The Intensive Care Unit - Day 2
Well, I'm still here for another day. I feel great, I'm eating well, I'm personally ready to go home but the doctor took an x-ray and she says my lungs still aren't clear. The doctor doesn't want me to have a relapse if I go home to early, so here I am for another night. But, the good news is most likely I will be able to come home tomorrow. Kelly and Mom are planning to come and get me at 7:30pm tomorrow evening. Kelly has to come along with Mom because Rescue always has one of their officers there when a dog is released from the vet or the hospital. It's the policy, plus she has to pay :-). Mom is real glad she doesn't have to pay! Not that I'm not worth every cent of course.
The Intensive Care Unit
Well, I've been in
intensive care at
Adobe Animal Hospital for 24 hours now and I feel a
lot better! Mom came in to visit me at 10am this morning and she was really pleased. I have a cone on my head and an oxygen tube going into my nose so I don't look my best, but Mom rubbed my nose and my ears and my back and told me I looked terrific. I'm not panting anymore either and I feel better but certainly not 100% perfect yet.
Dr. Durenzi came by to talk to Mom so I got to hear everything about my condition. The doctor says I am doing great and most likely will be able to come home tomorrow. She will take an x-ray to check the status of the pneumonia and depending on what she sees then she will decide.
Mom hung around for about 45 minutes petting me and waiting for the doctor so she got a good look around at the ICU. Lots of activity with dogs and cats in various cages. A pet cockatiel (long term boarder is what they said) hung on a perch. A little kitty with a cone tried to catch a bug in his cage. I don't think he succeeded. Mom couldn't look into the other cages except for the ones that were right in front of her -- that's the rules, but she did look into the cage next to me. There is a very old exhausted looking golden retriever in there sleeping like a rock. I don't know what is wrong with him (or her) but I sure hope s/he gets better too.
This photo is from another vet hospital ICU but where I am staying is very similar.
Mom tried to read the chart on my cage but she couldn't understand everything. It did say I am on constant oxygen and that I am taking two kinds of antibiotics. It also said that I hadn't been eating but the doctor said that's to be expected.
My eyes are nice and bright now and not all dull and mostly shut like they were yesterday. That scared Mom and Kelly the most, along with my difficult breathing.
Mom was telling her friend Peggy, her neighbor and the pet guardian of those irritating Shelties, all about my illness. Mom described my behavior and Peggy knew exactly what it was since Maggie, one of the Shelties, had had two types of pneumonia at once just this year. Mom thinks if Peggy had seen me ill she would have known what was wrong with me. But Mom was waiting to show me off until I had my serious bath (which I still haven't had...something to look forward to I suppose).
Well, I'm awfully tired despite spending all the day dozing. Getting well takes quite a bit of energy. I sure hope I can come home tomorrow. Elsa and Buffy and Pumpkin probably miss me terribly even though they just met me a few days ago. And Elsa needs help in protecting the yard from those annoying Shelties. I do have important things to do!
9pm Update!
I overheard Dr. Durenzi talking to Mom on the phone. The doctor said my fever is gone and my appetite has returned with a vengeance. She said after I ate my food I tried to eat the plate. Ha ha. What a sense of humor these doctors have! Actually I was trying to wave the plate around to tell the assistant that more food would be appreciated. Sometimes people can be kind of slow. Dr. Durenzi said if my x-ray looks good then I can go home tomorrow afternoon! I hope Mom is going to feed me a lot to make up for all those days that I didn't eat anything. But she has said I am on a diet and I need to lose 10 or 15 pounds.
The Hospital
Well, guess where I am tonight...at the
Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos. I've got pneumonia. I was restless all night long and I tried to tell Mom that I was really sick, but she doesn't know me well enough to understand my language. But this morning, when I wouldn't eat again, she got pretty worried. I didn't eat yesterday either and even the most delicious treats in the world just didn't appeal to me. I was drooling a lot too, kind of a clear saliva out of my mouth.
Well, Mom didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if I was just traumatized by all of the changes or if I was actually sick. She decided to take me for a short walk and see if that improved my attitude. But I felt so bad that all I could do is cross the street and flop down on the cool shaded grass of the neighbor's house. And then I just couldn't get up. Luckily Mom had a friend along for the walk so the friend stayed with me while Mom went back to the house to call the Rescue team. She called Linda and Kelly and they sent over Betty, who lives nearby, to check things out. After about an hour on the grass Betty got me back into the house but I still felt terrible. I was holding my head up because I was having trouble breathing and taking short shallow breaths. I felt awfully hot but Mom and Betty didn't know at the time that I had a fever.
