Dog Scare

Over the last week, Donovan's increased his drinking considerably. Two to three times a day he licks his water bowl dry. I mentioned it to Don, a little concerned. He commented that drinking water was a good thing.

I began to notice throughout the week other changes in Donovan. Along with the increased thirst was frequent urination, which often resulted in accidents in the house (pretty unusual for him). He seemed disinterested in us and it was like pulling teeth to get lovin' out of him, even for Dane, the dog-magnet. He seemed listless, was starving all the time (beggin for food - another first for him), and would whimper for no apparent reason. Then, Friday night, he climbed up on the loveseat next to me in the den, his evening place, and started whimpering, then panting. He was just lying there, panting. I got really concerned.

Don looked up excessive thirst on the Internet and told me it was pretty bleak. I decided to make an emergency trip to the Vet on Saturday morning, just 8 days after his annual check-up. Apparently, the most common reasons for excessive thirst are diabetes, liver and renal failure. It was my birthday, and we had planned to go to the St. Patrick's Day parade as a family. We were going to take along camp chairs, a picnic lunch, and a cooler, and planned on arriving early and staking out our spot along the parade route. Then we'd feed the children so they could imbibe in the tons of candy thrown out by the riders on the parade floats. We were going to meet some family members at Olive Garden at 5:00 for dinner, then come home for ice cream cake (which my sweet husband made for me) and open presents.

I called the Vet Saturday morning and they told me all the appointment slots were filled, but I could be a walk-in, however, the walk-in wait time was 1 hr. I dressed, made our picnic lunch and the kids helped load up the van, then I headed with the pup and the boys for the Vet.

I was so worried. All week long, I had noticed every little thing Donovan did that was out of the ordinary. One night, when he didn't come to bed with me, I got really concerned and went through the house, looking for him. He's my baby. Truth be told, he's my constant companion, and I dearly love him. He's not one of my children, he doesn't rank quite up there, but there is a sense of responsibility that you have for a loyal animal that you've had since they were a puppy. I was really afraid there was something seriously wrong.

Turns out, ALL the symptoms, every single one, is a possible side-effect of the prednisone shot the Vet gave him the week before for his allergies and excessive itching. He gave me a print-out and there they were - all of them - listed on this sheet. I laughed when I realized it wasn't anything serious and my puppy was fine.

The Vet said he hadn't mentioned them because Donovan had never experienced any side-effects before. And they only last for 2 weeks, so we're half-way through the problems.

I'm so thankful to the Lord. The thought of getting into a serious illness at this young age was almost more than I could deal with. Turns out, our pup is healthy and has even begun to act more like himself since yesterday.

I complained to Don when we got home. "Not only did it screw up our whole day, but I had to pay $30 to find out there's nothing wrong with Donovan."

"Honey," he responded, "it's a small price to pay for your piece of mind."

Ain't that the truth.