Bill's Last Day

And again ...

Quick update :

At around 6PM we found ourselves heading down to the emergency vet in Auburn. It's been a difficult day. Let's just say the softener is working great and Otter still cannot stand on her own. If that were the only problem, we could manage but she started showing mostly blood in her catheter line. Not good.

As it turned out, the vet said it was probably the catheter rubbing on her bladder. He said it wasn't unusual. After taking her temp and checking her bladder he noticed she had a lot of feeling in her back side ... a very good sign. Said the meds seem to be working which was great. Kelly will call the vet tomorrow and see if she wants to put in a different catheter. Otherwise, it seems she is progressing as well as can be expected. Oy. It's gonna be a long week ...

As most of you know, Otter is mostly bonded with Kelly. She has taken to barking for her now. It's pretty funny. I wish I was more comfort to her. I try, I try ...

Anyway. Sorry for all the graphic updates today.

Since our crates and carriers are too small, Otter now resides mostly in a gigantic Rubbermaid container. Admittedly, it's a bit coffin-like, but it's the best we can do and the guy at the emergency vet said he thought it sounded perfect. And so it is ...

More later.

The Weekend

We expected to be at the beach this weekend. We've had a plan since January to go this weekend to the Oregon coast. Sand carving contest in Cannon Beach, relaxation at Rockaway Beach and a visit to Otter Crest. Well, as you've heard and probably experienced before, the best laid plans can still fall apart.

Friday morning,we noticed Otter was favoring her back legs and by late morning she was unable to use either leg at all. You could tell she was in serious pain and it progressed into crying and yelping with any movement. Pain killers helped her a bit but we took her to the vet yesterday to find out how serious her problem was.

Our vet said her spinal cord was swollen from the pressure of at least three bulging discs in her back. She said it had temporarily paralyzed her back legs and was affecting her ability to pee or poop. She had her bladder drained, got a shot of steroid and had a catheter put in. We brought her home yesterday with her little pee bag, some oral steroids, antibiotic, pain meds and a stool softener. She's as comfortable as we can keep her. All systems are functioning, although you can imagine it's a bit messy since she is still unable to stand on her own. Vet says she needs to stay as close to STILL as possible for the next 10 days. We'll keep you posted. The good news is that she's eating & drinking pretty well and the pain meds have kept her comfortable enough to get some sleep.

Gus is being supportive by literally "hanging out" nearby. He's super curious about that whole bag thing though ...

Keep a good thought for Otter. Hopefully she recovers quickly from this serious flare-up.