Fudge Had to Go to the Emergency Vet Last Night! Luckily, She is Fine!

Yesterday, it rained all day. Not a light rain either....it was a "walk your dog and get drenched day," which I did twice. The dogs were bored, so I gave them a new bone in the evening and settled down to watch Dancing With the Stars. If you know anything about me, no one bothers me when DWTS is on. My family even has instructions to hold all calls from the Pope. About an hour into the show, I hear a god awful sound and minutes later, another one. I go out into the foyer and Fudge is frantically circling, licking her lips, moaning, and gulping. I immediately thought she had Bloat. When I let her outside, she was frantic, trying to eat grass, making whimpering noises, and I noticed that she had vomited in the house, which I assume was the source of one of the loud noises. Of course, I was home alone. I checked for obstructions, did not see one, and loaded them in the car and by this time, she was less frantic, but still gulping.

Part of the reason for this discussion is to remind everyone to have a plan when there is an emergency. I lose my keys every single day. I have already lost my set of car keys and could not find the spare set of keys or the single spare key we keep for emergencies. I couldn't find my phone and kept running to and fro trying to find things and wasting valuable time. Finally, I located the spare key, got ahold of my pet sitter to keep Vern, and Fudge and I made our way to the ER vet.

Once we got there, Fudge's symptoms seemed to be far less severe (naturally) but she was gulping and extending her neck repeatedly. They ruled out bloat, but thought she might have an obstruction. Fudge was perfect and made me proud. They x-rayed her and did not see an obstruction, but did feel she had shards of bone in her colon waiting to pass. When I got home, the bone I gave them only had a few tiny pieces missing, and the only other thing I know that she has been chewing on is an antler. I will say they have a basket of bones, so I can't be sure. They gave her fluids and medicine, sent us home with more medicine, and want her on a chicken and rice diet for a couple of days to let her esophagus rest.

They said no food and water for 8 hours and when we got home, I put the food dishes up and Fudge sat in the kitchen staring at the bowls. She would not move away from those bowls, and I disobeyed the doctor and opened a can of Fromm soft food and gave her just a bit. Of course, I found out moments later why no one calls me Dr. Laurie, when she threw it up. The good news is when she threw up that time she threw up some feathers and what looked like a tiny bone and that seemed to stop the gulping. She slept all night and did not move this morning when my husband got up. Today, she is tired, but seems better and ate her chicken like a champ.

I am going to try and have a small kit by the door from now on in case of another emergency. Thank goodness if was not bloat, because every second counts, and I lost many with my poor organizational skills and forgetfulness. Another reminder to get Pet Insurance, because this 4 hour visit cost over $500.

P.S. Nothing proves to my family more than this how much I love my Fudge. I did not hesitate to turn off Dancing with the Stars to take Fudge to the vet.

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