Two weeks of rest.
Two weeks of rest.
Two weeks of rest.
Two weeks of rest.
There’s no way to say it to make it sound any better. Or easier.
But, that was the verdict after a series of trips to the vet, X-rays, and a whole host of–as it turns out, unrelated–additional test, like an EKG.
Okay, so, what happened?
Well, here’s what I think happened, but we don’t know: A couple weeks ago, a tornado hit our town. During the event, we all huddled in the basement–a feat because all the animals are afraid to go down there (except Newt, of course) so we have to carry them one by one.
At one point, we thought the sirens were off, so John and I went upstairs to see what was what and left the girls and animals in the basement. Stola, apparently, followed after us, then chickened out on the basement steps, jumped off the side (did I mention these are DEATH STAIRS with no sides, only a wood pole railing), and landed wrong on the cement floor.
I think that was the inciting incident, though Stola loves to barrel and careen through life over, under, around, and into obstacles at top speed. She hurls her tank-like body through space at speeds that seem impossible for her build. I’ve seen her slam into the girls’ swing set, fling herself off the deck, crash into a tree, and simply keep going. It’s who she is.
So, after intermittent limping over a few days, I took her to the vet.
Where she walked perfectly fine and straight around the entire clinic.
And then we got home and the limping started up again. Of course. Do yours do this, too?
I grabbed some video and sent it over. The vet immediately wrote back, “Yeah, she needs X-rays.”
Nothing is broken or torn. She sprained the tendon around her knee, and her knee was inflamed. The vet gave us some pain meds and orders for rest. The pain meds gave her pretty significant GI distress and killed her appetite, which you’d think would slow her down.
It did not.
After a med change, she was back to eating but her stomach was still a mess, so we called the vet. She gave us some ideas to try, though we were all thrilled that Stola’s knee seemed better. Way less limping.
I started working on the Relaxation Protocol with her to fill some of the time and to work on some training. We played with toys, filled food puzzles, made scavenger hunts. We took a few slow, short walks down the block and back. There were some missteps, but we were making it.
We were making it.
(Meanwhile, things that did not “make it” after Stola’s two weeks of rest: all the deck cushions, Violet’s glasses, Violet’s sandals, Astrid’s Cry Babies baby doll, the replacement deck cushions, John’s pillow, another library book, the goggles and flippers from Astrid’s Sunny Swimmer doll, to name a few. If we took our eyes off of her for one second, in her boredom and malaise, she destroyed.)
Then, one day, I came home from dropping the girls off at camp, let Stola out of her crate, and she collapsed.
But Stola immediately got up and shook it off.
That was weird, I thought.
Then she threw up a whole bunch.
I panicked.
John took her to the vet. They ran all kinds of tests. They did an EKG in case something was up with her heart. It wasn’t. Her stomach was tense, and after all her shenanigans, the vet was pretty sure she had a blockage. (See the previously-mentioned list of all that ish she ate.)
But, those X-rays were inconclusive.
They gave her an anti-nausea shot and said if she throws up again, it’s most likely a blockage, and go straight to the ER. If she doesn’t throw up again, we’ll have to see.
She didn’t throw up again. In fact, she seemed totally fine the next day.
She ate. She kept it all down.
We watched and waited for her to poop. The vet wanted to make sure she was going and wanted to check it, just in case.
Another day later she went, and it was all clear.
We were so very relieved. What the heck happened, we still don’t know.
We hit the two weeks. She was walking great. The vet suggested we start building up her exercise slowly and keep up with the probiotics as her stomach was clearing up.
We cheered. We made it! Two full weeks of rest and weird GI issues, but we made it!
…
She started limping again yesterday.
Send help.