Then Kelly came over and she knew immediately that I was pretty sick. She could tell I was hot and she spread cool wet cloths on me and wiped my ears and nose and tummy. She and Betty got me into Kelly's car and Mom and Kelly brought me to Adobe. I got bumped to the top of the waiting list because of the urgency of my condition. The vet checked me out and immediately suspected pneumonia then confirmed it with a chest x-ray. It could have been something worse, so Mom was relieved. But I've got to stay in intensive care at the hospital for a few days. Mom is going to come to visit me each day.
Kelly called to check on me tonight and sent this email to Mom:
I spoke to Dr Durenzi & Sam is doing fine, his white count is up a bit, but not unusual for his situation. I'm glad we got him in when we did, poor guy. They have him on oxygen to help him breath better. Thank you for being so aware that something wasn't right.
This is quite a bit for a older doggy to have to go through all at once. Dumped by my family at the pound, 10 days in a cage without a clue of what is going on surrounded by other dogs and all of their germs, rescued but then I come down with pneumonia. I know things are going to get better soon though and even during all of this I have been a very good dog. I've never growled, or whined, or complained. I have cooperated with everyone and everything, even when that nice doctor stuck that nasty thermometer up my rear end (I had a fever of 105.1 no wonder I felt so crummy!). So if I can be a good dog in the worst of circumstances, I can be the world's most outstanding dog in the best of circumstances!
The Doggy Door
This morning I proved again that I am supremely intelligent. After I was put outside, and Mom went back to bed, I came back into the house all by myself using the doggy door. I learned how to use the doggy door in 36 hours! Mom had showed me a few times and I observed the other dogs using it, but still, it took some real cleverness on my part to figure out the mechanics so quickly. Of course Elsa claims she taught me but that's just not true unless you count her doing her own thing as "teaching". Mom says it took Buffy a month to learn how to use it; even the cat figured it out before Buffy. Buffy is a cute little guy but his brain doesn't look all that big.
I'm not hungry today though. Can't really say why. Is my stomach upset? Is it my cough and sneezing? I ate great yesterday but today, I'm just not that interested in food. Mom's not worried because the Rescue people told her that this is not uncommon as the foster dog settles into the new home. Scott from the Rescue group brought over a bag of food for me. Something new that I will check out tomorrow. Maybe it will be more appealing that what I've been eating.
I've kind of got the urge to run away. Several times today I thought I would sneak out the front door or out the gate by the garage. Mom keeps a close eye on me though and I didn't even get my nose out. Not sure why I'm eager to go since this is a great life. I do feel a little nervous; everything is new and my old family, who had me all of my life, for 10 years, is nowhere to be found.
Tomorrow Mom says we will go for a walk and I know she is planning to keep a tight hold on me and use that special collar -- I don't know what it is called but it has little metal things on it. It looks pretty serious but Kelly said it's the right thing to use, better than a choke collar, and since I am so big and strong I might be hard to control without it.
I managed to sneak into the living room today. There's a gate so that we, the dogs, can't get in there but either I managed to open the gate or Mom accidentally left it open. When she came home from the gym I was hanging out in the living room. Of course, I didn't do anything bad in there. Mom wishes I had vacuumed and swept but I'm not sure I'm a fan of the vacuum cleaner or the broom. I'll wait till Mom uses them and see if I'm afraid of them or not. It doesn't look like Mom uses them very often.
The Bath
Today was a busy day. I will try to remember all the fun exciting things that happened to me today.
First, the un-fun thing. I got a bath. Well, not much of a bath because I wouldn't hold still. Mom did her best and she lathered me up once but she couldn't do a really great job since I wasn't totally cooperative. I wasn't a bad dog, oh no, but still I preferred to be elsewhere. Mom is going to have to have someone help to get me really clean.
I've been roaming the house and the yard. For a 10 year old I'm pretty darn active. I haven't chewed anything, taken anything I shouldn't, or done any bad deeds at all. I don't have much interest, actually no interest, in all the dog toys. That may change though. Elsa and I did a bit of double defense against those irritating Shelties next door. They come right up to our fence and bark. We just stand on our side and by our very presence let them know that this is our property and they'd better not come over here. Elsa whimpers a bit but I'm so authoritative looking that I don't have to make any noise.
