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Wondering what to do


Psalm 71 one
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I am wondering if I should call the vet-- it's after 7 pm now, so it would be the emergency vet we'd be calling, and therefore more expensive.

Earlier today (about 3 hours ago) my little Dog, Zippie and I collided. Her head and my shin. (She was running through the kitchen at the same time I had made a fast turn-and-run to the sink with a hot pan) It hurt me like crazy--at first I thought I had broken the bone! I have a nasty tender spot and bruise on my shin. So if it hurt me that much-- what about a little six-pound dog?

When i went to see if she was okay, she wouldn't let me pick her up, and pulled back. (Not entirely unnusual, she doesn't like to be approached head-on to be picked up--she backs up to us when we are sitting down and likes to be scooped up) She wasn't shaking he head or acting like she was hurt, so i went back to making dinner.

Just before I called my family for dinner, i saw she had puked--again, not that unusual-- she eats cat poop from the litter box, and then pukes. But my hubby went to clean that up, and discovered seven places she'd puked--a bit more unusual! We picked her up to pray for her, and she was shaking--again-- she does that when she's puked. I felt around her head, and she evidently has a tender spot, cuz she pulled away from my hand when I touched that side of her head.

She is sleepy, but again-- she gets sleepy this time of night. From just after dinner, while we are cleaning up, she curls up under the table and sleeps, and then follows us when we leave the room, and sleeps under my feet wherever i end up for the eveening. The ONLY thing different tonight is the puking (she's done a few more since dinner), and the knowledge that her bones and my bones made quite an impact against each other.

Obviously, if I call the vet, they'll say bring her in-- and give a guilt trip if i decide not to. My hubby has been unemployed since July, and we are at the end of our funds--November's bills are paid, and December's mortgage, but come January, things will get iffy--so running to the vet to find all she needs is to sleep it off, would be a poor expenditure of our money. But if she's really hurt and needs preventative care that wouldn't be that expensive-- well . . .

Whaddaya think?

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I have been where your at with my pet.

he was acting funny one nite i noticed he went to bed without me.

doesnt happen. so when i went to bed i pulled back the covers and blood was on the sheets.

i FREAKED OUT! thank God my nine year old kid kept her self together.

i called the emergency dept and i was so nuts they asked one question is he dead?

good lord... ya know!

we went in for an emergency vist.. the thing is the stress of an injury can make them dehydrate and then that can get serious.

im glad i went... i love that beast they didnt do much gave him some fluids and a pain pill and he went home to come back in a few days.

another time swame beast had a bit gone bad .. i didnt know about it till he didnt move cost me alot more then.

it is up to you of course but a early vist might save his little life and make the future vist if he is sick less .

dehydration is a big issue he could die from it in sleep they give my cat iv it isnt to much money and he felt much better.

poor guy.

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i do not have much money either.

the thing is i couldnt live with the guilt if I didnt take him. and even thought something could be wrong and then he died.

i mean if he dies andyou did all you could do it is a little easier but to think i didnt go becuase of money

um no not my beast.

he do not ask for much ya know ?

crap see now im worried but this is me if you can sleep and wait to see go for it.

after my cat injury for the love of god we had to stay up all night to make sure he was ok the vet didnt want him jumping or anything not even the stairs he can a head injury due to a rabid squirell i do not want to talk about how my cat lost a fight with a squirell .

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forgive my typing with no caps, i'm holding her while typingand typing one-handed.

pond, what you said about not being able to live with myself if i should have gone early and it prevented something worse, is so true. i kinda think that is why my kitty, ellie died last year--we waited too long--she was a puker, too, so at first i thought it was her normal puking. by the time we got het to the vet, waiting til next morning, the thread was too far down in her gut. she went downhill fast.

she has stopped puking, her eyes look good, she walks straight, her skin coloring and inside the mouth looks like normal. i did a search for dog concussion symptoms--it seems these are maybe only symptoms of mild concussion. but my worry right now is that she is shivering--cold--and she sometimes is panting while shivering. she does shiver when she pukes, but because of her head getting hit, i worry it's related to that, not cat-poop-puking. I don't have a doggy thermometer-- only one of those you use in your ear--i'm going to get that and check her.

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Psalmie, We have been faced with some difficult decisions on paying for things you know you should do, but then there is the harsh reality of budget. Maybe much different individual situations but same principle. No doubt we have made the wrong decisions at times. I don't have the answer to a lot of my situations, let alone yours. But I think I know the feeling of such a dilemma.

