mocha the miracle dog
SO
mocha has been with me for over 17 years
i can't even begin to imagine my life without her
for the past 48 hours i have had to do just that
saturday morning she woke me up with odd breathing
and then splayed on the floor
we took her to the vet
who ran blood tests and x-rayed her
and pronounced her ok
put her on new pain meds
and explained that because she may be in pain
that may be affecting her breathing
causing her to pant and huff
we got her home
between the vet and the house she had somehow deteriorated
we had to carry her out of the car
and then she proceeded to spend 36 hours on the couch
unable to move
feeding her by hand
giving her chicken broth and water in a syringe
she couldn't hold up her head to eat or drink
panting
disoriented
we spent yesterday crying and petting her
i called the 24 hour hospital to alert them that we may be bringing her in
and called friends that may want to say good bye to her
my mom came over and sat and pet her
then asked what meds she was on
after looking them up on line, we decided to up her pain meds
to at least get her through the night so that she wasn't suffering
an hour after upping her meds
she gets off the couch
gets a drink of water
and goes outside
(we were supporting her with a towel the whole time as she was wobbly)
pees
comes back in
and jumps back onto the couch
today, when i thought i would be bringing her to the vet to put her to sleep
i took her outside several times
watching her trot for a few steps
pee
poop
sniff the grass
and go up and down the steps on her own
she is currently asleep on my feet
snoring
apparently i do not have to imagine what it will be like with out her quite yet
though i know the time is coming close
today isn't it
thank fucking god.
EDIT 6:35 AM 12/29 ~ i may have celebrated prematurely.....mocha woke me up at 6:30 with the same breathing problem and though she is laying here again, comfortable, i have no idea what may have caused the problem to reoccur.
the only thing that has changed between last night and the one before
is that she was not able to take her ibuprofen-esque pain relief every 12 hours (it is one that is only given every 24 hours)
so perhaps i need to get them to give me one that she can take with more frequency
so that her pain stays managed more solidly
i hope that is it.
EDIT 1:43PM 12/29 ~ Went and picked up the new medicine from the vet at 8:15 and gave it to her at 8:30......her breathing has returned to normal and at the moment she seems to be resting comfortably but is definitely less spry and less interested in food stuff and moving around than she was yesterday .... hopefully this will be enough to manage the pain
we won't really know until tomorrow morning
time will tell.
EDIT 9:13 Pm 12/29~ She seems to be doing as well right now as she was this time yesterday.....on and off the couch, up and down the 3 stairs to the yard....peed......eating but really selectively at this point.......currently snoring next to me.....tomorrow morning will be the real test i guess......hopefully spreading the meds out throughout the day will keep her more consistently pain free.
thanks for your positive thoughts and empathy.....means more than you can imagine
EDIT 7:43AM 12/30 ~ I think that mornings are just going to be bad.......the same things all over this morning.......the panting breathing.....awake at 545 this morning rather than 645 (though i'm not sure if that is accurate as this is just the time that i actually woke up rather than when she may have woken up)........definitely a rumbly tummy for her this AM........gave her some of the pain meds about 45 minutes early as it will take that long for them to kick in and i need to be able to take her out soonish so i can see how shes doing and assess if i can go to work today (i need to leave at 1015ish to get there and my mom and christine will be able to be here for some of the day and john will be home at 5ish)..........she seems to have a great day from about 11AM ish to about 1030PM.......then she kind of falls apart......i am wondering if her pain meds are still not covering her through the times expected to and if she is struggling because they have worn off and her hips are bothering her......regular vet is back on tuesday and i am hoping that we make it through the weekend to see him and have him assess her as he knows her best out of all the people at the facility......my huge fear is that she will go downhill on thursday night and we will not be able to see anyone at our regular place until saturday (when i am supposed to work at 9AM which would mean another full day of cancellations if we needed to bring her in......not the best option, but at this point, it may be my only one)
not trying to borrow trouble.......just trying to plan to be able to take care of her
