I can finally take some time to write about the emotional month it has been now that we are about to start the new year with some new hope.

December was really rough this year, I got a bad case of pneumonia that is still lingering and keeping things complicated.

I went out while sick to work dogs on some chukar and this was thew last time I have been out working birds this month. That was December 8th and I was coughing so bad I had a hard time walking. That was also the last time Ginger one of my favorite French Brittanys of all time was well. Her father is a pup I bred many years ago from a daughter of Tattoo and a son of Ultra. I love every dog that came from that cross, but having lost Stella this year who is a half sister, I cling extra hard to Ginger. 

After that hunt Ginger went off food and I wasn’t really concerned until about 3 days in. Then she started vomiting, Food and Water. I was worried about a blockage so we rushed to the Vet. Thank heavens they were able to get us in. By the time we got there I felt like Ginger was actually going to die any minute, she was crashing fast and hard. 

On arrival her Core Temp was down to 98.4, her breathing was shallow, she was limp and lifeless. 

I was going crazy trying to think what she could have gotten in to. Did she get into a toxic plant or substance hunting? Did she swallow something at the house? I was out of my mind trying to reason through it all. 

Radiographs showed she had a clear GI tract and stomach. No foreign bodies, no blockages, no strictures. 

Her lungs showed some slight fluid and she was a bit crackly in her breathing so we assumed pneumonia and got her started on antibiotics and IV fluids. Here we both were pathetic with pneumonia. Only she wasn’t improving… She was really sick. 

Bllod panel showed her Kidney and liver values way out of range (high) and her blood glucose down to 38! As a diabetic that scared me a lot as well. WE gave her some karo syrup and finally got her to where she would take some prescription food and hold it down with some anti nausea meds.

Leptosporosis was suspected even though she had been vaccinated so we sent off samples to rule that out. It came back negative. We really had no idea why she was in crisis and would she pull out. 

For the next three days I kept changing her fluids and giving her meds and she started to improve. 

She started stealing my string cheese any time I tried to eat some, she started trying to get any of my food and I was thrilled.

At the end of day 3 she was feeling so good she chewed out her IV for the second time. I may have used many cusswords both times. But I was so grateful she was bouncing back I forgave her. She was taking some food and keeping it down. So at the end of day 5 off the IV fluids for 2 days she crashed hard again. She started throwing up again, she was really weak and wobbly when she walked, and even fell down after throwing up once and couldn’t get back up. 

Back on IV immediately. After one day the nausea improved again, she was taking food again but not like before.

Four more days of fluids again and she was starting to improve but not like the last time. She would only take a few food items and only small quantities. She was bundled under a blanket next to me almost all the time. 

Christmas morning she was cuddled up on a soft memory foam bed under a blanket while we opened gifts.

She was coming back much more slowly. 

We ran bloodwork again to see where we were at and her liver values got much worse, and her kidney values improved only slightly.

Sub Q fluids for the next couple of days until a few very gifted Vets had an idea to look into another horrible disease based on some of her bloodwork results.

We went up to a specialty clinic where we could get tested for Addisons disease. 

Only after our first visit we realized we couldn’t test for Addisons because she had been taking prednisone from the beginning when we thought it was pneumonia. 

So we opted for ultrasound and found all her insides looked great no blockages confirmed again. No pyometra, all the organs looked good except the adrenal cortex was half the size it should be. 

Addisons disease confirmed.

This is a disease that really affects a lot of dog breeds specifically and this is the first French Brittany I have ever seen with it. 

Bear in mind this is a difficult and expensive disease to diagnose and get a dog through so many of these dogs just perish and no one ever knows why.

But now that we had a diagnosis we could start treatment. Much of the supportive care we had done had preserved her life, but now she could get the right meds on board to help her bounce back.

She should make a recovery now, but will be limited the rest of her life in what she can do but she will be able to hunt again as long as we monitor her closely and don’t push her too hard.

Thank you Dr Vincent and Dr Evans and your wonderful Hospital staff for putting up with me and my endless calls and tears. Thank you all for caring about Ginger. Thank you Polly and Dr Drummond (who has the best dimples ever), Dr Crouch and Dr Lemus who all  helped consult and figure out this puzzle to start looking in other places. Thank you Dr. Porter and Dr Cox who is also a great bird dog man and got us our diagnosis and treatment. 

You all came together to give us a much needed Christmas miracle. Thank you all for saving my special girl.