Last week or so Nero has been peeing a lot. While at first we didn't take note of the excessive amount he peed on his walks, last Sunday and then again on Wednesday night he peed in the house...something he has not done in years. Sunday, we thought it might be our fault as we had gone to the market when he expected his walkie and got back late. Wednesday morning, hubby left for a business trip and is expected back on Saturday evening. On Wednesday night Nero came and sat by me, unusually panting and tail down. I wondered if it was stormy but it wasn't. I thought maybe something had scared him, and let him sit close. He had been outside earlier near the main door, but I thought it might be him waiting for hubby to get home, as he usually does. Then when I went to bed around 2:30am, he let go outside the bedroom door. That is when I realized he actually wanted to go out! Moreover, there was so much pee...I was actually concerned. Mopping it all up, I went to bed thinking to check with the vet next morning.
Next morning, went out early, he again peed a lot, and mostly clear. Coming back he also drank a lot of water. I checked with my maid and she too remarked that his water intake had gone up significantly in the last week or so. Earlier 1 liter would last him from morning till evening, now it was over by afternoon. I called the vet, and he asked me to bring in him for some blood test.
At the vet, Nero at first was tail-down but waggy. But then we had to muzzle him to get him on the table. There he had to be held down to get the blood sample. The first try didn't work because he moved. Then they tied him down and took the sample. Poor boy didn't like it much, more the restraining than the actual needle. Once done, I got him on leash, he jumped off the table and we unmuzzled him. I gave him a bikky for being a good boy. Meanwhile, vet ran his sample on the glucometer. His random sugar came to 103, which the vet said was fine. The next thing is now to test for UTI, for which we need a urine sample to culture. He gave me a sterile bottle, and bottle of Himalaya herbal tablets (
Nefrotec) for the time being (2 tabs twice a day). He deferred his vaccination (due on 28th) for the time being. We had already given him deworming tablets on 19th. I decided to take the sample in the morning, which is the best time to take it.
Back home, we established a 3-4 hourly routine of quick trips outside our apartment block for pee time. Each time he peed quite a bit. This went on till midnight. Then we bunked down, and I hoped we would have no more middle of the night accidents. Unfortunately, the nice breeze at midnight soon turned into a thunderstorm. I put on the music and made up his cozy corner. All was under control till the electricity went off. Then a flurry of digging started, till I could get the ipod playing on the generator run power point. Unfortunately that too went off in a bit and there was more chaos. In all this, Ishi woke up as well, though she remained in good humor throughout. In the background, I had switched off the AC because it was dripping water and flooding the room. I had checked it earlier that night, and removed some leaves from the water outlet in the balcony, but not tried it on again, preferring to wait till it got repaired. So, suddenly we were without AC or fan! Then, the phase not under generator came back, but since the AC was dripping, we couldn't put it on. I tried putting Ishi's stroller fan on her cot to keep her cool, but it has light display that kept her up. The music was going on and off. Nero was scared. Ishi was not able to sleep. It was insane! All at 3am in the morning!
Then I decided to try the AC, hoping the leaf removal would help a bit. Something must have worked, because there was no dripping this time. I put on Ishi's musical mobile and removed her stroller fan. Nero too heard the music and went to lie below her cot. Finally there was some peace. Some time later, the electricity came back, but I just noted it vaguely around the edges of my sleep.
Morning, up at 6:30am, luckily the AC hadn't leaked yet, fan was working, all was fine. Both Nero and Ishi were up, Ishi playing in her cot, Nero waiting for me to get up. I got prepared to take his urine sample, something that I was NOT looking forward too. I had planned to get up even earlier to take it so that the roads would be a little less crowded, but after that insane night, that was not to be. I used my mom's suggestion of covering my hand with a polythene bag to get the sample. It worked, I took the sample, came up and left it and then took Nero back down again for his proper walk. It had rained all over and of course was totally muddy and wet. Why should life be easy! Nero went potty all fine, poked around in muddy places and wet bushes. On our way back however, he refused to come back. Suddenly in the middle of the road, we were in a tug-of-war with two school buses full of children bearing down upon us! So what happens...Nero pulls his head out of his collar and runs away from me towards the bus! Oh shoot!! Luckily the bus was driving slow and the driver had already seen our little tableau and was watching out for Nero. Nero swerved away from the bus and had me chase him down to a little green (and very wet and muddy spot) a little way down the road. Also luckily there were not other dogs, stray or pets around, otherwise there would have been mayhem! I caught up with him, he let me slip the collar back on him, and we made our slow progress back home. I can do with less adventures early in the morning!!
Now his sample is ready and I will take it to the vet later this morning. In other news, as usual, feeding him his tablets is a pain. They smell of haldi and pepper. I have been smashing them and mixing in curd to get him to eat them. Yesterday that worked. This morning, smashed pill curd is still sitting in his bowl. As I write this, the AC has started dripping again. It is still 30 hours till his dad gets back. I hope I can keep it together meanwhile!
