Please Pray 4 My Girl

Please pray for Bootsie......she's been sick since this morning, and I don't really understand why.  I just had her in at the vets office for her blood test, to check where her liver enzyme levels are (she has liver disease). I always dread these tests, fearing that I will be returned results that spell out something I really cannot take. I was happily surprised though: her test results came back with one level still high (but no higher), and one that was high last time had went down. This was wonderful news!

But this morning, Bootsie woke up sick. I took her out to go potty, and she had a bout of diarreah...her stomach has been cramping up so badly that she literally shakes from it. I hold my arms out to her and she literally sinks into them and goes limp as she shakes, needing me to support her. When this wave of cramping run through her, she can't even walk. I watched her fall a few times while she was sick out in the backyard.

I called the vet right away this morning after she was first sick. I was told the standard directions of: withholding food for the next 12 hours, and then if her stools begin to seem like they are returning to normal I can give her small amounts of bland food (chicken with rice, oatmeal, cottage cheese).

Thing of it is: I needed something to help her feel better, NOW. I asked if I could give her some Pepto, and they said I could. Being a 14.5 lb dog, Bootsie can have a pediatric dose, which is 1/3 of a caplet, or 1 tsp.

Well, poor Bootsie, she wanted no part of ANYTHING going into her little mouth, and as sick as she felt, she wanted no arguement about it. I tried to quickly pop that 1/3 pill in there, and she promptly spit it out. So then I tried to half "toss" the pill in there, to which I recieved a good chomp to my finger, lol. (It's a little funny now, but it hurt than. Bootsie meant business about wanting no meds, lol.

Had to outsmart her, and that's not easily done. I took the pill and smashed it to powder, then dissolved that in 1/4 cup water to which I added a splash of that ever-helpful chicken broth.

That did the trick. Bootsie drank it all up, and soon after she stopped shaking and had herself a nap up next to me on the sofa.

At 5:00 pm, we repeated the whole process, with Bootsie being ill. It's heart wrenching for me anytime Bootsie hurts....and believe me, with each one, I pray to God to not let this be "the one".......you know what I mean? Not going to spell it out, because  that feels too much like I am tempting the fates.

Anyway, I brought Bootsie back in after round 2 and carried her to the sofa. She sat next to me, shaking, so I put my arms around her and held her.....she just kind of leaned into my arms and wanted me to hold her up. When she finally let me lay her down, her brown eyes looked so tired...she layed there with her eyes closed. If I tried to move back into a sitting position, her eyes would open up and she'd get a worried look, as if to say, "No..hey! Where are you going?"

Lol, back down I went. And back Bootsie went to closing her eyes.

I am so scared about her getting dehydrated. I know that it's all too easy for a dog to get that way when it has diarreah or vomiting. Plus if they have to be hospitalized, any dehydration makes the pet take that much longer to recover.

This was a problem, because now, even my chicken water wasn't tempting her. I went in the kitchen and took a little silver gravy ladle from the utensil drawer. Looks an awful lot like a deeper version of a soup spoon, but I'm pretty sure it's for gravy boats.

It was the only way I could get Bootsie to take in any water: I had to spoonfeed it to her, lol.

I did call the vet a second time. I asked if I could redose the Pepto, and was told "no".

Well, guess what?

I did anyway. I thought it over first, weighing the pros and cons as I saw them:

Give her the Pepto~

PROS: SHe will feel better and this cramping in her tummy will go away and give her some rest and relief.

I will feel better when Bootsie feels better.

CONS:

She does have liver disease, and meds are not a big plus there....

But what settled it in my mind was this:

If I didn't do SOMETHING to help her, there is no doubt in my mind that we would be going to the emergency vet right then and there. Once there, Bootsie would go through a lot of poking and prodding by a vet that while I am sure is well-qualified, is one that Boots has only seen once. They would without a doubt keep her for more testing and observation.

I'm telling you, no way is she better observed then she is right here at home under the watchful eye of yours truly.

In the end, they would HAVE to administer something to control the diarreah.

Bootsie HATES staying there.(No offense at all to the clinic and staff.....it has nothing to do with them, Boots is just happier and more at peace when she's home).

So. Here it is. It's now 10:43pm.

Bootsie is feeling better. She is searching every corner of the house for a crumb of anything to eat because the poor little thing is now famished. I relented and gave her a small spoonful of cottage cheese. (By the way....strange thing about cottage cheese...I only like Darigold brand, but sometimes it tastes, well, WEIRD. At other times, it tastes "right". Lol. Everytime I open a new package I test it out, and if it's good, I tell Bootsie it came from a "happy cow", lol. Which leads me to this..Does cottage cheese come from cows? Lol)!

Bootsie is trotting about barking.....I better go see what mischief she's getting up to. Say a prayer that she will stay feeling better....

Paula & Bootsie