08042019

So today has revolved around Buddha.

On our morning walk he suddenly started to cry and was clearly in pain. I had to carry him home. I went to get Margaret (the Welsh professor of medicine who lives few houses from us) to take a look at him.

After examining Buddha she agreed that he must have been stung by something in the mouth as there was nothing we could see outside. His heart was getting weak and irregular. I gave him a hydrokortison 50mg (that he's had before for a bee sting) as instructed by Mark. We got the heart back stronger, but it was still irregular.

I called the vet's emergency line and just got instructions to get to their office at 10 when they open up. That was about an hour later after Mark had examined him.

Well, the vet couldn't examine Buddha because he was now fighting for his life. Muzzle didn't help. He got it off. So asked her to sedate him so he could be examined. She wasn't going for it at first (with all the risks) but I told her that with this dog there's no other way. So she did it. She had to give him two sedatives so he would stop fighting.

She totally ignored what I told her about the heart after she found an ear infection. So we now have drops for his ears, but ear infection does not explain the sudden pain in the morning nor the change of his heart rate.

So we've been home with Buddha and keeping an eye on him. First he was crying a lot after coming home, but after few hours he fell asleep and has been sleeping mostly ever since.

I gave him a very little piece of ham, and he didn't eat it first for 35 minutes. But then finally perked up for that challenge.

Margaret and I  and my retired nurse mom agree that I'll give him another hydrocortison for the evening. What ever bit him in the morning has caused infection, so he needs help to fight that too. Perhaps I'll give him half this evening and half tomorrow.

We'll go back to the vet's on Thursday. And I have drops for his ears before that.

But anyway it's been a long day being a doggy nurse and trying to get him back on his feet again.

It's been one hell of a Monday once again.