some of the ingredients in the Medical Gastro Formula, so she suggested I start to add a little bit of cottage cheese and cooked chicken to each meal and slowly wean him off the Gastro.

He weighed 54 lbs today. He was 60 lbs on Wednesday. Maybe it's the IV flush, maybe it's the Gastro food, or maybe he is that sick??)