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Psalmie, how is Zippie today?

:(

When Vixen was only about six months old she got a plastic grocery bag stuck around her neck and slammed head first into the sliding glass door so hard it knocked the crap out of her, literally, and stunned her long enough for us to get the bag off of her. She was sore for a few days and now has "plastic bag" phobia, but she's healthy.

I hope Zippie was just really shaken up and is doing fine now.

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Sorry I didn't get back til now! Last night I thought i had lost internet connection (come to find out this morning the durn CAT had sat on the wires behind the puter and jiggled the plug for the router loose!) GEESH! Then I had to work this afternoon, so am just getting to the 'puter

My hubby is pretty stressed and absolutely wouldn't even consider the vet last night. I did talk him into it this morning. The vet checked her out thoroughly, and i told her about Zippie being a pukey dog because of getting into the cat box. She leaned more in that direction. As far as I understand, if it WAS a concussion, it was really mild--or maybe just a bad headache. (I'm not good about asking direct questions-- drives my hubby crazy--all i latched onto was that this wasn't a SERIOUS thing).

The vet WAS concerned about the puking, since it is fairly frequent. She wants me to get the cat litter boxes up to counter height and wanted me to feed Zippie a prescription diet for sensitive GI tracts. If that doesn't change things withing a period of time, she wants to do blood work, but she leaned toward it being that Zippie eats the cat poop and litter.

So it looks like all is well. Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement!

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Feathers! You're a brat! :biglaugh: (don't tell anyone i said this, but good to read you here!

pond, with the head injury, the vet determined it wasn't a serious one, her reflexes were/are good, good range of motion, pupils were good. The litter boxes are up! (One is in an rarely used tub, the other is blocked from the dogs, but we're considering doing away with it-- we only have one cat now, so maybe we don't need two boxes!

Zippie is still not herself. She has puked awhile after she eats, but i don't know if she is keeping any of it down, or if she is loosing everything-- and now that I have been watching for it, I don't think she has pooped in about 36 hours. That COULD be cuz she hasn't kept enough food down to have any waste, but I am getting concerned-- we use clumping cat litter and I am starting to wonder if it has clumped inside her. This isn't gonna go over well with hubby, but i am going to call the vet and see what she thinks as to whether we should be doing anything else. This morning when the boys asked why he didn't like our vet, he explained to them that "All vets play on peoples emotions. . . ", telling them that, in other words, vets are really only after your money, and do unnecessary stuff to your pets. He's already told me that he doesn't think she needs bloodwork. I'm gonna be in a horrible position if she needs to go to the vet again, cuz this may be an obstruction--wouldn't that mean operation? and I know he will never approve that--even if he DID have a job!

Please keep praying!

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(((((Psalmie)))))

Before you go back to the vet, try this....

Prepare some rice and boiled chicken - no spices, no salt, no pepper, no onion, no garlic.... nothing but plain ole chicken and rice

Fix a little of that and mix in one teaspoon of mineral oil.

Do this every time you feed Zippie.

The rice & chicken is standard for upset tummies and the mineral oil helps move things along.

Dunno if Zippie is getting into the cat food, too, but that can also cause big problems. The nutrients, composition and needs for cats are very different from doggies and can make doggies really sick and cause crystals in their urine ..... not that I found out cause Vixen was eating the neighbor's cat food or anything like that, mind you... :ph34r:

I sure am keeping you and Zippie in my prayers. Hopefully he'll be "zipping" around chasing feathers in no time! ^_^

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A vet goes to school many years longer than a medical dr for people.

dr's for people have to learn ONe system and body we all are the same a vet has to learn well ask noah !

the cost and expense and years put in is a life time commintment way beyond most occupations. their college is longer than what a md for people do and just as expensive.

it is a heart job they do not go into it for money. + so many times people just do not pay their bills they want a miricle and then walk away from the time and work, just go to another vet. pets do not have to have insurance like people do to get treated .

they have to see their patients be abused and mistreated and uncared for and then fix them and no questions asked for the most part.

i do not think vet play on people emotions.

i know pet do tho and that is because i believe the pets i have had loved me and i am obligated to them for the best life possible.

i feed wild animals i love animals tho very much i have turtles. well i have animals i love and i think they love me.

so it is an emotional thing.

vets are suppose to heal those we love and we want it for free or close to it!

i respect vets. and i respect few occupations really .

my sister said the same thing your hubby is saying that vets are a rip off.. they keep having you come back she siad and she has not once gotten shots for her dogs or cats, makes me feel angry.

then do not get pets. alot of her pets die... mine tend to live beyond any life exspectation for the animal i had a gold fish for over a decade a pig for 13 years.... that is me.

i know when i say to my vet "he is my best friend" he knows what i mean and will do all he can to make sure he is ok.

to me that is priceless.

