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Monday, October 13, 2008

Shilo Gets Sick



For everyone who wants to know what's going on with Shilo...
It's the strangest thing to see an animal as big as he is be helpless and about as close to death as any animal ever was. He collapsed after a run with Tony on Wednesday, October 8th around 4:30 in the afternoon. The time is only significant because it meant that it was too late to get him to a vet and because of course that was the day I was in charge of a big dinner at church and had been decorating and cooking for it all day. When it rains it pours!
After running the dog to the emergency vet with Christian in the makeshift stretcher (a big beach towel), our big healthy 105 lb dog was a mystery. The vet tried to run tests but his blood was so thick that he couldn't get it through the machine. His temperature was way to hot. He hooked him up to an iv and left him there overnight expecting that bad news phone call all night. In the mean time, I brought the girls to church and put them in a room to play. Conducted my meeting with an escaped daughter hanging on my leg begging for more beans and acted like I was in control. That was an oscar winning performance if there ever was one. What a night.
The next day they ran more tests, xrays, and tried to solve the mystery. We got possible answers such as rat poisoning, tainted dog food, toxic shock, dehydration, and finally today we are at snake bite/scorpion sting. Each day he was at the hospital we thought we'd have to go and say goodbye and everyday they saw improvements but told us not to be too hopeful. Tony never gave up hope on his puppy, it was just heartbreaking.
We brought him home on Saturday, October 11th after the vets told us there was nothing else they could do. Tony has been at his side cheering him on and force feeding him hourly. What an amazing act of love for that dog. Today he is still weak but walks around and is drinking and eating little bits on his own. The sad news is that the vets suspect organ damage. Who knows what that means for recovery. We decided just to enjoy him day to day and see what happens. If tlc and love can cure than this dog is gonna be fine.
The joke is the cost of all this. We say he has gone from a Golden Retiever to a PLATINUM retriever. Ugh...

3 comments:

Diane said...

So sad about your dog. We've had several of Chads pets pass away or get sick in the last 2 years and it's always sad. I hope Shilo gets better, you never know.
Good to find you on the blog site. I can't believe how big your kids are.

holley family said...

Hey (should i still call you sister nethercott?;) i love facebook for finding people, and then i'm a horrible blog stalker! check out ours www.holley-family.blogspot.com
sorry to hear about you dog too. i was just telling my daughter, sarahbeth about how i went as a mom one year for halloween and showed her a picture (i will have to find it again for you) and it had me with corynn when she was just a baby. crazy stuff!

Dayna Jamison said...

Poor Shilo! I am glad he's doing better tho. I know Jill must have been sick to her stomach about this.