Grace in misery
Grace just turned 15. She has, until recently, not acted her age. On a recent trip to the dog park she was romping with a 2-year-old German Shepherd. But last Thursday she approached me at 7:40am, sitting on the sofa with my computer on my lap and gave me a get-me-up-there look. So I lifted her onto the sofa to be with me. She immediately peed and then proceeded to vomit. Thick, disgusting, mucous-y vomit that was the worst I have ever seen. I dragged her off the sofa and out of the RV (I had to carry her down the steps). She continued to be violently ill as I walked her around the park. Worse, she acted like she was drunk. She even toppled over a couple of times.
Needless to say, I was deeply alarmed. I thought perhaps her heart was giving out. She was, without question, the sickest she had ever been. I thought she was dying. I found a nearby vet and took her there, thinking, on the way, that the odds of me returning with her were about 1 in 5; I was probably going to have to put her down.
But the vet looked into her eyes and quickly diagnosed her problem as vertigo. Yes, a simple bout of dizziness which, she said, was not uncommon in older dogs. She did some blood work to confirm that there was no deeper issue, give us some anti-nausea medicine and sent us home. Needless to say, I was relieved. Grace, not so much. She was completely miserable. The photo is of Grace, after returning to the RV, lying next to the chunk of hot dog that contained the pill. Of course she was nauseous and didn’t want to eat anything. including anti-nausea medicine.
I did eventually get her to down one pill in cheese. And the next day her appetite had returned to the point where she would eat chunks of chicken breast, if fed to her by hand, so I was able to get the rest of the pills into her that way. It is now 9 days later and her appetite has fully recovered. But she remains somewhat unsteady on her feet. I still carry her down the steps.
The vet says we need to be patient; it can take over two weeks to fully recover. I am relieved that it wasn’t more serious and am glad that she seems to be enjoying life again.
But she is 15 and this was notice that her time is coming.