jacques almost died yesterday

No, I'm not kidding. This is a story about how you never rely on a first opinion. Seek out a second, third, fourth..however many it takes for the diagnoses to coordinate with your instincts.

Like I mentioned earlier, Jacques was diagnosed with coccidia last Wednesday and prescribed 6 cc's daily of Albon. It wasn't until Sunday that he was actually acting like a real dog, but that didn't last long. Monday was when the drooling started; we're talking lengthy reflective bulldog spit that became a permanent garland under his muzzle. Tuesday was when the aimless pacing started. And Wednesday was when it all crescendoed into a nightmare: drooling, circling, crying, eyes wandering and glazed over, goose-stepping (high, incremental steps), toddling, running into things; you name it, he had it (except diarrhea and vomiting, of course). My immediate thoughts were this: poisoning, bloat or (my worst nightmare) a neurological disorder. I rushed him to the vet where they did an incomplete blood test (because he was SQUIRMING - yea, that was her excuse) and fecal matter test and delivered a seemingly impulsive theory that Little J had a neurological problem, namely hydrocephalus. Literally, the third sentence out of this professional's mouth was: "What's your breeders exchange policy?"

After having an emotional typhoon in the waiting room, they said they'd set me up an appointment with MedVet in Memphis for the morning and I took him home. J looked like he was flat-lining. I tried to feed him watered-down baby food, chicken broth, Pedialyte, sugar water - his jaw was locked and his body was limp in my arms. I didn't sleep at all because he was waking hourly as if someone had set off a bull horn in his ear - crying, yapping and straining to get away, all lasting for 20 seconds then he'd pass out again. That night I called 2 emergency vet lines and made another appointment in Starkville, MS (where my bill would run to $900 before the day was over). I woke up at 7 AM and got in the car heading south and decided to first take him to a vet in Jackson that was highly-referred, and thank the good Lord that he led me to that choice that early in the morning. I cried the entire way, having visions of putting this 10-wk-old down, wondering what his quality of life would be like if he did in fact have a debilitating mental condition...it was awful, I don't even want to recall it.

It took Dr. Mike 30 min. to figure out that Jacques had an extremely low red blood cell count, indicating that he was having an adverse reaction to the sulfur in the Albon, NOT a neurological disorder. I almost fainted with relief.

Nonetheless, the vet said J was 50/50 on survival rate when I brought him in. He is still at the hospital, hooked up to an IV and receiving steroid treatments to reduce the inflammation in his brain. After spending the night last night they want to keep him longer for observation, but they think he should be OK. He's now 75/25.

Trust your doctors people, and more importantly, trust your instincts. Always believe in the power of prayer.

I'll keep you posted.