Teddy's Story

My daughter’s 18th birthday was coming up and she and her boyfriend started working on us (Mom & Dad) about getting her a dog! Her boyfriend at the time wanted to get her a Yorkie for her birthday/Christmas gift. 

It took us a few months to warm up to the idea since we already had a Cocker Spaniel who we bought for her when she was 8 years old and he quickly became OUR dog (if you know what I mean)! Anyway, we caved in around Christmas time and long story short, her boyfriend and the breeder had communication problems and the dog she was SUPPOSED to get for Christmas was sold!

She was heartbroken (and HE was in the doghouse)! The breeder said her niece who lived around the corner had a female Yorkie who had just given birth to a single male Yorkie and that he would be ready for sale shortly.  After contacting the niece, he was to be ours! The breeder kept him two weeks longer than was originally planned because she said he just wasn’t eating as well as she had liked.  We drove about two hours and picked him up on January 9, 2009 from the breeder.  She had washed him before we got there (he smelled yummy) and she said it wore him out so the ride home was very quiet.  She had given us a 24-hour health guarantee on him and we had already made an appointment to see our vet the next morning.  All checked out great – Teddy was one healthy young pup!

My husband and I had planned a trip to the Gulf Coast the night after we got him and were TERRIFIED when our daughter called us early Sunday morning to say he was peeing blood.  Well, after mega testing and the thought that he MAY have hemophilia or something worse, all cleared as quickly as it showed up.  Whew, what a relief!

Not so fast…..he sometimes seemed like his iron was low and the vet had given us Nutri-Cal to keep him going when we were worried about that.  This worked great for us and he LOVED it! On Fathers Day 2009, we had a family celebration at the house.  Before they arrived we noticed that Teddy was “circling” his caged area.  He looked as if he could not get comfortable.  He almost looked as if he was a colicky infant.  By that night he was STILL pacing! We stayed with him that night and took him to the vet the very next morning.  After the vet kept him for the day while doing mega testing yet AGAIN, the vet referred us to a specialty hospital nearby for an ultrasound and a cardiology workup – he thought maybe his heart was enlarged (he did an EKG) and also thought he had a bladder stone. This is when he told us that he felt all Teddy’s tests pointed to the fact that Teddy may have liver shunt disease! The specialty clinic agreed to see him on Wednesday morning.  

At about 9 p.m. the night before, Teddy became a limp rag.  He wouldn’t eat or drink at all! We called the hospital and told them he was to come in tomorrow but his health was deteriorating in front of our eyes! They said to bring him over immediately.  The next two days they did test after test (including bile acids) on him and then hit us with the news that they did indeed suspect a liver shunt! That’s when I found this marvelous support group! Teddy had surgery on Wednesday, July 1st.  He did FANTASTIC! We picked him up from the hospital on Friday evening.  They not only found a large liver shunt that was easily accessible and were able to place the ameroid constrictor ring but they found no stone, just sludge, so his bladder was just flushed.  He also was neutered, which they recommended while doing the surgery.  He has had ups and downs since the surgery and has worried us a couple of times but we are all taking turns with round the clock care for our latest and greatest little man, Ted!

Thanks to EVERYONE who contributed to MY wellbeing throughout this ordeal.