Home for the Night

Bunny came home for the night and is back at the vet today (as planned.)  It was both exhilarating and scary to have her home.  It was a little like having a sick newborn sent home for the night without monitors.  There is no doubt that we are going to rethink our veterinary choices and make some changes. 

We have been with the same vet for over 20 years, but there have been too many changes there - the kind that make issues like we have right now difficult and dangerous.  After the owner and main vet, Jeff, suffered a heart attack, he had to make some severe changes in his life and veterinary practice.  He quit doing field care for large animals, and limits his practice now to complicated surgeries and filling in for the other vet during vacations.  Traci became the main vet.  She is very sweet and caring, but also very tiny.  She is not equipped to work with large animals (like livestock), so only handles care in the office - mainly dogs and cats.  They also made the decision to join the All Pet Emergency Center health care network, which means she only works 8:00 - 5:00 Monday-Friday and some Saturday mornings.  I don't mean to make light of this, that is a very full week.  However it leaves us no options for after hours care except the expensive and distant All Pet Emergency Center.

Although their ICU-type facility was exactly where Bunny needed to be on Sunday night, and I fully credit them with saving her life - it is not the best option for some after hours care that is needed.  In the past, our vet kept animals overnight at his facility who had undergone surgery or were sick enough to need monitoring.  Since they no longer do that, Bunny becomes "our problem" at 5:01 p.m. whether she is well enough to come home or not.

I made some calls yesterday and got recommendations for two animal hospitals in Owensboro, KY who provide 24 hour care when needed - including weekends and holidays (as our vet used to do.)  Although I don't think changing her caregivers in the middle of a crisis is the best plan, we will certainly be looking into it for the future.  I don't ever want to be in this situation again.

Bunny did fairly well at the vet yesterday - I called a few times to check on her.  She managed to eat some canned liver dog food eagerly early in the day - refusing it late in the day.  She was taken off the glucose IV in the afternoon as her blood sugar had risen to a slightly elevated level.  They reported that she mostly slept.  They gave her injectible antibiotics and removed her drainage tube from the sutured lymph node.  Mostly she as there to be monitored, and Traci said she slept through a lot of the boring day.

Although she had been quite perky in the morning (holding her head up the entire hour trip from the Emergency Clinic to our vet), she was very weak and wobbly when she arrived home last night.  She was like a bobble head dog, having difficulty supporting her own head for very long.  Although she perked up when food was being cooked and appeared interested, she refused the canned liver dog food she had eaten with zest at the vet.  She also refused to drink any sugar water, as suggested by Traci.

It was distressing to see her so weak, refusing food and water - knowing we had a whole night stretching before us.  We were also supposed to give her two doses of antibiotics between evening and morning.

As the family began to eat desert, a plain white cake with no icing, Bunny became super interested.  She ate about a tablespoon of cake from my hand.  Although not prime dog food, at least that was going to take care of the needed sugar situation.  We did managed to get her to swallow a few ml of sugar water, by wetting her gums with a syringe.  She also had a dose of antibiotics.

Although she would raise her head occasionally when hearing a family member speaking, or follow them with her eyes - she was very weak and slept most of the evening on my chest.  I slept - and I use that term very loosely - for the first three hours or so with her in the crook of my arm.  This is not unusual for us, and she seemed quite content.  Once I felt sure she was not going to have any seizures, I was ready to put her down for awhile.  The rest of the night she slept in a laundry basket covered by a sheet, padded with newspaper and towels.  I checked her many times throughout the night with a bedside flashlight.  She spent most of it curled up in a ball asleep.

Neither of our dogs have been in a crate for years, and we have loaned them all out.  This was folly on our part, because a crate or kennel is very helpful when a pet is ill or injured.  It is also a puppy's best friend through the first months.  It facilitates potty training, and is a source of security (if never used as punishment.) 

This morning she was much stronger again.  She greeted me with lots of doggy kisses.  When I put her on some papers to potty (she is not able to go outdoors yet), she did her thing and then began to walk across the floor to DH.  Her legs were very shaky, but it was the first time she had actually walked since last Thursday.  She made it to him, about 3 feet away, and sat down by his foot to nuzzle his pant leg.  (This is her sign of affection to people.  She rubs her head into their pant leg.)  Then she surprised us by getting back up, and walking back over to me to be picked up!  She looked like a baby taking its first steps, all wobbly and unsure, but she did it.

