Day 5

Monday, May 5

Today was very eventful. Bucky woke Jenny up at 4:30 a.m. (she’s been sleeping with him in the guest room while James sleeps with me in the bedroom). She told him that it wasn’t time to go out yet, but apparently it was, because he promptly issued some diarrhea onto the bedroom carpet. So Jenny was up early, taking Bucky out and cleaning the carpet (again).

James left for New Jersey late this morning. Before he left, he called Jenny and warned her that I had slept on the floor next to the bed all night without changing position (usually I’m up on the bed with him for at least part of the night). He also found a little bit of vomit where I was lying. He thought I might have seemed more listless than usual.

At work, Jenny was trying to make an appointment for Bucky to see Dr. Burns, our regular vet, but there was nothing available today so she made an appointment for tomorrow morning. She also called MedVet to ask about me, and mentioned that I hadn’t had a bowel movement since Friday night. The tech she spoke to thought I was probably just uncomfortable because I was constipated, and she told Jenny that she should bring me in if I hadn’t gone poop by tomorrow morning.

After work Jenny stopped by the pet store to see if she could find a soft/inflatable e-collar for me, with no success. When she got home, Bucky had left diarrhea on the dining room floor again. While cleaning it up, she noticed it had blood in it. She decided to try to take him to see Dr. Burns after she fed me (because she didn’t know how long she’d have to wait).

Up in the bedroom, she found me lying next to the bed looking kind of sad. She picked me up and put me on the bed to get ready to feed me, but I made like I wanted to get back down. Then while Jenny fed me, she sat cross-legged on the bed and I sat facing her, with my rump on her ankles and my head hanging down in her lap. I was so listless, it scared Jenny, and she made a decision to take both me & Bucky to MedVet. As soon as she finished feeding me, she put me in my carrier. I didn’t want to go and I fought her a little, which for some reason made her feel better.

You should have seen us when we got out of the car at MedVet - Jenny had her purse, Bucky's leash, and a magazine in one hand and me in my carrier in the other, and Bucky wanted to wander all around the lawn to sniff and piddle. Finally Jenny got him into the building. They took me right back while Bucky & Jenny waited in the waiting room. Jenny tells me he was pretty anxious, and even barked randomly a few times.

They found out that I had a slight fever and my stomach was painful, so they decided to keep me, run some blood work, and have Dr. Forman examine me in the morning. Jenny held me for a little while before they took me back, and I was shaking a little. I was really feeling yucky.

(I, Jenny, wrote this next part for Kitty, because she wasn’t around). When they examined Bucky, they found that he had more bacteria than usual in his colon - not from an infection, just regular bacteria, but a lot of it. The doctor said that might be caused by stress. They also did a fecal flotation just in case he might have picked up a parasite somewhere, but they didn't find anything. They sent us (Jenny & Bucky) home with an antibiotic liquid and 3 packets of de-wormer sprinkles to put in his food (just in case).

On the way home, Bucky threw up on the front seat of my car (and over the edge). Blechhh! Then after we got home, I sat down and he started gagging. When I got up he ran right over to the door (such a good boy not to want to throw up in the house!) and when we got outside he threw up a little bit two more times.

I was supposed to give the antibiotic with food, but I knew he wasn't going to be interested in eating anything, so I called MedVet. They said not to give him anything until morning, and then to give him the antibiotic (liquid dispensed with a dropper) even if he didn't want to eat anything.

As Kitty mentioned, it was a very eventful day.