When moving, especially internationally, your pets should weigh heavily on your mind. What are the legal steps necessary in getting them there? Are they suitable to the new environment? Seriously, don't take your Chihuahua to Alaska or your Alaskan Malamute to Ethiopa, folks. What kind of diseases do you need to be aware of? How do the general views and means of healthcare differ and how will it affect your pet?
This summer, our beloved 11.5 year old husky/golden retriever mix, Kisa, fell ill. It was Sunday evening when she suddenly got up and vomited 3 times. Upon cleaning it up, I was horrified to find blood in the vomit. I immediately start crying, of course, and think back to how she's been eating grass for the past few days which is indicative of an upset stomach. Blood in the vomit means that it's coming from somewhere in the GI tract at stomach level or higher. A quick exam of the mouth showed no bleeding. My vet tech mind is screaming "stomach cancer" which is a "once you see symptoms, it's too late" kind of cancer. As I said, it's Sunday. Everything is closed on Sunday in France, finding an open vet is impossible. There are some emergency vets here, but they're not as common as in the US, especially in a smaller city like Besançon.
On Monday I call my vet the minute that they open but she already had a full day. The next appointment was Tuesday at 4 pm. I had taken Kisa's food up the night before and there had been no more vomiting. There was one other vet within a 30 minute walking distance (dogs are not allowed on public transportation unless they are small enough to fit in a carrier) but I made the decision to wait until Tuesday with my vet since she was symptom free. We reintroduced a bland diet Monday night.
On Tuesday after 48 hours of tears, Jeremy walked Kisa to the vet while I took the bus due to physical limitations. Kisa had gone to the bathroom on the way to the vet and it was pitch black and tarry, further indicating bleeding in the stomach. My heart sank as stomach cancer was concreted into #1 suspect.
The vet examined her and said that stomach cancer was on the table but it could be something else. Does she eat anything unusual? I said no, not really, she gets unknown food items in the park sometimes but that's about it. She then listed some things she considered "unusual" like frogs, or lizards, or bugs and to which I replied "Ew, no". She said "Well, I think it may be stomach parasites that latched on to her stomach wall and created ulcers, which bled. Give her this medicine and if she's not better by Friday, we'll do an endoscopy to see what's going on in there." I was trying to wrack my brain on knowledge of stomach parasites, but we barely touched to topic in school. I can list the breeding cycles of every classic intestinal parasite, hooks, rounds, tape, whip, you name it, but I didn't know anything about stomach parasites.
I remained skeptical. How common can this be if I wasn't taught about it? I give my poor pupper her medicine, who by the way has remained moderately upbeat and is loving the fact that I am now allowing her on the couch. The medicine most have tasted horrible because she immediately tried to spit the liquid back up and her mouth starting involuntarily chattering. And I have to give this to her three times a day.
The next day I break open my vet tech books. There is nothing in my Common Diseases of Companion Animals textbook except for one line stating a cause of gastric ulcers can be parasites. Then in McCurnin's Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians I found two paragraphs about a stomach parasite found in carnivores that gave a little further info, but not much. But now I had a name, Physaloptera. Searching online I found that while the worms can often be found in the vomit (and are often confused with roundworms because of it), often there are as little as 1-3 of the buggers causing problems. Intermediate hosts ingest egg-ridden feces, the eggs hatch into larvae in the intermediate host, and then your adorable dog or cat eat the intermediate host and the larvae make themselves comfy cozy in your baby's stomach. I was scanning the list of intermediate hosts and my eyes stopped on one fateful word, "house flies".
I had told the vet that Kisa didn't eat bugs because I was thinking about beetles and crickets and creepy crawlies, not obnoxious aviators. Kisa loves to hunt flies. It's her favorite past time after naps and belly rubs. And thanks to France's abhorrence towards screens, she's been getting plenty of hunting practice in. If you haven't read my previous post about pet peeves in France, one of them is France's seeming dislike for screens. Despite the fact that only about 11% of private homes in France have AC, there are no screens on doors and windows. Since there's no AC, doors and windows are open all the time. During the swell of summer, I probably have about 10 flies in my house during the day time. Kisa has become quite the huntsmen and has even learned that if she traps them against the window, they're even easier to catch. She has eaten at least one a week since mid-Spring. It's simply not as common in the US with pets generally being indoors in a screened in, air conditioned house.
She has started feeling better. She still has a little loss of appetite but I suppose I would too if I had ulcers in my stomach. Her poops are perfect, I thoroughly check them each day much to the disgust of other people in the park. It goes to show that no matter how prepared you think you are when moving to another country, you will always be learning more. She's still allowed on the couch. I figure after such a scare, and at 11.5 years old, she will be allowed for the rest of her life. I guess it's time to invest in color coordinated sheets to cover the couch.