When food and water was offered, she refused both.  We gave her a dose of antibiotics and then offered her a little bit of cake in hopes she would not vomit her medicine if she had a little something on her stomach.  She gobbled up the tablespoon of cake and looked around for more.  I'm sure our vet will be thrilled to learn we have put her on the all cake...all the time diet.

Although far from recovered, she is certainly improving a little at a time.  Once again she was off to the vet this morning.  Oddly our other dog, Molly, the Bichon-a-poo, has decided it is her job to take care of me now.  Although she is often around me, or will even nap with me - she is daddy's dog through and through.  Now she has become my constant shadow.  Dogs always amaze me when they intuitively understand something is wrong.

We used to have a Scottish terrier named Zoe.  Although she was primarily my dog, she loved everyone in the family.  She did not like most other people, and could be aggressive toward strangers.  (Research thoroughly if you are thinking of getting this breed.  They are delightful dogs, but VERY territorial.)  I would have to leave the room during her vet checks, or she would growl continuously as a warning to the vet not to get too close to me.  She was a very intuitive dog.  If I decided to lie on the bed to nap or read a book, she would lie on the floor next to the bed.  She never wanted to get on the bed.  However if I was in bed because I was ill, she would immediately jump on the bed and stay beside me as long as I was ill.

Just to show there has been a tiny bit of knitting - here are the Jaywalker socks about 20 rows past the heel turn...they are not especially true to color..and they are much prettier in person...

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

- I really appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers for Bunny and me.  I wish I could respond to each one of you personally, but at the moment I am trying to rest some during the day so I can do the night shift with Bunny with little sleep.

Comments

[Karen]

I hope Bunny continues to improve. That all cake diet may just do the trick;)
Your Jaywalkers look great!

[Rebekah]

Sorry I haven't checked blogs in a few days and hadn't heard all the things about Bunny. I'm glad to hear she's doing better.

I hate that about vets in our area, none of them have 24 hour service, you have to on nights and weekends go to the emergency vet. That's where Abner had to spend a week because they said he was to ill to move even to our vet. So that's where he stayed. While I completely understand it, it sure is difficult and I think hard on the animals they are trying to treat.

Fortunately we have a close friend who has been a vet tech for 20 or more years so in some cases she can help us and avoid the visit to the vet.

[Catherine]

I appreciate it so much that you have taken the time to update us as to Bunny's condition. I was checking and checking your blog all through yesterday. Sounds like she is on the mend from some pretty serious assaults to her tiny system -- the infection, the anesthesia. What a little trooper that girl is.
Get some rest,Bliss. Maybe some chamomile tea, eh?

[Rose]

I'm glad to hear she's doing better. Would you consider a second opinion? Just to see if vet 2 would agree with care that vet 1 has given. I know expensive and possibly unnecessary if she is doing proper care.

I agree with you on the hours. I have our vet's cells phone number for emergencies - any time after the office is closed. He said he can open the office in 5 minutes if necessary.

[Sara]

I'm so happy little Bunny is doing a bit better. I hope you are getting enough rest.

You might try feeding her vegetables. (Just in case she gets tired of cake, you know.) My Pearl loves green beans and carrots cooked in beef broth. That might be a little more appealing and lighter on her tummy than liver dog food.

[Sara]

Speaking of vegetables, I just remembered something: I once had a dog who had quite extensive dental surgery. I fed him canned beef stew and he loved it. (I heated it for him just a bit because wee dogs are meant to be spoiled.) It was quite a bit of nutrition and a tasty treat for a dog that wasn't feeling well.

[Jennifer]

I'm happy to hear that there is a little improvement.

[becky]

Ohhhh I'm so glad to hear Bunny is doing a bit better! Give her a kiss from me.

[Annie]

I'm not really a dog person, but I've been reading your blogs like it's a soap opera (which I'm sure it is to you), and waiting for the next installment.You've got me pulling for that little dog like crazy! You are a good mommy. Hang in there.