My adopted dog, Deke, got sick recently out of the blue. He’s the sweetest and biggest lap-dog I’ve ever had. We came home from hockey practice (it was 9:30pm), and Deke was not acting “normal.” Normal meaning he didn’t perk up when I asked him to go for a walk or react when I asked him if he wanted a biscuit. He just laid there.  Crap!

I kept calm and called the emergency vet clinic; they recommended I bring him in if he vomited. Right after I hung up, we found a huge pile of vomit in front of the couch. He was very lethargic when we brought him to the clinic…I had to sign some paperwork and a vague estimate of what the visit would cost. Turns out he was having an allergic reaction (to some unknown toxin) and his liver was not functioning properly (enzyme level was 1391 and normal is 100 max). Geez. Anaphylaxis shock was the diagnosis and we put him on an I.V. of fluids to help the liver normalize. We were able to pick him up 32 hours later. He was so happy to go home. Have to watch his diet for a while and get blood work check-ups occasionally.

We later found that he had been digging in the backyard under the deck. So he was most likely bit by something…he found a hornets nest or a small poisonous snake.  Even though he gets into messes, you just want to smooch his cute face!  What a great friend he’s been since last Thanksgiving when we adopted him from the Humane Society.