Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Danny's Home!

Danny's back home! His vet called the night before and told me to wait for his call before collecting him. He said he wanted to give him a thorough checkup before discharging him and asked me not to appear first thing in the morning. How did he know that was exactly what I was planning?

Anyway, he opens at 10 but by 10.30 I couldn't stand it and called the clinic. They said he was in the clear so I could come by around 11.30. I left the house immediately after putting down the phone and was there by 11. Heh!

Of course I had to wait. Anyway they handed Danny over together with his cocktail of meds which have super complicated feeding instructions - or maybe I'm just not very smart.

Total damage: $680
Having Danny back from the dead: Priceless.

He's still not 100% though. He is curious about all his usual stuff and poking his nose into garbage cans and trying to sneak upstairs where he's not allowed, just that he is doing everything at half speed. Walking from one end of the room to the other makes him pant and his back legs are quite weak so stairs are a bit more of a challenge than usual.

He seems to have more energy in air-conditioned rooms and pants a lot less, especially when it gets hot, so now from 11am onwards, our friend stays with me in the study. I keep the temp low and wear a jacket.

He drinks copious amounts of water though, which the vet said it's caused by the steriod jab, which means I'm changing his newspaper every hour on the hour.

Everyone at home has come to realise that he's not quite as indestructable as we thought. He now needs more looking after, but we're all glad he's home.

Will take new pics soon!

Monday, March 28, 2011

What a difference a day makes! - Danny update

Thanks for all the prayers! They worked a miracle!

Got a call from the vet this morning. Danny's doing a lot better. He was up on all fours and polished off a whole can of dog food. He was still panting a little heavily although all the twitching and jerking is gone. The vet said he still wanted to keep him another day so as to monitor that his seizure doesn't reoccur, but we were more than welcome to visit him at the clinic.

So hubby, Rhoda and I all trooped down around lunchtime to see our friend. He was like a completely different dog! When I left him yesterday, he was lying down on his side with muscle spasms coming every 2 to 3 seconds. When I called his name or patted his head, all he could do was roll his eyeballs in my direction. As it was, the vet called it an improvement on the previous hour, which had him having no recognition in his eyes whatsoever and pee and poo streaming out of his other end. (The latter was when the vet thought we would lose him)

Today, however, when we appeared, he stood up, his tail (or stump) all twitching, and banged against the cage door. He's been on a drip since yesterday so that wasn't new, but we were a little puzzled to find an e-collar on him.

It was soon cleared up when the vet's assistant explained that Danny's unstoppable mouth (save for the fit) had been nomming on the tube for the drip and the collar was to prevent him from biting through. Also, he had somehow gotten his gangly legs tangled up in the tube during the night and they had come down to find him in an "oh help!" position.

Eating for two and getting himself into all manner of trouble? Mmm...yes, he IS feeling better. Still can't believe he actually managed to be up to mischief confined in a cage. It's some kind of talent.

We opened the cage door to pat him better but then had to physically hold him in cos he kept trying to jump out despite being a good metre from the ground and still being attached to the drip! And when we left, he started yelping as in "You guys forgot something - ME!!!"

Anyway, if this keeps up, Danny will be coming home tomorrow!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Danny Had Fits

I haven't blogged in a while mainly because Danny's been improving and while he is still naughty, nothing he has done recently beats that last two years.

Doing a short blog today because Danny had a fit this morning and we had to rush him to the vet. At first they thought it was a heatstroke, but even after they brought his temp down, he went into another fit, which the vet thought was it. But they managed to bring him back on track. When I left the clinic, he was still twitching to a good extent. The vet said they would put him into an induced coma and see how he is in a few hours. If he is better, he can come home and we can monitor. If he isn't, they propose sending him to the hospital for them to run thorough tests on him. And of course, there is also a possibility of him not making it till morning.

At this point, I really don't know how I'm going to handle losing another dog so soon after Chassard. I really do hope for the best because, even though he is the naughtiest dog I ever had and the most disobedient, I do miss him. It's been a short 2 years, but already he's wormed his way into everyone's hearts in only a way a dog can. Please pray for him.