In the last 10 days, I’ve taken Dude to the vet three times. The first time was his annual exam and shot (Bordetella – first time with this one). But in typical Dudey fashion, we couldn’t leave it at just that. He had yeast infection in his ear from Stoli licking him obsessively so the moist, dark environment let yeast flourish. The vet put him on antibiotics and put some cream stuff in his ear and said to come back in a week for a follow up. So last Friday, I took Dude back to the vet for his follow up and another $100 later (swabbing his ear) we find out the infection is going away and should be good and to just keep an eye on it.
Early in the morning on Sunday, Casey and I were awakened by Dude coughing, hacking, and vomiting. He proceded to do this all day long. The poor guy couldn’t keep down food or water and just sounded miserable. The vet was closed on Sunday and in typical mommy fashion (this is what the vet called it and said she would have done the same thing), we waited 24 hours to see if he got better. Towards the end of the night, he was doing better but he did seem to be doing better but also threw up throughout the night. The weird thing is, he seemed to be his usual self (aside from his episodes) and was begging for Brady’s food, etc. Yesterday morning when I got up, I called the vet to schedule an appointment and while I was on the phone he threw up again.
We get to the vet and he doesn’t throw up at all. He keeps water and treats down and is barking, hyper, and friendly to everyone. The vet couldn’t figure out what the deal was and I told her what our thoughts were – that he either swallowed some of his stick and it was lodged in there or he was having a reaction to the Bordetella vaccine. She checked Dude’s throat and couldn’t feel anything and since he wasn’t coughing there she followed up with the vaccine reaction. She called the manufacturer and apparently in 1% of cases vomiting can occur. She gave Dude a shot (which she charged us for four of so I’m guessing she had to give him a big dose because of his weight – 71 pounds), some cough tabs, and some other mediation that would help with the cough and keep his food down.
Dude’s doing better today and hasn’t vomited since I called the vet yesterday morning. He’s still coughing if I don’t give him the cough tabs every 4-6 hours but other than that seems just fine. He’s not contagious, so that’s a relief. Just makes me a little worried for Stoli getting the Bordetella shot in February at her appointment. She’s also never gotten the shot because previous vets said it was only necessary if they were boarded or came in contact with other dogs on a regular basis – they don’t. Only 5 days left of this expensive month.