Anaphylactic Shock

Even though my stomach is turning just thinking about it, I think it is important that I write about Rocco’s recent experience as a precautionary note to all pet owners.

Two days ago Rocco went into an anaphylactic shock. He was chasing a bee, as he’s been doing all summer long, he caught it and got stung – which I though, not a big deal, he’s been stung before and has never shown any allergic symptoms. This time, however, he managed to walk to the end of the block when he started to vomit violently, his bowels emptied and as I was trying to push him towards our house he collapsed. It was a matter of minutes: he got stung and 10 minutes later his heart stopped beating. He was ice cold, his tongue blue, no heart beat, not breathing. 10 minutes after a bee stung him he was dying.

I was resuscitating him in the car while my mom drove him to our vet, while my spouse was on the phone with the said vet. And boy were these people ever amazing. We got there in under 10 minutes and they had everything ready. Two vets, technicians and the reception staff all there helping in any way they could. I am so very, very thankful to ALL the staff at the Vancouver Veterinary Hospital for saving our Rocco. You guys were absolutely amazing!

As quickly as he deteriorated, he started bouncing back; 10 minutes we knew he’s going to pull through, another 30 he was stable enough to be put down on the floor to shake it off. He spent yesterday drinking water and sleeping, and today he is almost back to his old self, just very tired.

So from now on we can’t leave the house without a Epipen and a spray bottle…can you imagine? two days ago I would have not believed this story, but the moral of it is: if you have a pet never EVER ignore their allergies. Pets have allergies and sometimes they can become deadly. So make sure to prevent them from coming in contact with any known allergens and be always vigilant when they are showing any unusual symptoms. Animals, especially dogs, are very good at hiding their symptoms, so it is up to us, the owners, to educate ourselves and be prepared to help our pet when they are in distress.

So if you see a patchy Siberian Husky walking a lady with a spray bottle and an epipen feel free to come up and give the little bugger a high-five, cause he really deserves it.