That would be what we English teacher types call a hook. And look, it worked. You're here and reading.
Dog puke. Oh, honey, let me tell you about dog puke. cha-ching! That's what we were greeted by after supper on Saturday the 9th. That's right. The day before my last post. And then we had MORE on the 10th.
MORE I tell you. The sound of canine retching will forever ring in my ears.
Oh...the canine? She's a miniature schnauzer...Diva Chien I think we'll call her. She certainly is that.
She's also the Demie Diva's BFF. The dog, in this instance, chose which one of us needs her more, and from day one, it wasn't yours truly. The Diva Chien keeps the Demie Diva focused. Keeps her calm. Serves, to all intents and purposes, as something of a therapy dog.
So, when the
Monday, we went to the vet for fluids, blood work, barium x-rays, and wait for it...more fluids. The blood work revealed pancreatitis.
Repeated same on Tuesday.
cha-ching!
Wednesday, the barium STILL had failed to move from the gut. The vet was more than a little surprised when I said..."crack her belly". I'm pragmatic. She's got a blockage. The x-ray is pretty damn clear on that.
cha-ching!!!
Except that there wasn't a blockage. Nothing there. At. all.
Biopsies were taken.....sing it with me...
CHA-CHING!!!!
And, we waited. Thursday, we pulled the catheter, and hoped like hell the dog would eat. She did. Friday was if-y.
Saturday, she puked, and we were sent home with a bag of Ringer's, some sharps, and instructions on how to give sub-cutaneous fluids. That's right. I hung a bag on a cord cleat and ran Ringer's into my dog.
Sunday, she defecated tarry stools. Dammit.
To the doggie ER we went....
And after an overnight stay at the dog hospital, just like Curious George, we took the Diva Chien back to the vet...where...the biopsies were in.
Don't tell me that angels don't watch over even our littlest babies. That damn x-ray said clear as day that she had a blockage. The ONLY reason they opened her up was because she "had a blockage".
Instead, she had no intestinal motility whatsoever. So they took biopsies...one of which indicated a type of Irritable Bowel Disease, which, left untreated, can lead to nasty stomach cancers that don't get detected till it's too late.
Meanwhile, the Diva Grandparents were spending my inheritance cruising the Baltic, and checking in by email. The Awesome Auntie is totally overwhelmed by the reality of two smart kids, and is coping as best she can. This does not include calling randomly to let her sister fall apart, however.
The Demie Diva was handling it far better than a five year old (almost) should. The extent of the stress was only seen when I noticed seizures...dammit...when the dog wasn't getting better. That's my girl. Emotional upset manifests in myoclonus.
So....to recap. My Visa screams in pain at the sight of the vet's office. My daughter loves the dog so much that the stress this mess was causes triggered seizures. I now am buying special food to prevent a recurrence of pancreatitis, have to give the dog prednisone for.freakin.ever, and am seriously contemplating a Gastroenterology consult while I'm in God's Country since the vet school is 5 minutes from my parents' home.
Short version?
I have a special needs kid.
I have a special needs dog.
Seriously? What else???
A special needs credit card.
ReplyDeletesorry. couldn't resist.
That'd work. Made me spit water all over my computer.
DeleteHow is she doing now? Yes, I hear ya. I have a special need dog too. Thinking of adding a 4th as a therapy dog. I know.......the 3rd dog was supposed to do that, but then my mom died and I really wanted to go with a therapy dog in schools and assisted living. My skittish afraid of his shadow Cavalier can't do it, the 3rd one is hyper and a licker, which you can't have as a therapy dog. Anyway, hope doggie and Diva are doing well.
ReplyDelete