What a scare we had Friday evening. I was carrying Bella, Peanut and (I think) Regan from the puppy pen in the dog room to the play area we set up in the mud room. I was about 3 steps into the dining room when all the puppies started to squirm and Bella popped right out of my arms. I tried desperately to catch her but she fell onto the floor, flat on her left side. It sounded like a sack of flour. She went stiff and her breathing was extremely shallow. She was making little tiny grunting noises and then went limp. I kept rubbing her and even did a little CPR. I put Regan and Peanut in the mud room, grabbed my car keys and purse, and ran out the door with Bella. (Didn't even take my coat.) I rushed her down to Ellington Vet where Dr. Leah took a look at her. There were no broken bones, and she seemed more alert when they put her on a little oxygen. They even offered her a little baby food which she ate right up. They did an xray which confirmed no fractures. Her breathing was poor though, and she was a bit listless. Dr. Leah recommended that I take her to the emergency vet at Bolton Veterinary Hospital. I rushed Bella over there where Dr. Kopec checked her out. Neurologically she was fine, but her breathing was too shallow. She wanted to keep Bella overnight for observation, put her on oxygen and do a repeat xray. When I got home I immediately emailed Andrew Mancini's girlfriend, Samantha. She works at Bolton Vet, and I wanted to let her know Bella was there so if she was working, she could check on her for me. Samantha and Andrew took a trip over to BV that night just to see how Bella was doing, and took some photos which are attached here. Poor little Bella was in a little incubator with an IV line hooked up to her leg so they could hydrate her. Samantha gave her some food which she ate up ravenously (that's a sheltie for you!). The next morning Dr. Kopec called to say Bella was doing well, but her breathing was still shallow. They wanted to keep her on the oxygen awhile longer. Bella was definitely feeling better though because she'd been chewing on the oxygen and IV lines. They had to put a little E-collar on her, which Samantha told me they made out of a cat E-collar. Poor little Bella! I spoke with the day doctor at around 1pm, Dr. Lee, and she said they had started taking Bella off the oxygen and she was doing ok, but that they wanted to keep her one more night to be sure the swelling didn't get any worse and create any problems. Dr. Lee also explained how Bella's lungs were bruised from her fall, and that this showed up on the xray they did. Samantha is going to copy the xray onto a CD, so I may be able to post it to the blog. On Sunday morning I got a phone call from Dr. Kopec. She said we had a "completely normal acting sheltie puppy"! What wonderful news. Bella came home later that morning and it was nice to have her back with her siblings. We are under orders to keep her quiet for the next 10 days, but that is next to impossible. Even when she isn't with her brothers and sisters she jumps around like crazy. We are VERY relieved that Bella is ok and back home!!
Bella in the incubator
Bella also in the incubator
Bella eating in the incubator
Bella in her E-collar
