When Your Dog Turns Blue

I assure you, this was no episode of Blue's Clues. I decided that I needed some lemons, tomatoes and bananas. One of the lovely things about rural living is that there are fruit stands all over. There are plenty of farmers with fresh produce all over. So, the husband and I decided to take the pups on a walk to the closest stand, which is about a mile away from home. Usually not a problem for Bubba, except that yesterday it was 80 degrees, and if you have any experience with French Bulldogs or any brachycephalic breeds, you know this could be dangerous.

I would like to say, this walk was probably a bad judgement call on my part with the Frenchie, but I wasn't thinking it was as warm as it was outside, nor did I consider the fact that his breed overheats fairly quickly and can end up in danger at the blink of an eye. Moreover, you never think these things will happen to you.

Bubba was panting pretty hard as we approached the fruit stand, I ran in and asked for water- I bought 4 bottles. We tried to cool him off, but he was gasping for air, and his tongue was turning smurf blue. My nursing powers kicked in and told me that this was a sign of hypoxia and no good. We were about a mile from home, what should we do? I felt like my dog was going to die out there on the dirt road. At that moment, it was as if God sent me two angels. This couple drove up and asked if we needed help, a ride home, or to a vet- anything. I gladly accepted a ride home with my panting little boy.

I got home and I layed him in the shade, and started to cool him off. He slowly started to turn pink again, and I thought I was out of danger. I had spoken to the vet and they told me that I should bring him in straight away- but again, my nursing powers kicked in and this time they failed me. Pink mucous membranes = restored oxygen = good. No Vet.

So, an hour went by and my dog was increasingly lethargic, starting to get unresponsive, and pupils were not reacting to light. He was stumbling around, confused. He wasn't my Bubba. I started thinking Intracranial pressure leading to decreased levels of consciousness, or dangerous levels of hypoxia had lead to brain damage- off to the ER we went as fast as the Chevy would go.

We sat. and sat. Finally I went to the desk and I said "Excuse me, I called and your concern was that my dog had gone into shock. What I know about shock in humans is that we have very little time to intervene. I don't mind waiting, but I'd at least like a tech to come eyeball my dog to make sure we are not heading into danger." Immediately they rushed out and grabbed Bubba, apparently they hadn't even looked at my paperwork that I filled out, and obviously they hadn't listened to what I said when I checked in. Anyway, no harm, no foul. Just an angry Mommy.

So they took him back and put him into an oxygen chamber. Ben and I waited in the wait area, they wouldn't let us go back. Finally they called us back and the doc talked with us. They did a chest xray to make sure his lungs were clear because she heard some bilateral wheezing, which I had noticed myself at home. I checked because I wanted to make sure he hadn't aspirated any saliva when he was panting so hard earlier, and gotten some fluid in his lungs. No crackles, but wheezes.

The Vet recommended and overnight stay. 1L of IV fluids to help hydrate him, some antiemetic for his vomiting and prophylactic metronidazole for the bloody diarrhea. They also ran labs, a CBC and a test to check his clotting factors, just to be sure he wasn't heading into a condition called DIC, in which your body consumes all it's clotting factors and eventually leads to a condition where you can't clot. In other words DANGER! But, we were clear from that. His Hemoglobin levels were a bit high, and were still high this morning. But, that's ok. He was hypoxic and that's what your body does to try and get more oxygen to your tissues.

It was a long sleepless night, and a $700 bill later- but, the pup is ok. His right front arm is shaved, that's where the IV was and he remains angry with me and wants nothing to do with anything about me. However, he's happily cuddling with his brother. I'm confident he will get over his grudge soon.

As for me, I'm totally relieved, and now I can get back to studying for my exams this week. Back to reality I go.