Little Dog in a Big World

Posts Tagged ‘Emergency Veterinarian’

Common sense would have told me to crate Misha while we decorated the tree.  She was off playing with her treat ball, so I didn’t think I had to worry.

Then she darted into the room.  Before we knew it she had something in her mouth that looked suspiciously like an ornament hook.  I grabbed her and felt nothing.  But, there was no hook on the ground.

After several minutes of back and forth, I decided to call the emergency vet clinic.  Of course, I should bring her in!  Her size (7 1/2 lbs.) made it more of a danger.  So, off we went to the emergency clinic.

Misha is terrified of the emergency clinic.  She went last May for a severe allergic reaction to a spider bite.  They got her muzzled and were able to give her the necessary shots.  But, when they turned on the razor to shave the area so they could clean it up, she freaked out.

She had not forgotten.

They first tried to work with her but she wasn’t participating.  I was brought in to weigh her.  I was able to do that with no problem.  I handed her over, but they couldn’t get her to calm down.

They tried to muzzle her, then I tried to muzzle her.  No go.

The Veterinarian came in and decided that before x-rays they would induce vomiting to see if we got lucky.  The inducer had an mild opiate in it which would calm Misha for the x-rays.

Misha got the inducer and then a plate of food.  She never has canned food.  She didn’t know what to do with it.  She would put some in her mouth, swish it around, then spit it out.  She finally decided that it was food and it was okay to eat.

Then she went through about 20 minutes of vomiting, poor thing!  And…no hook.  So, they did x-rays to be sure.  She was much calmer at this point and they were able to x-ray her just fine.  The hook did not appear on the x-rays.  Because we took her to the clinic so quickly, the Veterinarian was pretty sure she didn’t swallow a hook.

We took her home, where she turned into a wild banshee.  And, then she fell asleep.

The next day she was pretty dopey.  Around noon she picked up something behind the couch.  I chased her down.  What ever it was, she didn’t like it because she kept spitting it out.  Eventually she dropped it and abandoned it and I picked it up.  It was an ornament hook!  Not again!  We then felt the entire carpet to ensure that nothing else was lurking in the fibers.

As were down on our hands and knees, the thought occurred to me that no one had been behind the couch.  How did the hook get there?  It must have been the hook she picked up the night before!  She dropped it behind the couch before I caught her.

We were so fortunate.  We dodged the bullet twice in 24 hours.  I can tell you that when we take the tree down, she’ll be crated with a padlock for security!

I had a dog for 14 years.  I thought I’d seen it all.  I was wrong.

A week ago, Misha looked perfectly fine when I fed her breakfast.  About two hours later, her right jowl seemed swollen.  She’s always flying around the house, so I thought maybe she ran into something and I didn’t see it.

By late afternoon, she looked like this:

Her face was clearly swollen.  As we had another family medical emergency the same day, I kept an eye on Misha.  I kept hoping whatever it was would go away.  I called our regular Vet since I couldn’t get over there and they told me what to watch for.

By evening, it was very clear she had a problem.  The swelling was spreading.  It was affecting her eyes and was moving back towards her tail.  She was itching everywhere and plain miserable.

Sometime later, I found a bump on her back.  It looked like she had been bitten by a spider and was having an allergic reaction to it.  We were off to the Emergency Vets.

This was her first time at the emergency place and she was not happy!  She made it through the exam okay.  But, when they took her back to get her two shots and to get the bite area cleaned up, she screamed and howled.  The Vet told me after that she was “a feisty one”.

The steroid and benadryl made her very tired.  When we got home, she went out to do her business and then went straight to bed.  The itching seemed to be gone, though her face was still swollen.  At least she got a good night sleep.