When a Pet is Sick

Those of us with pets know a love like no other. My Chihuahuas were my first babies before there was ever a two-legged baby in my life. Boy did I treat them like babies too. I would carry them around as if they couldn’t walk on their own and I cuddled with them and gave kisses and just spoiled them in general. In return I had two fiercely loyal companions who charged to greet me at the door every day when I came home. They leap into my lap as soon as I was seated. I was rewarded with sweet and sometimes not so sweet doggy kisses. So when Pinky first got sick, I was terrified.

She is a part of me and I simply could not imagine a day without Pinky in my life, and yet that is what I had to contend with. What ifs could drive a person insane, I know, but the reality was that I could lose her. I was not ready for that. Then I was wondering how Chi-Chi would react to not having her older sister around.

Pinky was only 9 years old and had lots of years left in her. She started having pee accidents in the house. This was unusual for her, so I knew something was wrong. The vet thought she probably just had a urinary tract infection (UTI) and prescribed anti-biotic and took a pure urine sample from her bladder. He cautioned that it could be a sign of something more serious like bladder stones.

She started the meds, but I didn’t see a huge improvement. The vet called to say that her tests came back positive for a UTI, so the meds he prescribed should be helping. I said that she was still peeing in the house only now it seemed like she was having trouble peeing. He scheduled a sonogram for Pinky to see if she had bladder stones.

The bad news was that she did have bladder stones, five to be exact. He recommended surgery to remove them and we decided to leave her at the hospital and have the surgery done immediately. She came through the surgery just fine and the stones were really pointy. She must have been in a lot of pain and never let on.

The stones were sent out to see what they were composed of which would tell us how she needed to be treated. Sometimes it would require medication and sometimes a change in diet, but the composition of the stones would let the vet know. The results took weeks to come back and they were mixed. It was highly unusual for the stones to be made up of different substances and that’s what we had.

I had to bring her in for some blood work to ensure she didn’t have liver disease. And no, thankfully, she does not. We are treating her now with diet. She is eating a special dog food and I have to get urine samples to see if the food is helping.

The good news is that she certainly seems fine right now. She actually likes the prescription dog food, which is a miracle because she is a fussy eater. What is the bad news? I had to contemplate a life without Pinky. It is not a happy place and I hope I don’t have to deal with this for years.