Is there anything sadder than opening your door and finding no dog where a dog should be? No wiggling butt or pacing around with a favorite stuffed animal in their mouth?
On Friday, Harlow was back at the animal hospital. Thursday night I noticed that she was breathing quickly. Not panting, just breathing normally but too fast. She was also licking her muzzle a lot.
I was going to have friends over for dinner that night, so I gave her a bath since she was in serious need! I did this with the hose friday morning, and she shook like a leaf. Does she have a fever again? Is that why she’s shaking so much? She doesn’t normally do that.
Friday afternoon, after I returned from some photo shooting on campus, after she was laying around for about an hour in comfortable temperatures in the house, I noticed she was still doing it. Just regular breathing but faster than normal.
I called her vet, told them the situation and that I also had three urine samples from three consecutive days (her pee, not mine). They told me to take her to urgent care. Faster than 40 breaths per minutes wasn’t normal. I clocked her around 60.
She saw me grab the leash. Yay! A walk! She was very excited. Then I put her in the car. A CAR RIDE! EVEN BETTER!
Dropping her off was the most heart-wrenching thing I have had to do every in her life. She recognized the place, and CLUNG to the inside of the car like a human with brute strength. It was very hard to get her out. And once I did, she trembled all over, her tail between her legs.
I found myself thinking that if she dies and I am not with her, and the last thing I saw was her terrified going into that building.
But now it is Sunday and after much hand-ringing and wallet emptying, she is home again. The fast breathing and licking was a sign that the nausea was back. Poor girl. Ultimately, all the medications she was given last week was to deal with symptoms, not the cause. So, now it’s time for the cause. I agreed to have the internal medicine vet (yup, there are specialists with animal care too), do a GI scope.
Before the procedure the vet called “Boy does she want out of here!” she said. Yeah, no shit. Apparently she was pulling like crazy on her leash when they brought her out for some treatment or another. I guess it’s a good sign she isn’t weak!
The biopsy from the scope will be back later in the week, but the vet said that there were clear signs of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I think it must be very painful.
Poor Harlow. So now she’s home and I’m giving her more anti-nausea meds and small frequent bland meals which I am so happy she is eating right up!
BEAN'S BABBLETORIUM 