I did make one loud bark today. I was in Mom's office keeping her company and I thought I saw something interesting outside. Just one bark and then whatever it was disappeared.
Mom thinks I need training on how to take treats. I'm so eager for the treat that sometime I grab part of Mom at the same time. I don't mean to but I'm not very skilled. I hope she trains me a lot on this because I love treats! I do know how to sit on command.
Mom's going to take some pictures of me over the weekend. I'm hanging over Mom's keyboard right now trying to make sure she is truly getting my thoughts down. I'm pretty darn tall and I can lay my head on the desk. Mom's afraid I'm going to start counter-surfing in the kitchen but so far I haven't done anything remotely naughty.
Mom thinks I might have a cold or maybe kennel cough. I'm coughing and sneezing a bit. Nothing serious but Mom's going to ask the rescue team if I should be taken to the vet.
The Rescue
Whew, close call today. Things weren't looking good for me even though I am the best dog in the whole world and gorgeous looking too. The
Humane Society of Silicon Valley decided I was too old (only 10 years!) and they weren't even going to put me up for adoption. Luckily Linda of the
San Francisco Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue came to see me and immediately realized how special I am! And my new foster Mom, Cynthia, came to pick me up at 4:30 pm.
Just to prove how adorable I am, when Mom and I were in the HSSV store some kind women bought me a nylabone -- my first treat as a foster dog. They fawned all over me which once again proved that I'm the best.
Mom and the HSSV person took me out to the car and I jumped right in. Mom put me in a seat belt but frankly I didn't like it that much. I tried to get out of it the whole drive home and got myself all twisted around. Mom was kind of nervous since I'm her first foster dog but eventually she figured I could just stay as I was, with my front feet on the seat and my hind legs on the floor. I got a good view of where we had been and I couldn't cause any trouble.
My doggy seat belt.
When we got home Kelly, another rescue volunteer, was there to help Mom get me settled. Again I proved what a great dog I am as I got along immediately with
Elsa, Mom's ancient GSD (age 13 1/2),
Buffy, the adorable little Chihuahua-Beagle, and
Pumpkin, the lively Beagle-Terrier mix. Frankly, we aren't all that interested in each other which perplexed Mom but made for an easy integration. I came right into the house even though my previous "family" said I was a yard dog and I made myself at home with the rest of the pack. I glanced at the cats, which are in an outdoor enclosed area, but they looked old and dull and boring.
I ran around the back yard checking out the perimeter...this place is OK and I will be quite happy here. There's an outdoor aviary with a bunch of parrots in it; nothing I'm personally interested in though.
Mom fed me and the others and then I slept in a crate in the family room. Elsa slept right outside the door to my crate to keep me company. Elsa used to sleep in Mom's bedroom along with the little doggies but Elsa doesn't like to walk on the hardwood floors anymore. I don't mind it but I do slip around at bit.
That Buffy might turn out to be a pest though...he kept going into my crate and making himself at home. Mom had to drag him out. He has his own crate but apparently he prefers mine. I don't really care and eventually I expect the two of us can hang out together in it.
I haven't barked yet. I did my duty on cue outside. I went into the crate with a little prodding and a treat. All in all, I'm doing a great job!
Mom wrote a little report to Kelly and Linda. I read all her stuff on the computer because I hang out with her all the time. For some reason her other dogs kind of ignore her which is sad. Luckily she has me to shadow her around. Anyway, here is what she told them:
He is following me around throughout the house now, he's like a shadow. My other dogs ignore me unless I have food, but Sam is totally obsessed with being with me. He came into my office and lay down at my feet as I used the computer...my other dogs long ago decided it was boring in here and they had better things to do. So far he is really a sweetie. He doesn't seem to have any history of abuse like Buffy and Elsa did (Pumpkin didn't though). He seems completely comfortable in the house. I wonder how accurate the information from the previous owner really is. My experience with Elsa who was a yard dog was very, very different. She was scared to death to come into the house and cringed at the doorway. It took her a year before all of her fears were gone. I just put him back in the crate (of course I had to haul Buffy out of it...like I said, within a few days I suspect Buffy will be sleeping in that crate with him). He did not want to go so I threw a couple treats into it...and zoom, in he went.
Oh, Mom has also changed my name from Ams to Sam. She asked the
SFWoW group what they thought about this and got a wide range of opinions...but overall this seemed to be an OK thing to do. I can't really tell the difference they both sound the same to me so I'm cool with being Sam.
