Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Seamus got sick!

Yesterday afternoon, I had to take Seamus to the vet to get his next round of shots, which included his rabies vaccination and his third distemper. After his shots, he got a round of deworming medicine, and I gave him his next heartworm preventative pill. When we left, he and I went to my dad's house, which is near the vets, so that Seamus could play with my dad's boxer, Rocky. The two of them are the best of buds. Its gotten to the point that if my dad comes to my place and plays with Seamus, then goes home, Rocky won't leave him alone for like a half hour, because he smells Seamus on him. The two of them are inseparable when we're over there. Anywho.

Around 5:45, my fiancee got home, and I was cooking dinner...Seamus was acting like he normally does, saying hello, doing his stupid little dance near the front door when mommy comes home. Nothing out of the ordinary. 6:25 rolls around, and all of a sudden, he's very lethargic and totally uninterested in playing or even being petted. Weird. At the vets, they technician showed me how to hold him down to immobilize him, so that we can cut his nails. I went to show Meghan, and I hit his left hind leg, which made him scream. I look at him, and see that he has a knot the size of a golf ball in his thigh. I pull him towards me and touch the knot again, and he screams. So, being the good "father" that I am, I call the vet and ask them. I explain that he was in earlier, and now he has a huge lump in his thigh. They say to bring him in, and they'll look at it, then ask if he had shots when he was in. I say, why yes, he did!

The way to the vets was pretty uneventful. My driving was pretty typical, 20+ MPH over the speed limit, and taking corners like only an amateur road racer can do. Halfway through the trip, though, Seamus decided it was time to upchuck. I swear to everything that is Holy, that this dog threw up at least five times his body weight. IT. WAS. EVERYWHERE. Meghan's in the backseat with him, and thank the Lord we had a towel back there. She filled it. And didn't get it all.

We got him to the vet, and they took a look at him. Their diagnosis was that he had an allergic reaction to something called "Lepto" in one of the vaccines he was given earlier. They gave him a shot of benadryl and a shot of adrenaline, then gave us two medicines, benadryl and an anti-inflammatory, to give him for the next three days.

We was slow and tired last night, as they said he would be after the shots. This morning, he was wide awake and ready to play; completely back to his normal self. Unfortunately, one of the medicines he was given has a side-effect that causes him to drink and pee in insane amounts. Meghan said he had to follow him around constantly this morning because he was peeing so much.

Ah...the life of a pet owner. All told, $125 to put the shots in, $62 to repair the "damage," and a roll of paper towels to clean up the puke...