. . . in the distant, early morning . . .

An evening at the e-vet

Thankfully, there is a new e-vet only approximately 5 minutes from my house, and that is Tanasbourne Emergency Veterinary.

When Chris was here and discovered it, we went and got a tour, met the doctor, etc.

Today Elka got to meet Dr. Thomas.

You see, Elka didn’t start bugging me for dinner.  Then when I made dinner, Elka wanted nothing to do with food at all. This is extremely abnormal.

So around 5pm Elka went to the e-vet.  We were there for 2 hours, she vomited 4 times.  She got x-rays, her stomach is a bit distended but no obvious obstructions.

So she got 600ml of subq fluids, and a shot of Pepcid.  If she vomits again tonight, she has to go back for the rest of the night for more thorough tests. 

What do we hope for? That she just has an upset stomach and that it’ll pass.

What are the possibilities?

The most common for a dog is obstruction, ie: they eat something they can not pass. Caught early, obstructions are manageable. If they make it into the small intestine, it’s very, very bad.  Radiographs are necessary, and early, which is why we did them tonight.

I did a thorough home check, nothing is missing or out of place. 

What else could it be? I have no idea.  But hopefully by tomorrow this will just be a bad dream.

If Mali is my soul, then Elka is my heart.  I can’t describe how painful it is to see her unhealthy and uncomfortable.  Milton is having some issues too, but he’s had these since I got him, and I knew he had some GI issues.  I love him dearly, and I’ll do everything in my power to make him healthy, but he’s never looked uncomfortable. Milton has always been happy and exuberant through all of his GI issues.

Elka looks miserable.  When she lays down, she does so tenderly.  She is sleeping quite a bit and is obviously in a great deal of discomfort.  I don’t think her life is threatened, or I’d be much more of a wreck right now. She is under great care, and as quickly as I knew something was wrong.  I’ll stay up most of tonight monitoring her for any more vomiting or signs of worsening, if that happens, she’ll go back to the e-vet.

There are ... and have been… many times when I’ve thought I wasn’t cut out for this.  I get so attached to my pets.  When Odin was taken from me by cancer, I felt like a hole was being ripped through me.  I went through the same pain when Kayne suddenly died from HCM.

Mali’s illness felt like that at her worst, but over time it’s become a dull, aching kind of pain - ever-present.  Milton’s is more of a twitch, he’s not uncomfortable and there’s real concern, but it’s not painful yet.

But Elka - she’s always been the picture of good health.  She’s strong, robust, smart and…. healthy.  I’ve seen her very tired, and I’ve seen her with a sore muscle, but I’ve never seen her as depressed and painful as she is tonight.  I have never before been scared about Elka’s health.  Tonight I am terrified, and her pain is breaking my heart.

Sometimes I just think I can’t handle the pain when my babies aren’t doing well.  Tonight feels that way.  But I’ll handle it and deal with it, because there are no other options.  Elka has to get well, and I will do everything in my power to make it so.

-Lisa, on February 13, 2011 at 9:39 pm

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