12_11 - morning update

Well, while last night wasn't what Wednesday night was, it sure could have been better.

Right after 7:30, Elvis started in with the hacking cough. You could see him getting worse as time went on. Finally at 8:15, we tried 1/4 of a Torbutrol. Dr. Walthall had suggested that dose first, but after an hour had passed, there wasn't any improvement. He hadn't gotten worse, but he hadn't gotten better. So, the second 1/4 tablet was given.

Things stayed pretty much the same. No worse, but not really better. That's something I'd noticed with him with his milder cough tablet. Two 1/4 doses, even given within an hour of one another don't work. He has to have the 1/2 dose all at once. It appears that this is the same problem with the Torbutrol.

Finally at 10:10 when he began hacking badly, I gave him a full dose of Guaifenesin. That did it, and Randall and I got ready to head to bed...gratefully, might I add.

Before shutting down for the night, I wanted to see what the maximum dosage would be for a dog his size. Ideally he would have had 1/2 tablet within a 20-24 hour period of time, but if he started back up coughing, I didn't want to have to go in search of information at 2:00 in the morning. Getting Randall involved for the numbers conversion from a medical website (I suck at math), the prescribed dosage was 1/4-1/2 of a 5 mg tablet every 6-8 hours for a slightly smaller dog.

Armed with that information, we headed to bed.

At 4:45, Randall shook me awake. Elvis was coughing again and had been for 7 or 8 minutes...plenty of time for him to have shifted around in his crate, coughed and settled back down.

So I went ahead and let him outside to potty and then gave 1/2 a pill. Sadly, I totally forgot to give him fluids, and when I tried, you could tell the narcotic side effects had started, and he just didn't comprehend the dish. Unfortunately, when I first wake up, I'm seriously sleep walking...the brain doesn't engage at all until I've had coffee. If this happens again, though, I'll remember. Hopefully the coughing won't keep him from being interested...I won't know until I try.

Randall and I went ahead and got up. At nearly 6:00 am, he's coughed a bit. I can't compare it to what he did in the wee hours of yesterday morning because Randall and I had passed out in bed.

I'll update this blog, and email a link to the clinic. Unless things go south, I suspect he'll be fine this morning. I do want to touch base with them this afternoon, because the clinic is closed on Saturday and Sunday.