Sick as a dog

Betsy is the friendliest dog I've ever seen, and she always greets people as they arrive at our house, regardless of how long they've been gone or whether she knows them at all. Her typical greeting consists of a wildly wagging stub (all she's got left of her tail), a smile on her face, and so much wiggling that she is quite literally folded in half. Our family has offically dubbed this "the Wiggle Welcome".

Yesterday when Brad came home for lunch, he found her laying in the flowerbed. She didn't greet him, and she wouldn't even get up. He called me to come outside, but regardless of how much as we urged her to get up, she was limp and lethargic. I ran inside and called the vet while Brad loaded Betsy into the van.

A friend from church was the vet on duty at the time, which was wonderful for us. She is very reassuring and we trust her completely. She tested some of Betsy's blood and took other samples that Betsy was kind (?) enough to leave on the floor at the vet's office. Betsy tested negative for parvo, but did have some sort of elevated blood count that pointed to some other condition. (I'm don't know medical terminology, so this is as clear as it's going to get--sorry.)

They admitted her and gave her an IV and put her on antibiotics. She spent last night at the vet, chewing out her IV, according to the report we got. We got to bring her home this afternoon, and she appears to be as good as new! She'll be on antibiotics for another week, but aside from that, there appear to be no lasting effects. Today she's been playful and happy--and the Wiggle Welcome is back!