Quote from: wakychapmans on May 05, 2026, 09:48:35 AMso now ya got an excuse for another LAP...

or head in opposite direction and do the bits you missed

Quote from: Fizzie on May 05, 2026, 07:30:14 AMI tried!

so now ya got an excuse for another LAP...

TUCKER-WATCH

Monday 4th May - Update.

hes walking around reasonably well now. all his vitals are up. His platelets are still a little down (but rising every day), and blood tests show that he is now making his own red blood cells again.

at this stage... he's been cleared to come home at the end of the week.

(and be horrified that he now has a little sister...)

thanks heaps for all the well wishes everyone. it means a lot.

Keep positive, and we all hope that Tucker is home soon to join in the fun with his little sister.

That first photo, you can tell that Monty is thinking "If I just stand on this thing, that'll stop it, & I'll claim it was an accident"!

Hope everything goes well with Tucker.

I tried!

Hope the cards fall in your favour, what a nightmare of a time you have had. Get well Tucker.

Sounds like a nightmare Wayne.... Hope all comes good mate.

That was a real roller coaster for you all, hope it all ends well 

OH... MY... GOD...

where to begin...

On Thursday arvo we had to drive to Katherine to overnight (with the Kedron) and then continue to Darwin the next day. As Princess Tilly was arriving at Midnight on Friday 1st May. Then back to katherine on Saturday morning for an 11.30am appointment with our vet for Tilly.

On Wednesday, we noticed that Tucker was very lethargic. Very tired. I mean... he's 12, I get it. But this seemed to something considerably more.

So I called up the vet and we decided to bring him with us and let them check him over on the Saturday.

Thursday at 1pm we left Yarralin with the Kedron in tow. We got... ohhhhhh about 30klm out of town and the air con in the Troopy died. In 34 degree heat... with a sick dog. Around this time we got a call from the vet who was concerned about his symptoms and we made to call to drop him at 8am on Friday morning before we left for Darwin.

Rolled into Katherine at 7pm and our mechanic (we were camping for the night in his yard) regassed the system. He couldn't diagnose as he was flying out the next morning to Cairns for the weekend.

At this stage we tried to get Tucker out of the Troopy and into the air conditioning of the van. He fell out from the passengers seat onto the ground. Got him into the van and he just layed there.

Dropped him at the vet (carried him in in my arms) and headed off to Darwin.

A call from the vet an hour later. He has the Ehrlichiosis bacterial disease. Transmitted by the brown dog tick in subtropical areas.

Prevention is general dual. A tick/flea chew or a spot treatment to kill anything that bites PLUS a Seresto collar to stop things from biting in the first place.

"Ehrlichiosis is a serious, often fatal tick-borne bacterial disease (typically Ehrlichia canis) affecting dogs, transmitted by the brown dog tick, particularly in tropical/subtropical regions. Symptoms include fever, lethargy, weight loss, and bleeding disorders. Treatment requires prompt antibiotic care"

This is quite often fatal with dogs. So our hearts sunk. We then lost the air con again (just near Pine Creek).

I organised a mobile air con guy to come to the van park where wer were staying (The Oasis) to hopefully repair it. 5 mins with his equipment and he pronunced it dead. The compressor was shot. Unfixable in the window of time we had available to us.

Picked up Princess Tilly at 1am, made our way back to the van in the non air conditioned Troopy and to bed at 1.45am.

Made it back to Katherine on Saturday morning at 11.07am. windows down the entire way. The only communication from the vets via the nurse was "the vet will talk to you about this". (ominus)

We were taken into see Tucker one at a time and to talk to the vet. During this time Tilly decided to wee on the chair beside me and then on me!

Tucker was not good when I was sent in. He was on the floor, three legs partially shaved and an oxygen mask on. He barely moved and only twitch his nostils when he smelt me. It was agreed that at this time, we would throw everything at this for 24 hours to see if he could make it.

We made our peace as best we could with the likely outcome and went back to the van in the Big 4 Breeze van park in Katherine and cried. While doing our best to properly welcome Tilly to the NT.

At 10.36pm Saturday evening we received a message from the vet that Tucker was still laying down but with his head up and eating some food. he was also looking at people and interacting with them. His platelets were improving and he no longer needed the oxygen mask.

Sunday morning at 8.30am, we left for the drive home. it was going to be brutally hot with no air con... so we wanted to get out early. Update on Tucker from the nurse at that time was that he hadn't gone backwards from the previous night. And was about the same. Fast forward to Sunday arvo at 2pm and a message from the vet that included a video of him walking around. MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT! (link below) Tucker walking

We're now home in Yarralin, Tilly is settling in (much to Monty's horror) and as of last night, Tucker has been showing some encouraging signs - his temperature has come down, his heart rate and resp rate have settled and he's brighter and walking around again. He's still anaemic on bloods, but his platelet number has increased so there are all positive signs...

There is a "fun" video of our trip back with a special stop in the middle of Jasper Gorge on the Buchanan Hwy on the MySwag FaceBook page. (needs sound - link below)

Circle of Life