Have you ever had a scary emergency trip to the vet?
Peanut scared me half to death on Friday. I was working and answering a question for one of my coworkers when I heard a sound. I could not place it so I got up to investigate said sound. I walked into our bedroom and found peanut laying on the bed gasping for breath!
Momma bear went into overdrive very quickly! I immediately called the vet and they said to bring him in. I got him there in record time, I might have broken a few speed limits, but my only focus was to get him there and find out why he was having a hard time breathing!
When we walked in, there was a bulldog standing there proud like I may want to play with you or I may not, I have not decided yet. Peanut starts again with the gasping. I state, he cannot breathe! I know in the medical field you get immune to this stuff, but I wanted to scream, will someone help him! They take the bulldog in for surgery and I am fretting thinking is this cancer? Did he eat something? What is going on?
Finally at last, our name is called and he goes in. A couple of questions later, they decide they need to examine him and see him for observation. I had to leave my peanut there which if you know me at all, I was not particularly happy about, but I was like, trust them so I can get him back and feeling like his ornery self..
I went home and back to work I went patiently awaiting their call so I could run back and pick him up. Finally over 3 agonizing hours later, I get the call that he is ready for pick up. They indicate they think it is an allergic reaction to something. Something, what something? Is it food related, is it grass, is it the forsythia bush in our backyard? What is this something?
Unfortunately, at this point, we do not have the test results back from his blood work on allergies. When 4:00 pm (quitting time for me) came Friday, I combed the internet for information. I found most dogs do have allergies and it is to their food. Ok, what makes them allergic? Would you believe my findings revealed it is usually chicken or beef?
I think, ok, he has been getting chicken since he has been with us. What if his allergies are similar to a human and the build up of it in his little body is what caused the gasping case? I am not a vet, I cannot give information out to people, but I am thinking out loud here...
The vet called on Monday and said everything that they tested for (35 different allergies) came back negative. They do not test for food allergies because a derma test is best, but they cannot complete these sorts of tests on dogs. They want me to put him on pills or a shot.
I read the research on the pills, they can cause cancer, why would I want to give my dog something that will cause him cancer? No thank you, I have been down the cancer route with a few of my pups and it breaks my heart every time.
She advises me that the shot has similar properties. Ok, so why would I want to again, give my dog cancer? I tell her that I need to think about this more, which means I am going to do more research. I do not want him to suffer, he is like a child to me, but I also do not want to pump him full of poison either.
Allergy shots never worked for me, but that is not to say it will not work for him. Again, I cannot get past the cancer inducing junk being pumped into my poor baby!
I am going to start with the food route and see if anything improves. My dear friend has had similar issues with her dogs and she suggested not buying salmon as the main protein in his food since it made her dogs "stink". I think I am going to try duck as his main protein.
Then you are faced with making more decisions, which dog food to go with? I am still researching, but need to make a decision very quickly, like today so I can get it ordered and it can be here by the end of the week.
He is currently taking 75 mg's of Benadryl two times a day which seems to be helping him. Just a mild attack on Saturday in the middle of the night.
If you have animals, then you know how difficult it can be to give them their medication... We give him his heartworm pill every month, I am not sure what they put in it, but he loves it and gobbles it right down.
Then comes the flea and tick pill. He hates it! I have had to get quite creative for this pill... I opened a marshmallow and put the pill in it, closed the marshmallow back up. Do you know he ate the entire marshmallow and did not leave a trace of that sticky goodness behind, but somehow left the pill? I was amazed, I asked him are you Houdini?
Then I tried putting peanut butter on the pill... he licked all of the peanut butter off and left the pill again. We do not normally have bread in the house, but Mr. Vintage had some left over from hamburgers that he made. I took a piece of bun and put the pill inside and made a bread ball. I actually got him to take the pill! I was super excited, so why did I think it would work again this month? Must be because I am crazy, because it did not work two months in a row.
This month, I had to take a piece of bread, spread peanut butter on it, place the pill inside and then ball it up. I had to chase him around to make sure he did not drop the pill. Of course, where does he head to? The dining room door was open so of course he ran there and under the table. I am trying to get a good look at him eating the entire pill. He keeps putting his back to me. So, I am army crawling under the table with him and trying to see what he is doing. He runs off. I think to myself, I am getting too old for this... I cannot chase a peanut around on my hands and knees... I inspected the dining room floor and could not find a pill so I’m assuming he ate it. I pray he ate it, all we need next is fleas when they come out...
Do you want to share any scary or hilarious stories of your pooch? My husband calls him the pampered prince because he has our undivided attention and seems to get his way in every aspect of his life. Of course, if you ask him, I am sure he would say it is not enough! Looking at his pictures, you would never know he is loved, would you? He is quite the character...
If you would like to read more stories about our peanut you can find how he likes to monkey around here.
You can read about his two year anniversary of his Gotcha Day here.
How he did when he had blood work for his allergy testing here.
How he terrorizes our home here.
All about him being a pup here.
