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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

When Bad Things Happen to Good Dogs...

So, Friday night I came home from work all set to head out.
I had plans for a dinner with two of my girlfriends and I was in the kitchen putting a few things away and getting ready to change and go.
Scooter was in the living room, in his usual perch, the couch.
All of a sudden I heard a horrifically loud crash. I ran into the living room to find him lying in between the couch and the ottoman, LIFELESS.

This was one of THE scariest moments of my life.

What proceeded to happen the next 72 hours was just a huge nightmare. Totally could have been worse, and I'm thankful he's now "ok" -- just wanted to preface this story with the fact that HE IS ALIVE.

When I got to him, he was lying on the ground, and I couldn't tell if he was breathing. I proceeded to try to get him to "come to" and was rubbing his chest and even attempted doggie CPR (even though, i wasn't sure what i was really doing). I then realized I could feel a heart beat, and maybe he just got the wind knocked out of him when he was knocked unconscious. I felt him take a few shallow breaths, but he didn't come to, and his tongue was still hanging out of his mouth and eyes not moving. I would say he was unconscious for at least 10-15 minutes. SO SCARY.

I called my mom immediately screaming for her to get over to my house. She raced over and we ran him up to our local vet. By this time, he was sort of making these little noises, but still barely moving. They rushed him into Triage and after about a half hour came out and told me that he seemed stable but they recommended that we get him over to the 24-hr trauma hospital. Fortunately I take him there normally to see a dermatology specialist there, so we were familiar with the place.

Once we got there, they admitted him right away and decided he definitely needed to stay. They started him on meds so his brain wouldn't swell and put him in the ICU where he stayed for the next 3 days.

Day 1 - chillaxin in the padded crate in ICU
So happy Mommy came to visit

He hit a few bumps in the road with these "episodes" of, i guess for lack of a better word, fainting. Though, i'm not sure that's exactly accurate. He'd walk a few steps and just go down. As he gained his strength, they happened less and less, thank God. We haven't had an episode since Sunday morning. His blood pressure was on the high side over the weekend, so they started him on meds for that too. We go back next week to see if he needs to stay on this medication.

We were able to pick him up yesterday (monday) and boy was i ONE HAPPY GIRL! i pretty much spent the weekend in tears and barely ate anything because i was just so worried. I know there are animal lovers out there and people that consider their dogs their family. And that's totally me. This guy is my best friend in the world. And yes, my hubby is my best human friend. But this dog has been with me through marriages, a divorce, moving 7 times, good times, bad times, he keeps me company every night when my husband is at work. Just me and him, hanging out. And if he hadn't made it, well, let's just not talk about that.
Recovering at home

He was sooooo happy to come home yesterday and is sitting by my side as I type this. He's not 100% back to normal... he has this weird thing where his tongue now sticks out of his mouth, and i'm not sure if something happened with his vision/peripheral vision. So for now, this fur mommy is keeping a close close eye on my little guy and hopefully he will make a full recovery soon! Those of you who sent me well wishes on FB and Instagram, thank you and please continue to keep Scoots in your prayers! We appreciate it!



4 comments:

  1. I'm SOOOOOO glad he's better!!!!! Kisses!
    xoxo

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  2. Oh my goodness! How scary! Glad that he is okay and home with you now.

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  3. SOOOOOO glad to hear that he is doing better, and I hope that it just continues to go in a positive direction. Sweet little guy! *hugs*

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  4. Oh dear heavens he is so precious!! I would have been panicking like crazy! My dogs are my children (minus baby on the way of course!) and I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to him! So is he just having fainting episodes and that's all that they know? So scary! I am so glad he is getting better. <3

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