Lake Geneva - FAIL

Well, this weekend didn’t turn out quite like we had planned.

Baron wasn’t feeling well on Wednesday of last week, but by Thursday morning, he seemed to have the pep back in his step. So, I figured that whatever had upset his stomach and exhausted him on Wednesday had worked its way out of his system. Therefore, I felt okay about dropping him off at Chew Chew Doggie Daycare and for the weekend while we went to Lake Geneva for the annual Puri Cousins’ trip. I gave the boarding staff a heads up that he had been sick the day before and assured them that I’d only be an hour away if he hadn’t actually recovered and needed to be picked up.

Less than an hour later, I got a phone call saying that he definitely had not recovered and was still indeed sick. They didn’t think it was necessary for me to pick him up yet, but they’d keep him under close observation and let me know how he was doing later that evening. When I called later, when Raj was preparing to leave work and join us in Lake Geneva, they thought Baron had stabilized and would be okay after all.

With my mind at ease, Shawn and I played at the indoor water park with the cousins. Raj met all of us at a pizza place for dinner. Then we returned to the hotel for movies and games in one of the cousins’ rooms.

  



 

When we finally retired to our respective rooms, wiped out from the excitement from the day, the night took a sharp turn down hill.

Shawn was awake all night with horrible congestion and coughing. It hit him very suddenly. He had been fine all day and even during dinner. I noticed his nose was runny while we were playing games, but when he was trying to sleep, it was next to impossible for the poor guy to breathe through his nose. We tried propping him up and even opening his nasal passages in a steamy bathroom, but he/we still didn’t get more than an hour of sleep at any given stretch. He was miserable. Eventually, Raj went to a local grocery store and picked up some medicine for him. It helped significantly, but the sun was already on the rise and we were all exhausted. Finally, some rest.

Until, my phone rang.

Baron needed to be picked up. They were worried he was dehydrated and he wasn’t getting any better. He wasn’t playful at all and just wanted to lay down and sleep – very not like him. I immediately got in the car and drove back to get him. Along the way I reached his vet and scheduled an appointment for her to see him. If I could get there in time, they’d squeeze us in before the office closed. When I reached Baron, he was excited that I was picking him up, but I could tell it wasn’t because he was feeling better. We went straight to the vet.

Though we had to wait a while for our turn, I was grateful Baron could be seen that day at all. While we waited, he laid at my feet soaking in the petting and resting. Meanwhile, an 8 month old Great Dane puppy (who was already hip height to his owner!) was eager to greet everyone who walked by him and couldn’t sit still no matter how hard his owner tried to persuade him.

Dr. Stewart took a blood test and did a rectal exam in search of parasites or any other clues as to what was ailing Baron. He had no fever and she said he didn’t seem dehydrated yet. I was relieved to find out that she didn’t think hospitalization would be necessary. The test for Giardia parasite came back negative – phew! She gave him an antiemetic injection to settle his stomach and cans of I/D dog food to try to get him to eat again. She also prescribed metronidole (antibiotic) pills to give him every 12 hours. The rest of the test results wouldn’t be ready until 8 am the next morning (Saturday). She didn’t recommend that he go back to boarding in case he had some sort of virus, though she thought he’d be fine by himself for a few hours at a time …if we wanted to change our vacation to a staycation.

Meanwhile, Shawn’s medicine seemed to be helping him a lot. He was finally able to sleep, so he and Raj slept in to make up for the lack of sleep over night. When they got up, they spent the day at the lake on their own. They took a one hour boat tour of the lake’s historical sites and had lunch downtown. 

"Let's go there!" Shawn was mapping out their course.

Baron’s stomach had calmed down and I thought he’d be ok for a few hours, like Dr. Stewart had said. So, I drove back to Lake Geneva and joined the family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We ate much too much, but had a lot of fun. By the time we got back to the hotel and everyone was prepping for another night of games, it was time for me to get back to Baron. Shawn had fallen asleep while we were still at the restaurant, so Raj suggested that he’d be better off sleeping in his own bed. When we got home, I was able to transfer him to bed and change him into a pullup for the night without waking him. He was out.

Baron hadn’t had any other issues since picking him up from the doggy hotel. I think the antiemetic shot did the trick. He still seemed wiped out, but at least the vomiting and diarrhea had stopped. I unloaded the few things I brought back from Lake Geneva and crashed into bed. I let Baron sleep with me, but we were both so tired from the past few days, I don’t think either of us moved all night long.

I set my alarm clock to wake me as soon as Dr. Stewart’s office opened on Saturday. Unfortunately, she still had to analyze the test results, so she called me back about an hour later. Baron’s blood counts were normal. Though his white blood cells were slightly high, she thought it was a normal reaction to what he had been going through. He was a little dehydrated, but again not enough that she was concerned. His ALT liver test was slightly elevated, but she explained it was probably a result from having diarrhea. None of the lab results showed any concerns and since his energy was starting to come back, he wasn’t vomiting or having diarrhea anymore, and he was starting to act like himself, Dr. Stewart didn’t think I needed to bring him back in for further examination – unless his symptoms returned. I could reintroduce his usual food in another day, but he needed to stay away from other dogs for a few more days.

Shawn seemed to be better too. He slept soundly all night – over 13 hours total! His cough returned a little when he woke up, but significantly better than the night before.

Raj slept in at the hotel and then packed everything up to come home. I told him to enjoy the time with his cousins, but I think he had had enough excitement, too.

It was nice to be home and have everybody on the mend.

We spent the rest of the weekend moving some furniture around and working on the office/guest room. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we made a good dent. It’s not quite what either of us had planned to do this weekend, but the whole Lake Geneva experience wasn’t working out for us very well either! Besides, the cousins will do the same trip next year. We’ll try it again then and keep our fingers crossed for better luck.