Last night just before bed, Timber started licking his nose and gulping, as if he was going to throw up. It started very gently, but picked up, and he started getting restless, so I took him outside. He pooped, but didn't throw up, so we came back inside.
I wound up sitting up with him until 3 this morning. I'm still not sure what was going on. He had some of the symptoms of incipient bloat: licking, gulping, restlessness, groaning, wanting to drink water, obvious distress. But no vomiting or attempt to vomit, no diarrhea, no drooling, his gums didn't lose color, his abdomen never swelled up, and there was a lot of stomach noise. I ran through some other possibilities in my head for a long time--poison? No--I was 99.98% sure he hadn't gotten into anything he shouldn't have. Choking? Well, no, wasn't coughing or pawing at his mouth or having trouble breathing.
Since I'm hyper-aware of possible bloat, I finally decided better safe than sorry and gave him 5 Ultra-Phazyme caps. Then I got him to sit beside me on the bed and massaged his neck and shoulders, which were very tense. After a while he lay down beside me and I stroked him as gently and calmly as I could, long calming strokes. The Phazyme seemed to help for a while, then the licking/gulping/restlessness started to increase again, with the addition of groaning, so I gave him another dose and, because he seemed so distressed, sprayed some Rescue Remedy on his foot pads, then started stroking and massaging him again. After about half an hour, he heaved this big sigh and went to sleep.
I don't know if he was bloating or whether something else was going on, but he seems fine today--brought me a toy at noon to play with, ate his dinner just fine, snuggled a little bit. I don't know if the Phazyme really helped, but I knew it wouldn't hurt him, and I'm glad I had it in the house.
Taenzer, btw, was very very good. She tends to be a jealous girl and will come wedge herself between me and Timber if she thinks he's getting too much attention, but last night she went into her crate and stayed there the whole time, until he went to sleep. Then she came and jumped up on the bed beside me and curled up in her spot.
This is the 2nd time this has happened. We go in to the vet in two or three weeks for his spring heartworm test and 3-year rabies booster, so I'll be sure to type up a description of what happened for her to put in his file.
Meanwhile, I was totally stupid at work today and made a bunch of mistakes--not enough sleep!
2 comments:
I'm glad Timber is O.K. but am sure wondering what it was, that was bothering him.
Good Taenzer, knowing when to be a good girl!:o)
Taenzer got her revenge by pooping in the living room yesterday morning. Then she refused to pee at Last Call last night, so she spent the night in her crate. *sigh* But I think we're okay now; we kissed and made up when I went home for lunch.
I'd like to know what was up with Timber, too. Thanks for the Good wishes, Monika! I think I'm going to add digestive enzymes to their food, so maybe it won't happen again.
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