Vet Visit

Sweet Goran Kropp. When he didn't come barreling through the back door, into the kitchen with his body being wagged by his tail and sweet eyes looking up at me, I knew something was wrong. I called "all dogs up" twice and still no response. Turning the porch light on, I noticed his head down, his long leopard body curled up, in a tiny, tight ball in the corner of the porch. You're such a good communicator, Kropp.

His nose was dripping and he let out a few sneezes. Lethargic. Sad. Warm. I was scared that he had swallowed something he shouldn't have while out playing with P'tanga under one of his caves. He gasped for air and he was breathing only through his mouth because his nose was stuffed. I explained this to Vet Tech Robin over the phone and she suggested I give Kropp 50 mg (1 mg per pound of body weight) of Benadryl. I ran to Walgreen's, and balled the two pills up in some yummy Havarti Dill cheese. Kropp had a great appetite. I took him into the bedroom and let him sleep comfortably for most of the night. There were two rounds of heavy breathing and vomiting of clear/foamy liquid. He was suddenly uncomfortable, but rested his head again peacefully until 630am. I took him to the vet, ready to spend what ever USD I had to, in order for him to feel better.

Goran Kropp was sweet at the vet's office. Suddenly aware and active, excited about the other dogs. This made me feel good, too. In the room, the vet wanted x-rays and blood work, with no reasoning behind it. She said he had no obstructions, that there was an upper respiratory issue. Why blood work?, I asked. She said she just wanted to be sure. Sure of what? She didn't know. I asked her to treat it as she would any other upper respiratory issue. We walked out with, fluids dripped into his system, antibiotics and pepcid. On the way out the door, Kropp coughed. I let the vet know that that is what he had been doing all night. She touched his throat and said, oh, that is kennel cough. Whew. So simple.

So, thanks be to Radar for infecting this sweet boy. Radar hadn't had symptoms up until today. All dogs are up to date on shots and Kropp had not had much contact with Radar, but there must have been a food or water bowl that got mixed up in the bunch. So far, Soup, Cassius and Fedora are feeling well.