Dog Dog Dog

On Monday night, I let Makiah lick up my salsa covered plate. She silently pleads to do the clean up, after every meal, by positioning herself in the kitchen so she doesn't appear to be blatantly begging, but close enough to remind me that she's there. I had just smacked down on some salsa covered portobello mushrooms and chuckled to myself as she started to realize what she had eaten was a tad spicy for her pallet.

Then later that night, 2 am to be exact, I woke up with her next to me, coughing up a storm, ready to wretch. Pay back for laughing at her salsa blunder, to be sure. I hustled her outside so my cleanup would be less - only to have her come back in and continue coughing. I called the vet the next day and set up an appointment for the following day. We're not talking a normal cough - this was a deep cough I hadn't heard before. Is she allergic to salsa?

She continued to hack sporadically throughout the day, but otherwise appeared fine.

That night, around 2am, her cough worsened as she coughed for a solid hour straight. Panicked, I called the ER vet up the street and decided to take her in. There was only one problem - it was snowing and the streets were covered in snow. So we walked up to the vet. Makiah happily bounded along - so I knew it probably wasn't something super serious.

The vet wanted me to do a slew of blood tests - ranging from $850 to $1,600. What?! For a cough? I started asking questions. Turns out the "tests" would not be able to further determine if she has kennel cough or not - but it will rule out cancer. And her white vs. red cell blood count. What the vet neglected to tell me where the symptoms of kennel cough, treatment, or other potential problems. Not once did she mention that congestive heart failure is another known result from coughing (something I knew from our old dog, Peaches the toy poodle). But she did explain to me that they do all of the blood testing in house and I'll know results within 35-45 minutes. How convenient.

I asked for some antibiotics and decided to follow up with my regular vet in a week if she doesn't show signs of improvement, still spending $270. As it turns out, Riley (Tom and Trish's dog) came down with the cough as well and they think they got it from a neighbor dog Riley and Makiah were playing with over the holidays.

Although disappointed by the answers the clinic provided, or didn't provide for that matter, I am thankful they were open in the middle of the night and within walking distance. But it's also a reminder that you have to be on your toes in all scenarios to avoid being taken advantage of! Sheesh!

Oh, and no more salsa for the dog dog dog.