Poodie's Ordeal

When we left for Disneyland, we also left our cute little dog, Poodie. We've left her before, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. We dropped her off at my inlaws house and told them we would call and check up on her to make sure everything was okay. You see...our dog is slightly stuck up, so she is very snobbish if she is around anyone other than Tim and myself. But, my mother-in-law loves her, and tries so hard to make her happy. So, when we called to check in, we really weren't to surprised to find out that Poodie was sulking. But by the third day of our vacation, my mother-in-law informed us that she wouldn't eat anything, and she stayed in her bed all day. When we went to pick her up, she had the runs. She started throwing up when we got her home, and continued with throwing up and the runs all night long. I finally called the vet when it didn't stop. To make a long story short, the vet did a blood test, called the next day, and informed me that our little dog was in kidney failure. She was dying. She told me that I needed to bring her in right away, and they would start doggie dialysis. For the next three days, Tim and I dropped her off early in the morning for her treatment, and then picked her up in the evening so she could spend the night at home.



The vet placed a catheter in her arm, and ran fluids through her system all day. At the end of the day, they would cap off the catheter, and wrap her arm up. She hated having her arm all bandaged. She would get really mad that she couldn't walk right, and she would pound her foot against the floor and bite it. It made me laugh...but I always stopped her from biting it. It was really kind of funny.


After her third day of treatment, the vet took another blood sample, and informed us that her blood levels were much better, but that Poodie would always be in kidney failure. When an animal goes into kidney failure, it isn't evident until 75% of the kidney has died. That part of the kidney never repairs itself, so that leaves 25% of the kidney to do all the work. She told us that we could make things easier for Poodie's kidneys by doing IV treatments of subcutaneous fluids at home. So, everyday, for the rest of her life, we will stick her with a huge, thick IV needle and run 200 units of fluid into her little body. It was a little scary at first, but she is such a good little dog. She just sits there. She panicked a little bit at first, but for the most part, she just lets us do it with no complaint. Luckily for us, the IV treatments cost less than $5 a week.


It might seem silly to some of you that we would do so much for a dog. But, it really is amazing how much you become attached to them. She is a part of a little family, and we love her so much. We are so grateful that we get to keep her for a few more years. I don't think we were ready to give her up quite yet.