through two years of excellent health, the dreaded day has come: my doogie dog is sick. he woke me with with a horrible hacking noise. immediately i knew something was up. this hack is the same hacks he uses to throw up food when he's eaten too much. the throwup usually comes up after only a few hacks. the hacks that woke me up were consistent and did not result in any up puke. instead white frothy sticky sputum came up. doogie hacked for about 1.5 hours before stopping for a break. it was the most godawful pathetic scene i've had to endure through his little life. i have been awake since 4am trying to take care and comfort him. wiping away mucus, backmassages, and conversing. he is miserable. and i feel like ripping out my hair or crying. during the initial hacks i called vet emergency and they said it sounds like kennel cough. so i've got to bring him in for an appt today along with a bag of his poo. sigh. he probably got the cough from being groomed a week or so ago. i feel so guilty. i am a bad mama. i wonder if this is how mom's with kiddos that have RSV feel too. what shocked me is dan's reaction to doogie's coughs. he got mad at the dog and was not nice to him. i suppose he was extremely fearful that doogie's health was not so great. and anger was his initial reaction and defense because he wanted the situation to go away. it made me think.
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i just got back from the vet and doogie has a fever of 103.1 degrees. normal dog temp should be 100 - 101. he got a dexamethazone sodium phosphate injection and oral antibiotic pills for the week. the doc also said that his tonsils & lymp nodes are inflammed and hopefully the shot will help that too aside from the fever. she said he maybe has a secondary infection from having something lodged in the throat and the hacking was to get it out. or the frequent change in mich weather from hot to cold to hot makes him susceptible to respiratory infections. she also suggested obedience classes for him. lol. and i wanted to smack her .. then thank her. i did the latter. i think im too sensitive. doogie is due for a check up in a week. hopefully in good health!