Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Brooke is resting . . .

Brooke is resting quietly. She isn't eating much. She's had only a couple bites of food since Sunday evening. Let me go back a bit in time.

Day 1: Monday morning Border Collie Brooke was given her first immiticide injection to start the process of killing heartworms. She fully cooperated with the process. The injection was given in her lower back in the muscle to the right of her spine. It was decided that Brooke would come home with me rather than spending the night alone in the vet's office. She would be more comfortable and quieter in familiar surroundings. I was armed with the name of an Emergency Animal Clinic if there should arise any complications through the night. We came home, and Brooke was confined to my bedroom while I went about my business, checking on her regularly. At supper time, she declined the offer of any food. She wouldn't even take the much loved peanut butter with her meds. After several hours of attempts, I finally got her to swallow the three antibiotic pills by giving her one at a time with a thin coating of peanut butter. Still she refused food but did drink some water. I took her outside on a short leash to relieve herself. Then it was back to bed rest for Brooke.

I watched her closely and discovered her nose was very warm, dialed the ER phone number and was told a warm nose indicating fever in a dog is an old wive's tale. In about a half hour, her nose was cool again. About an hour after she took the antibiotic without food, she vomited a little clear, foamy phlegm. Again, I called the ER to be sure it was nothing worrisome. It was nothing more than an upset from taking her meds without food. Brooke obviously was in pain. The biggest move she would make was to roll partially onto her back for me to scratch her tummy. She did nothing more than lay there limply looking at me with those soulful eyes, but we made it through the night with no more incidents. However, I began to wonder how I would get her up on her feet to go back for the second injection on Tuesday.

Day 2: Hallelujah! At exactly 8:45 a.m. Brooke stood up, drank some water, and faced me with a look that seemed to say, "Let's go. I'm ready." Tuesday morning, exactly 24 hours after the first injection . . . [continued at Brooke's journal, First Things First]

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