Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Our Scary Morning.

This morning, B and I were relaxing and hanging out talking in bed like we do most mornings before he goes to class. Neither one of us are morning people. We might wake up at 8 or even as late as 9 am, but we are most productive in the afternoon, evenings and even into the wee mornings hours. I guess our clocks never reset after college. Sometimes you'll find us awake at 2 and 3 in the morning. That's when I get my best editing done. Anyway, we were waking up very slowly, talking about our dreams that we had the night before and our plans for the upcoming day. We recently started watching Breaking Bad all over again and I had a dream that B and I were hiding a liquified body in a plastic container. Seriously. If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, then you have no clue right now. (Season 1. Episode 2.)

So as we were talking, checking email on our phone, seeing what's happening on Facebook, you know the usual morning routine... we both heard a sad pitiful yelp come from my baby Conner. Any dog mom knows this yelp of helplessness and I pray to God you never have to hear it. EVER. Something horrible was happening to my dog Conner and I had no clue what it was or what to do. The next few minutes were mass chaos, at least in my mind. I'm pretty sure B stayed reasonably calm throughout the entire event. I kept screaming WHAT IS HAPPENING? Conner's jawed was clinched tight. His paws went straight over his face as if he was covering his eyes or something. His entire body tightened in panic and was trembling. I didn't know if he was choking or if he had broken a limb. All I knew was that something was seriously not right. B mentioned a seizure and then it hit us like a ton of bricks. That's exactly what was happening- he was having a seizure right in front of us and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.

Of course, I screamed, cried and yelled for the seizure to stop, but it wouldn't. I tried petting him, talking to him, rubbing him and when all of that failed, I just sat there helpless and watched as the seconds dragged on.

A couple of minutes had gone by and no improvement. We quickly realized that an emergency vet visit was a must. With tears in my eyes and panic in my mind, I threw on the first thing I saw...which I realized later was an Arkansas tshirt B had bought me, dirty jeans, slippers and a camouflage hat. Seriously, I probably looked like some sort of hillbilly. But at the time I didn't even think of it. I just scooped Conner up in my arms and headed for the nearest vehicle in our driveway. He peed on me on the way to the car, but I didn't care. All I cared about at that time was him not dying. I remember yelling "You're not dying on me, Conner, not today!" So dramatic, now I realize that, but that is how I felt.

I thought my baby was seriously dying in my arms.

I know for all you parents out there, this post may sound silly or dramatic but we don't have human children. Conner, Scooter, Hazel, Charlie and now Lannie Cat are our children. We buy them presents. They even have their own stockings. They sleep with us. I talk to them constantly. I work from home so I hang out with my fur children more than any other human being on this planet and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. I honestly like my pets a lot more than most human beings...and that's no joke, y'all.

So you see, to lose one of these guys, is exactly like losing a member of the family because to me, they are 100% family. Our animals are what makes up this family. We spend 90% of our time with our animals and we CHOOSE to everyday. So we may be known as the crazy animal lovers but I'm okay with that. Because until you love an animal, you have not experience the kind of love that is 100% selfless, loyal and devoted.

Conner came out of his seizure about the time we were pulling up at the vets office. He was scared and continued to pee on me and every vet assistant in the office but that's a Cocker Spaniel for ya. :) He is now completely better and is sitting on top of my feet even as I write this. The vet told us that epileptic seizures are common in Cockers and for us not to be shocked if this happens again. If this becomes more common, there is some medication we can get him on to prevent seizures. I might have to get MYSELF on some medication if this starts happening more often! I'm not sure my heart can handle another morning like this morning.

I will definitely be more prepared if this happens again but until then, I will continue to cherish every single day I have with him. Like with any person or animal, I know our days are numbered. Events like today definitely make you stop and appreciate the life we have with our furry friends.

I love our little crazy zoo and right now in life, I wouldn't have it any other way!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My poodle had seizures too. I found with my dog if I got a cold wash cloth and was calm (easy to say!) it helped her settle down more. Of course it didn't stop it but I feel like it slowed down/stopped the peeing.

--Amy