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Belle, thanks for the homemade food recipe--she likes that better! She went off regular food when she'd had her puppies a year ago, and i think you had suggested the rice and chicken back then, minus the mineral oil. I hope brown rice is okay-- that's what we have onhand. And she DOES get into the cat food- bet that had some bearing on this sickness too!

I have read up on this cat litter eating and she's not gonna stop--she's got the taste for it! So one of the litter boxes is truly secure-- it is in a bathtub in the basement bathroom-- we don't take showers there-- that bathroom is way too cold. The other box upstairs off the kitchen is another ting-- it is barraceded from the dogs, but the cat can jump over to get to it. But it's a matter of time before "Miss Houdini" (Zippie) gets to it--she is an expert at finding new holes out from under the fence--we can never just let her out in the yard by herself. She gets out of the fence and thankfully stands there waiting for us to come get her, rather than running away. She just wants to show us she can get out! Stinker!

Progress report:

I was still pretty concerned about her this morning--she hadn't thrown up, but she wasn't eating--and drank only a tiny bit. No tail-wagging yet, either :unsure: But she did eat the chicken and rice later today--I wouldn't give her much at a time, but I did feed her 3 times-- small bits only. She's still not the voracious eater that she's been. And she still is having trouble when she gets cold, shivering a long time, taking awhile to warm up. BUT! she tried to play with Gus, our kitty this evening, and i saw tail wagging! She was even pestering him a bit, but she wore out quickly. Seeing the tail wagging and the attempt at play has really helped me to be less worried!

Pond--thank you!

I love you! You have a really big heart!!

I totally agree with you about vets! Most vets have become vets because of their love for animals! There are a few unscrupulous ones. We had a run-in with one about eight years ago, and this guy MAY have become a vet because of his love for animals, but it grew into love of money. I guess it's too long of a story, but this guy was evidently unscrupulous enough that he eventually lost his license to practice. My husband latched onto this one bad experience and now lumps all vets with this particular guy.

Besides that, at this point he's pretty hard to reason with--I've been here before with him--this isn't the first time in our marriage he's lost his job and been this long-- and longer in not finding one. He gets pretty hard to live with and will probably be this way til he gets a job again! <_<

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We had a vet like that Pond.

My brother's dog got run over by a truck, and Dr Roberts stayed up all nite trying to save him.

He couldn't do it, and didn't charge us anything.

Good vets, like any good dr are one in a million.

(Dentist, too, are doctors :) )

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The best way to find a cheap vet is call the rescues or the humane society. They know where they are.

"Accent" meat tenderizer or forbid in the food will help the dog to stop wating the poop

foster and smith website they have lots of things for your dog to stop eating poop ...

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index...q9RT&show=7

How is the doggie?

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Zippie is back! She still doesn't eat well, but I think secretly she's just holding out-- we were FEEDING her-- as in with a spoon! LOL! and she is a Princess. (She waits for us to lift her out of her crate in the morning, begs to be carried up the steps, etc, even when she's well! LOL!)

Anyway, she runs and plays and wags again, she poops and pees and drinks well. I'm nowhere near as worried as i was!

Thanks for the article, Dot. I don't know if I want to feed the cat the meat tenderizer or Accent. I don't think it's good for humans, and since my dogs and cat are all less than 10 lbs, I think it would have to be in REALLY small doses! If I can keep her away from the litter boxes it will cut down on her "treats" to only what she finds in the yard from neighboring cats! (And she has found them-- rolls in 'em! PEEEE-YEWWWW!)

I had switched their food to Solid Gold after her puppy was born, (Cat food was switched too) but after a few bags of it, my hubby wanted me to stop--it's more expensive than the Nutro Ultra we'd been feeding them. Now my hubby wants us to switch to this vet recommended food--Iam's Low-residue. It's more expensive than the Ultra, but less than the Solid Gold. I am gonna have to find out more about the "Low-residue"--will they be missing any nutrients on it? Zippie doesn't like it much, Moses likes it cuz he thinks he's getting away with something by stealing it from her! Gus (the cat) likes it too, when we moisten it! LOL!

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