First health scare!

[Meredith Spencer]

I knew the day was coming ad I'm grateful to say its now behind me! Yesterday I found a nasty blood blister looking welt on Georgia's soft belly - of course I got really scared! Started researching hernias and all sorts of sores, which of course made my heat start spinning and my heart racing - my lovely vet got me in almost immediately, turns out a mean old spider gave her a nasty bite that got infected! We got some antibiotics to help it heal quicker.  Looks like I'm going to need to keep a better eye out for creepy crawlies in my backyard... Just glad my first scare is over, and that I know I can trust my vet! So much more confident now about my ability to keep her safe and happy :) any others have stories about their first vet scare ever? And advice for how to handle situations?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm so glad little Georgia's belly is okay! Spider bites can be nasty though you did the right thing by getting her checked out!

My first vet scare was last year when Tara started vomiting pools of blood! I completely lost all reason at that point and rushed her to the vet's office. She sometimes has morning bile vomit which is fairly common with dogs and the episode started out like another bile vomit episode but then turned to blood.  He checked her over and said that she broke a blood vessel in her stomach when she was wretching and she should just be calm (ha ha) and rest for a couple of days. It all turned out fine but OMD was I ever a mess for a while!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Isn't that interesting how puppies throw up so frequently? Monty was the same way his first year. Morning bile, throwing up if he ate too soon before or after his walk. He had more vomit accidents in the house than any other type of accidents. And yes, this constant throwing up for a day when he was 6 months old. We spent the night (along with $700) at an emergency vet's office. No obstruction in his intestines, no anything fortunately . But it sure was scary for me to see him this weak and vulnerable. Fortunately, the throwing up stopped as he got older.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, I wish someone would tell Tara that she isn't a puppy anymore so it's okay to stop throwing up now!!! It is horrible to see them sick or injured. Tara is the first dog that I have had that looks at ME when she gets hurt like she expects me to do something. My other dogs would just hobble around if they had a hurt paw or leg but the other day Tara zigged when she should have zagged during the zoomies and her leg hit some concrete blocks. She just stopped running, started screaming and sat down, held up her front leg and looked right at me with great expectation! Of course I ran and picked her up thinking something was surely broken but after a couple of minutes she was fine. OMD!!

[Pat and Traveler]

Now there's cause for panic!  Vomiting blood would be terrifying!  Glad it wasn't too bad.

[Meredith Spencer]

Agreed!!  Frequent Vomiting and Blood - wow, scary!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Boy, doesn't that just throw you off? I'm glad it was nothing serious, just a nasty bug bite.  I'm always a wreck when Monty is not feeling good. I was scared to death when he got his neck lymph node enlarged when he was 5 months old. You could see this huge bulge on his cheek. And the poor guy would come and put his head right in my lap, which he never did before. I almost cried my heart out. The vet had to open up the area and drain the puss. I felt so bad for the poor puppy. Still don't know what caused that, perhaps some infection off of his baby teeth. Fortunately, he was okay after the surgery. You just feel so scared and helpless if there is something going on with your baby. I promised myself not to freak out every time when we get our second doodle this summer. I don't know if I can keep that promise.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am glad that it wasn't anything more serious.  We are all a little nuts about our dogs here.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I'm glad Georgia is OK..... Its so scary.  Both my doodles are so curious and get into everything.  My first doodle scare was with Sasha, she was 7 months old and started getting lethargic one day, I thought it was due to the hot summer day.  The next day she was even more lethargic, no eating, no running or playing.  By the evening she had a hard time getting up from sitting or laying down.  I rushed to the vet, she had a 105 fever but the vet could never pin point what was wrong with her.  He ran all kinds of tests, x-ray, started her on a IV and kept her for 5 days.  She did get better and her fever broke but never had a diagnosis.  She relapsed 4 months later with the same symptoms, my vet suggested I take her to a specialist which I did and he too could not diagnosis.  They "thought" she may have pneumonia (sp?) because there was a slight area on her lung that "may" point to pneumonia but was not 100% sure.  They released her after 4 days which she was on IV and all kinds of tests again.  She never had a relapse and has been fine since.  I was so scared that I was going to loose my baby girl.  But the scary part was that they could not diagnosis what was wrong so you really can't treat something you don't know what you are treating.  But thank God she came thru and grew to be a very healty girl.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Wow.  I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious!  I HATE spiders!!!! 

My scare was when Bexter was still pretty young (maybe 3 or 4 months old).  He was on my bed (I was snuggling with him) and before I knew it he jumped (or fell, but I think jumped) down.  He cried and he was limping and holding up one of his front paws.  I thought for sure he had broken a leg.  I was sooo devastated and thought I was a horrible doodle mommy.  I rushed him to the emergency vet (where I overpaid BIG time).  It ended up that he was fine. He was just scared mostly.  I posted about this on DK when it happened because I was so upset, so I'm sure the post is still somewhere!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

This happened with Cooper the first week we had her! Only she was trying to counter surf

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Thank goodness you found it and it is on the mend.

So far Daisy, who is now almost 2-1/2 has never had anything serious. She of course has had the occasional bouts of belly aches and diarrhea but always 1-2 days and nothing that required a Vet visit only a bit of pumpkin. Knock on Wood!

And like all of you Spiders and me do not see eye to eye - squash!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so glad it wasn't anything more serious....good job, Mom!  My guys have had a few "scares".  I'm very lucky to have a Vet who is totally fine with me calling with any questions.  She'll answer me over the phone so I don't have an office visit.  If she thinks it's something more serious where she needs to see the dog, she'll let me know that too.  I'm more confident ....and I have a little help from DK....so these calls are much less frequent now.