myfriz.com

07.29.2009 will forever be etched in my mind.  Pucca and Garu went to their playgroup as usual, but when Garu came back, he was panting unusually hard and was walking funny (like he was drunk).  I put him in the sink and cooled him off for about 15 minutes, wiped him down and then put him on the floor so he could relax.  I checked up on him a litle later only to find he pooped all over himself and there was a large pool of saliva in front of him (I'm not sure if this was vomit or just alot of drool).  I cleaned him up and put him on the couch to go to sleep.  He just sat there and could not move or walk.  Then his head began to twitch.  His panting had subsided, but it looked as if he was paralyzed!  His head was moving and his eyes were following me so I knew he was alert, but his body was just stiff.  I quickly called the vet who told me they couldn't see him today!  WTF!?  I told her Garu had to see a vet IMMEDIATELY.  Then she suggested two ER places near my home.  I called them and explained what was going on and they told me to bring him in and that he'd be seen asap.  I grabbed Garu and when I did, he began pooping nonstop.  I just left all the poop on the stairs, ran downstairs and jumped into my car.  When I turned around to the back seat to check on him, his whole body was twitching and his eyes had this look as if they were going to roll to the back of his head.  At this point I thought he really might be dying and I got this horrible feeling in my stomach...  I have never driven so fast in my life.  I got to the ER in 3 minutes!  I ran in with Garu in my arms and the nurse came out right away, grabbed him and brought him to the back...  The next 45 minutes of waiting were BRUTAL.  Now I know how parents feel when their child is sick..  My heart was still racing and I didn't know what was going on back there...  Finally the vet came out and told me Garu had HGE.  It was probably triggered by the heat his body endured during playgroup, which caused him to become dehydrated and the fluids in his body dropped significantly.  The HGE was why he was vomiting and pooping involuntarily...  Apparently he did all those things again when he got to the vet.  He still was not walking and looked so sad when I left him overnight...  His red blood cells were highly packed (double the normal %).  They started him on IV immediately and gave him all these injections and medications...

I called to check-in around 12:30am and the vet told me he was doing much better.  He was walking at that point and I could even hear him bark in the background!  I'm sure he was very unhappy being in a cage...  Just the fact that he was walking and barking made me feel a whole lot better...  Although it still didn't allow me to go to bed until 5am...

I called again at noon today and the vet told me he was doing well and that he was going to slowly ween him off the IV over the next few hours.  I could again hear his bark in the background.  The vet said "he's lucky he's so cute" or else the barking would have probably been more intolerable.

It's now 5:30pm and Garu is back home with Mommy and Pucca.  He is understandably very drained from the 24 hrs+ ordeal.  He came home, drank water, peed, pooped and then plopped on the couch to sleep.  I hope this is never repeated for Garu or any other dog!  I love you Garu Garu! *bbo bbo*