Two of a kind...

It's been a rough time for Amos and I.

Yesterday evening, I took the time to pull the curls from inside Amos' ears (ICK!).  I've done it ever since I learned that I needed to do it, about four years now.  I haven't had a problem other than being totally grossed out.  However, I had a problem.

Amos started looking like he was watching an invisible fly buzzing above his head.  He was going a bit nuts, then would collapse and try to nap.  He cycled through this several times, while I was puzzled.  I got up to get a drink and stepped in more ICK.  Amos had throw up without my realizing it.

Now, Amos is a very, very, very polite vomiter, always leaping down from wherever he is resting to vomit on the floor.  Only, all politeness left him.  Amos vomited on the NEW SOFA!  He vomited on the coffee table (trunk ... leather trunk).  I thought that was it.  I mean, he sometimes vomits some bile and then is just fine.  It actually seems like food helps him.  So, I took the increased dose of gabapentin that has me so drowsy and dizzy.

What I didn't realize, until much later, was that Amos vomited all night long.  The living room rug.  The hallway.  My bedroom.  The bed.  A total of twenty-seven times when all was said and done.  Whilst I was frantically dressing once I realized that Amos surely had a fever and had been busy vomiting whilst I was sleeping, Amos vomited seven times.  It was just plain awful to watch.

I was disappointed to learn that, unbeknownst to me, my vet is actually open Saturday morning.  But I missed their hours by 15 minutes.  I looked up the emergency clinic that is their recommended one and packed up things for him in case he had to stay (and my anxiety things).  After bundled into the car, we headed over to the clinic.

I was right.
Amos did have a fever!
My poor little Fluffernutter!!

The vet is fairly confident that Amos' vestibular nerve is irritated from the hair pulling, something that can happen rather easily, even if a groomer was doing the (ICKY) job.  The dizziness causes the vomiting and then the dehydration causes even more nausea.  A vicious cycle.  Since almost all of his vomiting was bile foam, the other possibility was pancreatitis, especially with the fever.  However, since dehydration can cause a fever and Amos' abdomen was not painful, the vet wanted to treat him on her initial thought before doing expensive testing.  I was appreciative of that thought given I had already racked up quiet a bill.

She gave him a shot for the nausea, ran a bag of saline beneath his skin, and sent me home with meclazine (would have been cheaper OTC) for the dizziness for a week.  She also wanted me to stop and get some pepcid on the way home since all that bile surely irritated his innards.  Only, well, it is much too hot to stop with Amos in the car!

I called my neighbor and literally begged her to go for me.  The thought of coming home, dropping Amos off, and heading out again was absolutely overwhelming.  Plus, I wanted to be sure that Amos did not vomit on the couches anymore!  After some serious begging, she agreed, but only going to Walgreen's instead of Walmart.  More money, but less angst for Amos and I.  She actually pulled into her garage with the medicine just as I was coming home with Amos.

After plying Amos with his pills, I sat down and held him.
And held him.
And held him.

Amos eventually drank and then ate and then tended business outside, but he is still very weak and very sleepy.  Dopy, almost.  I am hoping it was the shot he got, though Becky pointed out vomiting so much would be exhausted.

He is still a little furnace, too.  I hate Amos having a fever.  It is so worrisome!   Having him on my lap or next to me is this constant reminder of his ill health.

So, I am left waiting and hoping that Amos in on the road to recovery.  I will say that, despite being a bit shocked by the emergency bill, I would really like to take him in to see his own vet.  And I might just do that and figure out how to pay the bill later.

I will not be pulling his ear hair any time soon, but the emergency vet suggested that I give him the meclazine to start, but if nothing else to do it in the morning of a weekday so that if this happens again and Amos needs support, I can get him into his vet before the vomiting sends him into a tailspin.

Yes, again.  Amos, it is now assumed, has wonky nerves, too.  The emergency vet wondered if it was from the constant strain of his PTSD on his nervous system.  His anxiety and hyper vigilance is off the charts.  SIGH.

If he does have wonky nerves, at least we would really be two of a kind then, eh??