This afternoon we had to take Murphy to the emergency animal hospital. It was quite the event today. Here's the run down:
He was acting really strange this afternoon. He was hyper salivating (aka drooling a lot), lethargic, and was having really labored breathing. He also just stood in the middle of the floor almost motionless a few times for long durations. When he did finally move from one place to another, he tucked his ears back and had his tail between his legs. We knew something was wrong, but couldn't figure out what. Usually with lethargy, vets suspect a blockage in the digestive tract (like he swallowed something bad), but his eating/bathroom habits remained the same as always. We called the emergency vet and they told us to bring him in.
We were there for 2 hours for the exam and figuring out what to do next. All his vitals were normal and lungs were clear. No blockage was felt either. However, his pupils were reacting strangely to light, and the vet felt he was acting odd for a border collie his age. She seemed to think the only solution would be that he either got ahold of some sort of medication or toxic product (though we can't imagine what it could have been since we watch him like a hawk and keep him out of the rooms that contain those items) or that he was possibly having an allergic reaction to an insect sting. Another slight possibility is that when he was standing for long periods of time, that he was having a quiet seizure - though she did mention that his other symptoms didn't line up with characteristics of seizures.
To play it safe, we decided to have him admitted over night for observation. He was given fluids and a charcoal mixture as well, to try to get his system to pass anything foreign he might have ingested. We've called twice so far since dropping him off, and they seem to think he's doing well. We pick him up tomorrow morning and go from there.
It's pretty quiet around the house without him. As much as he gets underfoot and as much of a handful as he is, he keeps things interesting. He really had us worried this afternoon, but we're confident he's in good hands. I'll let you know any updates if there are any. Hopefully it just needed to pass through his system.
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