She's not a happy camper about the bandage but our wonderful princess has returned home to us. Well, to me. I think Cole understood that her and I needed some time alone so he will be back later tonight. She is currently enjoying her grass in her backyard and watching the birds play.
Cole had this past weekend off so we spent all of our time outside with her doing various things. We took our bikes out a few times on runs in the fields by our house. On Sunday morning Gracie Lynn ate her breakfast at 5am, then by 8am, it was all coming up. We left for church after just one accident, which for dog owners, does happen somewhat often. Coming home, there were an additional three accidents. Seeing that these were all food, we figured that she was almost done with it and would be feeling better once the food was gone. I left out two bowls of water and a dish of rice, while she had to be shut outside. *shudder* We had plans to go to a lake and go boating with some friends so I sucked it up and left my baby at home.
Upon returning...we found out that things were not as they had seemed. She was unable to even keep down water, but she was starving and completely dehydrated and so she kept drinking. After hosing out the entire garage and taking away all water (which reminds me that I am a good mom because I had four sources of water for her), we both spent the rest of the day inside so she could rest with us. She was extremely weak and restless, but after consulting an emergency doctor via phone, the decision was made to take her in when my regular vet opened in the morning, as we are both extremely partial to him. (There are notes in her file that she sees no one but him, which I never requested to be added, hahaha...more on our "file" later.) We spent a very restless night trying to keep track of her because she was unable to settle down.
Monday morning Cole put her on the bed with me before he went to work and she slept cuddled up for a couple hours until the vet opened. After explaining the situation, we got an appointment right away. I took her in (very hard for her to even move) and was told that yes, she was in VERY bad shape. Basically, when something like this happens, it's a situation that must be handled in 24-48 hours, and with her, since she is small for her breed and doesn't have any fat on her, things accelerate. Since we have dealt with many different things with her, I luckily don't do the freaked out mother thing, I do the calm and deadly thing. This seems to work in our benefit. :) They took her back right away (extremely hard on both of us to have her lead away while she doesn't feel good) and I proceeded on to work to wait for a call.
Four hours of no productivity later, the doctor called. They ran blood tests that all came back bad to show that she had a severe infection most likely cased by an ingested parasite. She would need to be hooked up to a pump on fluids and antibiotics for the next 24 hours. Cole and my mom both know that this situation does NOT sit well with me. You want to take my dog, who is in PAIN, mind you, and keep her in an unknown place overnight so you can monitor her? Oh really? Well, is anyone going to be there? No, you say? THEN HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MONITOR HER!!! Crap, you should see my file at that place. I had a vet tell me once that I should put a muzzle on her so that I could jerk her by the face/neck to do what I wanted. Not a good decision on his part. I have a file at that vet too. :)
Anyway, back to the story. I tried to buy the equipment necessary to keep her at home and even told him that if the needle came out, I would call 911 and have Cole come home to reinsert it. Not really...well, kind of...But after going over my options it was either take her off the IV and bring her home, then take her back in the morning, or leave her there overnight. I took one for the Ashley/Gracie team and decided the more fluids, the better. I went and bought her a huge bag of new tennis balls for when she came home and cleaned all of her dishes and the house for her. It was a very rough night on my end. I think she was so tired from the night before that she slept through it, at least I hope so.
I called them right when they opened this morning to make sure she had a good night and was assured that she was doing fine. I called again at noon and spoke with the doctor who said she was doing very well and I could pick her up today. I spent the next three hours jumping on my seat then hauled butt out of there to go get her. I got to the vets and begged them to let me have my baby back. At this time they pulled out my file (or should I call it a book? See below)*** and proceeded to take all of the money that I had made the week prior. But don't worry, they gave her an award for a free pizza for being such a wonderful patient. So glad I got that 1/300 of my money back.
Then...she came rounding the corner in the back...her head perked up when she smelt something she knew...her eyes locked on me...she barely let them open the door...then it was MOMMY!!!! Tons of wiggles ensued...with deep looks in my eyes to explain to me what she had been through...then a nose buried in my neck...an Eskimo kiss like we always do...and a lick on my cheek. All of this happened with people in the vets office looking on in wonder and the vet tech still holding the leash like she was going to go anywhere. Haha, yeah right, you couldn't pry us apart at this point.
I loaded her up in her car, which already had her windows and seats set to her preferred positions and drove a little bit faster than legally allowed so she could feel the wind on her face. Ahhhh. My best friend is home.
***I made a joke about how huge my file was and they said, oh don't worry, we have a couple of people's whose are MUCH larger than this. I asked how many dogs those people had...they said, "oh, well, they are dog breeders".***
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