Sick Hooch this Week

Here at HP Haven we have been dealing with a sick doggie.   Tuesday night Corona come down with "something".   She has been off her food for at least 2 weeks now.   This has been very worrisome for me as this is a dog that eats ANYTHING!   And I really mean ANYTHING!   Meat, veggies, horse poop if she can get away with it, Christmas lights when she was little (She pooed sparkles!), whatever hits the floor you have to be fast to get it before she does!   She has started to turn her nose up at pretty much everything.   I had to hand feed her and DH has even had to coheres her to eat.   Very strange for her.

Tuesday night she had us up 5 times throughout the night.  Pretty much every 1.5-2 hours she was up and wanted outside.   DH pulled the first shift and let her out the first 3 times and then I did second shift and let her out the last 2 times.   The final time I just got up and got ready for work and went in early...no sense trying to go back to sleep for 45 minutes!

Made the call to the vet, figured it was another urinary tact infection.   She's had several over the years.  Got home on Wed night to diarrhea throughout the main floor of the house!!   I nearly threw up with the smell when I opened the door!   First order of business (no pun intended) was to get her outside to let her go out there!   Next was to get the windows open so I could stop the gag reflex.  Then the clean up started.   All the throw rugs went straight to the washer.   Found the pail, cleaning rags and ammonia.   As you all know Hoochie is a hairy assed varmint ...and this was not a good time for that!   So imagine the mess on those snow white pants and plumy long tail!    It was everywhere!  AND I mean everywhere!   If she laid down it was there.   If she turned around and her butt brushed the wall it was there.   Two hours later I had the house cleaned and smelling better.
I had a very embarrassed and sick doggie that ended up in her bed with the heating pad for the rest of the night.   She was exhausted, hungry but afraid to eat and not exactly smelling her best!

Thursday morning was the dreaded pee sample collection for the vet to test to validate the urinary tact infection.   I taped the container to the broom handle and followed her out the door at 5:45am to do the deed.   She's a low to the ground type when she pees so it's not an easy collection process.   So she doesn't really like the container being stuffed under her as she's going!   So let me paint the picture for you...me with my rubber boots, flash light and the pee container taped to a broom handle, following the dog around the yard until she find the "perfect" spot!  She squats down to do her business.   I try and cram the container on a stick under her butt.  She's too low to fit the container under and there is so much hair under there I have no idea if she is going other than the fact that she is in the right position to be going!   I end up having to use the toe of my boot to actually push it under...whacking her in the butt in the process and she looks back at me with that look as if to say, "Excuse me...but can't you see I am peeing!"

Two days and three types of antibiotics later and she is pretty much back to herself.  Thankfully, she  had no accidents when I got home from work on Thursday.   As of tonight, she's eating again and has interested in when we eat...so I am hopeful that the drugs are working their magic clearing up whatever bug she has.

I think DH was going to have a nervous breakdown with worry.   Funny tho how he wasn't too keen on dawning the rubber gloves and cleaning her tail end up after her bathroom trips outside on Wednesday night!  

Vet check up tomorrow to make sure she is fine...which I am sure will result in nothing to report other than, yes, she has a urinary tact infection and yes, she is old!   O well...it's peace of mind...and since she isn't going to cost us for University, I guess we can afford a vet check up even after the several hundred in drugs!