Quick backstory: In March 2020 Maisie developed pneumonia. Since that time she has had a recurring persistent cough that has, I’ve been told, been a result. Sometimes she will go for several months without a cough, sometimes it comes back multiple times within a year. Sometimes it goes away on its own, other times it requires a vet to prescribe meds, usually an antibiotic and/or steroids, and/or some sort of cough medicine. This has been the case for well over 6 years, and Maisie and I are, more or less, used to it.
Then in the middle of the night/early Saturday morning, I woke up suddenly because the sound of the cough suddenly changed. It wasn’t the same cough, but was much deeper, and seemed to require more effort on her part. So I took her to the Emergency Clinic down in Saginaw on Saturday. The vet there (who is WONDERFUL, by the way!) concurred with my own vet that Maisie should have an evaluation by the specialists at the MSU School of Veterinary Medicine down in East Lansing. Though she’s had many tests over these years, none have shown anything that would account for this cough to last so long, and to become so severe this weekend.
So that will be our next step. Meanwhile, the vet at the Emergency Clinic administered a Torbutrol injection and warned me that it “may make Maisie a little goofy.” Well, goofy was putting it mildly! My girl was, within minutes, looking wide-eyed like she had no idea what had hit her. Then, after staggering to the car, she looked dazed and confused – while trying to hold herself up – by the passing scenery. Seated back over her tail, with all four feet sticking out in front of her, that was how she rode home. She slept the rest of the day, and in the evening was bug-eyed and in her own world. By Sunday afternoon she was coming around, and more-or-less back to herself. But that’s when her cough came back…
So here are some photos from her time at the vet’s in Saginaw (after the shot), on the way home, and Saturday evening on the bed with me, as well as a short video.
Poor gurl 🙁