This morning Marco woke up with a minor cold. Sniffling, sneezing, a little drool. Poor baby. I called the advice nurse at Harvest Pediatrics, and she said to give him some saline drops for his nose. He is eating fine and doesn’t have a fever, so it shouldn’t be too bad. Marco is a little fussy, but it’s manageable.

Then, I went into the living room to let Chloe (my dog) out for her morning constitutional, and when she got up from her bed, I noticed she was wobbly on her legs. I stood on the far side of the room and called her to me. She ran into the bookcase, and was basically walking like someone had slipped some Johnny Walker into her water bowl. I looked at her eyes, and they wouldn’t focus on me. She kept leaning her head to one side. I was really freaked out, and woke Tim up. We tested her again, and she kept doing it. I called her vet and they had us bring her in.

Chloe has bad ears; she gets ear infections and I have to monitor them regularly, so I thought it might just be a worse ear infection. Her previous troubles were all outer-ear canal issues, but this could be an inner-ear canal problem. The vet took blood work, flushed her ears and gave her a shot of an antibiotic. Tomorrow she’s calling me with the lab results. She explained that the ear infection could have spread, but there was a strong possibility that she has idiopathic vestibular disease. It’s not fatal or anything, but it happens to older dogs and affects their equilibrium, thus, the drunken walking and inability to focus. It is temporary, but there isn’t much that can be done for it either. If this is the problem, then it will probably last a few months, and all we can do is just keep her comfortable and safe. Luckily, we don’t have any stairs or a swimming pool (falling could be extremely dangerous).  The worse case scenario is that Chloe might have some sort of brain trouble, and it is possible that there is some bleeding. She hasn’t had any seizures, and her behavior is otherwise normal. Our vet doesn’t think this is the problem, but the only way we can find out for sure is by taking Chloe to a veterinary neurologist, and getting her brain scanned.

It breaks my heart to see Chloe so confused! She’s still got her sunshiny demeanor, but when she tries to walk to me, she runs into things, and keeps her head tilted. Chloe and Stabler, though animals, are like my kids – I love them to pieces and the thought of anything happening to them makes my chest hurt. Of course, Stabler is very worried too. He looooves his big sister, and cuddles her when she doesn’t feel well.

My poor babies! Everyone think good thoughts for Chloe!