Thursday, June 21, 2012

Who Doesn't Love a Good Vet Drama?

You know you've reached the point of no return in your weirdo life when you find yourself in the reception area at the vet talking to a complete stranger about her cat's anal glands.  Poor cat, he was not in for a fun day at the vet.

For me it all started as most of these things do at 1:30 in the morning.  I don't know why these dogs can't keep business hours.  Anyway, I woke up Tuesday night to the sound of Cody reverse sneezing and gasping for breath.  The reverse sneezing is something he does on occasion so I wasn't too concerned about that but the gasping for breath?  Kind of scary.  I noticed a strong smell of smoke so I went outside to see if a new fire had started nearby.  Ash was falling but no sign of a new fire.  Weird because the winds were calm, temps. cool and it was even a bit humid.  If anything the High Park Fire should have been calmer than normal and so far we hadn't experienced smoke that bad in Boulder, at least not in my neighborhood.  I turned on the swamp cooler and stuck it near his bed and once I finally got him to settle in front of it he was fine.  Until the vomiting started a couple hours later.  I figured he was just sick from the smoke and didn't think much of it but in the morning his back legs were so weak, he could barely support himself.  He's got weakness and arthritis in his rear legs/back but this was a huge downturn.  I called the vet to see if she could take a look at him and maybe prescribe some Rimadyl or something.  I'm not a big fan of drugs but he looked so bad and I didn't like the idea of him being in that kind of pain.  Couldn't get in until Friday night and even then I'd have to see a different vet than his regular one.

I'll spare you the rest of the details but the next day and night there was vomit.  Too much.  So I called the vet first thing this morning and pleaded my case and thankfully she squeezed me in.  Who could refuse sweet old Cody?


I'd already been to the Rez for crack of dawn masters and swum 2000 meters and walked Lola all without having very much food but I didn't have time to make breakfast before scrambling off to the vet.   I was feeling a bit light headed, stomach achy already and I had barely sat down in the vet's exam room when Cody starts to squat.  Normally he's such a good dog, I don't think he's ever had an accident in the house in the 13 years we've had him.  He's mortified at the very thought of it.  So I knew he must really be sick.  The vet tech seemed quite pleased.  'Can't get a sample much fresher than this,' and she cheerily scooped up a bit in a plastic container then mopped up the mess.  I'm remembering my incident of passing out in the Chipotle and hoping I don't have a repeat performance.  The smell, people.  We opened all the doors in the exam room and I somehow managed to stay conscious.

Well Cody is just too smart for his own good because it turned out he did have a bacterial infection and the sample he provided was perfectly timed to diagnose his case.  He got some fluids, an antibiotic shot, an anti-nausea shot and some take-home drugs as well as a detailed recipe for a bland diet that he's supposed to have.  I stopped on the way home for his white rice, cottage cheese and chicken because while normal people probably have these staples, I do not.

When I got home I set about cooking food for both of us because it was nearly noon and remember I've expended way more calories than have gone in and who knows when I may finally pass out?  Cody is clever but like me he can't work a cell phone very well.  I don't do so well in the kitchen and trying to cook 4 things at once is usually how I end up starting fires but miraculously I got all the food prepared without setting off the fire alarms.  However the rice was a horrible mess of mush.  I felt bad about making Cody eat it until I realized that the reason he got into this mess in the first place was from eating some disgusting, inedible thing.  He had a bit of a hard time eating the sticky mess so I had to fluff it with a fork for him while he ate it.  Seriously.  Even I can see how this is maybe a little much.

But he looked so much better after he got some food and water into him.  His back legs were back to normal and so far we've been vomit free for 2 hours.  Phew.  Cody turns 14 next month and I was going to be pissed if he wasn't going to make it.

8 comments:

  1. My Annie is 13 and I doubt she will see 14, poor old girl. Right now she has a tumor on her earflap that has suddenly gotten larger and is oozing. She goes in tomorrow. I feel really bad for her b/c it smells terrible. Her back legs don't work very well either.

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  2. Oh no, I'm so sorry. Funny how the back end always seems to go.

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  3. It sucks getting old. Hugs to Cody.

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  4. One of 11yr old Ramsey's back legs is constantly on the fritz and he only does well turning one direction if he's moving beyond a walk.

    Poor Cody. Whenever we have a dog get sick with the vomiting or diarrhea we break out the rice and chicken as their meal and is typically does the trick. Not sure why they have to eat all the crap off the ground and floor that they can find.

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  5. Glad it was as simple as a UTI (?) infection. I've noticed that scheduling thing about my dogs--right after the vet closes for the weekend or the evening, that's when things go to pieces. I'm really surprised that with vomiting and downturn n the back legs that the vet on wednesday put you off until friday. That's kind of weird, if I'm interpreting correctly. Glad that they got him in sooner finally. Hope he's all better in teh morning.

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  6. I initially called the vet before I knew about the vomiting. When I initially called I only told her about the weak legs and that I was hoping for a pain killer prescription. When I called back the next day after 1 1/2 days of vomiting she got me in right away, no problem.

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  7. Oh, Cody... No fun having a scare like that eh. Always worrisome when our dogs are off, but even more so at that age. I'm happy to hear it wasn't anything too serious. He will make for a very handsome, distinguished 14-year old.

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  8. So glad Cody is ok.

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