Unfortunately my poor little pup isn’t well. Last week she had the runs but we thought it was because of some steak we gave her – she’s only used to dry biscuits. Over the weekend we didn’t notice anything, but she was still eating and enjoying her food. Come Sunday night, she seemed a bit more tired than usual, which we had attributed to the 40 degree heatwave that we had experienced over the weekend.
This morning when she still hadn’t eaten, and was really showing signs of fatigue, I decided it was time to take her to the vet. $1,200, an x-ray, ultrasound, drip for intravenous fluids and a lot of prodding later, it’s been determined that it’s just a nasty virus that will hopefully clear up within a few days. We’ve got antibiotics and prescription food to feed her in the interim, and I will be working from home tomorrow to monitor her food and movements.
When I picked her up from the vet she was incredibly dopey; when she walked from the car inside she only just missed walking straight into the fence. Once inside, I sat on the floor next to her and she immediately curled up between my legs:
I can only imagine what people caring for their elderly parents must feel like, because it’s been heart breaking watching her. She has no control over her bladder, and so we have her laying on a towel on the tiles. We’re already onto the second towel so far. Gradually her awareness is coming back though, so I don’t expect the issue will last too much longer.
I’m also set up in the living room with the blow up mattress, and will be spending the night here within earshot of my girl. Upstairs I can’t hear her, and if she has any discomfort from her bowels I want to be on hand so that I can move her outside onto the grass if need be. I’m a bit over cleaning up the “whoopsie” from the last few nights.
I have given her a bit of food tonight from the prescription range the vet gave me, and so far she has kept that down (and in – no “whoopsie” yet). But we can only give her a spoonful every now and then, so it will be a slow process to get a proper meal into her. Needless to say I’ll be working from home tomorrow to continue feeding her – she’s lost a fair bit of weight over the last few days and I’m keen to get that back up.
Thankfully the bulk of this is covered by her pet insurance. When she was a pup she swallowed a chunk of a tennis ball that got caught in her intestines. $1800 later I swore not to get caught like that again and I’ve had her on comprehensive pet insurance ever since. Since 2011, I have paid just over $30 a month with 1300 Insurance working out to be somewhere in the vicinity of $1400. Today’s effort had me $1200 out of pocket, and 75% of that I can claim back. The insurance is already proving its worth, because I certainly don’t just have $1200 laying around (not to say that I wouldn’t spend that money on my dog – I absolutely would, did today, and would do so all over again). I do have to still submit my first claim yet, which from reading seems to be quite the process. I have my invoice from my vet, but I have to fill out a claim form, plus get my vet to sign it, attach a medical history for her and send the original invoice to them…all by snail mail. What happened to electronic submission? Let’s just hope they approve it, refund me the money and I can continue on.
Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for my little pup – I don’t have kids but she is certainly my baby.