To Shirley and I, Barbie is our little girl. I can't say what a daughter would mean to the both of us, but for more than four years, she is as close to one as it gets in our lives.
The past weekend has been the most nerve-racking 2 days for us as "parents". Coming home from work on Friday night, we found some vomit and diarrhea on Barbie's toilet mat and her blanket. We thought not much of it - I guess it happens to dogs, they eat what they shouldn't, and they pay for it. Then on Saturday morning, as I was getting ready for my second sleep at 8.30, I found what I can only describe as "exploded diarrhea with blood" splattered over her toilet mat and floor. I quickly and panickly woke Shirley up and contact our vet. I took a digital photo of the "scene" (the photo is too gruesome to put here) and Shirley collected some "sample" for the vet.
We saw the vet (Dr Nicky) at 9.15. It was hard for the her to determine what was wrong with Barbie. Barbie's temperature was lower than normal. She was very still and looked dehydrated. So she said she will need to perform some glucose tests and inject her with antibiotics. And she will need to be hospitalised and monitored. We would be notified later that afternoon.
We felt horrible. Anxious, worried, and at times thinking of the worst. We googled on the Internet for her symptoms and the likely cause of her illness - parvovirus, worms, eaten something sharp. Of course, there did not draw to any conclusions. The call from Dr Nicky finally came. "Barbie had another episode," and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my heartbeat increases. "We will have to put her on IV fluids and keep her on it overnight." "Can we see her?" "Sure, give us time to set the IV up and come by at 4.30". It was 3.50, but there was noway we were going to wait at home, so we rushed out to the vet.
Our poor baby's right hand was wrapped in a cute pink bandage connected to 500ml of IV fluids that looks bigger than her! We asked Dr Nicky about all the possible causes we researched on the Internet - she said they were all unlikely. She was concerned about her episode earlier in the afternoon, but knowing that the antibiotics takes 24 hours to take effect, she said the safest thing was to keep Barbie on IV and leave her at the vet overnight.
It was such a tough night to get over. Both of us were emotionally tired but neither of us could sleep well. I dreamed of receiving a phone call in the middle of the night and Shirley said she had cold sweats throughout.
Morning came, and at 9.30, Dr Nicky called us. Barbie appears to be responding to the treatment. There were no more vomit or diarrhea, and she was quite happy when given some food. We went to see her and to our great relief, she looked much better. The vet wanted to keep her in for the rest of the day just to be cautious. She was fine throughout the day, and we took her home at 4.30 that afternoon.
I took Barbie in for another check this morning, taking the day off from work. Knowing some of my colleagues with young ones sometimes takes time off work to look after their sick child, I feel a sense of parenthood today - staying at home, looking after, not our dog, our daughter. I can feel that she is on the road of recovery. She is following me around, constantly begging for something to eat.
It's 3.00 now, we are just waiting for Mummy to get home!
On her birthday, I secretly took the 3 hours off work in the morning after dropping her off work. I went to the Warehouse and bought about 70 balloons and some decorations and pumped all the balloons up - well.. I only managed to do about 50 before getting a huge blister on my finger... It was HARD work..
And I picked up the cake..
After work, we went to our favourite Korean restaurant for dinner. And this was what was waiting for her when she stepped in our home :)
The official birthday photo - Same pose every year - different clothes, different cake.
