Overheating/heat exhaustion, just plained tire

[Debbie Meier]

Bea has me on edge, last night she worked a little seemed fine, she went in with her pups now 6 weeks old, they had their way with her. I've been kenneling her seperate from them in an attempt to put some weight on her and to slowly wean the pups. Well the vet put and end to that today, puppies are weaned as of this morning when wore out Bea came stumbling through the kitchen, almost fell over, scared the crap out of me. I immediately dosed her with some corn syrup and gave her a water ladened serving of oatmeal, her appitite was in tact but her gum color was off and still is. The vet wants her kept cool, and keep tract of her water intake. He had me bath her in cool water give her some electrolites and now we wait. He does not want to see her at this time, feels the the pups demands for milk production and the heat we are having put her over the edge, he said that he is quite sure the she is just plumb wore out. Damn this heat.

 

She's resting behind the chair, good thing I put the window air conditioner in last weekend. She is responsive and alert, will jump up to follow me to the door, but I still can't help but check in where she is resting for fear that she won't move the next time.

 

Keep your fingers crossed for her, this could be a long long weekend...oh, and the pups are pissed!! Now, I'm getting anxious about the rest of the crew.

 

Deb

[bc friend]

Well, some of the good Board mojo can't hurt! Hope Bea does well over the weekend - this heat is enough to do anyone (or anydog) in.

[Smokjbc]

The vet wants her kept cool, and keep tract of her water intake. He had me bath her in cool water give her some electrolites and now we wait. He does not want to see her at this time, feels the the pups demands for milk production and the heat we are having put her over the edge, he said that he is quite sure the she is just plumb wore out. Damn this heat.

>>Debbie

 

Hi Debbie,

 

"Plumb wore out" should not cause pale gum color. If she isn't looking pretty dang sparky soon, I'd have your vet be a little more aggressive. I'm really surprised he didn't at least draw a basic profile w/ CBC.

[Journey]

Is there any reason she is even working right now in all this heat? A litter of pups will pull on a healthy bitch but work with high temps as well is enough to get any dog right now. Aren't you in the mid west? I know here we've broke 100 just about every day for the past 2 weeks. I won't even think about asking my dogs to work. Maybe a vacation will help her feel better?

 

Good Mojo for Bea.

[trailrider]

I`d be really concerned about kidney damage. The vet should check that, since she may need intravenous fluids to recover with healthy kidneys. Heat exhaustion can kil even a year or two later with kidney damage. Get fluids in her as best you can til the vet can help.

[Debbie Meier]

Yeah, hot and yes midwest, but the work was not intentional, what work we are doing is in the early morning or late evening. I had some handlers come out last night to prepare for the trial this weekend. One of them blew the sheep through the gate, Bea and Jake were just out with me and got the call to make the cover and get things back under control. I should have made her get into the water tank afterward but did not even think about it, it was all said in done in 10 minutes, light work compared to normal.

 

I just spoke to the other vet in the clinic, he said the same as the other vet, she's taking in water, eating, pooping and peeing, her temp is a little elevated, he too said just help cool her down with some cool water and keep an eye on her. I asked about other possible problems, he said doubtful but watch her and call if there are any changes for the worse. He did say I could bring her in and they would look in on her for me, so I guess that tells me that they would not do anything else but watch unless something changed.

 

See, it's not just me on another planet, my vets are here with me!!! I'll watch her close, ISU will be her next stop if there is no improvement or if there is a change for the worse.

 

Deb

[KathyF]

Keep her cool. You can use a fan to help keep the air moving. I had a bitch do this once when she had some puppies and it turned out that she was dehydrated. She wouldn't leave the pups to go drink enough water. Since Bea was outside in this horrible heat and humidity and was also nursing pups she very easily could have dehydrated. The other thing is that dogs don't use electrolytes like we do, and I have heard that the human electrolytes just don't do much for a dog. I don't think that they could hurt, but I would certainly recommend keeping some Glyco-Gen energy powder on hand. I have used it for a dog who was overheating and it helped her recover much more quickly. You can order it here: http://www.bordercollies.com/shopdisplaypr...Energy+Products or directly from here: http://www.k9energyedge.com/

 

How is her CRT?? I know that you said that her gums are a bit pale.

