Bulldogs World

I almost didn't want to write about this; I'm still so upset. Mostly at myself.

A few days after adopting Matilda, I came home to find her sitting in the dining room unable to stand up. She seemed "fine", except she did not want to walk.

She visited the ER and we ("we" as opposed to just "I" now) were told she apparently had aggravated some form of disc disease because she was heavy and likely had some arthritis as well. Perhaps she had overexerted. Anyway, we were told to get her weight down, they gave her a pain shot and some anti-inflammatory shots and  we went home with some anti-inflammatories; she was pretty much fine for the next couple of years. No more pain.

She had had some booster shots from the vet immediately after I adopted her. I never even thought twice about it.

In December of 2008, Matilda was vaccinated for DHPP and Rabies at the same time. Four days after receiving these vaccines, Matilda began vomiting continuously and breathing in short, heavy shallow breaths. She seemed to be in pain and unaware of my presence. Keep in mind that because of her weight at the time (she was still coming down from her all-time high) I thought this might be the same thing again. No one believed me when I suggested that she'd been recently vaccinated and here was that same pain - back, hips, spine again. So I shut up. Over the course of the next two days she visited the emergency room three times. It was only on the final visit after on the night of New Year's  at 3am that they gave her a Buprenex shot, a heavy dose of robaxine, and sent me home with Metacam that it appeared to alleviate the situation. She got better, and...again has been fine since.

So here she was due for rabies again this month. I told them no way was she getting more than one vax at once. They said ok, but since rabies was the law, she got it.

What do you think happened?

Daycare called me at 4pm the day before yesterday and told me she was breathing and did not want to move. She vomited twice. I picked her up and brought her to my vet, who after some fighting agreed to the buprenex shot; they also gave her a shot of benadryl because she had also developed three "hive" areas, two in her ear and one on her belly. They also gave me oral metacam and oral Robaxin. They agreed she was in significant pain - NOT anaphylactic shock.

Trouble is, she has to be not vomiting in order to take the oral meds. Duh. 

Two hours after getting home we went to the ER. They noted that she was not all that affected by the buprenex shot, her back legs were twitchy and she was still doing that rapid breathing thing. ER Doc told me to wait out the pain shot; it could work, but gave her some "Cerenia" - a new anti nausea med and off we went. We arrived home at 1am. Matilda settled down, finally, at about 4am by taking one nice, deep breath and then it was "over". She began eating in the morning and has successfully eaten a couple of meals and I've been giving her some broth made from her raw patties which helps keep her hydrated. She is very gassy, sort of "tranked" (probably from the muscle relaxer) and glass-eyed but she is improving over the last day or so. She went for a short walk this morning and didn't seem to be pained by eat. She ate breakfast normally, peed and pooped and has seemed relatively stable.

I noticed that the ER vet had written on the discharge instructions that WARNING: Matilda should be "titered" instead of vaccinated for anything.

So she is doing better. Perhaps a bit whiny because she doesn't understand why she can't go upstairs and why I'm carrying her to the car, et cetera. She is very quiet, but she does want her treats and her sunny spot and is kinda coming back to her old self.

I feel like the worst parent in the world to have given in to this and put her through that. Also, in my own experience with a shellfish allergy I know that it is worse each time. Thankfully, I seem to have recognized this somewhat earlier than last time and she is now on the drugs that help alleviate what she is going through. Please pray that it works.

One thing I know is that I will fight tooth and nail NEVER to have another vaccine administered to my dog. They didn't listen to me the first time ($500), and the second time ($1000). Now it is the THIRD time ($400) and I'm done. I almost hyperventilated and crashed the car driving 100 miles in three hours, crying and cursing that everyone thinks they know my dog better than I do.

Sorry, I just had to vent. This upset me a great deal and I'm not entirely sure Matilda isn't out of the woods. After two nights of sleeping on the sofa with her and listening to her every snort, I can do nothing but blame myself. Any suggestions for how to fight this fight to make sure I can prove she is healthy and not put her in this position again would be appreciated.