Poor Einstein

Puppy in Critical Condition: A Quick Synopsis of The Story

My 3 year-old puppy, Einstein, has been in the hospital for 3 nights now, and tonight will be his 4^th. He is extremely sick and hasn’t eaten or drank anything for 6 days going on 7 and I am worried sick about him. I am writing this blog post to help cope as I’ve been nonstop crying for the last 3 days and nights, and I’m hoping that writing will help. He is the first dog I’ve ever had and he is so precious to me, so this is the first time I’m dealing with an emergency like this involving a loved pet.

HELP EINSTEIN GET BACK ON HIS 4 PAWS HERE: https://www.gofundme.com/3-year-old-pup-in-critical-condition

Day 1: The Onset of My Dog’s Symptoms

So, the symptoms started last Saturday, March 16^th, the day after my partner and I got home from LA for my breast augmentation surgery (will do another blog post about my experience with this later). The surgery was a long-thought-out decision to make both mentally and financially, and I had saved up enough for years for a change that would make me happy. Upon return, I was hardly able to use my arms as everything I did required my pectoral muscles, which were literally just sliced into 6 days prior. That included not being able to hold/pull/push anything over 5 pounds for 3 months, including my doggies even when I wanted to greet them! I couldn’t even drive.

After sleeping through some jetlag, Jay (my boyfriend/partner), woke me up to tell me that Einstein threw up 5 times, all with brown liquid (possibly from the food he ate and couldn’t hold down). At first, we didn’t think too much of it, as he has a history of a sensitive stomach to certain foods and will produce soft stool if he eats something even as innocent as chicken (which most dogs can tolerate, but not all).

But then, when I woke up 4-5 hours later, I saw 8 more vomit episodes just like the brown ones we saw prior. As I cleaned up the carpet, I wasn’t in panic mode yet, but I definitely watched him closely throughout the day. Unfortunately, Einstein wound up vomiting a total of 25 times on Saturday.

We thought it was just a virus or a bug, so we watched him closely for 3 days. Luckily, because of my surgery recovery, I couldn’t go anywhere so I was able to stay home and watch him. As the 3 days went on, his vomiting episodes became less frequent…maybe 5 times the next day and was able to tolerate small amounts of a bland diet. However, he still wasn’t eating or drinking normally.

Day 3: Taking Einstein to Our Local Vet

Because Einstein had no interest in eating or drinking at all, we then decided to take him to our local veterinarian Monday evening as soon as Jay came home from work. I would have taken him right away during the day, but because of my recovery, I was not allowed to drive yet. Talk about ill-timing being helpless about bringing my dogs anywhere yet one of them gets super sick L.

The vet saw him and immediately recommended an x-ray to see if there were any obvious blockages inside his organs. He confessed that it was actually out of his scope to really diagnose what was going on, but he knew there was something near the pancreas and/or stomach that was a huge cause of concern. He recommended to take Einstein to the emergency hospital right away if we had the funds. I sort of did, so we went right after.

Night 3: Taking Einstein to The 24/7 Emergency Vet Hospital

We took Einstein to the hospital that evening, and honestly, he was still walking and wagging his tail, so we kind of felt weird that he was experiencing all these symptoms but was still trying to be happy. If you know anyone with a Havanese or have one, you know that this breed is one happy, playful breed, so to me, it seemed like Einstein was really just seeing the whole situation from a positive lens. It was as if even though he was in pain, he was just happy that the whole family was there with him (including his sister, Nala).

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A post shared by Einstein, Nala, & Mochi 🐾 (@3furrytails)

Unfortunately, when we were called back for Einstein to be evaluated, the situation was much worse than we thought. He had to be put on immediate IV fluids overnight because he was extremely dehydrated, and he hadn’t eaten/drank anything in days. We left him there in good care, and even though I was crying all night and morning with little to no sleep, I had to keep telling myself, “Better at a well-equipped hospital than at home with no help.”

