This time last weekend, I was waiting nervously and so anxiously at home while my one of my best friends lay in an oxygen tank at the Berks Emergency Animal Hospital. My husband and I had no idea if our dog, Shadow, was going to survive. We could not have forseen the unfolding events before us earlier that day.
Shadow, who has been my constant companion since I adopted him ten years ago from the Animal Rescue League, was having problems breathing last Friday. His breathing issue only started that afternoon. I made an app’t with my veternarian for Saturday. I noticed Shadow sitting with his back toward me and his head elevated at a 45 degree angle. His breathing became more labored. I called my vet and told them Shadow needed to be seen that night. They were open for only an hour at this point. They took him immediately.
Shadow has a collapsing trachea and was experiencing increasing problems with it. He was coughing more in the last few months. He had done this last year when the allergy season began. He was already on prednisone this year. Our vet wasn’t sure what was going on. He heard crackling noises in his Shadow’s chest. Crackling noises in the chest can indicate fluid. Lasix helps to remove fluid.
Since Shadow has an enlarged heart and heart murmur, blood tests would have to be performed to see is his kidneys could withstand lasix. Not enough time since they were closing. However Shadow’s doc did give him meds to breathe better. He told us to come back right away in the morning if Shadow wasn’t doing better.
Unfortunately, we weren’t given the luxury to wait until morning. We gave Shadow his pill and waited, but sadly no improvement. Shadow wanted to be near me. I know he feels comforted around me. He was unable to lower his head at all. We set up a bed so he could be on an incline with his head. I was lying beside him the entire time. He was at the point where he was no longer panting and struggled to breathe through his nose. You could see that he was getting weaker from not being to get oxygen into his lungs.
I can’t begin to tell you the heartache and pain I endured while watching Shadow struggle to breathe. Earlier in the day, he was playing with his ball. Now he lay before me with barely any life in his eyes.
It was 10:00 PM, when we made the decision to take him to the Berks Animal Emergency Center in Shillington. As my husband drove, Shadow was going limp in my arms. I couldn’t believe it. I kept telling him it would be ok. I knew it was bad. I just didn’t understand how he could have been playing with his ball hours earlier and now we were in a dire situation.
Upon arrival, a worker opened the door to the hospital and waited for us to bring Shadow in. As soon as he was seen by the vet, Shadow was placed into a oxygen tank immediately.
He was in respiratory distress. We weren’t given much hope. Shadow has so many health issues stacked against him. In spite of those health issues, Shadow had been one happy- go- lucky dog. He loved life. He loved playing despite his collapsing trachea. I would make him stop playing with our dog, Jazz because it would only exacerbate his coughing in recent months. He would stop only to go right back to playing. Shadow was always a determined dog and didn’t let health issues stand in the way of his sunny, lovable and goofy personality!
Shadow loved going outside to check all the scents and to leave his own scents. He loved sniffing. He knew so many tricks including “speak” which he would use at his own discretion when he wanted a piece of food. He would NOT be ignored. He was so comical. He knew how to work me. He and I have been on tv together. We’ve attended so many events together. He was also on the radio. Yes, he was a bit of a ham. He ate it up. I loved being his sidekick.
Now here we were looking at the most difficult decision that a pet guardian can ever make. We went home that night quite sure of Shadow’s fate.
You see, only two months prior to this on February 26th, my dad passed away after being ill for a long time. I was with my dad nearly every day since January. I was with him when I told him it was okay to leave. Very heart-wrenching for me, to say the least.
If that wasn’t enough heartache for an entire year, my husband nearly passed out the day before my dad’s funeral. After seeing a specialist and testing, it was determined my husband needed a major operation that was scheduled for this past Monday. That was only two days away by the time we arrived home from the animal hospital in the early hours last Saturday.
My husband could not postpone this surgery. And we had to deal with losing Shadow. Only hours after we arrived home, we were back at the emergency animal hospital. An echocardiogram hadn’t been performed to see if Shadow had congestive heart failure. Once a dog is diagnosed with heart failure, his/her fate is sealed. But the vet gave us a glimmer of hope. Shadow improved while in the oxygen tank. But that didn’t mean he could breathe outside of it. He remained there and I held onto to that thread of hope. A cloudy area was found on his chest x-ray. Could be fluid- pneumonia or a mass- cancer. Congestive heart failure, cancer or pneumonia. Those were our “choices”. I picked pneumonia.
After speaking with the cardiologist, he said Shadow’s heart is doing reasonably well considering the circumstances. It was fluid in his lungs. No cancer. No heart failure. But we’re looking at pneumonia. Did he aspirate anything? We will never know since a tracheal wash is out of the question for Shadow. They started him on antibiotics immediately and lasix. We left without him.
Sunday, we returned and Shadow was finally out of the oxygen tank. He was doing well enough for us to take him home. But he was very ill. He began wheezing at home and I called the hospital. I had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he was stabilized because I had to be at the hospital the next day. His wheezing subsided. We kept our home very peaceful and relaxed for Shadow. He was holding his own by the time we left for the hospital on Monday.
I was finally able to calm down. Now I waited for my husband to get out of surgery. The operation was to only to take an hour or so. Nearly three hours later, I was waiting frantically to hear from the surgeon. Finally he walked in to the room and he looked very worn out. I thought this isn’t good. He told me it was one of his most diffiuclt surgeries he’s ever had to perform. Thankfully, my husband is going to be ok.
So here I am taking care of two very sick patients. To top my week, my dog, Jazz, was listless and not feeling well yesterday. Ended up taking him to the vet yesterday. He has a bacterial infection in his left eye. Now I have three patients.
The moral of this story………1…….I am so thankful for the emergency animal hospital. They literally saved Shadow’s life! I am so ever grateful to the vets, cardiologist and staff for helping my Shadow to live. 2. …Cherish your loved ones including your pets because you don’t know what can happen on any given day. Don’t take anything for granted.
I take nothing for granted. People around the globe were mesmerized by yesterday’s “royal wedding” and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. They are two people who look to be in love and I wish them all the best. But sadly so many people look up to them as if they are “Gods” or someone to look up to. They are two good, regular people. Period. No more, no less. I feel so sorry for those including the media that sensationalized this wedding.
But let us not forget what really matters in life. It isn’t about the wealth you accumulate, the status you have in life, nor popularity. What really matters is the love you give and receive to and from others. And the indelible relationships you have here on earth. Shadow is alive and slowly improving and my husband is also improving each day. I feel so lucky! I am also so thankful for the outpouring of support I have received during this most difficult time. That is what life is about…..and when you least expect it, you may find out “what life may bring”.