I have no idea what exactly happened, but poor Cindy managed to end up with one hell of an upset tummy.
Saturday, before we left on our jaunt to the mountains for a picnic, she was coughing and hacking like she had something caught in her throat. She ate a little grass (like most dogs she does this when she’s feeling “icky”) and it seemed to resolve on it’s own in a little bit so I didn’t think anything more of it … until last night.
Before she got her dinner she barfed a little. OK, no biggie. Hubby was nice enough to clean it up and I added some slippery elm and pumpkin to her dinner to help settle her tummy. She pigged out as usual so I figured it was just “one of those things”. Wrong.
I finally gave up and headed to bed around 3am. After four more “accidents”. Coupled with the Saturday incident I was starting to get a little concerned. Hubby told me there was another “accident” by the time he was up and out of the shower. Great.
Called the vet and waited for one of the docs to get back to me. Didn’t happen before I had to leave for work though, so I gave her a little more slippery elm, added some aloe, and managed to get her to eat a couple of spoonfuls with some chicken. After an hour or so she still seemed OK so I headed to work (late) after talking to hubby (who agreed to leave work early and check on her). Once I talked to the doc who called back, we agreed that I didn’t need to bring her in unless she barfed again. Hubby called two hours later to tell me there was more by the time he got home. Wonderful.
So I too left work early, rushed home and took her in. Since Cindy is still non-ambulatory (close, but not yet walking on her own) there really isn’t anything she can get into. And with the coughing episode Saturday, the vet and I were both concerned she somehow managed to swallow something or maybe had something worse going on. So they took x-rays … which didn’t show much, but there was that odd area that didn’t quite look normal. Nice. So we added an ultrasound of the gut and some blood tests to rule out the really bad stuff.
The good news is that there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong other than some fairly severe gastritis. Easily solved with a bland diet and anti-nausea meds for a few days. The bad news is that we got to spend two and a half hours at the vets office (at least it’s a really nice office!) and had our collective pocket book further lightened. Gaah!
At least with the meds she hasn’t barfed since and she was able to eat some dinner and scarfed most of what I gave her. Seven weeks and 2 days to go before vacation … is it too much to ask to not have a sick pup this year? Sheesh
© Copyright dragonfae 2011
Among the Crystals, Dragons, and Fae 
Dealing with ill pets is simply heart wrenching … yet, because of their meaning to us, worth the financial expense. Best of luck and a speedy recovery to Cindy!
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Thanks for the kind words Frank. Sadly, there are too many people who don’t get it. If I had a nickle for every time I’ve heard “but it’s just a [insert animal of choice]” I’d have been able to cover half of Cindy’s bills. I’m just very grateful we can handle the cost of “peace of mind” … there was a time in my life where that would have been tough.
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The poor girl just can’t seem to catch a break! Neither can you, for that matter. I’m glad she is starting to feel better. I’ll have my fingers crossed that she stays better through the vacation.
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Thanks sis. So far so good … and no more messes to clean up! 😉
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I’m so glad Cindy’s doing better. We had Bear, a German Shepherd pup (6 months), who was with us about 5 months when one evening, out of the blue, he started throwing up and acting very skittish. My wife took him in first thing the next morning, but it was too late. His intestines had twisted so badly that even surgery couldn’t have helped. His loss, to me, was more frustrating than sad, because he was a really wild dog – yanked both the wife and I off our feet, barked, tore around the house, a true vandal. I had been working with him day and night, and he was finally becoming well-mannered. I had never known anger as part of grief over loss, until Bear.
Give Cindy an extra hug for me, okay?
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Will do John. I’m sorry you didn’t get to enjoy more time with Bear. It sure doesn’t take long to get really attached to them, even when they are a little wild. 😦 Cindy was unruly and had some bad habits when she came to live with us (she was 10 months old) but after working with her she’s easily the best dog I’ve ever had the good fortune to have as a buddy. *hugs*
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Humans’ ability to care for the pain of others is part of what makes us human. It is part of the pact we make with a pet-that we will love them, care for them if they are ill, feed them, play with them. It is hard, but we do it in exchange for all of the love and devotion they provide to us.
I’m glad she is feeling better. And relieved it was nothing more serious.
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Thank you dear. I’m very relieved too. Though I do wish we knew what she got a hold of that irritated her tummy in the first place so I can make sure she doesn’t do it again.
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Awww poor baby. Hope she feels better soon 🙂
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Thanks sweetie. She’s doing much better now but she’s on anti-nausea meds until Monday, Right now she’s being pissy because we can’t give her all the treats she thinks she deserves. *eyeroll*
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Awww. Poor thing. I hope she’s feeling better by now.
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Thanks Robin. 🙂 Yeah, she’s pretty much back to normal … we’ll see how she does Tuesday once she’s off the anti-nausea medication. She’s been getting a few extra treats today so hopefully she won’t be so upset over missing out on them anymore.
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Cheers for back to normal!
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Most definitely. 😀
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