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A Dog Called Lady
29/07/2002, 10:05:55
Tagged Under: blog, dog, ill, vets.
On Wednesday night my oldest dog (13yrs) and the mother of my other dog didnt eat her food which is most unlike her as shes bang about her food, suddenly became depressed, she'd been in season so although I was concerned I kind of put it down to that since shes getting old. On Thursday morning she was no better, so in a bid to cheer her up I took her out for a short walk to get her some fresh air, she kinda perked up a bit but was real slow at walking to the park. We got there and within 20 mins I was at my vets. When we had gotten to the park she squatted for a piss only to my horror to see a f**kin huge amount of blood come pouring out, her legs splayed out and one of her eyes just shut and the other was half closed she started to puke up and as any pet owner can only imagine my worst nightmare was coming true in front of my eyes and at an alarming rate. Tuesday she'd been fine and perky as per normal, Wednesday she'd been quiet and I was now at my vets with him telling me my dog was dying. She was very pale, she couldn't stand up, she has suffered a massive blood loss and her body was basically flooding with toxins. She had a Pyometra. Basically her womb was full of poisonous fluids, she was running a 106 temp (which would kill a human) and she had blood poisoning because of the toxins flooding into her from her own womb. The vet gave her a massive dose of anti-bio-tics and an emergency body temp' dropping jab. At this point she couldn't stand up and wasn't opening one of her eyes. I think it's the most upset I have been since my Dad suddenly died 2 yrs ago. Distraught doesn't come close... So he couldn't operate till the following day and said for me to take her home. He gave her 30% odds and also said she might not be fit enough even for the emergency surgery the next day. So I took her home and spent the next 17 hrs stroking her and helping her around the house when she needed water and so on. She just lay there with her head on me the whole time, her eyes half shut and her breathing was really light. All sorts going through my head, the possible outcomes of the next 24hrs, what could happen, what I could do to make her more comfortable and worst of all the fact she was actually deteriorating rapidly and there was nothing I could do. I felt so helpless and for the first time in my life I felt like I had failed my dog by not noticing. The vet had said its normal for there to be no symptoms and that its extremely acute and sudden, but still you know what its like when you cant get it out your head. So sat up all night with her watching the hours tick slowly by till 9am when she was due at the vets, wishing and hoping she was going to make it to the next day and that she wouldn't get the dog curl up senario. She made it through the night and my friend drove us to the vets with her, she managed to walk to the car and walk into the vets which I thought was a good thing. We went into the pre-op and the vet gave her to go ahead to have the op, he thought her heart could take it but was very worried about her breathing. Basically if she didnt have the op today she was going to be dead by the following day from the toxins in her blood. A no win and no choice situation. Odds were still only 30% chance she'd wake up from the op, even after that she had to be on her feet within an hour of waking up. So I left her there and headed back home for the worst morning and afternoon I could imagine, all I could do was wait and hope. Family came round to keep me company and bumble was on her way up from down South that day to. 2pm came and it was time to fone the vets. I made the call and was told she was still in the op and to fone back at 4:30pm. So we all waited, bumble arrived off the train and we waited some more. Finally 4:30pm came and again I made the call. She was awake, I was told to come down a.s.a.p. as the vet wanted to see me. I was there inside 30 min's and he took me in a room to tell me how the op went and so on. He'd removed her womb with no problems, well I say no problems what he told me next blew me away. Her womb weighed 1kilo. That's a bag of sugar in you live here in England you know that's no small weight. It was larger than the piece of paper he tried to draw it on and he said it was the biggest he'd seen in his whole time practising. Scary shit. It's because it was so big that she'd gotten so ill so quick. It basically was a kilo of toxic mess inside, he said she'd have not known and repeated the fact that its very hard to diagnose till the acute symptoms show like they had. I had told him my dog rocks when I took her in the morning, that she wasn't the usual 13yr old dog but still had lots of kick left. He then told me my dog rocks and smiled I asked why and he said she was standing within 20 min's of waking up and that waking up would have been enough and that when a human has the very same op they usually cant stand for 3 whole days. My dog rocked, but he was quick then tell me the fight wasn't over and that this was only the first hurdle. She now had to fight the toxins in her system. The thing that caused to toxins had been removed but he had no way of telling how toxic she had become. So she was given an anti-toxic jab that's new and he said its down to your dog now to fight it, so long as I keep her quiet, warm and didn't let anything interfere with the op wound she could make it. He still only gave me 30% odds. He went and got my dog, she came in and was so happy to see me she wagged her tail so much she started yelping because it hurt her to do it, she still wanted to show me how much she was happy to see me and that just ripped me up, very ill and in agony and here she was trying to let me know how much she'd missed me. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't have tears running down my face because I did. She was just and always is so unconditional in the way she try's to show you how much she loves you. There almost closer to you in that way then family are because they have no agenda or hidden objectives like humans can have at times. Well he said take her home, so that's just what I did. It was going to be a long night, she was weak to begin with and no even weaker due to being put under and starved of water just before the op. So we got home and she just slumped in my front room and promptly passed out and slept for about 30 min's, after that she couldn't seem to get comfortable, I guess she'd been jigged around to much inside during the op and also the wound will have been starting to jip her as the painkillers wore off some more. She was the same for most of the night, getting up every half hour to move or shift a little. Not much sleep for me or for bumble. She had eaten which I took as a good sign so that was encouraging, she had drank water as well. The same for Saturday as well but she seemed more comfortable but still very pale and also very quiet. Yesterday she was back at the vets for him to see how she was doing, so we went I showed concern for her paleness still and he agreed it was still a worry but that she was actually less pale then the day she had gone in. He was pleased with her wound and stitches and said she looked like she could come off best but to keep a very close eye on her in the next few days for any signs of a relapse and to keep her for running, fighting, or jumping up at things as this could mess her internal stitches up and she'd simply bleed to death. He seemed reserved but positive at the same time. I know my dog and I know she rocks, she can make it she's been through hell and back but I saw the fight in her when I first saw her in the vets and she wagged so much it hurt her. So its all fingers crossed for the next few days and hope there's no relapse of any sort. As you might have gathered this puts a phat pause on this site and all the other projects I am currently involved in, as much as I love the site and my work, my dog is real and this place wont ever mean half as much as she does to me. Massive thanks to my family & bumble, don't think I could have managed without you folks.
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