 

Kathy

[Debbie Meier]

Thanks Kathy, I was thinking about the Glyco-Gen when I was in town tonight, kinda looking to see if there was anything simular available. The vet had me give her some the Stress-pac electrolite I keep here on hand for the horses, she was not very happy with me when I gave it to her, caused to froth at the mouth but we got it down.

 

As far as her CRT, it was pretty good, almost immediate refill after depression was released, her pulse was 120, which is on the high end of normal, temp was 104, also high but he said not high enough to cause alarm under the circumstance. Her gums did go from cold and wet to warm and dry and then back to cold and wet but he also said to expect it and that it was classic overheating.

 

She just came in from outside, immediately went for another good drink of water. I went out and checked her stool with a flashlight, it is now mushy, guessing from the corn syrup, oatmeal and electrolite pack. She is responding well, even caught her begging for something from the dinner table. I'm hoping a good nights sleep in the house in the air conditioning will do her some good.

 

The pups now, they are a little ticked off.

[KathyF]

At six weeks of age I would expect the pups to be pretty much weaned anyway. The soft mushy stool can certainly be a result of the overheating too. I have dogs who will get soft stools from this heat. Our new puppy had mushy stool earlier this week. Just one time in the morning and I attributed it to the heat. and maybe some of the chicken poop he ate the night before when he got into the chicken yard.

 

I certainly would highly recommend the Glyco-gen powder.

 

I'll see ya this weekend, right?

 

Kathy

[Debbie Meier]

Pups weaned, well that's a matter of opinion, they didn't think so. I've never had a female that let them just nurse, typically the female will wean them herself, not Bea. They are kinda spoiled brats, the day before yesterday Riley took them her bone with meat still hanging on it and gave it to them, Lilly will feed them too, I guess we have a pretty good pack dynamic going on.

 

BTW, Bea is back to normal in one aspect, she is back to her egg theiving ways, was caught red pawed sucking the yoke out of a duck egg this morning in the yard.

 

I will see you tomorrow, I'm catching a ride with Ruth and Sharon in the morning, that way I won't be gone long and Bea can stay in the house vs. out in the kennel. Wayne is leaving this afternoon, he will be running Jake in Open and in the Nursery class tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that he can get his shed, he's been working really hard this past week after having problems with it at Adel. I'm just hoping I can keep Vicki honest on a cross drive tomorrow, or that the course is set like last year where there was not true cross drive.

 

Deb

[denice]

DEB,

 

If your girl isn't back to acting normal I would think about running some blood work. She may have a Calcium deficiency from nusing the pups - this can cause weakness as well.

I have had vets say give them bitches a tumms because of the added Ca.

 

Just a thought

 

Denice

[Lenajo]

6 week old pups need their mum unless she's too sick to deal with them. They need to learn from her, and as much as she wants to nurse them she should be allowed. I've never seen a dog run off the field from working to nurse so I expect they will eventually wean.

 

A pulse of 120 is *not* normal in a fit working dog. 104? If you aren't sure if its the outdoor temp, then take her inside and recheck it in an hour. That will end the debate. If she were my dog she wouldn't be outside except to potty for a least a week. And then I'd only work her with caution _after_ she was fully dried up. Once you overheat a dog it's at greater risk for overheating for months to years after - sometimes for life.

 

If you keep trying to work her in this heat, what you are going to give her is mastitis. Don't you have some other dogs you can use? Dealing with 100F (or like Journey and I, heat indexs that are slipping way to close to 120F for comfort) plus heat and pups is enough for a btch to handle.

 

As for the pups, letting them get wound up with a forced weaning in this heat may cause problems as well. I'd be on the lookout for stress and heat related issues in them as well.