It's a Dog's, Dog's World, Even When Sick
Walker Evans Dunne Hosey, the canine resident of the Dunne-Hosey Estates, has a bit of a checkered past. He was a rescue dog, or a pup of the streets if you will, weighing 35 pounds full frame when he was found in the LaSalle Bus Station parking lot and 40 pounds when Val brought him home; he is now a healthy 76 pounds. But thanks in part to his bad eating habits while homeless, he developed bloat and almost died; his stomach is sewn to his chest cavity/rib cage wall, and he also has gastritis.
So, this means that every so often, but fortunately not very often in the last year or two, Walker gets this penchant to lick everything and eat grass, which is followed by throwing up his dinner and other stomach contents, then bringing up white foam for a bit before things slow down and eventually get back to as close to normal as he comes. Most often, this includes a visit to the veterinarian, Brighton-Eggert Animal Clinic, for us.
Well, as you may have guessed, it struck again last night/this morning. I actually got to bed at 1 a.m. (while Val was a work), and at 1:50 a.m., I was woken by lots of licking and gagging. By 2 a.m., there was a large, steaming pile of dog puke at the foot of the bed, which meant I had to go downstairs, get a plastic bag, paper towels and some Resolve rug cleaner (we have two kinds: the foaming spray and the two-into-one heavy duty stream, which kind of sounds like me after a pot of coffee). After the cleanup was done, I finally got back to sleep after calming down Walker as well; at 4:19 a.m., he was gagging and brought up some white foam, which took a while to clean up (hard to get it to stay on a paper towel). At 4:44 a.m., there was more gagging, but only a silver dollar size section of foam. Between the cleanup and my wake up at 6 a.m., I slept about 30 minutes total and pet and calmed down Walker again.
With Val due to get home from work at about 6:45 a.m., I switched my morning routine, difficult for someone as anal as me, and ate breakfast first, so Walker would not be left alone to puke, lick or whatever. So Val got home, I got into the shower and went to work while Val and Walker slept.
I left work a bit early (using some hours I had) to run a few errands, and when I got home, I was told that he was doing a lot of licking, although, fortunately, he had not thrown up the white rice I had cooked and fed him. This is the food our vets have told us to feed him when he gets this way. So, off we went to Brighton-Eggert. Fortunately, following a full exam, x-rays and so on, Walker is now much more calm and feeling better, and we are increasing the frequency he takes his metoclopramide to once a meal over once a day for preventative reasons. The veterinarian also said we could give Walker Pepsid, up to 20 milligrams at a time, if he needed it.
There is nothing we wouldn't do for Walker, but I am hoping to get a wee bit more sleep tonight.
So, this means that every so often, but fortunately not very often in the last year or two, Walker gets this penchant to lick everything and eat grass, which is followed by throwing up his dinner and other stomach contents, then bringing up white foam for a bit before things slow down and eventually get back to as close to normal as he comes. Most often, this includes a visit to the veterinarian, Brighton-Eggert Animal Clinic, for us.
Well, as you may have guessed, it struck again last night/this morning. I actually got to bed at 1 a.m. (while Val was a work), and at 1:50 a.m., I was woken by lots of licking and gagging. By 2 a.m., there was a large, steaming pile of dog puke at the foot of the bed, which meant I had to go downstairs, get a plastic bag, paper towels and some Resolve rug cleaner (we have two kinds: the foaming spray and the two-into-one heavy duty stream, which kind of sounds like me after a pot of coffee). After the cleanup was done, I finally got back to sleep after calming down Walker as well; at 4:19 a.m., he was gagging and brought up some white foam, which took a while to clean up (hard to get it to stay on a paper towel). At 4:44 a.m., there was more gagging, but only a silver dollar size section of foam. Between the cleanup and my wake up at 6 a.m., I slept about 30 minutes total and pet and calmed down Walker again.
With Val due to get home from work at about 6:45 a.m., I switched my morning routine, difficult for someone as anal as me, and ate breakfast first, so Walker would not be left alone to puke, lick or whatever. So Val got home, I got into the shower and went to work while Val and Walker slept.
I left work a bit early (using some hours I had) to run a few errands, and when I got home, I was told that he was doing a lot of licking, although, fortunately, he had not thrown up the white rice I had cooked and fed him. This is the food our vets have told us to feed him when he gets this way. So, off we went to Brighton-Eggert. Fortunately, following a full exam, x-rays and so on, Walker is now much more calm and feeling better, and we are increasing the frequency he takes his metoclopramide to once a meal over once a day for preventative reasons. The veterinarian also said we could give Walker Pepsid, up to 20 milligrams at a time, if he needed it.
There is nothing we wouldn't do for Walker, but I am hoping to get a wee bit more sleep tonight.
posted by val at 5:14 PM
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