my doggie is sick.

Jericho is very sick. He was limping yesterday, but seemed able to pee and whatnot, so we blamed it on abrasions from a too-close shave at the groomer, but kept an eye on him. In the evening, he was obviously unwell and lethargic.

I called first thing this morning, Tom took him in at 11. He has Lyme disease and is in kidney failure. They prognosis is not good, but they have him on IV antibiotics and fluids and will call us this evening. I might go visit him before they close. He will be shuttled to a 24-hour vet for observation tonight.

I keep crying. I love my poodle-doodle-dog.

Update.

My dog is dying.

No, the vets haven't said that yet, but they strongly suspect Lyme nephritis. If he survives this first autoimmune attack of his kidneys, he will have a few weeks or months. They haven't told me this, either, but the information is easily available.

We talked to our vet and decided we would transport him to an overnight facility so that he could be monitored. Our vet doesn't have 24-hour staffing. The biggest worry--other than spilling blood and fluid--is that he will throw a clot and have a stroke. We would have to monitor him ourselves. While I hate being separated from my poor, sick doggy, we decided that it would be better for him to be monitored by people who are awake and trained to spot any poor responses.

At this point, his chance of pulling through this acute stage is set at 10%. He is anemic, his platelets are very low, and his protein is low. The ER vet is worried that he may be spilling blood into his tissues, but it may still just be fluid. Either way, things aren't good.

We made the decision to sign a DNR--they are not to perform canine CPR if he goes into cardiac arrest. Honestly, it would be cruel right now, what with the edema and bruising.

Our home vet is optimistic that he will pull through the night. He ate for her and walked for us and jumped up on the chairs in her office when we visited. But the prognosis is still very grave.

It turns out we no longer get enough freezing days (14 consecutive days below freezing) in this region. So the ticks never really get killed off in substantial numbers. As a result, my dog should have been treated with a tick control product year-round. We typically treat from Feb/March through the first frost. There's no telling if this disease was caused by the tick we found two Februaries ago (after which he tested positive for Lyme exposure) or the two ticks pulled off of him last week. We put off the Frontline+ this spring due to illness, weather, and grooming schedules. It makes me ill and has to be put on 3+ days either side of a bath.

I was supposed to buy dog food today. Obviously, I did not. I desperately want to. I feel like not buying it is accepting the inevitable. Then again, I feel like buying 36 pounds of dog food would just jinx my poor Jerry's chances. And if . . . when . . . he does come home, I'll likely need to prepare a special diet as he will be in kidney failure.

On Sunday, he was playing happily in the yard, chasing balls thrown by Ronan and barking frantically at anyone who dared to walk by.

72 hours. If he makes it 72 hours, we will just have to cherish the next two to six months. If not . . . my heart is already breaking for the pain he's in.