Heart of a Lion
Dixie’s courage continues to impress me. But I should probably explain. After keeping Dixie at the vet on IV fluids all last week, the stone did not move at all. The worry, of course, is the the stone is either blocking the ureter, causing the kidney to shut down, or the kidney isn’t functioning and sending fluid through the ureter to push it through to the bladder. At the end of the week, we brought her home with the intent to manage her pain and see how it goes. Our vet consulted with several specialists and we brought her back for x-rays tonight. The plan if the stone did not move was to inject her blood with dye to better see what was going on with the kidney. This was the route we were prepared to take. However, the x-ray showed the stone moved about an inch, which was great news. The vet checked her kidney function levels, which were absolutely fine. So she is on an anti-inflammatory which they think may help push the stone through the ureter. She goes back for a follow up in a week and we will continue to monitor the stone’s progress.
After laying around all day Saturday, yesterday afternoon and all day today she has been absolutely wild, clearly feeling better, so I was not surprised to find out that the stone had moved. I am starting to call her my little Timex dog–she takes a licking and keeps on ticking. And as small as she is, her courage knows no bounds and her determination is resolute. I have learned to never count her out. She proves that being tough has absolutely nothing to do with one’s size. And I, for one, am inspired by that.