PIPER IS IN THE HOSPITAL! by Mel the Dog

Mom said I would have to write the blog for today because someone has to do it, and Piper is in the doggy hospital, where she does not have internet access.  I would rather take a nap, but since Mom needs me to do this, I will try to help her out.

There are a couple of things wrong with Piper  that made her end up having to spend the night at the hospital.  The first thing is that when her latest blood test results came back yesterday, they showed that Piper has a high potassium level.  Dr. Patricia said this could mean that Piper's medicine dose for Cushing's Disease is too high.  The internist raised the amount recently because the last cortisol test showed that Piper's medicine was too low.  But if the dose gets too high, it will make Piper be Addisonian instead of Cushingoid.

The other reason Piper is in the hospital is because she might have a blockage in her stomach.  Dr. Patricia took an x-ray, and it showed that Piper's stomach is distended, even though she didn't eat a meal recently.  As you already know from reading Piper's May 5 blog entry, she ate a bunch of bad stuff out of the litter box.  (Well, I personally don't think it's so bad, but Mom does.)  Also, Piper ate some of her blanket.  Anyway, if all of these items are still inside Piper, and if they don't come out on their own, Piper will have to have surgery.

So that's why Piper is in the hospital.  Mom had to take her there late yesterday afternoon, at exactly the time when she was supposed to be at home, feeding us supper.  At the doggy hospital, they made an estimate of how much money it would cost to take care of Piper last night and today, including doing an ultrasound.  That estimate came to about $1,100.  Mom was not happy, to say the least.  I just hope she has enough money left to buy dog food next time we run out!