The night Elli was sick

Last fall I had a terrible scare with Elli.

She was fine the entire day. I took her out for a quick walk around the block because we were going to someone's house for the evening. On our walk it became apparent that Elli was straining to go pee. She kept squatting every few steps. I was concerned, but not really sure what was happening.

We came back in the house, I left Elli for a few minutes and when I returned I noticed a wet spot on the living room carpet. I was annoyed since we had just been out, but at the same time she was still just a puppy at the time. I cleaned up and then packed Elli in the car.

When we got to our friend's house, I set Elli on the grass on the front lawn. She once again looked uncomfortable and tried to pee. Now, I was worried. I put a call in to her vet's office. They were booked and closing in an hour, so I made an appointment for the next day as I tried to hide the crack in my voice.

I still was uncertain what to do. So I picked Elli up and we went in the house. She sat limply on my lap, and soon started shaking. This scared me more than anything. I didn't know what was wrong or what to do. Tears came to my eyes.

My friend looked up emergency clinics as I debated if I should take her or not. I wasn't sure what to do, and I had been told emergency clinics were ridiculously expensive.

We decided to take her, if nothing else then to just set my mind at ease until she could see her regular vet the next day.

As we were on the way out, Elli had another accident on the floor.

Luckily when we got to the clinic we were the first ones there, so the vet could take us right away. I shakily explained Elli's symptoms as the vet did her examination.

The vet told me she thought it was a bladder infection. But, since Elli was so young she was concerned she could have some chronic kidney problem, which would mean she would get sick like this occasionally. The vet gave me two options. She could give Elli some pain medicine that would get her through the night and I could take her to her regular vet in the morning. Or, Elli could stay overnight in the emergency clinic hooked up on an IV, since she was a bit dehydrated, and the vet would run a blood test. The second option would cost over $800.

I decided to take Elli home with me. The medicine she was given made her drowsy, and when we came into our house she just slumped and didn't move. Even her ears were hanging low.

I tried putting Elli in her crate for the night, but she really didn't want to stay in there. So I let her stay in my bed. She must have peed in her sleep. I woke up in the night after hearing Elli jump off the bed, and felt a big puddle. I cleaned everything up and gave Elli lots of hugs and kisses because I could tell she felt really bad.

The next day we went to our regular vet. He put my mind at ease, by telling me it probably is just a bladder infection and they didn't need to do the blood test unless the infection wouldn't go away or happened again. He gave me some antibiotics and I left the office feeling better.

Elli improved over the next few days, and luckily she hasn't had any other infections since.

I think anytime your pets get sick it's scary. You never know how serious it is or what you should do for them. I was happy I took her to the emergency clinic, and that it wasn't something that couldn't be fixed.

When something like this happens it makes you think about how much you would miss your animals if anything were to happen.