**New update (5.2.09 @ Noon):  Maddie just ran over to me after being in a comatose state for a few hours with Ralph--her hedgehog-wanting me to play with her.  When I bent down to rub her little head I noticed that her nose was wet again---it has been dry all week.  Looks like she's on the upside of things.  Hallelujah!  Now to the kitchen to make her lunch! :)

***Original post:***

Just wanted to update all of you really quickly, for those of you who have been asking about our Maddie girl.  We're not quite sure what happened to her, but starting about 2 weeks ago--she seemed to be a little off.  Earlier this week she seemed way off and was really lethargic and wasn't her puppy self.  As the week progressed, we waited hoping she would get better, but she eventually stopped eating her food.  On Wednesday morning, I went in late to work due to our Senior Banquet the night before and at 11:00am I decided I should go wake her up since she wasn't wanting to get up on her own.  I made her get out of her bed (aka dragged her out) and soon discovered that she was very very lethargic and had no interest in not only her food, but now her water.  Upon that discovery, we called the vet and they said to bring her in, thinking she was dehydrated and would need fluids.  

They couldn't get her in right away, so I put her in the kitchen so that she could have access to her food and water and went to the church for a couple of hours.  I then came home to get her and she had actually eaten all of her food (which was more than she had eaten combined in 4 days) but still had not touched her water.

So, off to the vet we went.  Upon examination she showed that she was in pain when they touched her tummy.  So, they no longer were concerned about dehydration, but injury.  So off to x-rays and blood work she went--and she hollered the whole time.  It was horrible!  Well, when they x-rayed her, guess what they saw---a belly full of food.  Little booger.  But it at least ruled out that she had an obstruction.  The blood work came back almost normal (one thing was off, but they said not to worry--okay, trying!) but the blood work ruled out that she had eaten anything toxic (which this puppy eats EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING so that could have been the issue). 

Since her belly was full, they gave her an injection of pain meds and sent us home to observe her, not feed her and bring her back in the morning for round 2 of x-rays.  So off we went.  It was Wed. night, so Robert stayed home with her while I went to youth.  

The next morning, I brought her in under the impression that they would x-ray her and re-examine her right away and then let me take her back home.  Instead they took her from me, handed me her collar back and asked what number they could reach me at.  I stood there in tears--not knowing I was going to have to leave her, this turned into a traumatic moment very quickly!  They wanted to spend the day examining her.  Nice.  

So I left and a couple hours later we got the phone call that whatever was in her tummy (and she had a lot in her tummy and a lot of gas) had moved to the colon--and they thought something was wrapped around her colon (which it ended up not being), so they would give her an enema to push it on out and they'd call us when they had more info.  Again, nice and now gross.  (Aren't you glad you are reading this blog?)

An hour or so after that we got another phone call saying we could come get her.  Long story short (which I'm sure you wish I had written in paragraph number one, not seven) is they think she injured herself somehow--now sure how, when, where, etc. but the injury eventually led to it being painful for her to go potty---so she stopped...which led to her not eating which eventually led her to not drinking.  So...now we're home and she is on pain meds--which she's okay with because she gets a "treat" every 12 hours...and she is on homemade chicken and rice....for 3-4 days, then we can start mixing in her regular food, to eventually having her back on a normal diet.

Moral of the story is--in Robert's words, "that was an expensive piece of poop!"  No kidding.  For now, Robert's at work today and pup and I are just hanging out.  She has lots of energy when she first wakes up and runs around like a mad-woman (which worries me because that is probably how she injured herself in the first place---if I could ever catch her mad dashes on video, it would be a good laugh for you!)  Then the pain pills kick in and she is out cold--so much so I look over at her every few minutes to make sure she is still breathing.  

I don't know about this parenting stuff--my heart almost didn't survive this week---over a soon to be 6 month old puppy (on the 15th!).  How does anyone handle this with a child??  

So, there's our update on our Maddie girl.  Sorry it wasn't as quick as I thought it would be, but this is our life.  Thanks for sharing it with us!

**Sidenote, picture on the top is the picture I captured from my cell phone upon first arrival home on Thursday after the vet had had her all day--pitiful isn't she?  I captured a picture later on that evening when I walked into the living room at about 11:30 thursday night and Robert was asleep on the floor and Maddie was asleep next to him.  If only the lighting in the room had been better it would have been the perfect picture!  He loves her, don't let him lie to you! :)  Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

**New update (5.2.09 @ Noon):  Maddie just ran over to me after being in a comatose state for a few hours with Ralph--her hedgehog-wanting me to play with her.  When I bent down to rub her little head I noticed that her nose was wet again---it has been dry all week.  Looks like she's on the upside of things.  Hallelujah!  Now to the kitchen to make her lunch! :)