Day 4: Einstein’s More Alert, But Still Not Eating or Drinking

The next morning, we got a call from the doctor at 8:30AM telling us that he hadn’t gotten much better at all and that they will continue with the fluids to see if he gets any better. My heart was broken. Another call came in at 1PM, and they said they started introducing electrolytes into his IV fluids, and that he started to look more alert than in the morning. My heart was slightly relieved, but obviously I was still worried because we still didn’t know what was wrong. Again, I had another sob-filled night, and thanks to my anxiety, I knew I wasn’t going to get any good sleep this week.

Day 4: Einstein Walks and Pees (!), But Is Still in Critical Condition

Wednesday morning came by with a little bit of good news: Einstein had walked a couple of times and peed! Jay and I were happy with tears but saddened when we found out he still needed to stay there overnight because Einstein was still in critical condition. From the bloodwork, he was still showing signs of dehydration and lack of potassium. That day, the doctors performed an ultrasound on him and found that his intestinal walls were extremely thick. The next step was to get him stable enough throughout the night to determine whether or not they could do an endoscopy.

Day 5: Einstein is Stable and is Getting an Endoscopy

And here comes today, Thursday, March 21^st. I had 3 hours of sleep from 7-11AM when the doctor called me and said that Einstein was stable and well enough to do an endoscopy! I was glad he was stable, but also worried about such a little dog going under anesthesia. My friend actually told me that because the hospital was AAHA accredited, that they have better equipment and know how to handle emergencies better. I felt a bit of relief when she told me that fact.

Making the decision to do the endoscopy was tough because my finances are not so great right now and neither are my partner’s. I wasn’t sure if I could afford to continue to take care of Einstein and that I’d soon be in a heaping pile of debt, especially with ongoing treatment. After spending $11K on my surgery, I already had spent another $3,500 on Einstein’s 1^st two nights of treatment, and with the endoscopy, the total treatment till just today would go up to $5,000. The doctor also told us that the endoscopy wouldn’t be the end of it either. Einstein would have to stay another 4^th night tonight to hopefully come home with us tomorrow morning, but would have to return to the hospital for treatment once they find out what’s wrong.

When I heard the total cost, I lost it. I sobbed like crazy this morning because I felt helpless – I am physically debilitated from my surgery (I can barely leave the apartment and cannot even walk my other dog, Nala), Einstein has been in the hospital for almost 4 nights now and still hasn’t eaten/drank, and my finances are not so great. This combination got my anxious mind soaring to the worst possibilities that could happen. I decided to let myself cry for hours to let it all out, then take a shower to refresh my mind.

If You Want/Can Help Einstein, Here is How:

My friend (the same one from above) recommended that I start a GoFundMe to ask others to help raise money for Einstein to get back on his four little paws. She said I would be surprised to see how many people would actually donate. I hadn’t even thought of that, and after some thinking, I decided to do it today. I took a poll on my Instastories on my Instagram (@TheStyleWright) to see if anybody would donate, and I got some yes’s. And I saw that even a $5 donation from even 1% of my followers would help greatly.

If you’ve read up to this point, I want to thank you so much for hearing about Einstein’s story. My boyfriend and I + his sister, Nala, cannot thank you enough for all your support. I would never ask someone to forcefully donate, but if you would like to help, here is a way you can.

For daily updates, please follow my Instagram stories on @TheStyleWright. If you want to get caught up, please look at my highlight titled “EINSTEIN UPDATES”

Oh, and here’s their adorable Instagram if you wanna give a follow (@EinsteinAndNala):

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A post shared by Einstein, Nala, & Mochi 🐾 (@3furrytails)

DONATE HERE:

HELP EINSTEIN GET BACK ON HIS 4 PAWS HERE: https://www.gofundme.com/3-year-old-pup-in-critical-condition

Xoxo,

Kasey, Jay, + Nala