You see, he is not a house trained dog and when I got him as a puppy last Halloween 2011 (hence his name is Drake for Drake-ula) we locked him up in a cage because he is so hyper. I like brown dogs with pretty faces. His energy level is so high and draining that my father ended up taking care of my new dog. Drake is also the last dog we bonded over feeding him.
Anyway, last Friday after I had gone to Faye's, I came home at 11pm with my sister. I was just telling her on our way home that I am now letting Drake have his running line since it's now on our yard and not in the garage. Before we made him a running line in the garage so he will have a place to rest and also just in case it rained, but he ended up killing all the nearby plants.
But when I got home at 11pm, I saw his harness but with no dog. I thought he might be stolen. Then we found him in the laundry area at the back of our house, almost lifeless. He can't lift his head up and paralyzed and shaking like he is having seizures. We thought he had a stroke!
We called friends for a referral to a veterinarian who might be still up at midnight who can assist us with what to do. My dog is paralyzed but he is alive because:
1. His heart is beating.
2. His brows are twitching and responding when his name is called.
3. He is breathing.
But the downside is, his mouth is locked. Like you can't force open it. He cannot stand, he can't hold his head up.
We bothered a neighbor who is a veterinarian, who happens to hold the free vaccination for anti-rabies around our subdivision every year. When we knocked on their gate, the husband shooed us away. Actually what he is said is,"Sorry the vet is already asleep and we don't really accept or entertain dog patients in the house."
We went back at home feeling frustrated. If the veterinarian, the one who's supposed to "save"the dog doesn't see it as an emergency, then the rest is up to us.
So what to do when your dog suffers a heat stress?
My sister, through her experience with dog emergencies in our house in grove, did the following:
1. Force opened his mouth (we couldn't because it's really locked. But we managed to do so through spaces between his gritted teeth.)
2. Poured water and help him drink water.
3. Mix sugar with water and make dog drink it. (Use whatever sugar is available in your house, it works like magic, I tell you. I don't even know why and how.)
At first, the water just keep flooding the garage floor but then our dog started to swallow the water. We poured some more and he started taking the water but still the mouth wouldn't open up. After a few minutes, we decided to put him in his cage with the dog open, accompanied by his blanket and hoped for the best. I really thought that we're just waiting for him to die. So that night, I sincerely prayed to God and let him decide since I feel so powerless. I just can't help being sentimental and all because this dog is special and he makes my mornings happy. I don't know if you have an idea what a funny dog is, but Drake is funny and he makes our morning walks together, fun and not boring at all.
At 5 in the morning, my mom woke up to check the dog to find him to having already roamed the yard. He was not back to his hyper self at first but at least he can now stand, respond, eat and drink. So timely that my friend, Kat, told me that he veterinarian is dropping by to give shots to her dog. We took Drake to her house and we finally found a vet who confirmed that Drake suffered a heat stress and not a stroke, because had it been a stroke, he would've died by the time we got there. We told him the first aid we did, and got an approval that we did the right thing! Good job Aprille!
After less than a week, look at him, hyper again like it never happened:
Drake is back! from The Kea Channel on Vimeo.
Post-heat stress event:
1. We gave him heartgard as per his veterinarian, he will be tested for heart worm.
2. Small hyper dogs, especially during summer, suffer heat stress, so make sure they always have water and a roof/shade to hide from the sun.
3. I also learned that contrary to popular knowledge, all pets are not born with instant rabies, because otherwise they would have died immediately. We were informed that it was a campaign drive by the government to drive pet owners to have their pets vaccinated with anti-rabies.
4. The reason why pets needs to be at least 3 months old before their first vaccine is the vaccines are so powerful they can kill the young dogs below 3 months old.
Got something pet-related to share? I'd love to hear from you. Leave your comments below or send it in a private message here.
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