A long night

Terry gave me an awful scare last night. She was sick in the night and I came oh-so-close to packing her into the car and heading to the emergency hospital. One of the afflictions that greyhounds are susceptible to is bloat—when their stomachs become dilated with air and twist, cutting off the esophagus and intestines and blood flow to the stomach. Usually happens after a meal and, if untreated, is fatal.

Terry isn’t known for her delicate eating habits. She inhales rather than chews. She’s had plenty of digestive problems in the past, so I’m never quite sure. But a monstrous belch or two relieves her symptoms and she goes back to being a contented dog. But last night, she couldn’t produce any belches and she tried and tried and tried to throw up without success. She paced and paced and paced and wouldn’t lie down on her bed and her stomach was distended and as hard as a rock. I tried massaging and thumping her stomach to see if it would encourage her to belch, but no go.

After about an hour of this I was getting scared, but remembered that there was some Gas-X in the cupboard and decided to give that a shot. After she swallowed the pills, we waited. And waited some more. I was just about to carry her out to the car when all of a sudden she produced the most amazing burp. It seemed to come from her toes and it went on and on. Her stomach visibly deflated and all of a sudden I had a happy and lively dog on my hands. She asked to go out and scampered around in the snow for a few moments, took some time out to do a little business, then came in and flopped down on her bed and went to sleep.

I stayed with her for quite some time to make sure she was okay and wasn’t going to suddenly expire on me. But she was okay and is doing just fine today. There’s another couple of gray hairs for Mom.