Our little man Archie has been home for a few days now. Saturday was nerve-wracking for me, wondering what to do with him how to deal with it all. When we were standing there waiting to pick him up, after the van pulled in I was suprised to find myself tearing up. When they called out his name for us to come forward I went running up calling out “come here baby!” This from a woman who wasn’t sure if she wanted a dog 
We noticed is was coughing like he had a hairball, and when I asked someone about it from the rescue they said casually that it was probably kennel cough, that it was very common, and that the vet could take care of it with no problem. We were plesantly surprised that they had already trimmed him, so we didn’t need the grooming. Instead we made an appt for Sat to get the cough cleared up and have a once over.
Unforutantly 24 hours later the cough had gone from bad to terrible, and by 11pm he was hacking in 10-15 mins fits with only a few mins of calm. We made the decision to go ahead and head to the emergency vet. Now, let me say that it’s really hard to tell the vet if your dog is “acting normal” when you’ve only know him 24 hours. I would also like to tell all those vets and vet techs out there that when you have new dog owners, DON’T SCARE THEM. Let’s not tell them that your dog “probably has parasites, b/c all shelter dogs do”. Or to utter the words “assuming he makes it through”. Oy.
Anyway, turns out we had/have one VERY sick pupper. He had 104.2 temp, a horrible case of kennel cough, possibly the puppy flu (not to be confused with the swine flu) and just generally was in bad shape. I guess that I had made some assumptions that since he was fostered and so wanted and not in the “system” that long that he would be in tip top shape. Let’s not forget though that he’s still a rescue dog, and he still traveled 8-12 hours in a hot van with 40 other dogs who had God only knows what. There was some discussion about hospitalizing him, but since he had clear lung function and we didn’t want him staying in yet another strange place under quarantine we brought him home with with a cough suppresant and antibiotic (assuming it’s bacterial and not viral).
As of tonight it’s been a long few days. I finally broke down in tears yesterday. His cough isn’t as violent, and we got his fever down, but he can’t move without coughing so we just try to keep him VEEERY still and quiet. I got to speak to my normal vet today whom I adore, and we decided to go ahead and bring him in tomorrow night to make sure we’re on the right track with him. Plus, I’ll just feel so much better getting his opinion and invovlement. Seriously-one of the BEST vets ever.
The whole dog ownership thing has been eye opening. I had no idea I’d get so hooked so quickly. Or how many dog lovers are out there. It’s made me realize just how much I worry, over random stuff (to really truly see it) and how often I start a sentence with the words “I’m worried about” or “I’m concerned with”. I’ve often felt ridiculous in the last 72 hours over how freaked out I am, or worried or nervous, and how in the WORLD will I ever deal with having a baby?! I know that one day I’ll look back and it’ll be fine, but that doesn’t change the fact these feelings I have are real.
I’ve also learned that there are some amazingly supportive people around me. I cannot ever express my appreciation for all of the kind, supportive words and the time and energy people have exerted trying to help the boy and I figure this out and ease my concerns. Truly it’s such a blessing.
So for now, we’ll rest on the couch, hope to get some sleep, and hope that Dr. Hall has some good news for us going forward.
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