Dogs

Last night April, our 1.5 year old black german shepherd stayed up all night with a cough and wheezing. She was having a hard time breathing. I stayed up with her and held her head in a position that she breath easier and could get some sleep, she fell fast asleep. I began thinking that maybe it was something really serious. This morning I had to take our new puppy, Hailey to the vet to remove a staple from her spaying a couple weeks ago. I took April with me. When April was finally seen, the vet was nervous, I could tell. He mentioned bloat and I thought, "here we go again." Our 10.5 year old black GS had bloat last November and almost died. I was three months pregnant with Penn at the time. I had to consent to the surgery to untwist his stomach and was told he probably wouldn't make it...would I give consent for them to put him down if it seemed as though he wouldn't make it and he was in pain? I never thought I would, but I did, but he made it. This morning I started thinking, "what would I do if I was faced with this again?" It makes me feel like giving up to think about it. In the past two years I have lost my 30 year old brother to a sudden heart attack, my 2 year old black GS, Emma to a spaying that she didn't respond favorably to (10 days after my brother) and then Penn this year. Less than a month later I was thinking this morning I could be facing another loss. Could I stomach it? I am glad to know now that the vet thinks that April has kennel cough which she caught from Hailey. She's on antibiotics for it now. Wheww! Praise the Lord for letting me keep precious April. Just yesterday Brad and I went to Enchanted Rock with all of our dogs, Dakota, April and Hailey. It was awesome, and fun to have a "pack" with us. It felt like having a family!