Given my lack of progress in getting my hobby storage constructed, my next post was going to be about KEGSCON on the 25th. I have all the cabinetry but I need to assemble it. That was the plan for this weekend but life intervened.
On Tuesday, my dog picked out the kibble in her kibble and moist mix and scattered them around her bowls. She did this for all three meals. She did this on Wednesday but now added the occasional ke-ke-hork strange cough. On Thursday, she didn't eat at all and started to cough more frequently. We started to be a little bit concerned but other than these symptoms and a bit of lethargy, she seemed OK.
Friday was different. Surie was completely uninterested in food, which is highly unusual. Any sort of exertion was leading to the strange cough and extended panting. We were debating taking her to the vet, but she would settle and go back to sleep, which she was doing a lot of.
Finally, we decided that we had to take her. I went to a 24 hour animal hospital. An hour later and quite a bit lighter in the wallet, we got news. The doctor said that the X-ray showed some sort of mass near her heart. My dog has beaten cancer twice already, but this sounded really serious, especially in a 12 year old dog.
We decided against doing anything else that evening other than a steroid injection to deal with any swelling and an antibiotic. The vet said that she was not in any immediate danger but he did recommend an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis. We booked it for the earliest slot, which was Sunday afternoon at 4.
Saturday was very weepy. There was a lot of cuddling and I was taking a lot of mental snapshots, just in case she went downhill fast. I was mentally readying myself to take her the vet for the final time on Monday because she seemed about the same as Friday. We did get some good news in that a cancellation meant that we could get the ultrasound that afternoon. We also noticed that she finally ate a little.
The ultrasound turned everything around. There is no mass. Instead, her heart is a bit enlarged because she has bronchitis or pneumonia. This was a huge relief. She is a tough little dog and she can beat this.
As a bonus, on Sunday she was back to normal, almost. She had an appetite and she had some energy. The strange cough was gone. The cuddles were back but for a different reason.
Today, we took her to our normal vet for a follow up. Surie has relapsed a little bit, in that she does the occasional strange cough and she has moments of panting. But we found out that she had gotten a substantial steroid dose on Friday and we think it had worn off today. Her appetite is mostly back though and she has more energy, so we are optimistic that she will beat this and continue to be in our lives.
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