It was a very typical holiday. Amit was home owing to the state holiday. When the day started, it showed no signs of the terror the night was going to bring. Rather the morning started on a very jovial note with me craving for the fried delicacy, samosa. My darling hubby braved the heat outside to walk down to market for finding a few for me... :)
Evening came with a visit to the vet. Pluto was due for his shots. Doc delivered the first news, kiddo has fever and cold. It came as a news to us, as neither me nor Amit had seen any symptoms of the same. Shots were given, Vet also informed us that we need to change Pluto's food from Pedigree to Royal Canin, since Pluto had refused to eat Pedigree from past couple of days. Vet also said change in food will do good for his skin and shine of the coat. We picked up medication for his itchy ears, doc suspected a parasite infection. Medics for cold n fever also joined the bag next. A short visit to the pet store next door saw us picking up the Royal Canin's Lab Puppy kibble with a pet toothpaste. Once back home, we saw our super moody puppy chowing down on Royal Canin with a gusto. Night came... and then came the terror.
Ever since his first day in the house, Pluto has cleared his bowls around 2.30 / 3 am. Post which he wants to play. Recently, I discovered, if I pick him up (since he can't climb up on his own) and put him in bed with us, he snuggles up and sleeps soundly. Which is much better than leaving him on the bedroom floor, trying in-vain to ignore his whine n desperate attempts to climb on the bed. So, it wasn't really a big deal that he woke up @2. As such my bathroom breaks are aligned to his waking up; I was up. As usual, I picked him up and placed him on the bed. Pluto rather than sleeping, went into a freaking out mode. Started pacing from one corner to other, clawing at his muzzle, vigorously rubbing his back on the bed, trying to chew everything. My first thought was he's acting out, in mood for some masti...so, I put him back down where he had his chews and toys. But there was something very wrong with him. He was upset, very frantic. Almost histerical. My first response was, "I guess he's itchy coz of ticks." Amit walked out to get his tick powder, while I picked him up on the bed. In the dim night light, I thought I saw something...something which made me switch the tube light on. The instant light came one, my heart stopped beating.
Pluto's face was swollen to thrice his normal size....bright red, eyes to puffy, he could hardly see, his paws trying to scratch it with a frenzy that was almost sickening. He was yelping, whining...trying to fight some invisible demon off his face. He looked like some grosteque boxing champion, swollen in every single pore, read and gauzy. The pain in his yelps heart breaking, trying to reach into my lap as to believing his pain would go away if only he reaches there. Not finding solace there, he jumped off the bed again to carry on with his frantic pacing through the house. Going to every one of his favourite place...as to see if that works.
They say when you experience near death experiences, your entire life flashes through your eyes. When I saw Pluto's face, and heard the pain in his yelps; his whole month in my household flashed through my mind. The first time when the breeder opened his crate, the night he chewed my slippers to shreds, the way he barks at his food bowl if the food is a touch hotter than his like, the way he tags along with me no matter whether i'm in kitchen or in the bathroom, the way he sleeps in the corner between my love seat and wall...countless occassions and countless expressions. As such my harmones make me suseptible to tears...his face and his unease didnt take long for the leakage to start gushing. Seeing him in pain, I became frantic, yelling at Amit to call the Vet, RIGHT NOW... running behind Pluto to try and calm him down. I hugged him, rubbed his bak, tried wetting his face with water to ease burning sensation, if any, tried talking to him soothingly ...nothing worked. After some 4-5 tries Amit finally got the vet on the line. Said, he must have eaten something, which is causing an allergic reaction. We should give him BETNESOL... he would calm down then.
Where would I find BETNESOL at this time of the night?
Any 24hr chemist shop should have it.
Is there any 24hr shop around?
There should be one some 3kms away from your place.
Thanks Doc.
Zip went my dear hubby, leaving me with a restless puppy and net connection to find any 24 hours chemist shop in vicinity, just in case the one doc suggested is not open (which was a possibility). Within a couple of minutes, which seemed like hours at the time, I located one chemist who had BETNESOL...located some 5kms away. I relayed the info to Amit and got onto reading on puppies and allergic reactions. There's tons of information out there about it...but the one I found to be most sensible is
here.
It took almost 10 hours for the welling to subside completely after we gave him the BETNESOL dissolved in water. But minutes after the tablet and a few sips of Glucose water, he slept soundly. He was back to his own mischievious self by morning, stealing Amit's shoes and running around house with Amit chasing him. It was both of us who were handling being around him gingerly. He still was moody about food but recovering steadily. I haven't had the heart to give him any oral medication today...just applied his topical one's. He's duller than his normal self, the redness is still very much there. But he's definitely not in pain, not yelping or whining. He even barked at is food bowl in the evening...so I'm guessing he is feeling not too bad.
18 hours after the incident, I've found the courage to write this down. Pluto is sleeping under the bed and am waiting for Amit to come home so that he can take Pluto up to the Vet's clinic. I'm so mad at Pluto for giving us a scare last night (technically today morning.)...but the scare last night taught me that I have someone in my care, who is so utterly dependent on me for everything. It breaks my heart to remember the way he was trying to reach my lap, to burry his face between my legs in his search for solace. It scares me to realise how blindly I've gotten my self in such a HUGE committment. I only pray that I prove myself worthy of all the trust I saw in Pluto's eyes last night...
Most people don't believe how many acrobatic movements this five month old yellow guy can make in his sleep... so, when I got a chance on Sunday...I decided to click his antics as proof
Little did she know, I was frolicking around in the house, looking for things to play with...and can you believe the luck?
So much so that today he displayed his displeasure in the most visible of manners... He chewed off his leash, breaking it off in 3 pieces...
Pluto is an ardent dreamer... Ever since he came home, I've seen him dreaming... How do I know he's dreaming?
Me and hubby, both spent the entire night awake...when this 2 month old bundle of energy was bought into the house... partly coz we were not sure how to handle this unstoppable ball of yellow fur, partly coz we were too excited to shut our eyes on him. First 3 days went in a whirlwind of housebreaking, cleaning and running behind him... I hardly got any sleep in those days... Pluto being my first pet, I had to check everything about him... why is he sleeping so much? Is he supposed to breathe this fast? Why does he chew so much? Why is he not barking? When is this barking going to stop? How do I train him for potty? What do I feed? What is normal weight for Lab puppies... so many questions and so much research... :)
