the noogies family had a terrible medical emergency last night - prayers and good vibes appreciated.

we were out of town last week, and all my furbabies stayed with a friend. a friend who does animal rescue, has dogs in and out of the vet kennels all the time. well there's been a bad rash of kennel cough going around. we got back on saturday, and i went to round up my troops.

dog #2 spent the week in a pen and met lots of new friends, but his new friends gave HIM kennel cough (basically a severe cold, bronchitis type crap - hacking cough, snotties, drooling, etc). friend gave me meds for a week of treatment, he's fine.

my #1 pooch (aka grandpa) stayed inside w/ her and her family due to his advanced age. saturday night, sunday, monday, tuesday - he was his big ol' loveable self. wednesday, he had a few coughing spells but nothing alarming. it sounded like he was starting w/ a mild case, but he's literally NEVER been sick so it appeared his immune system was doing a great job at trying to control it.

i was at work all day yesterday, so the next part was relayed by dh.

around 2p, MIL runs kaos out to the house to pick up a change of clothes. dh goes out to talk to her about her plans w/ kaos. after a few minutes, he comes running out and asks dh "what's wrong w/ grandpa?" "um, nothing son, he's been fine all day." "no he's not - come look!"

well, kaos let him out of his crate and he promptly lost control of his bladder. kaos hooked him to the leash and took him out - he barely got off the porch before his bowels let go. back inside, unhook leash - grandpa sinks to the floor right in front of the back door, breathing fast and hard. kaos moved his food and water next to him, and set a box fan in front of him.

when i got home, he was still there. he barely raised his head, he had a puddle of drool between his paws, and his paws, chin, and neck were saturated. his breathing was very fast, and dh said he couldnt/wouldnt take any of his favorite treats or even water. i shoved two pills down his throat that my friend had given for dog #2, and dh and i lifted him onto the couch.

after an hour, no improvement. dh called lurch and said come home NOW. we called a 24/7/365 vet emergency place, carried the old man out to the car. dh stayed with dog #2, and lurch drove while i rode in the back w/ grandpa. when we got there, they brought out a stretcher, lifted him out of the car, and strapped him down. halfway to the building, he lost his bladder control again.

he was dehydrated. his temp was 104.7. his oxygen level was down to 85%. his white blood count was so low he was susceptible to sepsis. and one of his lungs was totally filled up w/ fluid. they checked him out, put an iv in for fluids and heavy antibiotics along w/ a sedative, and started off w/ a nebulizer treatment before sticking oxygen tubes up his nose.

this morning, his oxygen was up to a healthy 95% and he was looking perky. his temperature had come down and his rate of breathing had slowed a good amount throughout the night. they pulled the tubes out and took him outside (he walked on his own - yay!) when he went back inside, it was back down to 85, so back to the tubes. apparently he's still unable to maintain proper oxygen on his own, which means there's no change in the fluid level in his lung. they're fairly certain it is a bacterial infection due to his symptoms and recent history of exposure, but they're cautiously not ruling out the possibility that it might be blood in his lungs, or possible cancer.

i am torn all to pieces. i hate to see him suffer and look at me with those eyebrows and soulful eyes just begging me to fix it. but i know he's in good hands. i'm sure he'll pull through, i just need it to happen quickly - first and foremost so he doesnt suffer. and secondly, we simply cannot afford this right now, let alone if takes his body a long time to respond to treatment. but my baby, my BFF, needs to get well.