Parker owes his life to Dr. Esh

Rating Details

Service being reviewed:

Acacia Veterinary Hospital
Reviews: 4 | Posted: 11 months ago | Avg Rating: 5.0

Supporting Shelter: BUTTE HUMANE SOCIETY

Supporting Rescue: Danbury Animal Control

Pros: Very nice staff and knowledgeable Drs.

Cons: Busy, usually need to book appt. ahead

Last December my cocker spaniel Parker suddenly became paralized. I tried calling three other Vets none of whom would take him on an emergency basis.
When I called Acacia, they said they were full but then they called me back and said Dr. Esh was concerned and would "make time" to see him. There were three main possibilities all of which
were ruled out. Parker was admitted and we went home to "wait and see". First thing next morning i got a call from Dr. Esh. He had thought about it at length that night and did some research and had a new theory. He suspected that Parker had Bottulism even though he hadn't eaten anything but his regular dry food. Not sure if I'm spelling bottulism right but it's a type of food poisoning that can be fatal in humans and causes paralysis in dogs. The weird thing is that he got it from his own putrid mouth. Spaniels have a lot of loose skin around their mouths and anaroebic bacteria can grow in there if they don't pant to let air flow through. Well since it was a cold winter, Parker hadn't been panting. He did have VERY stinky breath and dirty teeth! (shame on me) Anyway long story short, a high dose of antibiotics for a couple of weeks and he very slowly began to regain muscle movement. I had to carry him outside and hold him up for weeks so he could go to the bathroom. Some people wouldn't have gone through the trouble but Parker did recover with just a bit of
permanent shakiness to his back legs from neural damage. Dr. Esh saved his life and was soooo nice. Since then we've had his teeth profesionally cleaned and try to keep up on it at home. Never knew dental health in dogs could come down to life or death.

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