State of the Pooch, continued:
The University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital is THE place to go when your furbaby is sick. We got there relatively quickly. Mickey rested quietly in his blanket in my arms, and licked my hand on occasion as if to tell me that everything’s ok.
They take him and put him into an oxygen cage (looks like a glass cube) to facilitate his breathing. After a wait, we give his complete medical history (which takes a while) to a vet student. Then we wait again. We meet with the doctor, who is fantastic. He explains all of Mickey’s symptoms and where they come from. The breathing issue stems from his heart problem. I think our Vet gave him too much fluids and the dog couldn’t get rid of them, which pushed his heart into failure, which resulted in the gurgly breathing. 🙁
They’re going to get info faxed to them from the regular Vet (hereafter known as “Vet 1”) and redo some tests. Meaning that all the things we worried about and became relieved about, we’ll have to worry about again. And poor Mickey has to suffer through more pokes and prods. If all goes well, he should be home tomorrow or Saturday. I hope his heart can take the stress of another hospital stay.
I think these docs are committed to helping him get back to normal. Again, if there is no pancreatic mass, Addison’s, or Cushings disease (which is a new one), he should have at least one healthy, happy year left. I do think we’ll be taking Mickey home alive.
We got to see him after we put down the deposit (did I mention we paid $1100.00 earlier to get him OUT of Vet 1?). He was sleeping peacefully in his glass cube. I cried at the sight of him hooked up to another IV. I had only taken his old bandage off mere hours earlier.
Didn’t get home until 3:00 am. I stayed home this morning until David arrived so that I’d be there if the Vet called. So I’ll be here until 4-ish. This is going to be a LOOOOOOOOOONG day.
Wt: 138.8, which will change because I need a cheesesteak w/fried onions and ketchup.
Mood: FURIOUS at Vet 1 for ignoring the heart/fluid issue, and giving us back a dog with a 600+ blood sugar level AND charging us $1100. We are now back at stage 1. DEVASTATED that Mickey’s going through hell again. EXHAUSTED from crying.
Work docket: Did communities and scrapbook. Will now redo the dining guide. I started that yesterday.
Lunch plans: I have $5.00. Sounds like a subway sandwich.
Afternoon plans: I have no afternoon today. I’ll be here until 4ish.
Evening plans: Unsure. I’m supposed to have “coffee and coping” at Starbuck’s with Mom-n-John tonight, but we may go and see the dog.
