One pill, twice a day.

With cheese.

For three weeks. (Oh, yeah, this is for Marley).

Chris noticed yesterday afternoon that Marley was licking herself a lot more than usual, and her groin was a lot more red and puffy than normal. We also noticed that wherever she sat on the bed there was a small wet spot. (yuck. We still were trying to get through the last 2 boxes of clothing when this happened, so they got postponed.)

Including when she sat on my pillow.

So, we gave her a bath, and I took an old pair of underwear, put a pantiliner on it and put it on her. I bunched up the extra fabric with a hair tie on her back, so that they would stay on her.

She was having a bit more urine incontinence for a few hours, and after a third pantiliner change in the evening, the pantiliner was clean and dry, but there was an obvious sign of infection, a discharge. So, we phoned the emergency line to the vet, knowing that on a long weekend, the likelihood of waiting it out two more days is just unfair to Marley. He said it wasn't much of an emergency, but that if we wanted to come in, he would call when he had to go in to check on the animals that were there.

Of course we said yes.

We ended up being up until 7 a.m. last night with her, I was worried, and couldn't sleep, and then when I was tired enough to at about 5 a.m., she jumped up on the bed and was shaking and breathing a lot harder than we've ever seen her. She was very warm, and panting, and I was terrified she was going to have a heart attack or something if she didn't calm down. (I tend to panic a lot worse when I am overtired. My mind was racing, we'd looked up her symptoms online, and as best as we could figure, she had some sort of bladder infection, and my mind just took it from there and raced into the horrible possibilities*. Chris did a great job of calming me down!)

We checked her groin again, and it needed to be washed, so we gave her a quick (and least amount of wet fur as possible) bath, and then took the still unhappy looking Marley outside to try to pee.

Apparently at 6 a.m., 3 drops of pee is heaven. Her attitude immediately changed. She was a lot calmer, looked more aware, like she was more comfortable. I felt so bad for her, but she was feeling better, so we could sleep.

*The only reason I tend to overreact to any problems with Marley, is the sheer thought of anything abnormal brings thoughts of Pookie right back up to the front. I know she didn't have any health problems, but I wasn't able to deal with her death very well, and still haven't, I don't think. Chris mentioned that I won't be able to freak out like that with kids, but I told him that I think the difference will be clear. I won't have lost a child, so it won't be as scary as this seems right now. I won't be trying to push grim thoughts from previous experiences out of my head. I am guessing from popular opinion that it still scares the crap right out of you when your kid is sick or has unknown issues, but I think it is mostly instinct that takes over then, too?

We got a call at 11 a.m. saying the vet was going in and we could meet him there in 20 minutes. That might have been the quickest I have ever gotten ready, maybe not in my life, but in a long time. Marley was eager to get outside, but didn't do anything before we got in the car. (We walked around outside for about 5 minutes before leaving.)

The vet was concerned that it could be three things: Pyometra (uterine infection) - very serious, would require surgery; urinary tract infection - antibiotics; or another bad possibility: urinary calculi (stones) which depending on the size could result in the need for surgery. (Patches had this surgery a few years ago, so it was a familiar topic - the vet seemed a little put off by my limited reaction until I told him we'd been through it with another dog before.)

Luckily the increasingly visible spay scar on Marley's belly ruled out the first one that would definitely require surgery, because without the organs, they can't get infected! (Duh.) Yay! Most serious and life-threatening one was ruled out.

The vet that was on call was regularily the large animal (cows, horses) vet, and apologized for his supposed unfamiliarity with the patient. I thought he was amazing. He did know a lot, was very frank about all of the options, brought out a book with pictures to show what we would be looking for on the x-rays we did. I was impressed, and a little sad that he wouldn't be Marley's regular doctor. (I wish I could find one that nice, patient and thorough.)

Speaking of x-rays, he strongly recommended that we do two x-rays to check for the stones, which could cause serious problems if we left them unchecked. We weren't about to play around with Marley's health, so of course we did them.

The thing about that is, most people hand over their animals and the x-rays get taken by assistants or whoever. Because the vet was in on a day that they would normally be closed, there were no assistants to help him out. So, I got to put on a vest/apron thing that was strangely comforting, even though it weighed about 20 pounds, and some HUGE lead gloves that made gripping Marley almost impossible. I held her front legs while the vet held her back ones, and we got the two shots, and I have to say, if it weren't for those gloves, I would have had another issue. Marley was fighting so much that she ended up biting one of the gloves. It was a really hard bite, too, not a warning one in the least!

When we were done with the x-rays, she was glad to jump into Chris's arms, who was waiting around the corner while the x-rays were taken. I'm not fond of the look I got, but I can't say I blame her.

The x-rays were really good ones, and while we were discussing the lack of bladder/kidney/etc. stones, I was checking out the rest of her bones. Her hips have been cracking a lot lately, and I wanted to see if they looked normal. (I saw pics online while we were looking up her symptoms last night of healthy, not healthy and in need of replacing hip joints.) Glad to say hers look great!

We ended up getting 3 weeks worth of medication, and about 2 hours after we gave the first pill to her, she appears a lot closer to normal already. We are still supposed to try to get a urine sample whenever we can, to check for blood and crystalisation. So far, it hasn't worked. It was much easier with Patches, because he doesn't squat as close to the ground as he can possibly get. :)

Trying to get a 2 inch dixie cup under a dog that is about 1 to 1.5 inches off the ground isn't easy. But, I bet that paints a pretty picture for you, doesn't it?

Anyway, all in all, we're glad we didn't wait until Monday, because the symptom onset was pretty quick, as far as we could tell, and we didn't want to have to keep her in the makeshift diapers for longer than we had to. Even though it was really cute.

We still have no idea how much this will cost us. I am guessing the urine sample will add to the cost, but because there was no receptionist there, and the vet doesn't do billing, we have to go back in on tuesday to pay for it.

I am assuming it will be costly, though:
- emergency visit/exam including history*
- 2 x-rays
- 3 weeks of pills (42)
- urine test
*not sure if it qualifies as an emergency visit if you don't get to see the doctor right when you call. We waited about 18 hours.
______________
$$$$$

Cutest member of your family's health back on track: Priceless.

:) So totally worth it.