Unexpected Curves

I am home sick at the moment with one of the worst cases of the flu I can remember having. There's nothing good about it. However, I am now thankful that I was home today.

As I was resting, I was contemplating what I want to write for the blog on Sunday. That is the day Lilac turns fourteen years old. She has never been sick, save the funky toenails that go with SLO, a day of her life. That is, until today. At two o'clock this afternoon, Lilac was napping. Suddenly, she began thrashing around on her bed. I thought she was having a stroke. I called my husband and the vet and started making preparations to get her out to the car.

She couldn't stand up and she kept thrashing around when I tried to move her. I took the other three hounds outside and got the car ready. I told myself that I could summon the superhuman strength that comes with a moment of extreme panic and need. I was wrong. Since she was on a dog bed, I decided that dragging her out on the bed would be the best and easiest course of action. Again, I was wrong. For a small, incapacitated dog, she was remarkably strong and she fought it with all she had. We got through the living room and the kitchen, then down the first back step and to the landing. I figured that I could drag her down the steps like she was on a sled if I held on to the ends of the bed tight enough. Wrong, one more time. She thrashed and fought and the next thing I knew, she'd fallen back into the hall closet. I couldn't get her out. I had to wait for my husband to get home and as he called me, I could barely breathe enough to tell him what had happened.

Since he was getting close to home, I went to bring the other hounds back in. Hawk ran off and jumped into the back seat of the car, hoping to go for a ride. Any other time, he stands at the bottom of the steps and looks helpless, hoping you'll help him get up. Blueberry and Bunny both went up, and both paused to look at Lilac, no doubt wondering what she was doing in there. I got Hawk out of the car and led him into the house. You guessed it, he wouldn't go up those steps. So, I helped him up the steps and then sat down on the step with Lilac to wait for my husband to get home.

As I sat there, Bunny walked out, quietly sniffing me to see if I was alright. She walked around and tried to see Lilac, but I think she sensed she shouldn't bother her too much. One little I'm here if you need me sniff and she turned to lay down on the bed beside me to help me keep vigil. My husband arrived and told her to go in the house, which she did. No doubt wondering why he was being so rude while she was trying to help.

We managed to roll her into a blanket and get her into the back of the van. I rode with her in the back while my husband drove the van faster than I knew it was capable of travelling. I really thought we were going to be saying good bye to the old lady.

After a check by the vet, they believe that she had a seizure and not a stroke. A seizure in a dog who's almost fourteen years old isn't a good thing, but it is better than a stroke. Our sweet old lady is spending the night at the vet's office tonight and we'll be learning more tomorrow when her bloodwork comes in. She was alert the entire time, her vitals are all pretty strong and there has been no unusual activity. These are all good signs.

Now, I'm going back to rest. I may be the one who doesn't make it to celebrate her birthday on Sunday. We have plans to attend our annual greyhound reunion on Saturday, but those plans may have to be put on hold. I hope not, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. I am much relieved that the news wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, but still concerned about our little old mama dog.