at 3am this morning when our sweet Bella dog woke us up shivering, lethargic, and whimpering, i told myself to breath. when we rushed her to the emergency vet at 3:15am, the whole way there, i was telling myself the same: breathe. this dog, our family, is everything to us. we rescued her from horrid conditions almost 7 years ago. at just 6 weeks old, she was flea & worm ridden, and infected with parvo, a usually fatal disease among dogs. she survived all of that, because well, she’s a trooper. and when she was just 6 months old she was diagnosed with the most severe case of VonWillibrand’s Disease (similar to hemophilia) our vet at the time, or any since, had ever seen. truly, she’s our miracle dog. through the years, we’ve treated her like she’s a normal dog. hiking, dog parks, back country snow trips, this dog does everything with us. because she’s adventurous and plays very hard, there have been many, and i mean many trips to the vet. the smallest snag on a rose thorn means at least 3 weeks of bandages until she finally clots. needless to say, she can never have surgery as she wouldn’t survive. and she likely wouldn’t survive any sort of puncture trauma, like say a dog bite. up until yesterday afternoon, we’ve been lucky. never bitten by another dog. not once. until yesterday.
bella was bit pretty fiercely by a mean oakland dog yesterday during our afternoon walk. she seemed ok, no puncture wound, though she was definitely traumatized emotionally. we went home. what we didn’t realize was that she was slowly bleeding on the inside. when she woke us up at 3am, she had a massive, football-sized hematoma protruding from her side. she was in great pain, and trembling. so, we do what we have done in the past: muster up our courage, tell her and ourselves that all will be ok, and go to the emergency vet. the ultrasound told us that the blood collection is superficial, meaning no internal bleeding beyond the abdominal wall which is good news. besides pain and sedation meds, there isn’t much we can do, except watch and wait. no blood transfusions needed (for now at least). the hematoma will hopefully not grow in size, and will eventually, through weeks and weeks, dissipate.
poor thing. she is quite pathetic. and so are we. like every dog owner out there, we think our dog is the sweetest, most lovable dog in the world. and she is. i don’t think she’d appreciate my showing a photo of her in her current state, but i will share a photo of her with her beloved sock monkey who she’s snuggled up to all day.
this post breaks my heart. poor bella…good energy coming to you, baby!
it makes me think, in general, in life, we should be careful and respectful of others. what someone (what we!) might could handle, could send someone else to a scary place. i don’t think about this enough in my daily.
btw way…sidenote-i really, really like your art…
bella…the very best, cutest, sweetest dog…never treated me like a stranger…i am so glad she is okay and thinking of all 3 of you now. love, rox
My thoughts and prayers are with Bella and her people. The photos show such a beautiful soul. The love of you and John has given her such a quality life and I can just feel how loved and cared for she is by the writing and the photos. Hugs and wishes for a speedy recovery.
OMG, this knocked the wind out of me. Bella looks so sad and the sock monkey is so sweet. All of us who love our pets are kind of numb now with the food stuff going on. It really makes you realize how much you love them. I will be hoping for the best and for you to be strong too.
Kelly – I love visting your blog and reading about your adventures in your new California home… things are going so well for you…but I don’t leave comments. But now I feel so sad for poor Bella! We have a GSD, Heidi, that we just love so much, so I can really imagine how you feel. I hope she heals quickly! She looks so sweet and lovable… give her a hug and kiss from an east coast dog lover:>
awww my prayers for your sweet dog. she sounds like such a survivor! i am glad she is healing ok and hope this good news continues. blessings
oh sweet bella … sending her all sorts of healing vibes and warm hugs …
hope the weekend finds her healing and back to herself soon …
Oh Kelly,
This brings tears to my eyes. It sounds like we (everyone who has posted a comment here) all fully understand the emotional pain and stress you are going through because we would feel exactly the same way. I will pray for Bella as well as you and John and hopefully we’ll hear good news from you soon. I can tell from her photos, Bella is a sweet, sweet soul.
hang in there bella. delilah blue and i are thinking of you. i truly
understand your pain and stress over this. we are so attached to
delilah too. with all of this food scare, i can’t imagine what
those whose were feeding wet are going through.
blessings to bella, kelly and john
we are sending healing vibes your way
I will be sending good thoughts for a healing recovery for Bella…I know how much she means to you and John.
You got me all choked up. Major dog lover here, and I mean major.
She is an absolutley beautiful girl and I’m praying for her, afterall she is God’s creature.
She’s a part of the family and I totally get it.
Here’s to a speedy recovery and lots of love to bella.